Tag: International »

GlobeIn, the site that brings handmade crafts from over 38 countries to your doorstep, now has an app - appropriately named GlobeIn.

The app allows you to buy directly from artists all over the world and read about the stories behind each product. The service offers things such as jewelry, clothing, home goods, and more. GlobeIn also offers the "Subscription Box," which sends you 3 unique products every month.

You can pick up GlobeIn for free on the App Store.

The 10th anniversary International Mobile Gaming Awards have come to a close, and after 2 months of voting between 14 judges from Japan, Australia, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the US, the results are in. Dozens of games were nominated, and many of them you will likely recognize, but only a select few could actually win this fantastic recognition. You can find the final results, which were announced in San Francisco at the 10th IMGA ceremony on March 20, below.

Best Serious Game: Artisitco: The Game for Art Lovers by Play Art Labs, Ltd. Israel
Excellence in Art Design: Year Walk by Simogo, Sweden
Excellence in Sound Design: Papa Sangre II by Somethin’Else, published by Playground Publishing, The Netherlands
Best Technical Achievement: Clumsy Ninja by Natural Motion, United Kingdom
Best Shared Experience: Heads Up by Warner Bros., United States
Excellence in Storytelling: République by Camouflaj, United States
Best Quikplay: Colossatron - Massive World Threat by Halfbrick Studios, Australia
Best Upcoming Game: Framed by Loveshack Entertainment, Australia.
Excellence in Innovation: Blek by Kunabi Brother, Austria
Excellence in Gameplay: rymdkapsel by Grapefrukt Games, Sweden
People’s Choice: Tiny Thief by 5 Ants Spain, published by Rovio, Finland
Jury’s Honorable Mention: Luxuria Superbia by Tale of Tales, Belgium
Grand Prix: Badland by Frogmind, Finland

Apple has announced that iPad sales have now surpassed the three million mark in the 80 days since the tablet went on sale. During this period, the iPad has gone on sale in nine more countries including Australia, France, Italy and the UK with sales strong from most reports. Apple plans to begin selling the iPad in a further nine countries in July.

“People are loving iPad as it becomes a part of their daily lives,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more people around the world, including those in nine more countries next month.”

The number of apps available for Apple's tablet computer have also increased, now totalling 11,000 on the App Store alongside the existing 225,000 iPhone and iPod touch apps, most of which are compatible with the iPad.

Following our report that international iPad App Stores began switching on yesterday, international iBookstores are also now available. Apple initially claimed that iBooks would be a US-only service, likely due to ongoing discussions with international book publishers, but has since announced international launches in countries that begin selling the iPad on May 28th. At present, only free books are available to download on international iBookstores however this is likely to change over the next few days. So far, live iBookstores have been reported in Germany, Italy and the UK with the remaining supported countries likely to follow.

At the time of writing there are 10,023 free books available on the UK iBookstore with new additions apparently stopped for the time being after almost minute-by-minute changes earlier.

We’ll keep you updated as things progress.

We’re still a week away from the official launch of iPads in select countries outside the US but it seems that international iPad App Stores are beginning to switch on already. It is likely that Apple is adding iPad downloads to international App Stores so that all potential issues are ironed out in time for the launch of the iPad in these countries. App Stores in countries like the UK, Germany and Canada don’t currently have the iPad and iPhone buttons on the App Store front page like in the US, so users can’t yet split browsing between the two devices. App Store search results are split into iPad and iPhone categories, however. International users with US-bought iPads have, until now, been unable to access their local App Stores via the device but today should have full access despite some noted teething trouble on some stores.

UPDATE: Pre-orders are now available for international iPad models and accessories via Apple's online stores.

After a long wait, Apple has announced details of the launch and pricing for iPads outside of the US. On Friday, May 28, iPads will go on sale in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Pre-orders will open on Monday, May 10.

Although the press release is ambiguous, it appears that both the Wi-Fi and 3G models will be available on this date and not staggered as with the US launch.

Only the UK prices have been unveiled so far and, as expected, they are not mere conversions of the US dollar price. Prices start at £429 (inc. VAT) for the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad, £499 for the 32GB model and £599 for the 64GB iPad. Wi-Fi and 3G iPads will be priced at £529, £599 and £699 respectively for the 16, 32 and 64GB models. Prices for iPad accessories are expected to be announced at launch. iPad accessories are also available for pre-order via Apple's online stores.

At £429 for the cheapest iPad compared to $499 in the US, there is a significant markup for the European market which could have expected a price of around £338 for a straight USD to GBP conversion. Apple claims that the higher cost abroad is due to higher taxes and shipping costs with all UK prices including VAT.

Apple has also announced that it plans to sell the iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July with prices to follow.

The original international iPad launch was pushed back last month after Apple experienced a "surprisingly strong US demand" that saw the company sell over one million units in just 28 days. This lead many in the UK and other countries to purchase the device via eBay and other services providing a way to ship iPads from the US. While a dedicated iPad App Store doesn't yet exist in the UK, a number of iPad apps are available if searched for.

Should both Wi-Fi and 3G models go on sale at the same time in the UK and other countries it will be interesting to see the demand for each type device with as many as three networks providing data plans for the 3G model in the UK.