Second only to iTunes, Getjar offer the full range of mobile applications across all mobile platforms including Android, Blackberry, Java, iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile.

With over one billion downloads to date, GetJar conducted a review of more than 70,000 apps within its store to identify user interests and trends among its millions of users. As of July 2010, YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo! Mobile remained among the top, with games “Warships Sea on Fire” and “Racing Mania” top among its category. Other leading categories include lifestyle, entertainment, music, maps, search, financial, sports and productivity downloads.

With downloads coming from more than 200 countries and 2000 different handsets, GetJar is also uniquely placed to see shifts in demographic trends in consumption by region, platform and handset and content type.

It is interesting to see patterns emerging from different countries in the world and Getjar CMO Patrick Mork comments:

“Clear patterns are starting to emerge, we see Indian consumers downloading more productivity applications that enhance the usage of their phone compared to Americans for example and English consumers downloading more entertainment apps then Indians. Religious apps are popular in the Middle East. Downloads by platform are also shifting quickly. Android wasn’t even a part of our business last year. Today, it’s the 2nd most popular platform developers are submitting on when uploading content to GetJar and we have at least 3 devices in our top 20 list of devices in the US that are Android powered.”

A understandably delighted Ilja Laurs, GetJar founder and CEO said:

“We’re thrilled to have reached three million downloads per day, which allows us to tap into consumers’ perceptions and attitudes, and what is trending across the U.S. and the rest of the world. We’ve seen our daily downloads grow more than 300 percent year-on-year with significant growth coming from North America, Western Europe, Asia and South Africa.  As consumers move from ‘browsing and searching’ to ‘downloading and tapping’, we are seeing that apps are becoming a mainstream way for people to consume content not only in the developed markets on smartphones but all over the world on all different types of handsets.”

Here are the top ten mobile apps, decided by overall downloads:

1.       Facebook Mobile
2.       eBuddy Messenger
3.       Nimbuzz
4.       Migg33
5.       Opera Mini browser
6.       Yahoo! Mobile
7.       Google
8.       Yahoo! Mail
9.       Bitstream Bolt Browser
10.      YouTube

Top 10 Social & Messaging Downloads
1.       Facebook Mobile
2.       eBuddy Messenger
3.       Nimbuzz
4.       Mig33
5.       Yahoo! Mail
6.       shut down mobile by sms
7.       Snaptu
8.       qeep
9.       RockeTalk
10.      eBuddy Lite Messenger

Top 10 Handsets by Visits (US)
1.       Sanyo Incognito
2.       Apple iPhone
3.       Samsung Seek
4.       LG Rumor Touch
5.       Samsung Impression
6.       Sanyo 2700
7.       Samsung Instinct
8.       Samsung Solstice
9.       LG Rumor II
10.      HTC Evo

The UK weather is notorious for its unpredictability so it is essential to include wet weather gear, wellies and umbrella when packing your tent and sleeping bag for a weekend of festival fun.

Not so long ago arming yourself with a mobile phone was considered a sensible and necessary precaution, enabling one to keep in touch with friends at the festival and in case of emergencies.

But these days smartphones are the norm and prior to leaving home it is advisable to load your mobile device with the latest mobile applications that will transform the phone into the ultimate festival survival kit.

Whether it’s ‘glamping’ (glamorous camping) or camping at V-Fest or Bestival, music lovers can transform their mobiles, choosing from hundreds of weird and wonderful apps that work on any mobile platform (such as Android, Blackberry, Symbian among others) and handsets – not just iPhones – and suit every festival-goers’ needs.

During those early mornings before the music starts, festival-goers can download apps to surf the web to catch up on last minute festival news, or check out the weather forecast to see if it’s a day to get out the high-factor sunscreen or the waterproof ponchos. When darkness arrives, avoid the risk of ending up in a random-strangers tent or falling down a rabbit hole, with an app that turns mobile phones into a handy torch.

