F.A.S.T. dogfight game iPhone app reportedly earns $1 million in six weeks
According to a report from CNET, Social Gaming Network’s (SGN) Fleet Air Superiority Training F.A.S.T. (iTunes link) dogfight game is estimated to have taken in over $1 million in sales in its first six weeks of release. Pricing started off at $9.99, but sits at $1.99 as of this writing. There is no indication if this price drop is temporary or permanent, but it is still believed to be pulling in $60,000 a day on the app store.
As I write this, F.A.S.T. is sitting in the 10th most popular paid game spot on the app store, if this $60,000-a-day estimate is to be believed, just how much are some of these games pulling in? True, some of the games in the top 9 spots may not be consistent sellers, and perhaps are one day flukes, or maybe F.A.S.T. is having a slow day, but this definitely speaks of there being a market for slick looking, well developed games on the iPhone and iPod Touch that is still very viable.
Obviously development is just the first step to success in the app store, the second has to be good word of mouth and marketing if you want to enjoy anywhere near this level of success and be noticed in the app store.
Possible changes coming to Apple App Store to help promote more apps
Speaking of getting your application noticed in the App Store, it seems Apple may be making some changes soon to help some of the developers out.
Forbes is reporting that in a quarterly sales call last week, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was asked a question by Needham analyst Charlie Wolf whether Apple plans to take any steps to help consumers "separate quality applications from the garbage." Mr. Cook replied that Apple is always looking at new ways to categorize the App Store.
We are always looking for ways to categorize applications differentially. We realize there is an opportunity there for further improvement, and we are working on that.
The App Store is certainly in need of more categories that allow you to drill down your information further. There are currently over 2100 apps in the "Music" category alone. No consumer wants to browse through that many apps to find ones they like. There should be more sub-categories such as "Radio Stations", "Streaming Music", "Music Games" and so on. It works in the game section (kind of), and would certainly be better than the huge mass of apps the other categories seem to be.
Palm updates Palm Pre webOS to 1.1.0
Palm upgraded the Palm Pre and webOS to version 1.1.0 this week, restoring the ability for users to sync their devices with iTunes.
While not an essential feature to all users, it is something that Palm and Apple now seem to be playing a game of whack-a-mole with each other.
- Palm includes the ability to sync with iTunes
- Apple blocks the ability with an iTunes update
- Palm restores the ability with an update to webOS
- Yeah… we can all see the next move here.
While it would be nice to see Apple be more open with its software, we all have to remember we are talking about Apple here. When was the last time they were open about anything? That being said, it’s difficult to imagine why the company thinks it is so horrible to sync music you own with a device other than their own. If iTunes continues to block people from using the program to sync with other devices, the solution could be people just dropping the use of iTunes all together. They aren’t using an iPhone, so they don’t have to use your software except that they may prefer it, wouldn’t you prefer to keep their eyeballs on your system, selling them music, movies and television shows and possibly converting them to being your customer? Seems short sighted to me to just block people from using your program for no good reason.
Google unleashes Android Donut build on developers
In the evening hours of Saturday, (of all the days in a week, this seems like an odd one to make a major update to a development OS) Google unleashed the next version of its popular Android OS on developers. According to the XDA Developers forum, the new version features a slew of new features including system-wide multitouch, universal search, text-to-speech, automated backups, a new camera application, management of Bluetooth & Wi-Fi and a whole lot more.
Also included in the system is support for CDMA coverage which adds significant weight to the rumors that Sprint may be adding an Android powered phone before the end of the year.
Android developers just got a whole new toybox to play in, and they may soon have a whole lot more customers beating down their virtual doors.
Simple mashup apps can still make a name for themselves in the crowded world of apps
Hard to believe that a simple mashup application could still make a splash on the iPhone and iPod Touch, but the Offender Locator (iTunes link) has done just that.
Selling for $.99, Offender Locator mixes together national sex offender registries with maps from Microsoft Virtual Earth to show you how many registered sex offenders may be near your location. You can use GPS to set your location for you or enter any address you want in case you want to check out a neighborhood that you may be planning to move to.
Not surprisingly this app has caused a bit of an uproar for several reasons. One of the most interesting is that someone is profiting from such information, but there are also people who are against the sex registries to begin with. Either way, the app made it on to the store and has spent a good amount of the weekend in the overall top 10 paid apps on the store. Apparently one of the secrets of success in the store is to make an app that is at least somewhat controversial that can still make it past the App Store police.
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