(CNN) -- "App" has been a
computing term for a lot longer
than five years. But, on July 10,
2008, it began its journey to
becoming a household word.
That's when Apple, a year after
launching the iPhone, introduced
its App Store to the world.
The online marketplace launched
with 500 apps, mostly for
established Web companies such
as Facebook, eBay and Yelp.
Today, it has more than 850,000.
And, a couple of months ago, it
passed a mind-boggling
threshold, marking the 50
billionth app to be downloaded
.
Apple can no longer claim
proprietary ownership of apps,
those mini-programs that
continue to push the boundaries
of what a mobile phone can do.
Google launched its own app
store, now called Play, less than
a year after Apple. Today, it's on
a path toward surpassing Apple's
number of downloads.
2012: 'Angry Birds' soar into
space
Map apps: Google vs. Apple
Instagram now lets you share
video
But the iPhone was the first
smartphone most folks ever saw,
and the App Store was the
accessory that gave it extra
usefulness. On this anniversary,
we look at five iconic apps that
got a huge lift from the App
Store and expanded the
capabilities of our phones.
'Angry Birds'
Before the App Store, video
games were, by and large, for
hard-core players with consoles
or souped-up PCs. Now the line
between who is a gamer and
who's not is blurry -- and
millions of people have "Angry
Birds" to thank. The deceptively
addictive little game, in which
players fling a flock of ... well ...
angry birds at their pig nemeses,
is the top-selling paid app in the
App Store's history.
Since its launch in 2009, the
game has become a franchise,
with spinoffs, toys, cartoons and
even a movie making up just
part of Finnish developer Rovio
Entertainment's furious,
feathered empire.
Addicted gamers are sweet on
'Candy Crush'
Google Maps
With the rise of Google's Android
system as Apple's chief mobile
rival, there's a certain irony that
one of its products was a key to
the App Store's success. But
since Google Maps rolled out as a
native app for the iPhone, the
ability to get directions on the go
has become one of mobile
computing's key features. (Does
anyone still hand-draw maps?)
Yes, there are other map apps
out there. But Google's treasure-
trove of data makes its maps a
go-to for millions. Witness the
mini-disaster Apple had on its
hands when it bumped Google's
offering for its own Maps app last
year. Apple's product was so
half-baked that CEO Tim Cook, in
a rare mea culpa, essentially told
users to download Google Maps
until it was fixed.
How to kickstart your holiday
using apps not maps
Pandora
By 2008 Pandora already had
become a popular Web-streaming
service, letting users seed their
own personal radio stations with
bands or songs they liked. But
the company was quick to see
the potential in mobile
computing, and Pandora was
among the first apps available
when the App Store went live.
Since then, it's become the
second-most downloaded iPhone
app in the store's history, trailing
only Facebook. Its proof of
concept -- that users want to be
able to bring their music with
them anywhere -- also helped
inspire a host of competitors,
from Spotify to Rdio to Last.fm.
Why everybody's building a Web
music service
Instagram
Mobile phones, particularly
smartphones, made all of us
photographers. That's a huge
shift. But, sadly for most of us, it
didn't make us all good
photographers. Enter Instagram
-- with a slate of editing tools
and funky filters that can make
even the most pedestrian
pictures look good. Add to that
Instagram's social features,
complete with Twitter-like
hashtags, and you've got a tool
tailor-made for mobile.
Launched in 2010 by Stanford
University students, Instagram
now moves about 45 million
images every day. Oh ... and
those creators also sold it to
Facebook last year for a cool $1
billion.
Instagram launches 15-second
video feature
Shazam
It seems like a little thing, until
you stop and think about it:
What if your phone could listen
to a few seconds of a song, then
tell you what it is? That would
have sounded like magic not so
many years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment