Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.

So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chris’ Pick: The Wars

I don’t know what it is about this game. It’s not complex, the graphic aren’t that great, I just find it very addicting! Always have to try to beat the next level. I am up to level eight, but I have stalled out. Give it a try – you may have as hard a time putting it down as I am!. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

James’ Pick: AT&T Mark the Spot

AT&T coverage in my condo is not good. I have to keep my iPhone in certain spots and if I move it, the call will most likely be dropped. AT&T have released an app to help iPhone users pin point dropped calls, no coverage areas and slow data downloads. Mark the Spot uses GPS to send your location and the type of service issue you had to AT&T. The real question is whether or not AT&T acts on the data they receive… [Free - iTunes link]

Georgia’s Pick: Cribbage Lite

It’s and easy, fun game that you can pick up and put down in a moment. It allows you to mug points and though I suspect the AI cheats slightly (not that I can prove it — yet!), it’s challenging, especially when you’re stuck, unable to move, lest your sleeping baby wake up and start crying again. And yeah, I know it’s not a trendy FPS, but I played it with my parents when I was a kid, and it still relaxes me, — and it’s FREE! — so no making fun! [Free - iTunes link]

Matt’s Pick: Doodle Jump

Doodle Jump is one of the most simplistic, yet addicting games I have ever come across! The developers constantly update the app adding features or “hidden” themes within the app. There are number of maneuvers & objects to interact with that make this game much more interesting than just “jumping up platforms,” so you will not get bored of the same ‘ol movement. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Rene’s Pick: Airport Express

32 smartphones, 7 editors, 1 weekend, and everyone needs wireless connectivity NOW! So what was Dieter to do? Bust out Apple’s Airport Express, connect it up to the hotel ethernet, and then crack the whip and set the 3rd annual Smartphone Experts Round Robin in motion. A tiny, rounded rectangular box in iPod white, the Airport Express also packs a speaker jack for Airtunes, so you can play your iTunes music on remote speakers, and a USB port so you can plug in a printer and use it from any computer on the same network. Awesome power, itty-bitty box. I bought one. And I bought one for my father for Xmas. [$99.00 - Apple Online Store link]

Your Pick?

You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Wars, AT&T Mark the Spot, Cribbage Lite, Doodle Jump, Airport Express — TiPb Picks of the Week!

Apple has sold an estimated 60,000 iPhones on launch day in South Korea and can be considered a success, especially if compared to the dismal sales in China.

In the 3rd quarter of 2009, the 60,000 iPhones sold equal 15% of the 400,000 total smartphones sold within the country. Not too shabby for for a single day of sales.

“In spite of the fact that the Korean market offers one of the most advanced set of mobile products and services in the world, smartphones only represent about 1% of the total mobile market, Executives at KT believe that the introduction of the iPhone could be a turning point for smartphones in Korea.”

With smartphones representing a total of only 1% of the total market, mainly due to handset manufacturers such as LG and Samsung who have long been king in this particular market, it seems like Apple has their work cut out for them.

[Via AppleInsider]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Apple Sells an Estimated 60,000 iPhones in South Korean on Launch Day

Our buddy Phil Nickinson over at sibling site WMExperts finally got his HTC HD2 on this weekend and has video’d up an amazing hands-on with what he swears is a 3-foot screen! Ahem. Anyway, I had a chance to try it out as well, but you’ll have to wait on my thoughts for a bit still…

Meanwhile, check out Phil’s video and let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Competition: HTC HD2 Hands-on

Apple snapped up online music streaming start-up Lala, and now attention has turned from the what to the why, with three areas of focus: the streaming itself, the talent behind it, and/or the bundled pay model that financed it. For those catching up, Lala scans a user’s hard drive for music, then allows them to stream that music over the internet, from anywhere, desktop or mobile. In other words, cloud-based iTunes.

Apple PR’s Steve Dowling sheds little light himself:

Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans.

The traditional “source familiar with the matter” told Reuters:

Apple recognizes that the model is going to evolve into a streaming one and this could probably propel iTunes to the next level.”

While the New York Times is hearing, from “one person with knowledge of the deal”:

This person said Apple would primarily be buying Lala's engineers, including its energetic co-founder Bill Nguyen, and their experience with cloud-based music services.

Some have also mentioned Lala’s payment system, which might handle bundled transactions more cheaply for Apple than iTunes’ current system. Still, regardless of the reasons, like the PA Semi and PlaceBase purchases, it will be interesting to see where Apple goes with Lala. Any guesses?

UPDATE: MediaMemo is reporting, based on multiple sources, that Apple paid around $80 million for Lala.

[via MacRumors]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

UPDATED: Lala Cost Apple $80 Million, was all About Streaming, or Talent, or Pay Model…

In Gameloft’s Dungeon Hunter [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch, you play a prince whose bride dies on your wedding night. In sorrow you decide to resurrect her. And as anyone who’s ever watched Buffy could tell you (or could have told the developers), this is a recipe for disaster.