GetJar, the world’s second largest mobile apps store next to Apple, has put together a top five list of the best festival apps, to keep party-goers smiling, come wind, rain or shine during this summer’s festivals:

1) MobileTorch – turns your mobile into a torch to help light the way back to your tent
2) ForecaWeather – check what the weather’s going to be like so you know whether to take the brolly or shades
3) Shazam – Identify that wicked festival tune by simply holding your phone towards the music and selecting ‘Tag Now’
4) Google Maps with Latitude – map where you are and find out where your friends are too
5) PhotoBucket – share your festival pictures, as they happen, with your mates

You can also tag your favourite landmarks etc yourself to add your own contribution to the database to share with others. This excellent little app can be found at the Ovi store and is free to download for most Nokia mobile devices.

Here is a clip of how the application actually works;

And the winners are;

Best Java application: WaveSecure Backup – Helps keep your personal data safe by letting you back up or restore your data securely.

Best Symbian application: Nimbuzz – Helps you get free calls, instant messaging, file & location sharing with Nimbuzz friends and Skype, Facebook, MSN/Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM/AOL Instant Messenger, MySpace, ICQ, Gadu-Gadu, Hyves, & more.

Best Windows Mobile application: Opera Mini – Helps you get a fast, cost-efficient Web browsing experience with lightning fast data loads to your phone.

Best Blackberry application: Kayak Flight/Hotel Search – Helps you compare hundreds of travel sites at once, organize your itinerary and track your flights right on the Blackberry.

Best iPhone application: Tap Tap Revenge 3 – Helps you get access to over 100 free songs and 100 premium bundles of music rhythm games.

Best Android application: Lookout – Helps identify and block security threats, backs up and restores a user’s personal data, and can quickly find a lost or stolen phone by pinpointing its location on a Google map or sounding a loud alarm.

Best Overall Cross Platform App (Gettie Award): Layar – Helps to better understand and enjoy your context by augmenting your reality with digital information and immersive experiences.

Of the 7,000 plus apps submitted to the 2010 Getties, iPhone accounted for 26 percent of nominations, Android 20 percent, Java 18 percent, Symbian 15 percent, Blackberry 13 percent, and Windows Mobile, 9 percent.

Patrick Mork CMO of Getjar said:

“What an amazing night – with some of the best developers on the planet at the Gettie Awards ceremony. It was an honor for GetJar to host this celebration for the mobile developers that shape and drive our industry. We could only select one winner per platform, but in reality, the room was filled with winners based on the sheer creativity and innovation across all the major development platforms.”

Each category has three finalists meaning only 21 mobile apps out of the 7,000 entrants will make it through to the final stage.

The Gettie Award winner will be determined by a combination of nominations and judge’s votes. Developers get the chance to be the best within each category and best for overall application at this prestigious event.

Winners will be honored at The Gettie Awards Ceremony on July 12th. This spectacular networking event offers top developers the opportunity to showcase their work in front of industry luminaries, investors, technology press and peers.

The finalists in their respective categories are:

Best Android application: DriveSafe.ly, Lookout, Trip Journal

Best Blackberry application: Kayak Flight/Hotel Search, Waze, Cnectd

Best iPhone application: Tap Tap Revenge 3, Mint.com Personal Finance, Finger Physics

Best Java application: Snaptu, WaveSecure Backup, Trippo Voice Translator

Best Symbian application: NetQin Mobile Anti-virus, Nimbuzz, Point & Find

Best Windows Mobile application: Opera Mini, SportyPal, Glympse

Best Overall App (Gettie Award): Shazam on Android, Layar, eBuddy

The Gettie Awards ceremony will take place in conjunction with the first evening of VentureBeat’s annual MobileBeat conference scheduled for July 12, 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California.

