iPhone and iPod touch dominate IGF Mobile award finalists

IGF Mobile- The Independent Games Festival Mobile, has named its finalists for its second annual competition. The iPhone and iPod touch dominate the award finalists and are the clear winner. Games made to be played on the devices dominate in every category.

IGF Mobile takes places during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Mobile conference, at a special ceremony that is scheduled to happen during the event on March 24 in San Francisco. The winners will be honored alongside others at the IGF Awards on March 25, 2009.

iPhone-based finalists include Smiles, Fieldrunners and Edge in the IGF Mobile Best Game category; Galcon and Eliss in the Innovation In Mobile Game Design category; Fieldrunners, Dizzy Bee and Ruben & Lullaby in the Achievement In Art category; Real Racing in the Technical Achievement category; Radio Flare, Zen Bound and Edge in the Audio Achievement category; and with finalists include Edge, Dizzy Bee, Fieldrunners, Zen Bound and Frenzic in the Best iPhone Game category.

Apple iPods are hot in India

Apple's iPods have stamped its authority among the country's style-conscious music buffs, but many of its other products, including the iconic iPhone have not found too many takers in India, researchers tracking the industry said. According to research firm IDC, iPods dominate the portable music player category with a 62 per cent market share, many times ahead of its nearest competitor Transcend from Taiwan that commands 15 per cent share.

Experts attribute the success of Apple's iPods to affordable price points and widespread distribution. Apple's iPods are priced between Rs 2,300 to Rs 21,000 equipped with different features and user-interfaces.

Easy availability of the gadget that is also found in stationary shops have also boosted sales. "In 2006, only about 15,000 units of iPods were being sold every quarter but Apple cut down prices last September and that has given a boost to its sales in India," said Shiladitya Sarkar, senior analyst, peripherals research, IDC. The company's product, however, staggers behind its Indian and global peers in the personal computers sales.

The response to iPhone has been rather lukewarm, unlike the United States where buyers waited in long queues to get hold of the device, analysts said, although official sales numbers were not known. An Apple spokesperson in Singapore declined to comment on Apple's India specific pricing and distribution strategy.

"Barring iPods, Apple's products are extremely unaffordable," said Rajesh Kurup, research director, eTechnology Group at research firm IMRB. "This does make the brand iconic and aspirational but the high cost and skeletal sales encourage grey market operators to deal in Apple products." Sumanta Mukherjee, analyst, computing products research, IDC India said vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell have a huge product portfolio, with different products at different price points whereas Apple is catering only to high-end users of personal computers.

"Indian buyers are not just price conscious but also demand value, else low cost computers would have grabbed market share," Mukherjee said. "The Apple Macs continue to be limited to a few niche segment - segments that requires high end graphic processing capability," Kurup said.

Apple to launch new range of iPods in India

A complete new range of ipods with enhanced user interface was introduced in India and it includes the iPod Touch with a multi touch user interface, the new iPod Nano featuring video playback and iPod Classic which can store upto 40,000 songs.

The iPod Touch is 8mm thin and supports up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to 5 hours of video playback. The 8GB ipod will be available for Rs.15,100, 16GB one for Rs.19,100 and 32GB one for Rs.25,000. The product is likely to be available in the market from October. Additionally,the iPod Touch also includes a 3.5-inch widescreen display, Wi-Fi wireless, integrated volume control buttons, a built-in speaker for casual listening, a built-in accelerometer and other advanced sensors.

The new range also includes new fourth generation iPod Nano which will be available in 8GB and 16GB. The new Nano has more capacity of storage for more music and video than its predecessor. The new Nano will be available in a gamut of nine different colours and it supposedly sports a larger screen. The fourth generation iPod Nano with a curved aluminum and glass enclosure is touted to be the thinnest in the family.

It also contains a ‘Shake to Shuffle’ feature which literally shuffles the songs when shaken. Moreover, the new Nano promises up to 24 hours of music playback or 4 hours of video playback. The 8GB model will reportedly cost Rs.9,700 and the 16GB model will cost Rs.12,500. The product is expected to be available in next two weeks.

New iPods from Apple on September 9

Was the faux pass about the Steve Jobs obituary by a reputed news agency like Bloomberg deliberate? Events that follow in September may force you to ask this question to yourself. Apple is all set to launch a new range of iPods.

Apple has e-mailed invites to reporters for a special event titled “Let’s Rock,” that will be held simultaneously in the US and UK. It carries the image of a man jumping and listening to an iPod. So the writing on the wall is very clear. It is going to be a launch of a new iPod.

How many of us know that the iPod trademark was initially registered for Internet kiosks? Apple took keen interest in developing software for personal digital devices. The business genius in Steve Jobs sensed that while other companies had made forays into digital cameras, camcorders and other devices the mp3 music players, then in 2000, were quite gawky. Steve Jobs ordered the creation of the iPod. Apple outsourced the creation of the iPod with the program being overseen personally by Steve Jobs. The first iPod was unveiled on 23 October 2001. The rest is history. Never before has a device so profoundly changed the way we hear our music.

Back from nostalgia to the September 9 event. Industry experts believe that Apple will be releasing a new iPod Touch and a 4 GB iPod Nano. The pricing of the iPod Touch may have necessitated a re-launch. Presently an iPhone is priced at $199 where as, an iPod Touch, which is only a music player, ships at $ 299. American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said “Pricing needs to be adjusted downward toward market conditions. We are in a tougher economy. That’s what makes most sense”.

Apple is targeting the festive season in the run up to Christmas. With such astounding achievements it is little wonder that its market cap is even higher than that of Google. Steve Jobs is known to have stated as early as July this year that the company will be looking forward for some new launches in the coming months. History also has a precedent of new product launches by Apple in September. The only matter left to speculate is will there be some new MacBooks too? Wait for September 9th and see it for yourself.