Amazon buys eBook reader Stanza

Now the two most downloaded eBook readers for the iPhone are both owned by Amazon - their own creation Kindle and now the greatly popular Stanza. Amazon announced the acquisition of Lexcycle, Stanza's parent company, on April 27th 2009.

Possible names for the new Amazon reader? How about Kinza? Or Standle? Actually, Amazon has announced that Lexcycle and Stanza will remain an independent operation and won't be combined with Kindle (at least not for right now). Purchase price was not disclosed for Lexcycle, which is just in its first year of existence.

Are you thinking about creating an iPhone app for your eBook? Don't have the publishing power to make a deal with Kindle or Stanza to list your book in their stores? Contact us at the Toy Lounge, we can create a custom eBook iPhone app for your project and incorporate our own eBook reader into your application.

Billionth iPhone App Downloaded on 4/23/09

Apple announced the one billionth app download from the iTunes App Store on Thursday April 23rd 2009! And guess what, it figures that the one billionth app would be a free one.

What's the lucky free app that will be the beneficiary of all the hoopla? It's Bump, a simple social networking app that "bumps" two phones together to exchange contact info. More on Bump to come - but our congratulations to Bump Technologies and also to the 13 year old kid - Connor Mulcahey of Weston, Connecticut - who gets the pile of goodies from Apple, including a new iPod Touch, a MacBook Pro, a Time Capsule and a $10,000 iTunes gift card!

The Toy Lounge also makes custom iPhone apps for your project. Find out more at the Toy Lounge website http://thetoylounge.com . Watch for the two billionth iPhone app to come up very soon at this rate.

Wall Street Journal Custom iPhone Application

The Wall Street Journal releases their new custom iPhone application -

The newspaper world adds another new iPhone application, this time from the esteemed Wall Street Journal. And, unlike the paper and online editions of the Wall Street Journal, their iPhone app is free - WSJ advertisers foot the bill instead of you!

The app's look is similar to that of The New York Times iPhone application with the same general screen layout for section headings, an advertising banner, and search function. The Wall Street Journal goes a step farther than The Times, adding sections for video and radio.

This custom iPhone app is a free download in the iTunes App Store. Contact us at the Toy Lounge if you would like an app similar to this for your newspaper, publication or other project. The Toy Lounge creates custom iPhone apps for newspapers, radio stations, children's books, ebooks, games, and more.

iPhone Apps for Children's Books

Publish your Children's Book with an iPhone application!

Attention Children's Book Authors - having trouble getting your Children's Book published? Are you tired of sending out your book to publishers, only to never hear from them again, or get the standard rejection note? Or, is your book already published but you get a tiny royalty and there's no marketing for your book?

Think about creating an iPhone app for your Children's Book! Here are just a few of the benefits of self-publishing your book using an iPhone application:

* Your book gets published the way you want it
* You control the publishing process
* You are your own final editor
* You don't answer to anyone else
* You get ALL the proceeds (after Apple's 30% - is that better than your publisher's deal?)
* You can revise or upgrade the book as needed
* You can charge whatever you think is best for the book
* Nothing has to be printed or shipped (great environmentally)
* You don't need a publisher or an agent for this type of distribution
* Add sound, animation, and social networking features to your book
* And More!

Please contact us at the Toy Lounge for more details and a Free Quote on your book's iPhone app.

Great New App from Major League Baseball

MLB.com At Bat 2009

From MLB.com -
"Exclusive pitch type, location, and speed data make At Bat 2009 the fastest, most detailed way to follow baseball on your iPhone and iPod touch. Listen LIVE to every regular season and Postseason game including all home and select visiting team feeds and no blackout restrictions. Watch the best plays of the game moments after they happen. The app will detect your connection speed to deliver the optimal quality video."

MLB is rumored to be working on streaming live game video feeds when Apple uncorks the new upgraded iPhone OS later this year. This app is a foretaste of the innovations that will be upcoming through the iPhone - find out more about creating your own custom iPhone app with the Toy Lounge.

MLB.com At Bat 2009 costs $9.99 for the season.

Check out MLB At Bat 2009 in the iTunes App Store

iPhone Apps for Newspapers

Times have been tough recently for the Newspaper business. Remember when major cities had at least two competing newspapers, and each newspaper company usually had both morning and evening editions? If you're under age 40, you probably don't. The newspaper business has been in decline for some decades, but internet technology has recently speeded up the decline.

Countless free news websites are siphoning off newspapers' former paying subscribers, Craig's List has ruined classified advertising for newspapers, and printing and other production costs continue to rise. Long time columnists are quitting to publish their own content. This gloom and doom can also be applied to the magazine business. Is there any good news out there for the publishing world?

iPhone apps may help newspapers to rise again or at least maintain themselves while they reinvent and regroup. Newspaper iPhone apps can bring a leading edge technology to an industry many consider tired and old fashioned, maybe even comatose. What an iPhone app can do is bring the newspaper and its content one step closer to the customers, who are able to personalize and share their favorite news content and read it anywhere they are, even offline.

iPhone apps can help newspapers add a social networking feature to their publications and give an advertising sales force something new to talk about with potential advertisers instead of dwelling on declining circulation numbers.

Read the rest from the Toy Lounge

Planning your iPhone app

Planning your iPhone app -

Developing a custom iPhone app is expensive and takes a lot of time. iPhone developers have lots of jobs and their own ideas to work on and experienced programmers are in high demand/short supply.

The best way to reduce both development time and expense is to have a well thought out plan of attack for your custom iPhone app beforehand. We have a detailed, although not all-encompassing list of questions to ask yourself as you plan and outline your app project. For example,

* Why do you want to make this iPhone app?
* Is there any competition already in the App Store for my proposed app?
* Find the rest of our iPhone App Planning List here

Not every question will apply to your particular project and you'll come up with more as you move through the initial process but it's a good start to thinking out your plan of attack and saving money on your app development.

iPhone Apps FAQ

New iPhone App FAQ -

There's a new FAQ for iPhone apps on the Toy Lounge site - you can check it out here - more FAQ to be added as more iPhone app questions are submitted. Here's a preview:

What are iPhone apps? How many iPhone apps are there? How much do iPhone apps cost? How much does it cost to make an iPhone app? Who makes iPhone apps? Can I make my own iPhone app? Follow the link above for more Q&A.

iPhone Apps are an exciting new mobile format for entertainment, productivity, marketing and promotion. Over 30 million users and multiplying! Be sure to check out our current Top 10 lists of iPhone applications or contact Toy Lounge to discuss creating your own custom iPhone app. The Toy Lounge is a Registered Apple iPhone Developer.

Who can use a custom iPhone application?

* iPhone apps for corporations
* iPhone apps for children's books
* iPhone apps for small business
* iPhone apps for government agencies
* iPhone apps for organizations
* iPhone apps for non-profits
* iPhone apps for museums
* iPhone apps for military
* iPhone apps for newspapers
* iPhone apps for radio stations
* iPhone apps for banks
* iPhone apps for realtors
* iPhone apps for restaurants
* iPhone apps for churches
* iPhone apps for celebrities
* iPhone apps for bands and musicians

Welcome, First Post

Welcome to the Custom iPhone Apps Blog! Check back regularly for more information all about iPhone apps. Read about iPhone app development, how to get a custom iPhone app for your company or yourself, the latest Top 10 app lists and an on-going custom iPhone apps FAQ.