Archive for the ‘iPod’ Category


148 Apps

148 Apps is one of my favorite iPhone App tracking websites. It is also the maximum number of apps you can get on the iPhone and iPod Touch. That is 16 Apps per page and 9 pages equals 144 plus 4 applications on the Dock at the bottom of the screen .

With so many iPhone Apps coming out all the time, it is harder and harder to stay within the 148 App limit.  There are even Apps which track or review Apps, like PandoraBox, BargainBin and AppReview.

Apple iPhone 3GIf you happen to install more than 148 Apps, the apps at the bottom of the ninth page are moved to a tenth hidden page (see “How Many Apps Can Your iPhone Hold“). This can be temporarily used to hide App Icons, but on a Jailbroken iPhone the “BossPrefs” App will hide the icons you want - for example if you have no need to track the Stock market, you can hide the Stocks app which comes pre-installed. Of course not everyone wants to Jailbreak their iPhone, which quite understandable, considering the cost of the iPhone and the possibility of doing it some damage.

The only way I’ve found to keep on top of too many Apps is to be in constant cleanup mode. Fortunately Apps which are deleted from the iPhone can be easily reinstalled from iTunes or the Apple App Store.

Posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 148 Apps by mervyn


Variable Pricing Fallout?

Apple iPod Touch 16GB - music via iTunesThis is probably not news for people who visit the Apple iTunes Music store. Since April this year Apple has changed the pricing of their music tracks. It used to be that every music track in the iTunes store cost 99 cents. Instead, there is now a variable pricing structure. So when you connect to iTunes with your 16GB iPod Touch you’ll find that the prices of single tracks are 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29. The way this is supposed to work is that the more popular singles cost more, and the less popular ones cost less. This is something the record industry had been pressurizing Apple to do for a long time now. (in “Apple to launch ‘variable-pricing’ for iTunes” ZDNet.com blogged: “Apple has finally caved to the pressures of the recording industry“)

This is not the first time that the pricing of songs in the iTunes Music store has changed. About two years ago, when Apple started offering some DRM-free music, it was priced at $1.29 per track, and the tracks with DRM stayed at 99 cents. This lasted until Amazon launched its online music store, with a much larger DRM-free catalog and singles for 99 cents. Apple then lowered the price of these DRM-Free tracks to 99c. (see “What iTunes Variable Pricing Means to You” from blogs.eweek.com)

The variable pricing structure is actually backfiring, as the more expensive tracks are selling less, and the increased price is not making up for it. (see “iTunes Revenue Drops on Tiered Pricing” on MP3newsire.net) This was predicted, but the Recording Industry still wanted it. (see “Music Industry Folks Worried About iTunes Variable Pricing” on TechDirt.com)

Posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 Variable Pricing Fallout? by mervyn