GetJar CMO Patrick Mork said;

“GetJar is thrilled to honor some of the world’s best mobile applications developers for their outstanding work, 2010 is really the year of the mobile developer and the industry owes a lot to the men and women who are creating the outstanding content that’s helping drive our industry. The diversity, creativity and innovation across all the major development platforms really made it difficult for us to select these 21 finalists from the thousands of nominations we received. However, the Gettie Awards is as much a tribute to all mobile developers as it is to the select few that will be honored on July 12th.  The industry wouldn’t be where it is without them.”

movies now 2 app

With the launch of Movies Now 2 for iPhone & iPod Touch and Movies Now HD for iPad, AppSpark have improved the movie going experience for film fans who can find what films are showing in cinemas near them.

Featuring stylish yet simple user interface designs and fast processing, the apps provide instant, location-based show-times for cinemas, making going to the movies easier than ever before.

The ‘Now’ feature for iPhone not only tells users what movies are playing in cinemas near them, for added convenience the Now feature is also able to determine what movie is the easiest for users to reach by foot or car. This is cleverly calculated by taking into account the user’s proximity to a cinema and movie show time, it also considers the preview time in its calculation – an ideal feature for those who prefer to skip the previews and arrive just in time for the starting credits.

Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder of AppSpark, said;

“Our first app, Movies Now! for iPhone exceeded our expectations in terms of the positive amount of feedback and number of downloads. The app entered the iTunes App Store’s Top 100 in the Entertainment Category in the US, UK and Canada and reached the Top 5 overall in Ireland. From the reviews, it’s clear to see that iPhone users loved the apps’ user interface. With the new Movies Now 2 for the iPhone, we’ve significantly improved almost every feature in the app, its speed and functionality will blow you away!”

Movies Now HD for iPad and Movies Now 2 for iPhone allows users to:

• Access location based information with the Now feature for iPhone – find out at the tap of a screen, what movies are showing nearby.
• Browse movies – choose what to see, by simply tapping a movie poster users read descriptions for each movie, watch trailers and find out about the movie’s cast and see star ratings from Hollywood.com.
• View box office rankings
• Add theatres to a ‘favourites’ list – for faster access and search of cinemas by name or location.

Movies Now HD for iPad is currently available for an early bird price at £1.19 and comes with Movies Now 2 for iPhone at no additional cost. Movies Now 2 for iPhone is also available separately for just £0.59.

The record-breaking, billionth download moment happened on June 7^th at 11:02 AM — Geodelic, an app that discovers restaurants, retailers and attractions nearby, was downloaded on an Android handset.

The first app ever to be uploaded on GetJar was ‘Just Yak’ – an app designed for the old Ericsson T610 mobile, on March 25, 2005.

The most downloaded app of all time on GetJar is Facebook’s mobile site shortcut, which provides a fast and easy way to access Facebook’s mobile website on nearly any handset or platform. It has been downloaded more than 61million times since launch late last year.

The most popular app is mobile messenger application, eBuddy, who recently surpassed a landmark 50 million downloads on GetJar with the help of GetJar’s Pay Per Download (PPD) mobile advertising service. Other popular apps include social networking and messaging apps Nimbuzz, Mig33 and Cncted, a mobile web browser – Opera Mini, Google, Yahoo! Mobile, and Fandango.

Over the last five years there have also been many surprise hits on GetJar, including the popularity of religious apps such as the ‘Bible’ app, which offers users access to the Bible’s entire contents through their mobile phone. It was downloaded more than 398,000 times in its first month alone. Islamic app ‘Azan’ has also proven a massive success, downloaded over 1.5 million times.

Ilja Laurs, CEO and founder, GetJar comments:
“We’re delighted to have reached this milestone in mobile app history. As a team, we’re dedicated to driving the app market forward through an open approach. We’ve supported over 60,000 apps from developers across all major platforms, including Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian and our open philosophy has been integral to our continued growth and the development within the industry. We’re looking forward to the next billion downloads.”

world cup 2010 mobile apps

In case it had passed you by, the 2010 World Cup finals kick off this weekend in South Africa and to celebrate the greatest sporting event of all, almost everything in the media at present appears to have a World Cup theme.

Mobile applications are no exception to the rule and there are an abundance of apps available featuring football games, live score and news information, star player profiles and much more.

