The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views
The Malaysian Insider :: Breaking Views |
| Angry Birds, YouTube among top apps of 2012 Posted: 31 Dec 2012 07:52 AM PST TORONTO, Dec 31 — Angry Birds, Instagram and Facebook continued to be among the most downloaded apps of the year but rising stars also earned coveted spots on smartphones and tablets.  Instagram was one of the top downloaded apps for 2012. — AFP pic "2012 was a transformative tipping point in the way consumers use apps," said Craig Palli, a vice president at mobile marketing company Fiksu, adding that the biggest shift is in consumers' eagerness to turn to apps for a broad range of day-to-day tasks. Categories such as social networking, media and entertainment, photo editing, and games, continued to captivate consumer interest, with YouTube and Angry Birds being the top free and paid apps respectively at Apple's App Store. Meanwhile, several apps released this year quickly joined the ranks of the top downloaded and revenue grossing apps of the year. The game Draw Something for iPhone and Android quickly gained widespread popularity when it was released in February, and despite dropping off, is still the second most downloaded paid app of the year Android and Apple devices. "It had a big run and other multi-player puzzle-oriented games like newcomers LetterPress and ScrambleWithFriends proved popular, too," Palli said. "But in many respects these titles were inspired by the more revolutionary Words With Friends." Songza, a music-discovery app for iPhone, Android and Kindle Fire, saw significant growth in both the United States and Canada, where it is now one of the top free apps on the App Store. Paper, a sketchbook app for the iPad, is estimated to be one of the top grossing apps released this year according to Distimo, an app analytics company. It was named by Apple as the iPad app of the year. But the real revolution, according to Palli, is among consumers who are eager to turn to apps for their day-to-day tasks, such as finding a taxi or hotel, following current events or increasingly, making payments. "It is really consumers who are turning to apps first and traditional methods second," said Palli. Uber and Hailo, which allow users to book limos and taxis, and AirBnB and HotelTonight, for finding accommodations, began to move mainstream in 2012, Palli said. Payment apps such as Square, and Apple's introduction of the Passbook has further positioned the smartphone as a digital wallet. This year, during major events such as the Olympics, Hurricane Sandy and the US presidential election, the top apps on the App Store reflected those events, said Palli, showing the demand for keeping up with current events through apps. — Reuters |
| Sudan closes think-tank after protest , says director Posted: 31 Dec 2012 07:45 AM PST  Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir waves his walking stick as he addresses the crowd during the inauguration of the new Hadida oilfield in Hadida, South Kordofan State, December 27, 2012. — Reuters pic The Al-Khatim Adlan Center for Enlightenment and Human Development (KACE) was one of a number of bodies that tried to deliver a petition to the country's human rights commission yesterday. Police armed with batons blocked their way and, today, a government official told the organisation its operating license had been withdrawn, director Bakr Afif told Reuters. Sudan has avoided the mass "Arab Spring" uprisings that unseated rulers in neighbouring Egypt and Libya. But authorities have clamped down on a series of small protests over corruption, rising prices and austerity measures imposed to cope with an economic crisis exacerbated by the secession of the country's oil-producing south last year. "We were informed today by the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) that we have to close and that our license has been annulled," said Afif, referring to the government body that licenses non-governmental groups. Security agents later took documents and other property, witnesses said. KACE, one of Sudan's biggest civil society organisations, held workshops promoting democracy and the rule of law and said it was working to establish "long-term peace and stability in Sudan" on its website. It had helped draft the protest petition that gave details of alleged cases where the government had hampered the work of other groups. A source at HAC declined to comment, saying a separate state body was responsible for the closure. The source added KACE could appeal against the decision. No one was immediately available to comment from Sudan's security service. Police fired teargas at university students in early December after four days of protests following the death of four students from Sudan's strife-torn Darfur. The demonstrations were the most sustained to hit Sudan since a wave of small protests against government austerity measures in June. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: ALL To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan