www.landofthelost.net

In “Land of the Lost: Crystal Adventure,” you must help Rick Marshall (Ferrell) overcome  challenging obstacles — ie. pushing blocks, building bridges, and navigating around hurdles — to make your way through the 25 Sleestak temple levels and reach the large crystal. Part of the fun though is collecting the more difficult to get small crystals, which adds to your points and can get your name featured on the leaderboard.

Visit the following link to download the game (which is free): http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=312352650&mt=8&uo=6

Rick Marshall (Will Ferrell) has been dropped in the Land of the Lost and is trapped in the Sleestak temple.  Help him make his way through the levels of the temple by overcoming the pits and traps he’ll encounter.  Each level presents its own challenging mix of obstacles to overcome in an effort to reach the large crystal.  Push blocks, build bridges, and navigate around obstacles in order to reach the end of the level – all while avoiding the Sleestaks.

Be sure to collect the small crystals along the way.  It will require a bit more brain power than just heading to the large crystal, but it will drive your name further up the scoreboard!

After completing a few levels, give your brain a break and look through photos and watch trailer clips for a taste of what to expect from the movie.

Exclusive features:
•       25 levels of puzzle-driven fun ranging in difficulty from simple to dastardly.
•       Photos, trailers, and sound bytes from the Universal Pictures movie starring Will Ferrell.
•       Made a mistake?  Hit the undo button to take your move back.
•       Collect Crystals to achieve the highest score possible
•       Avoid the Sleestaks
•       Replay any completed level to try and get a higher score.
•       Local scoreboard
To see the game in action, take a look at this video:

fiercemobilecontent.com

Jason Ankeny

Two days after Amazon.com purchased mobile startup Lexcycle, the developer behind the free iPhone e-reader application Stanza, the checkbook is out for another free iPhone app: This time, Internet content provider IAC announced its acquisition of digital restaurant guide provider Urbanspoon. Financial terms of the deal, which closed back on Feb. 13, were not disclosed. Urbanspoon–which aggregates restaurant reviews from across the web, drawing on sources including newspapers, professional food critics, bloggers and diners–joins an IAC portfolio of local brands including Cityguide, Evite and InsiderPages. Urbanspoon is already a member of the Citysearch Partner Network, and began integrating IAC local content across its service last year.

Named one of the top five free iPhone applications last year by sister publication FierceDeveloper, Urbanspoon transforms the Apple device into a kind of digital-age Zagat guide. The application relies on GPS to locate restaurants in the user’s vicinity, offering comprehensive business listings, ratings and reviews while filtering results according to neighborhood, cuisine or price. But what’s really cool about Urbanspoon–available in most major metropolitan North American cities and London–is that it capitalizes on the iPhone 3G’s built-in accelerometer: Shake up the device, and the app’s ‘slot machine’ feature will identify a recommended restaurant. In late 2008, Apple named Urbanspoon one of the year’s most downloaded App Store entries.

Video: Urbanspoon Demo

venturebeat.com

Camille Ricketts

Real estate site Zillow is launching its own iPhone application, bringing price point information and other data on 88 million U.S. homes to users’ fingertips. Why they might need this cabability — unless they’re stalking the streets in search of a new house — is a mystery, but nevertheless. If that’s your thing, then you’re in luck — the app uses the iPhone’s built-in GPS to pinpoint your location and show price estimates for all of the homes nearby, moving along as you move.

After three years, Zillow has at least some data on 95 percent of the homes in the country, including photos and contact information for 3.4 million for-sale listings. The iPhone app will also provide users with information on recently-sold homes and bottom-line prices that homeowners would accept, the Seattle-based company says. They can also use the app to search for data on particular addresses, neighborhoods, zip codes and cities, even if they aren’t close by, just like on the site itself.

In its announcement of the app’s release, Zillow chief executive said, “Researching homes and house-hunting is inherently a mobile experience.” But is it really anymore? Especially with real estate tools like Zillow itself, it’s easier than ever to pinpoint the few properties you’re interested in and only view a select few. Regardless, the iPhone app might appeal to those who are simply curious about the relative ritzy-ness of various neighborhoods.

Parts of the application (those that don’t require the GPS) work on the iPod Touch as well. It’s free to download in the Apple App Store. Zillow’s prime competitor, Trulia, already has an iPhone app of its own.

blogs.wsj.com

By Amol Sharma

Greystripe, an ad network for mobile applications and games, has a new report showing how consumers are using free iPhone applications.

Among the interesting findings:

* People use free apps an average of 20 times before getting bored and looking for something else.
* The average time they spend using/playing with the apps is 9.6 minutes.
* So-called “tailgate” ads, which are short flash videos or games users interact with before an app launches, are keeping people’s attention for about 22 seconds — a positive development in the fledgling mobile ad space.

The data are based on the 600 applications in Greystripe’s network, including videogames like Beer Pong and Origami Rose that were created by independent developers. Greystripe is also serving ads for EA Mobile’s first ad-supported mobile game, Lemonade Tycoon, which tests users’ abilities to run a lemonade stand.

Apple has 35,000 applications. Others have put out various metrics about app usage, such as mobile analytics provider Flurry, as well as Pinch Media, whose presentation from earlier this year has made the rounds with app developers and venture capital firms:

businessweek.com
The companies are in talks to develop two iPhone-like handhelds that could be unveiled as soon as this year

Verizon Wireless is warming to the idea of an Apple (AAPL) partnership. Verizon Wireless is in talks with Apple to distribute two new iPhone-like devices, BusinessWeek has learned. Apple has created prototypes of the devices, and discussions reaching back a half-year have involved Apple CEO Steve Jobs, according to two people familiar with the matter.

One device is a smaller, less expensive calling device described by a person who has seen it as an “iPhone lite.” The other is a media pad that would let users listen to music, view photos, and watch high-definition videos, the person says. It would place calls over a Wi-Fi connection. One of these devices may be introduced as early as this summer, one person says.

Until now, AT&T (T) has been the only carrier of Apple’s iPhone in the U.S., adding more than 7 million subscribers as a result of the arrangement; the company has said it’s in talks with Apple to extend the partnership, due to end as soon as next year. An agreement to distribute Apple communication devices via Verizon Wireless may cost AT&T some of the business it has gained as the sole Apple carrier. Even if Verizon Wireless and Apple fail to strike a deal, talks between them increase pressure on AT&T to accept partnership terms favorable to Apple.
A Turnabout for Verizon Wireless

In a recent interview with BusinessWeek, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed that the company has spoken with Apple executives. “In the last six months, I have talked to Steve Jobs,” McAdam says. Although McAdam would not say what the two companies discussed, two people familiar with the subject said talks covered the new smaller iPhone-like device under development. Representatives of Verizon Wireless and Apple declined to comment. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel says: “We are delighted with the iPhone and our partnership with Apple.” The company declined to make an executive available.

The recent round of talks marks a turnabout for Verizon Wireless, which initially balked at becoming the exclusive U.S. distributor of the iPhone. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD), chafed at Apple’s request early on to take a cut of the phone’s monthly service fees and its desire to choose which retailers could sell the phone. Despite the failure of that deal, McAdam says “there is no animosity” between the two companies.

While talks between Verizon Wireless and Apple have heated up recently, no deal is imminent. It’s possible both sides may disagree over financial terms, such as how big a subsidy Verizon Wireless might pay for each device or whether to share monthly service revenue with Apple. Another deal breaker could be disagreements over distribution of wireless software applications. Apple is the exclusive provider and distributor of apps for the AT&T iPhone. If Apple requests a similar deal on newer devices, Verizon Wireless may balk.

Whatever the outcome of Apple’s discussions with Verizon Wireless, they at least could be used as a bargaining chip to help win concessions from AT&T. Apple may want AT&T to absorb an even larger portion of the costs of manufacturing the phone. Plus, it may seek to obtain promises from AT&T to beef up investments in its network and customer service operations. Many iPhone customers have complained about the quality of AT&T’s wireless network. AT&T’s success is so tied to the iPhone that it may have little choice but to accede to Apple’s demands. Still, during Apple’s quarterly earnings call on Apr. 22, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said: “We’re very happy with the relationship that we have [with AT&T] and do not have a plan to change it.”
Potent Threat

Apple could also use the prospect of an iPhone-esque device as leverage to prevent Verizon Wireless from introducing the Palm (PALM) Pre, or at least delay the introduction of the smartphone on Verizon’s network. Sprint Nextel (S) is due to release the widely anticipated phone in June. Selling the Pre through Sprint, with 35.5 million subscribers, is less a threat to Apple’s iPhone than if Verizon Wireless, with 86.6 million subscribers and a reputation for a superior network, were to begin distributing the device.

USA Today reported on Apr. 27 that Verizon Wireless and Apple are discussing the development of a current version of the iPhone for Verizon Wireless. That would mark the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T’s GSM technology.

But analysts say such a deal is unlikely because it would mean Apple would have to develop two versions of the same phone, which would increase the company’s costs. “We believe such a deal is unlikely due to the technology hurdles involved in building and supporting its first CDMA iPhone,” Gene Munster, a senior analyst at Piper Jaffray (PJC), wrote in a research note. Re-engineering the existing iPhone would also prove challenging from a design point of view, says Richard Doherty, research director of the Envisioneering Group. “You would be throwing away dollars,” he says. “Part of the miracle of the iPhone is they have big volumes with the same design.”

Terms of the Apple-AT&T agreement haven’t been made public, but they very likely impose strict limits on Apple’s ability to introduce an iPhone on a rival network. Many analysts speculate Apple and AT&T will extend their agreement in some fashion.
Smaller Media Pad

The new Apple devices under development, if introduced, hold the potential to shake up the tech industry. The media pad is smaller than an Amazon (AMZN) Kindle electronic reader, but its touchscreen is bigger than the Kindle’s, says the person who has seen it. Carriers such as Verizon and AT&T are keen on striking deals to supply wireless Internet access to these new small computing devices, such as netbooks, which represent revenue growth opportunities. Phone carriers also fear being cut out of their core markets for supplying land-line and wireless voice services.

“The media pad category might go to Verizon,” said the person who has seen the device. “We are talking about a device where people will say, ‘Damn, why didn’t we do this?’ Apple is probably going to define the damn category.”

The new iPhone-like device is slightly thinner and smaller than the existing iPhone, people say. The reason the device is much cheaper than existing iPhones is that it relies on a so-called system on a chip, which incorporates many types of chips and drives down the cost of silicon in such devices, says one source familiar with the design. This new chip could also potentially be used in the media pad. “It will have a much lower cost that will blow away the margins on the BlackBerry and the iPhone,” the person says.

Ante is an associate editor for BusinessWeek. Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek. With Peter Burrows in Silicon Valley and Olga Kharif in Portland, Ore.

blogs.wsj.com

By Raymund Flandez

It comes as no surprise that Apple Inc. is focusing its new iPhone advertisements on small businesses next. Since the Apple App Store opened 10 months ago for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, it is now approaching its 1 billionth download, which should come as early as tomorrow. Consumer demand caused about 110 million “apps” to be downloaded each month; these apps, from the frivolous to the practical, are free or can be bought for 99 cents or $1.99.

But the new iPhone 3G ads running now on television’s prime-time hours show a small-business bent. Users, the narration says, can use the iPhone to process credit-card transactions using Inner Fence’s Credit Card Terminal application; print a shipping label for a package using the Print & Share app; and check on the status of a delivery with FedEx Mobile app.

The move follows a number of key changes Apple has done to the iPhone’s functionality as it seeks to tap into the business market. They’ve already made business users happy with push e-mail, calendar and contacts capabilities and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange.

“Apple obviously has made some changes to their software earlier this year to include enterprise applications,” Carolina Milanesi, a research director at Gartner, said to NewsFactor.com, adding that Apple has also introduced virtual private network technology and other changes to firm up security issues for businesses. But enterprise adoption success haven’t reach high levels yet, analysts say.

Could Apple also be worried about competition? Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry, whose users are mainly business professionals, started its own version of the iPhone App Store earlier this month, called the Blackberry App World. So far, Blackberry has less than 1,000 applications compared with the 31,000 available for the iPhone. Apple, whose App Store contributes less than 1% to revenues, reports fiscal second-quarter earnings this afternoon, after the closing bell.

pcworld.com

Amazon.com has acquired Lexcycle, makers of electronic book reader Stanza. Lexcycle revealed the purchase on its Web site Monday afternoon.
Stanza is a desktop and iPhone application that allows users to download and read ebooks in multiple formats. Currently Stanza supports Adobe PDF, EPUB format, the XML-based standard format and support for Adobe’s eBook content protection technology, allowing users to purchase commercially published eBooks.
Of course, one of the features that would have attracted Amazon is Stanza’s ability to export PDFs, Word documents and other eBooks for the Kindle. Once exported the ebooks can be placed on the Kindle and read like any other eBook.
Stanza on the Mac also has the ability to export books as an MP3 file and then added to iTunes as an audio book.
Stanza has more than 1.3 million users in 60 countries, according to the company’s Web site. With the acquisition by Amazon, Stanza users may think that the app will change significantly, but Lexcycle says not to worry.

“We are not planning any changes in the Stanza application or user experience as a result of the acquisition,” the company said on its Web site. “Customers will still be able to browse, buy, and read ebooks from our many content partners. We look forward to offering future products and services that we hope will resonate with our passionate readers.”

thisislondon.co.uk

Mark Prigg

It has played host to the world’s biggest acts – but now Wembley is preparing for a musical innovation: its first mobile phone gig. Singer, songwriter and producer Gary Go will be playing his iPhone instead of guitars and drums at a series of Take That concerts in July.
Go, 24 – real name Gary Baker – has already written several tracks for his first album using software downloaded to the phone. He used it to recreate guitars, drums, piano and horn sections.
All the demos for his album were laid down using a virtual four-track recording studio installed on his phone.
“I think it’s pretty amazing that I’m going to be using a mobile phone on stage at Wembley Stadium in front of so many people. I grew up behind the stadium, and used to listen to concerts in my back garden, ” said Go, whose single Open Arms is released on 11 May.
“My biggest worry is that my phone will ring mid-song.”
He has written a special track, called Superfuture, which will have its debut at a free gig at Apple’s Regent Street store tomorrow night.

