Facebook Home crosses 500,000 downloads on Google Play Store

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Looks like the mixed reviews and the privacy scare has not deterred Facebook users from adopting Home, the Android launcher released by the world's largest social network earlier this month.

As per the latest figures from the Play Store, Facebook Home has passed 500,000 downloads on the Android store ten days after it was launched. Though the app continues to have rollercoaster reviews, which bring down its average rating to 2.2, it would seem the novelty of the experience has drawn many users. Of course, just the download count seems like a vague way to gauge consumer interest as the numbers don’t show how many users are still using Home.

Home brings a brand new Facebook experience for Android

Another point to be noted is that the apk for Home has been floating around in the wild with several users forced to sideload it in the initial days when the app was a US-only affair. Between April 12 and 16, when the app was made available to international users, several modified apks cropped up, downloads of which do not count towards the official tally.

While 500,000 downloads might seem too few in comparison to Facebook’s massive 1 billion-plus user base, the app’s progress is also limited by the number of devices it can run on. Hardware requirements rule out most mid-range handsets, leaving only the high-end ones capable of using Home. By comparison, the main Facebook Android app has been downloaded between 100 million and 500 million times.

A look at the graph presented on the Play Store also makes for an interesting reading, which says the number of new downloads for Home has actually dropped since its international launch on April 16. Home is currently available on certain devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy Note II, HTC One X and HTC One X+. Besides these phones, Home also runs on the HTC First, which was launched alongside the app on April 4.

Adoption may be great, but reception for that app is altogether a different matter. Out of the 11,073 user ratings at the time of writing, over half i.e. 5,700 are a 1 Star and just over ten percent of the ratings i.e 1,832 are 5 Stars.

Report by : Nikhil Subramaniam

iTunes U Hits 1 Billion Downloads

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The popularity of Apple's online educational catalog, iTunes U, has tripled over the past two-and-a-half years — if the number of downloads is any indication.

Apple announced Thursday that more than 1 billion items have been downloaded from the catalog, up from 300,000 in August 2010. The service was launched in mid-2007 and got a dedicated app at the beginning of last year.

iTunes U allows verified teachers to upload and distribute educational content — in the form of videos, audio and PDF files — privately to their own students, or the Internet at large, for free. They can create courses on their desktops or on their iPads. As with podcasts, users can download materials and subscribe to courses to be notified of future updates.

According to Apple, approximately 1,200 universities — including elite institutions like Yale, MIT and Oxford — and 1,200 K-12 schools host more than 2,500 public courses between them. International growth has been greatest: iTunes U is available in 30 countries, and 60% of iTunes U downloads take place outside the U.S, says Apple.

Report by : Lauren Indvik

Apple's educational app iTunes U records more than 1 bn downloads

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Apple today announced that its free educational content app, iTunes U, has crossed a billion downloads. iTunes U features a large online catalogue of free educational content from top schools, libraries, museums and organisations.

“It’s inspiring to see what educators and students of all types are doing with iTunes U,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services. “There are now iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them, which is a phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

Interestingly, over 60 percent of iTunes U app downloads originate from outside the US. Educators can create iTunes U courses in 30 countries including recent additions: Brazil, South Korea, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. These courses and other education content, can be accessed via the iTunes U app in 155 countries.

It's hard to believe, but despite a billion downloads a lot of iOS users are not aware of the existence of iTunes U and the courses it offers. If you haven’t already done so, you can check out the courses available on the app and enroll yourself in one if you feel like it.

Serving one billion "students"

According to a press release, more than 1,200 universities and colleges and 1,200 K-12 schools and districts host over 2,500 public and thousands of private courses encompassing the arts, sciences, health and medicine, education, business and more on iTunes U. Apple claims leading universities including Duke, Yale, Cambridge, MIT and Oxford enroll more than 100,000 students in single iTunes U courses, with Stanford University and The Open University, each surpassing 60 million content downloads. The Ohio State University’s General Chemistry course enrolled over 100,000 iTunes U students in the first year it was offered, Apple states.

Massive Open Online Course Provider (MOOC) Coursera also reached a major milestone earlier this month. The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) evaluated and recommended college credit for five courses on the website.

Students who manage to complete certain courses from Coursera will now be able to potentially apply their credits for a college degree. Coursera cannot guarantee all colleges will approve of their credits, but over 2,000 colleges and universities consider ACE CREDIT recommendations in determining the applicability to their course and degree programs, according to the online portal.

The five courses approved for college credit recommendation include four undergraduate credit courses:

• Pre-Calculus from the University of California, Irvine
• Introduction to Genetics and Evolution from Duke University
• Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach from Duke University
• Calculus: Single Variable from the University of Pennsylvania

Another course has been approved for developmental math vocational credit recommendation—Algebra from the University of California, Irvine

Besides Coursera, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Open University and Alison were a part of a list we put together for online courses. You can read about these universities and the courses they offer here.

Report by : tech2 News Staff |

Temple Run 2 for iOS crosses 20 million downloads in just four days

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Temple Run 2 has been downloaded 20 million times in just four days post its launch in the Apple App Store. Developed by Imangi Studios, Temple Run 2 is a sequel to the Temple Run that has been received over 170 million downloads across the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Marketplace.

Temple Run 2 was launched on January 17 for iOS devices and has garnered over 210 million sessions, which translates to a combined time of over 1,775 years of gameplay. It is a free game, which topped the charts of the App Store as the 'top free app' for 12 hours after its debut.

"The response from fans has been overwhelming. "We are thrilled players want more of the Temple Run universe, and we hope to grow and expand the game over the coming months," says Keith Shepherd, co-founder of Imangi.

For now Temple Run 2 is available for iOS, but the non-stop running game will soon be making its way to the Google Play Store. As per reports in Android Community, Temple Run 2 is expected to be available for Android on January 24.

The free app comes with tons of new gameplay features and storylines offering more diverse and stunning environments with the introduction of new traps and hurdles along the way. Imangi says the game now also has new characters, more powerups, special achievements, better gameplay graphics and this time round a bigger monkey chasing you down the structures.

In June 2012, Imangi Studios had partnered with Disney to launch a special edition of the game dubbed Temple Run: Brave. Since its launch, Temple Run: Brave has been available for both Android and iOS platforms.

Report by : Surbhi Chawla