Anyway, she becomes evil (duh!), kills you by way of thanks, and then proceeds to wreak havoc on the world. But here’s where it becomes an RPG — you, the prince, get a second chance to make things right.

The graphics in Dungeon Hunter are beautifully rendered. They are clean and crisp and allow you to fully immerse yourself in the fantasy environment. Load times, however, are extremely long. I have a 3G but if you have a 3GS it may not be that bothersome. Loading occurs not only when you begin the game but also each time you zone into a new area during the game.

Dungeon Hunter begins by asking you to choose between three different classes: warrior, rogue or mage. Though some people may enjoy the game enough to play it again using another type of character class, I doubt many would find the storyline compelling enough to go through the same stages again.

There are also five fairies which join you throughout the game. Each of these fairies gives you access to a different element of magic. The elements are: fire, air, water, earth and lightning. You can only choose one fairy to accompany you on your quest at a time.

Sorting through your various magic items can be a difficulty in RPG games. Dungeon Hunter has each magical item color coded so that you know how many magical properties it has. Items written in white have no magical properties while those in gold have 4.

Likewise, RPGs can be cumbersome and take a long time to learn character movements and spells. I found that the controls to the game were very intuitive and the manner of moving your character easy. The story is well developed and the quests are not overly difficult. If you are looking for a lot of difficult puzzles to figure out, you won’t find them here. However, if you want a fun, beautifully rendered RPG for your iPhone or iPod touch, give Dungeon Hunter a try and let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Dungeon Hunter RPG for iPhone

The New York Times had a huge, gushing, front-page-of-the-business-section story this weekend about the iPhone App Store titled Apple’s Game Changer, Downloading Now.

Now the App Store, with over 100,000 apps and 2 billion downloads is a runaway success, no doubt about it, but given the continued problems with developer relations and capricious approval processes, seeing Apple Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller, and VP of iTunes Eddy Cue, attack public relations via the New York Times, and not help restore faith the developers via a come-to-jesus-phone open and honest airing of grievances and non-opaque plans for improvement just comes off as… awkward (and perhaps a tad insulting). And the New York Times — really? If you don’t have the guts to go for the story and ask the tough questions of Apple, who’s left?

Anyway, here’s what we did get from the Apple brass:

There’s a 24″ (20 LED screen) display in the lobby of 1 Infinite Loop displaying 20,000 top-selling app icons, and each time one is bought, its icon jiggles and ripples the adjacent icons. Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

First up, Schiller says the review process is a necessary evil to ensure customers trust that apps won’t crash their iPhones, steal their data, or contain illegal content, and that most apps just sail through the process. They received 10,000 apps a week.

"I absolutely think this is the future of great software development and distribution. The idea that anyone, all the way from an individual to a large company, can create software that is innovative and be carried around in a customer's pocket is just exploding. It's a breakthrough, and that is the future, and every software developer sees it."

"I think, by and large, we do a very good job there. Sometimes we make a judgment call both ways, that people give us feedback on, either rejecting something that perhaps on second consideration shouldn't be, or accepting something that on second consideration shouldn't be."

"We care deeply about the feedback, both good and bad," he says. "While there are some complaints, they are just a small fraction of what happens in the process."

"Our goal is very simple: We want to have the best platform for applications that there has ever been on any product. We know we're not perfect, but we know we're better than anything else that has been and we want to keep improving it."

Apple is typically considered to be a perfectionist when it comes to aesthetic and experience, however, so a “good enough” argument is hard to process — that small fraction should be keeping Steve Jobs up at night.

The Times does mention the controversies and offers some developer comments about apps almost a year in limbo, and large gaming companies being treated the same as hobbyists. They also cover the jailbreak alternative. When it comes to Cue, however, we get:

"A rocket ship is even too small of an analogy. We've been able to leverage a lot of our iTunes technology for the App Store. But it's completely different. We're reviewing all of those apps. We really don't have to review each and every song."

Apple told the Times they’re “trying” (?) to increase the number of reviewers and streamline the process.

Check out the full article, which also features RIM/BlackBerry, Palm, Microsoft, and Google’s take on the App Store and apps in general. And let us know what you think!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

New York Times Gives Sweet Front-Page Love to iPhone App Store

AT&T has released a new iPhone app called AT&T Mark the Spot [Free - iTunes link] intended to allow customers to send in real-time, location-specific feedback about dropped calls, coverage gaps, or other network problems, have occurred.

AT&T is committed to providing its customers with the best network experience possible.

This application will help contribute towards this goal and its utilization is greatly appreciated.

AT&T is often criticized for poor signal quality and network availability when it comes to the iPhone, is this a positive sign that they’re trying to make things right?

[Thanks Keith and Gregg for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

AT&T Releases “Mark the Spot” iPhone App for Network Quality Feedback