Mobile application downloads are set to explode in the coming years, a new study from analyst firm Berg Insight has found.

According to the firm, total app downloads in 2015 will reach 98 billion. If they hit that figure, the firm says, the compound annual growth rate of downloads between 2010 and 2015 will be 56.6 percent.

Berg is far more bullish on the future of mobile apps than In-Stat. That research firm said earlier this year that it believes mobile app downloads will reach 48 billion in 2015, due mainly to the growing popularity of touch-screen-equipped smartphones. In-Stat says that approximately 90 percent of all smartphones shipped this year will feature touch screens, and that figure will grow to nearly 100 percent of smartphones in the next several years.

Related stories: • Study: App downloads to hit nearly 48 billion in 2015 • Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads • Apple App Store hits 15 billion downloads

Even though application stores have... [Read more]

(Credit: CNET)

Whether you're a sports fan or not, basketball games are often some of the best-made games on any platform. The latest news in the ongoing NBA lockout (which began July 1) is that the owners have decided to skip the preseason entirely, and if the players and owners don't come to an agreement by the end of the day on Monday, they may start to cancel regular season games.

Whichever side of the argument you're on, the iTunes App Store has more than enough basketball-type games to keep you occupied. What's particularly interesting is how developers have come up with clever ways to use the touch screen to play basketball-like games.

This week's collection of apps is all about basketball. The first lets you slam-dunk a basketball with a swipe of your finger. The second lets you shoot baskets and challenge others online against a sci-fi backdrop. The third is the iOS version of a megapopular console basketball game.

Slam Dunk King (free) is an excellent time-waster, letting you perform slam dunks on a hoop using only swipes of your finger. We were initially skeptical, but only after a couple of dunks it was easy to see how this game could become wildly addictive.

Touch and swipe to dunk the basketballs, but don't forget to swat away the bombs.

[Read more]

Android apps will now be able to run on Apple's iPad and a host of other non-Android devices, courtesy of new software from the crew at Myriad Group.

Announced yesterday, Myriad's Alien Dalvik 2.0 will support Android apps on tablets, e-books, TVs, and even cars.

Initially unveiled for the MeeGo OS earlier this year, the software allows most Android Package--also known as APK--files to run on a myriad of devices with little or no tweaking, according to the company. Users can simply trigger the APK file to install and then launch the app on their chosen device.

"From a user perspective, Alien Dalvik 2.0 is completely transparent and installed without user disruption," Myriad Group said in a statement. "Users simply enjoy the same rich Android ecosystem they have become accustomed to via mobile on other key screens, such as playing Angry Birds on HDTV."

Through its new software, Myriad is looking to push Android forward as a single standard, benefiting both users and developers. Mobile app designers would be able to create "once and use many times" apps that can run on a variety of platforms and screens with essentially no modifications required.

"We have seen incredible momentum in Android adoption, but we are just scratching the surface," My... [Read more]

Adobe's CSS shaders let this Google Maps Web page be folded like a real map.

commentary For all the folks out there who love to bash Adobe Systems for its Flash Player software, it's time to take a fresh look at the company.

Because today's Adobe is very different than the one that long promoted Flash as the way to a rich, interactive Web. Adobe is being reborn as a Web technology company that is advancing Web standards, not promoting its own in-house technology alternative at the expense of those standards.

It's not just Web standards making an appearance, either. Adobe also is moving beyond the personal-computer era with serious apps for tablets. It's a natural fit for the affluent, creative set that gravitates to Adobe's software, but it's a big change in development and sales for the company.

It's not clear to what extent Adobe's new initiatives will succeed in making the company relevant with modern computing trends. But it's time to give the company credit for adapting.

Actions speak louder than words Adobe has been talking about its Web work for years now, but actions speak louder than words. Here are major recent moves--some announced this week at the Max conference--that show the company's new Web priorities:

• It's working on software called ... [Read more]

Mozilla has postponed its plan to prompt Firefox 3.6 users to upgrade to the latest version of the open-source Web browser to make sure its servers are up to snuff.

The organization had planned to flip a switch so that users of Firefox 3.6 would be prompted to get the latest version, Firefox 7.0.1. That change that would get a large fraction of people onto Mozilla's rapid-release process--Firefox 3.6 was the second most widely used version of the browser in September, and Mozilla expects the upgrade prompt to encourage a lot of people to make the move.

But Mozilla chose to delay the move.

"The previously scheduled 3.6-to-7.0.1 advertised update is now postponed while we make sure our server capacity is sufficient for release," said release manager Christian Legnitto in a blog post. "Once the investigation is complete I will communicate a new date well in advance so all stakeholders can plan accordingly."

Running servers for major online services can be tough. Mozilla said yesterday it was having server overload problems for Firefox Sync, a service to keep bookmarks, passwords, tabs, and other settings in step across multip... [Read more]

Avast EasyPass, without passwords entered

More than two weeks behind schedule, Avast released today its password manager. Called EasyPass (download) and built on a core licensed from Roboform (download), Avast's password manager comes with Blowfish and AES-256 password encryption, and is basically the premium version of Roboform rebranded with Avast colors. EasyPass integrates with the major browsers.

No explanation for the delay was available at the time of writing.

In the statement announcing the program, Avast noted an interesting statistic: that out of 67,000 of its users surveyed, only 11.5 percent of them said that they used a password manager. That's a fairly small number of people. If Avast asked why they didn't, it did not make that information public. What the company did say was that the survey showed that its users wanted fast and secure password management, with the ability to hold passwords locally and online.

When interviewed about EasyPass and other product plans last summer, Avast Chief Technical Officer Ondrej Vlcek said, "The goal is to provide a low-cost password manager that we think our free users will... [Read more]

uTorrent 3.1 alpha

The company that develops μTorrent announced today that the paid upgrade version of the popular torrent client, called μTorrent Plus, was ready for limited public testing. μTorrent Plus comes with additional value-added features in an attempt to entice fans into upgrading. Originally announced earlier this year, parent company BitTorrent, which also makes the original torrent client BitTorrent, has revealed a bit more about the value-added features that will come in μTorrent Plus.

These include drag-and-drop file conversion for transcoding files and then transferring them to another device, a built-in media player, remote file transfers, and customer support. It also comes with antivirus protection provided by Bitdefender.

Exclusive to CNET, BitTorrent has invited the first 500 people to sign up for μTorrent Plus alpha (external link) to get access to the alpha, any subsequent beta versions, and the final stable version for one year, a $25 value.

In an ... [Read more]