Fashion Apps for iPhone Growing in Popularity
The iPhone from Apple, Inc. has long been considered a more trendy smart phone choice for the savvy tech user, but it turns out that there are more uses for it than previously thought among some of the users most in touch with today’s hottest trends: fashion fans. While the new apps will not get users dressed or pick the perfect wardrobe out for them, they are becoming quite popular with those who want to keep tabs on all the latest from major designers in the fashion world, fashion magazines and, of course, fashion shops that sell a wide variety of high end, cutting edge apparel. In some cases these personal apps are updated daily, giving users the full scoop on what that designer or shop has to offer most recently. A big entrant to the world of fashion apps was eBay which launched its own app for fashion savvy folks that is expected to do well over one and a half billion dollars in fashion sales this year, building on its 2009 income of $600 million. According to Chris Devore who co-founded a site dedicated to helping customers discover apps for Apple and Android smart phones, the iPhone is leading the way with the largest number and widest variety of fashion apps on the market today.
A quick search of the iTunes store will show more than 550 unique apps for the keyword fashion, ranging from one for Chanel or Dolce & Gabbana to another for GQ or Glamour magazines. Experts say that as iPhone users get more interwoven with current culture, this trend is only likely to grow.
iPhone Apps Disappoint Bioware and Capcom
The iPhone from Apple, Inc. has impressed a huge number of developers who want to make apps for the smart phone, but it remains true that not all companies - especially those larger companies that have software across multiple platforms - have found that they appreciate the device’s potential. Famed indie game design groups have been doing very well, but the larger more established companies are reluctant to work within the confines of the device and often find its features to be lacking for their intended purposes. Profit is not always forthcoming for app makers and this is certainly a troubling fact for larger companies that are more dependant on bigger streams of revenue when they develop a game using their higher cost in house design teams. This is the case for Capcom, the famed makers of Street Fighter II and a range of other hit video games on a variety of systems. Capcom has told the press that they were disappointed with their recent financial reports because they do not feel that the titles they offer are increasing in sales at a fast enough rate. Projected sales levels have been reached for Street Fighter IV and Phoenix Wright, but this is not enough for Capcom. Even the Resident Evil 4 sales were seen as lackluster at best by the gaming giant.
Bioware, a partner for Electronic Arts has seen a very dismal portrait of sales for their sci fi RPG epic Mass Effect. The company believes that it was not the right time or the right title and this has held their sales down. Bioware has concluded that for iPhone gamers, backstory is not a selling point.