“At this point it’s quite hard to think of something I don’t use the phone for,” said Go, who secured his slot supporting Take That after band member Gary Barlow heard his music. “For songwriters it’s an amazing tool as I always have it with me. I used to phone myself and leave messages to remember ideas. Now I can record real tracks in the park – it’s great.”
Traditionalists will be relieved to hear that some of his songs will be performed with a full live band.
Apple’s iPhone has been a surprise hit among musicians. London group the Mentalists became a YouTube hit this year after performing a cover version of MGMT’s Kids. However, Go’s performances are believed to be the first time an iPod gig will be played for such a large audience.
“The fact we’re going to see someone playing an iPhone at Wembley is something I don’t think even Apple thought would happen,” said Stuart Dredge, of industry site Music Ally.
“The software started out as a gimmick, but now we are seeing real musicians producing real music with it. Of course, you still need talent, but the phone means you can make and record anywhere.”
Mr Dredge did however question how the phone will work on a large stage. “I wonder if we’ll see some full-on, feet-on-the-monitors rocking out?”
Gary Go will support Take That at Wembley on 1, 4 and 5 July.

macworld.co.uk

Personalise your interests online by dragging and dropping widgets; but is Vodafone getting ready to pick up the iPhone?

Mobile network operator Vodafone has launched a free dedicated iPhone portal, sparking speculation that O2′s exclusive contract as Apple’s official UK partner may be coming to an end.
Although Vodafone has deals with Apple in other territories, the Web site content is aimed at a UK audience, with news and features from the BBC, Sky News, Premier League News, Top Gear as well as local travel information including London Underground delays.

Vodafone states that the app is: “Available to all iPhone users, including non-Vodafone customers”. The iPhone app enables you to personalise your interests online by dragging and dropping widgets, saving the results to view on your iPhone.
Vodafone provide a video demo guide to get you started and you can browse recently added and most popular widgets.
Apple is widely expected to launch a new iPhone this summer, and the company may finally realise the benefits of having several mobile partners in major markets including the UK.
Last month O2 insisted it still had exclusivity, along with the Carphone Warehouse, to sell the iPhone despite Play.com selling Sim-free contract free iPhones from £549.99.
Play told gadget Web site T3 that the Sim-free deal comes backed with a warranty, and is available to use on all networks, rather than being unlocked from a network.
Meanwhile Vodafone is preparing to bring streaming TV services to iPhone users in Portugal with a new ‘Vodafone Mobile TV’ planned. Developed by WIT Software, the TV-on-the-go service could be rolled out across Europe if it proves a success.

By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
Verizon (VZ) and Apple (AAPL) are discussing the possible development of an iPhone for Verizon, with the goal of introducing it next year, people familiar with the situation say.
It would mark the first time Apple has produced a version of the iPhone for a CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T’s GSM technology. Vodafone, co-owner of Verizon Wireless, already sells the iPhone in Europe.
The New York-based telecom entered into “high-level” discussions with Apple management a few months ago, when CEO Steve Jobs was overseeing day-to-day business, these sources say. They declined to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Jobs is on medical leave until June, but the conversations are continuing, they say. Apple declined to comment.
AT&T (T) has exclusive U.S. distribution rights to the iPhone into 2010, though specifics aren’t known. The deal was struck in 2006, when the iPhone was still on the drawing board. Many telecom analysts expect AT&T to try to persuade Apple to extend the contract for another year, at least.
Should Verizon succeed, it would be a big loss for AT&T, says Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen. “Breaking the (iPhone) exclusivity with AT&T is a huge thing,” he says. “That would send shivers into AT&T’s stock and senior leadership.”
The power of the iPhone was on full display last week, when AT&T reported stellar wireless results. AT&T signed up 1.6 million iPhone customers during the quarter — 40% of them new to AT&T. Revenue from mobile data was up almost 40%. Verizon reports results today.
By linking arms with Verizon, Entner says, Apple would gain access to its 80 million customers. While a few may already have an iPhone (some people have more than one carrier), the bulk don’t.
Regardless, Entner says, Apple would likely maintain ties with AT&T. The biggest winners, by far, would be consumers, he says.
“They could pick the network they wanted to use: AT&T’s or Verizon’s,” he says. “It would finally give consumers choice, and choice is a good thing.”
Entner says Verizon would fare well in that fight. While AT&T’s 3G network is “somewhat faster,” he says, Verizon’s network “is generally perceived to be better in terms of reliability.”
The biggest loser? “AT&T,” Entner says. “It would be a reversal of fortune, because a lot of people who have been disappointed in AT&T’s network but love the iPhone would probably” jump to Verizon.
Apple would also benefit, he adds, “because that means they’d have to buy a new iPhone.”