APPLE MAC APP STORE HITS 100 MILLION DOWNLOADS

At just under a year old, Apple's Mac App Store is celebrating a fairly significant milestone, hitting the 100 million download mark, a fact the company celebrated with a customarily self-congratulatory press release. The desktop store hit the scene in January of this year, just ahead of CES -- at present, it's home to "thousands" of apps, according to Apple. Granted, these numbers pale in comparison to the some 18 billion app downloads for Apple's other App Store, but still, not bad for a year's work.

MICROSOFT TO LAUNCH WINDOWS 8 APP STORE

Microsoft recently revealed a number of details on its Windows 8 Windows Store, an application storefront that will launch in February in tandem with Windows 8 Beta. Microsoft corporate vice president Antoine Leblond explained that developers will receive 80% of all revenues from applications sold after earning $25,000 in revenue, before which developers will receive a 70% cut. Apple, by contrast, offers developers 70% of app revenues. Microsoft is also taking a different approach to subscription models. The Daily Telegraph, for example, will offer a subscription option to its daily newspaper but will use its own existing authentication system to allow its users to log-in. Apple and Google typically force developers to use proprietary subscription systems.

“Lots of apps already have business models that depend on a particular transaction provider or that benefit from ties to other lines of business,” Ted Dworkin, partner program manager for Windows 8 Windows Store explained in a blog post. “Customers of those businesses want the trust and efficiency of a familiar, trusted transaction experience.” Developers can also choose “whatever ad platform they prefer, whether it’s from Microsoft or someone else.” Microsoft recently published its app certification policies and said that its goal is to be transparent by using “plain language” in its approval process and that it will provide feedback to developers whose apps are rejected.The Windows 8 Windows Store will have a global reach, allowing software companies to publish applications in 231 markets and in more than 100 languages.

ANDROID MARKET HITS 10 BILLION DOWNLOADS

The applications plaza for Google's mobile OS, Android, just had its ten billionth app downloaded. In honor of hitting this mark, it's passing the savings on to you, placing ten apps on sale for ten cents. The sale will last for ten days, so procrastinators will have a little extra time to decide which ones are worth a dime. There's a few classics on the list, such as SwiftKey X, Minecraft, Asphalt 6 and SoundHound.

MAC APP STORE APPLICATIONS MUST BE SANDBOXED BY MARCH 2012

As of March 1st, 2012, Apple will require all apps available in the Mac App Store to be "sandboxed," which Apple says is "a great way to protect systems and users by limiting the resources apps can access and making it more difficult for malicious software to compromise users' systems." The other side of that coin is that by limiting access to said system resources, applications are also more limited in what they can do, which has left some developers facing a tough decision: either comply and get in the App Store, or go it alone. They will be able to request access to some resources, but they'll have to provide a justification for it to Apple as part of the submission process. Apple had actually intended to implement the requirement this month, but it's apparently decided to give devs a bit more time to get used to it.

RIM'S BBM MUSIC NOW AVAILABLE IN US, CANADA AND AUSTRALIA

Research In Motion announced on Wednesday that its BBM Music service has launched in the United States, Canada and Australia. To begin, users can opt to sign up for a BBM Music Premium membership, which will allow them to access music and share with friends on their BBM contact lists. BBM Music Premium members will be able to select 50 initial songs from a library of millions. Members will then be able to view and play the 50 songs selected by other BBM Music Premium members in their contact list. A premium membership costs $4.99 per month after a free two-month trial. The free version of BBM Music only allows users to listen to 30-second previews of each song. RIM said the application is available for download from the BlackBerry App World.

LEVAR BURTON TO RELAUNCH READING RAINBOW...AS AN iPAD APP

Reading Rainbow which ran for over 20 years was an educational show that strived to encourage kids to read books. For those unfamiliar with Reading Rainbow, it was originally hosted by LeVar Burton, a former cast member of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The PBS show launched in 1983 and ran until November of 2006 to many children’s delight. However, PBS was forced to shut down the show in 2006 due to the network’s financial problems.

