This Week at 148Apps: January 14-21
This week, January 14 to 21, Apple announced above-expectations of $20.34 billion in revenue and $4.31 billion in profit, while CEO Steve Jobs once again took to the sidelines on grounds of medical leave, handing over day-to-day business to COO Steve Cook for the second time in the past year.
Nonetheless, the news for iOS this week remains as busy as ever, with several major names like TiVo and CBS adding / releasing major updates to applications, as well as the countdown to ten billion application downloads approaching ever closer.
"It’s absolutely absurd" writes blogger Joey Davidson, "to consider that in the span of only two and a half years there are more application downloads in a single marketplace than there are people on Earth." It's a technologically wonderful thought, one that will be achieved in the next coming days, as Apple gives a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card to the person who downloads the 10 billionth application (or submits the first online free entry after 9,999,999,999 downloads). You can enter by downloading an application or filling out this form, up to 25 times a day.
In other news, TiVo, the popular digital video recorder, released its exclusive-to-iPad Remote application this week, offering "the world's most amazing remote control" for free. Users will be able to browse listings, set and manage recordings, and even comment on Twitter and Facebook, all without changing the channel.
CBS Sports Football took some of the spotlight this week too, unveiling a new update that brings you all the information you'll need regarding the playoffs, from updating stats to news to videos. Like the newly unveiled TiVo application, CBS Sports Football is free to download, meaning you can enjoy this updated goodness for free.
CBS Sports Fantasy Football for iPad
FREE!
In slightly more quirky news, earlier this week Blake Grundman reported on the $0.99 Sleep Talk Recorder application that - as the name suggests - records what you talk in your sleep so that you can hear what otherwise goes unheard, at least to you (your partners probably won't need to hear it). It's pretty cool sounding, I just wish there was a way to use it and Sleep Cycle together. Head over to the Sleep Talk Recorder developer's website to hear the top ten ranked audio snippets. Although I'm sure some of us would prefer not to hear what noises we're making in our supposed quiet-time.
Sleep Talk Recorder
FREE!
To round up this week, we'd like to inform readers of our Now Free service, available on the website and through Twitter. Every day, hundreds of developers offer their applications for free, usually for a limited time only. You can keep track of every discounted application here, or more specifically every application that has been discounted to a free download here. Finally, you can catch up on all the reviews you might have missed throughout the week right here. If podcasts are more your thing, episode 68 of The Portable Podcast is also available for download.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back the same time next week for the latest news and happenings in the world of iOS.