Not CES 2011 – Apple App Store opens for business
Apple has made a habit of making an announcement in and around CES week ensuring that its rivals don’t get all the limelight. So no surprise then that it has this up its sleeve.
Nope it is not the iPad 2 or the 4G Verizon iPhone, rather it is the launch of the Apple Store for Mac computers. You can read the release below, but there are apparently more than 1,000 free and paid apps which you dowwnload in the usual way via iTunes.
It looks like there’s some great stuff being announced, but will apps for computers catch on in quite the same way they have on mobile devices? I am yet to be convinced…
CUPERTINO, California–January 6, 2011–Apple today announced that the Mac App Store is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the revolutionary App Store experience to the Mac, so you can find great new apps, buy them using your iTunes account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.
“With more than 1,000 apps, the Mac App Store is off to a great start,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favourite apps.”
The Mac App Store offers apps in Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity, Utilities and other categories. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see staff favourites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.
Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favourites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com and Boinx. iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand apps from Apple’s popular iLife ’11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for £8.99 each, and Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps from iWork are available for £11.99 each. Aperture 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for £44.99.
“We’re delighted to bring our professional-grade paint and drawing app, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, to the Mac App Store on its first day of launch,” said Carl Bass, Autodesk’s CEO. “We’ve seen tremendous success on the Mac, iPhone and iPad with multiple apps. We’re excited to offer SketchBook Pro on the Mac App Store so artists can easily create everything from quick sketches to high-quality artwork right on their Macs.”
“By offering the Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker app on the Mac App Store, we’re making it even easier for people to discover and access their family history,” said Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com’s CEO. “The Mac App Store will drive a new generation of innovation on the Mac platform.”
“We’re thrilled to have our award-winning animation, video production and photography software available on the new Mac App Store,” said Oliver Breidenbach, Boinx Software’s CEO. “The Mac App Store makes it easier than ever for consumers to access all the innovative software designed for the Mac.”
To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit apple.com/uk/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