But all is not lost in Reading Rainbow land. Back in March of 2010, Burton tweeted that “Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works,” and is seems we now know what Burton had cooking up. Burton will be bringing it back, but this time, it’ll be on iPad screens instead of TV screens. The Reading Rainbow iPad app will be launched by Burton’s for-profit business, RRKidz.

The app will feature voice-over-enhanced children’s books, videos of Burton in actual places (like NASA stations!), and games. Burton said he’s “on a mission go to get kids hooked on books.” The app’s digital library will feature 300 books at launch and will include voice-overs and animations in addition to the games and videos.

Three-hundred books sounds like a lot, but Burton said that RRKidz has a technology at its disposal that lets it enhance a PDF children’s book with multimedia content in just a few hours. There aren’t very many details on this technology yet, but it apparently will allow people to digitally enhance enough content to add several books each month after launch.

The iPad app will be subscription based, and users will have to renew each month as more and more titles are added.

SAMSUNG TO RELEASE CHATON APP FOR iOS, ANDROID, BB AND BADA

Samsung has promised ChatOn for “all major smartphone platforms,” which appears to mean Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and Bada right now. With Samsung also developing Windows phones, it wouldn’t be surprising to see ChatOn appear there, too. Users will be able to send messages and photos, as well as share calendar items. Samsung’s also going to release a web client for carrying on conversations from any device with a modern browser.

FBI RELEASES iPHONE APP TO HELP LOCATE MISSING CHILDREN

The FBI has just released its very first mobile app, aimed at helping parents deal with their worst nightmare -- a missing child. Known as Child ID, the application allows users to store their kid's photos and identifying information directly on their handsets, making it easier to provide authorities with vital data whenever the little one disappears. Parents can also use the tool to dial 911 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with the tap of a button, and can instantly e-mail their child's details to law enforcement officials, thanks to a dedicated tab.

Of course, some may feel uncomfortable with keeping such personal information stored on a smartphone, but the Bureau insists that none of the data will be collected or shared without authorization -- and they're pretty good at keeping secrets. For now, Child ID is available only for iPhone, though the FBI plans to expand it to other mobile devices in the near future.

SKYPE RELEASES iPAD APP....SKYPE PULLS iPAD APP

Yesterday Skype unexpectedly released an official app for the iPad. Just as quickly it was pulled from the Apple App Store. Skype says the app was released prematurely. “To ensure your best Skype experience, we’ve temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today,” the company said in a posting on its Twitter account. “We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting Skype for iPad and apologize for the inconvenience.”

According to a Skype spokesperson the app will be re-released in "short order", but declined further comment.

TWO PHILADELPHIA NEWSPAPERS TO OFFER CHEAP TABLETS WITH SUBSCRIPTION

It’s 2011, and most old-school media outlets are still struggling to figure out what to do with their digital presences. Paywalls have been a risky bet for the most part (partly because they’ve been easy to get around), and monetizing content by serving advertisements isn’t always enough to keep the ship afloat when it’s so easy for readers to hop sources on the Web.

Two Philadelphia newspapers have come up with an interesting plan: to bundle inexpensive Android tablets with digital subscriptions. Both the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News are hoping the combined offering will boost readership of their downloadable news, which currently runs about $3 per week. While tablet pricing hasn’t been revealed just yet, it’s thought that parent company Philadelphia Media Network would offer the tablets as cheaply as half price. That’s not too shabby considering there are some fairly nice Android slabs available for around $200 retail — like Barnes and Noble’s Nook Color and the Viewsonic gTablet.

At the company’s press conference yesterday, PMN announced that a limited number of tablets would be available at launch, perhaps as few as 2,000. As you’d probably also expect, the devices will be Wi-Fi only to begin with — though 3G or 4G versions may be a possibility in the future. There is also an iPad app in the works, though subscriptions accessed via your shiny Apple tablet will unsurprisingly not be eligible for any kind of hardware subsidy.

