Big Bucks Elusive for App Store Developers

Find tickets, new flights, even lounges

(NEWSER) - Every air traveler armed with a smartphone should load up on these five apps, says the Travel section of USA Today:

• SkyScanner (Free): This app will hunt down the best price for your ticket. It scans not only all of the airlines' websites but all of the online travel agencies (Expedia, Priceline) as well.
• Next Flight ($2.99): Yeah, it's relatively pricey, but worth the cost when needed. If your flight is canceled or delayed, or you just plain miss it, the app provides a list of all available flights from all carriers over the next two days. If none are there, it searches for hotels and car rentals.
• Priority Pass (Free): This app supplies a list of all the lounges at your airport. You can look through photos and amenities before deciding whether to shell out money for a pass.

4s to be launched in China, 21 other countries

(NEWSER) - Apple is about to get more than a billion new potential customers for the iPhone 4s—but many of them may find it tricky communicating with Siri just yet. The smartphone will be launched in China and 21 other countries next week, and while its voice-activated virtual assistant currently only speaks English, French, and German, Apple says it plans to add Mandarin later this year, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

Europe's economic mess, cheaper competitors a problem for Apple

(NEWSER) - There's actually a pocket of the world that's beginning to be less iPhone obsessed—and it's a big pocket. While Americans and Brits are still snapping up the latest Apple phones, the company's share of the continental European market is slipping, thanks to a weakened economy and competitors' price drops, Reuters reports. Between September and November, Apple's French market share dropped 9 percentage points, to 20%, compared to the year before; in Germany, it fell 5 points to 22%; and its market share also shrunk in Spain and Italy. In the US, however, the figure rose from 25% to 36%, while it jumped from 21% to 31% in Britain. More»

This time it loads, but still lacks some key functions

(NEWSER) - Google is trying again with its Gmail app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch after its first attempt two weeks proved to be a quick failure . The new app is out today, and Business Insider reports progress: It loads this time without errors, and Google fixed the problem related to notifications. It's still pretty basic, though, notes ReadWriteWeb , meaning users can't do things like check multiple accounts. "For now, little has changed about the app that many panned as insufficient for a native Gmail app," writes Jon Mitchell. Google promises upgrades soon in a blog post . More»

Finding App Store bug costs Charlie Miller his license

(NEWSER) - Security guru Charlie Miller found himself kicked out of Apple's developer program just hours after he announced that he had found a major security flaw. Miller discovered a hole that allows iPhone and iPad applications to grab potentially malicious code from third-party servers even after they have been approved and gone live on the App Store, Forbes reports. More»