If you have a Nokia mobile device the range of World Cup apps in the Ovi store is growing on a daily basis, fans from all over the globe are invited to download wallpaper featuring their national team colours and theme to brighten up the appearance of their mobiles.

The EA Sports 2010 FIFA World Cup game is apparently the only official game for mobiles and is available on Ovi for only £4.00  which looks good value if you fancy playing out the finals in your armchair or on the commute to work.

For only £1.00 you can own Fantasy World Cup, where you are invited to assemble a team of top players from the 32 competing nations, with points awarded for each players real life performances in the competition.

There are a stack of mobile apps offering Live updates, scores and stats, in fact everything that you could possibly want to know, always available to impress your mates down the pub or simply to keep in touch with any games that you are unable to watch.

Even the free Fring app that connects you to all IMs and Social Media sites for FREE calls is listed as the must have World Cup app, inviting fans to keep connected during the games & share your World Cup excitement with your friends, live!

Sat amongst the long list of World Cup apps is one that is just begging to be downloaded, though again not just for the World Cup. It is called The Special One Speaks and promises a personal supply of wit and wisdom from Jose Mourinho.

‘Call upon The Special One at any time for an instant quote to inspire, amuse and console you and your friends throughout the World Cup and beyond.’

Check out all the World Cup mobile apps at the Nokia Ovi store and let us know your personal favourites or the ones that should be avoided!

Players choose one of the 32 national teams that qualified for this summer’s tournament and who will soon be travelling to South Africa. The Sudoku puzzle is then customised with that team’s name and kit, allowing England supporters to don the legendary white strip as they enjoy three game modes.

• Relax mode: playing without pressure, the game can be paused and resumed at the player’s leisure
• Arcade mode: playing to the whistle, gamers must complete the puzzle within a time limit
• Challenge mode: competing against online opponents from around the world, app users can influence their team’s world ranking with their performance.

There are three difficulty levels to choose from (easy, medium and hard) as designed by the unique puzzle generator. Players can also challenge other players around the world each day with a new puzzle and a new chance to be world champion. At the end of the game, players receive customised statistics for analysis of their performance.

Manuel Coelho, Director of edutainment and games at Avanquest Software said, “There are millions of Sudoku fans and soccer players around the world and with the FIFA World Cup now coming into focus, we want our customers to get more out of mobile entertainment. We’re excited to develop this first of many mobile applications that will be available for the most popular mobile device platforms.”

Soccer Sudoku 2010 costs £0.59 across the iPhone and Android platforms and £1.79 for the iPad. The game is available from the iPhone App Store and Android Market.

Start enjoying the Soccer Sudoku 2010 excitement now.

Step into the arena. Hear the roar of the crowd. And prepare to FIGHT! You are Spartacus and this 3D game gives you the weapons and fury to kill your way to freedom. Whether you customize your fighting experience or go head-to-head with other players via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the goal is the same – survive.

The Spartacus: Blood & Sand game can be downloaded from the Apple iPhone app store.

Bravo have also created a site called Sparta-cuss. Sparta-cuss is an obscene swear generator to promote Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Bravo. Lay down some obscene insults. Become a Gladiator and throw down the gauntlet to your most sworn enemies. Strictly 18+.

Spartacus: Blood & Sand continues on Bravo tonight and every Tuesday at 10pm in the UK.

Not for the faint-hearted, the controversial Spartacus: Blood and Sand brings to life the bloody world of gladiators as the Roman Republic’s most brutal fighters clash in the ultimate arena, and depicts one of history’s most violent eras.

Betrayed by the Romans, forced into slavery and reborn as a gladiator, Spartacus is a rebellious soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who is taken prisoner and torn away from the woman he loves. Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus, own the slave Spartacus and the gladiator camp. The former soldier is then condemned to the ways of the arena fighter – under the brutal hand of trainer Doctore,– where blood and death are primetime entertainment, and treachery, corruption and sexual allure will test him to the limit.