As Brad Linder points out over at Liliputing, if readers are willing to sign up for long-term subscriptions, it’s a win-win situation. Subscribers get a good deal on a decent piece of Android hardware while the publisher guarantees its costs are covered and a little bit of profit will roll in for the next year or two.

GOOGLE + iPHONE APP WAITING APPLE'S APPROVAL

Late last week Google took the wraps off of its new social network, Google+. The search engine giant released an Android application in tandem with the launch of Google+, and now it’s been confirmed that an iOS version its on its way. A Google technician, Erica Joy, confirmed on her Google+ page that the iOS app has already been submitted and is simply awaiting Apple’s approval.

FACEBOOK TO LAUNCH SOMETHING 'AWESOME' NEXT WEEK

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network has plans to “launch something awesome” next week. There’s no official word on what will be announced, but we suspect it’s going to be the new iPhone photo-sharing service that we saw just last week. The service — which looked amazing in the leaked screen shots — will likely compete with other applications such as Instagram and Path. Rumor has it that inside Facebook headquarters, the new photo sharing app has been dubbed either “WithPeople,” or “Hovertown.” It’s entirely possible that Zuckerberg will also take the wraps off of his company’s native Facebook iPad app, since it would likely fit well into the photo-sharing ecosystem. Lastly, it’s possible Facebook will detail the next steps it’s taking with its Facebook Places check-in service, too, but given Zuckerberg’s use of the word “launch,” we’re not so sure. It remains unclear what day the announcement will be made.

BEST BUY PUTS MUSIC IN THE CLOUD; PLAYS CATCH UP TO EVERYONE ELSE

Best Buy has rolled out its aptly (if uncreatively) named Music Cloud service that lets you upload your audio to its servers and stream it wherever you go. You can also save songs locally, plus there are apps for Androids, Blackberrys, and iPhones to manage and play your music. There are two flavors of Music Cloud, Lite and Premium. The former is free, while the latter costs $3.99 a month, though Best Buy hasn't said what the difference is (other than price) between the two. The catch? It's currently only capable of grabbing songs from iTunes, so no uploading from file folders.

LEAK: FACEBOOK PHOTO SHARING APP

A new Facebook iPhone app built around photo sharing has leaked. Some images make it seem as if the service will eventually reside within the existing Facebook iPhone app, while others seem to showcase an entirely new app (or a completely redesigned Facebook app). It’s entirely possible that both will be correct. It would make a lot of sense for Facebook, which is by far the largest photo service on the Internet with close to 100 billion photos, to make their own dedicated photo app. The space is exploding with popularity right now as Instagram and others are gaining millions of users quickly. Regardless, Facebook’s focus on mobile photos going forward is very clear.

It also looks as if at least a part of these apps are using the some HTML similar to what has been recently rolled out to m.facebook.com. This is not surprising. Given their talk of commitment to HTML5, Facebook likely wants to make an app that is as portable as possible. That is, while it may be built first for iOS, it can easily be ported to Android and other platforms with the HTML5 elements in place.

ROLLS ROYCE iOS APP ALLOWS YOU TO DESIGN YOUR OWN CUSTOM VEHICLE

One of the most impressive uses for a device like an iPhone or iPad is that it can give potential customers access and capabilities that were previously impossible. In the case of the Rolls-Royce iOS app for iOS, car lovers can now build their own Rolls-Royce Phantom, Ghost, or any other vehicle in the lineup right from their home; And they can do so in a way that we haven’t seen before in an iOS app.

For starters, the 3D modeling and views are beautiful — so good that if you connect your iPad to your TV over HDMI, it still looks smooth and crisp — and besides having the ability to build your car from the ground up, you can even pick a custom paint job by taking or using a photo of something on your device and matching the paint swatch to any color in that photograph.

While the percentage of iOS users that can afford a Rolls-Royce is another story, it’s a smart move from a company that will do whatever the customer wants, and it lets potential customers explore Rolls-Royce in any setting they choose.

MAGAZINES COME TO ANDROID MARKET; NEXT ISSUE MEDIA FIRST IN LINE

On Wednesday Next Issue Media — an independent media venture founded by Conde Nast, Hearst Corporation, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. — released an early build of its new Android publishing platform. It’s home to popular titles such as Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Parents, New Yorker, Fortune, and Time. The applications for each magazine are only available on Samsung’s original Galaxy Tab on Verizon Wireless for now, and you’ll need to download them from Verizon’s own VCast application store, AllThingsD said.

An issue of Esquire costs $4.99, although it can be purchased for $1.99 per month, too. Next Issue Media’s CEO, Morgan Guenther, said that publishers will receive “at least” 70% of each transaction, and that the company plans to offer at least 40 different magazine titles by the end of 2011. A webOS version is in the works, for HP’s upcoming TouchPad tablet

PANDORA APP SENDS GENDER, BIRTH DATE AND LOCATION INFO TO AD SERVERS

According to an analysis done by the folks at Veracode, Pandora seems to be sharing more information about you then it lets on. More specifically, they found that the Android app (they haven't yet gotten around to the iOS version) "appears" to be sending information about users' birth date, gender, Android ID and GPS location to various advertising companies -- bits of information that the firm notes could be combined to determine who someone is, what they do for a living, and even who they associate with. For its part, Pandora is simply declining to to comment at the moment, and we're guessing that's unlikely to change anytime soon given the federal grand jury investigation into privacy issues with apps.

LEAK: GOOGLE'S CLOUD BASED MUSIC PLAYER

Amazon recently launched Cloud Player and Google is set to launch their version of a cloud based music player with storage. Droid Life has snagged a leaked version of the player (click here for download).

Things are almost identical to the existing Android Music player in terms of appearance, while the settings menu has expectedly been augmented with various streaming-related options. Android Market itself has also apparently been tweaked slightly, and the developer version included a few other surprises as well, including new camera and desk clock apps.

FEDERAL GRAND JURY INVESTIGATING APPLE AND GOOGLE OVER APP PRIVACY

A new report filed by The Wall Street Journal suggests that New Jersey federal prosecutors are beginning to take a long, hard look at mobile applications. The publication writes that a grand jury will investigate whether iOS and Android applications distributed by Apple and Google “illegally obtain or transmit information about their users without proper disclosures.” Several application makers, including Pandora Media, informed the Journal that were issued subpoenas by the court, but have been told that they are not the target of the impending litigation.

“In early 2011, we were served with a subpoena to produce documents in connection with a federal grand jury, which we believe was convened to investigate the information sharing processes of certain popular applications that run on the Apple and Android mobile platforms,” Pandora noted in a regulatory filing on Monday.

The investigation aims to determine whether mobile application developers have violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by transmitting anonymized (read: not so anonymized) data to app makers and/or third-parties. The report notes that prosecutors could charge individuals or companies with a “felony or misdemeanor” or could “pursue civil charges.” Neither Google nor Apple responded to the WSJ‘s request for comment.

CABLEVISION LAUNCHES iPAD APP, OUTDOES TIME WARNER

We knew that Cablevision was involved in creating an iPad app that enables the viewing of TV content, but we didn’t know that the app would offer iPad owners a better experience than FIOS’ and Time Warner Cable’s offerings. Cablevision’s Optimum app lets you, from behind your own network at home, view your entire channel lineup directly from up to two iPads simultaneously, complete with program guide information, access to the company’s more than 2,000 VOD offerings with the rest coming this summer, while also letting you record and control your DVR directly from the app.

After entering their Optimum account username and password, users can immediately access every Optimum channel that subscribed to from the iPad. It doesn’t look like you’re able to currently watch any recorded video from your DVR, but that’s not such a big deal in my book. Cablevision told says their app doesn’t use the internet to deliver video to your iPad, nor is the content streamed, rather it’s sent over the company’s network just as it works with your set-top box. If you are an Optimum customer that doesn’t have a cable modem, Optimum will provide an internet-blocked cable modem for free that will enable you to use the iPad app with a user-provider secure wireless router. Cablevision also said that they plan to deploy the same experience to other devices, so we anticipate an iPhone and Android app in the future.