Apple

Apple iPad users have downloaded 3 billion apps since the tablet was launched in the spring of 2010, and ABI Research, which released the stat, says while Android apps are way behind, things may change with the release of Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. Use of the latest version of the OS should "accelerate product development to close up the specifications gap" between the iPad and Android tablets like Amazon's Kindle Fire.

There are now more than 140,000 apps made especially for the iPad. The 3 billion download was reached in the first year-and-a-half of the iPad's release, ABI said; the iPhone "took as long as two years before being able to achieve this level of downloads ... In comparison, Android tablets only have around 440 million downloads thus far."

“Discounting all those apps that were originally developed for Android smartphones, Android still trails greatly behind the iPad in terms of its tablet app offerings,” said research associate Lim Shiyang in a press release. “Many Android tablets in the market are still using older versions of Android, which disadvantages users from enjoying the better effects of apps produced from more advanced software development kits.”

ABI notes that it's not just the quantity of iPad apps, but the quality, "generally considered to be of a better quality compared to Android tablet-specific apps."

And, “In terms of hardware, the iPad device still offers much more compared to the current crop of tablets in the market,” said Dan Shey, practice director, mobile services. “Android is currently being used on many low end tablets that do not offer experiences anywhere near the iPad and this dampens the download momentum for users.”

We'll take another look at the numbers for Android in the coming months, especially as Ice Cream Sandwich gets spread around. ABI says that by 2016, Android app downloads for smartphones will hit 58 billion, compared to 27 billion for the iPhone.

Related stories:

• Android Market hits 10 billion downloads
• Android 4.0 review: The Sandwich has a few cool treats
• Steve Jobs, G+ and iPad 2 in Google's 2011 top searches
• iPad 2, iPhone 4S top holiday wish lists
• Apple's App Store hits 15 billion downloads

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Koubachi

Confession Time: I've never met a plant that I haven't managed to kill — or at least torture — by not watering it enough, watering it too much, or looking at it the wrong way. Thankfully, there's now an app which can help me pretend that I'm capable of nurturing plants at least a bit better.

The app's called Koubachi and it can be downloaded through the Apple App Store for free. (Sorry, Android users. You'll just have to grow genuine green thumbs instead of faking gardening skills like I do.)

Koubachi

Once you download Koubachi, you can enter details about all your plants — this may be time-consuming as you have to identify them by type — describe the place in which you reside, and calibrate how quickly the soil dries up in the region. (Don't worry if any of those things sound complicated, the app will walk you through them.)

After all those things are done, you'll start receiving push notifications to remind you when it's time to water, mist or fertilize your plants — along with precise instructions as to how you should do those things.

That's it. It's not much, but it should be just enough to help out those of us who struggle to keep our gardens blooming.

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• Kindle iPad app now offers magazines, textbooks
• Finally! An app to help the truly fashion-challenged

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Apple

Screenshot of the Apple App Store on iTunes

All that downtime during the holidays paid off for app developers, with a record-breaking 1.2 billion global downloads combined from Apple's App Store and Android Market, a big bump of 60 percent from early December.

Flurry Analytics released a report that showed the week between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve as a high point for iOS and Android downloads, with consumers eager to try out their new devices activating 6.8 million iOS and Android devices on December 25 and downloading 242 million apps on that day. That week, Flurry estimates the activation of over 20 million iOS and Android devices in addition to the billion-plus downloads.

Flurry Analytics

We'll let Flurry explain how they got these numbers:

For this report, Flurry leverages its data-set from over 140,000 apps running on the significant majority of iOS and Android devices.  With its application penetration, Flurry can detect over 90 percent of all new devices activated each day. Additionally, with its analytics service in more than 20 percent of all applications downloaded on a given day from the App Store and Android Market, Flurry can reliably estimate total iOS and Android downloads. To benchmark against the market, Flurry regularly triangulates its device and download figures with data released publicly by Google and Apple.

The U.S. led the downloading craze with 509 million, which accounted for 42.3 percent of the total. China was a distant second, with 99 million downloads and the U.K. third at 81 million.

Google

Screenshot of the Android Market

Flurry thinks we'll see more of this downloading frenzy in the future: "Looking forward to 2012, Flurry expects breaking the one-billion-download-barrier per week will become more commonplace."

We've definitely seen the rise of app fever with both the App Store and Android Market topping 18 billion and 10 billion downloads, respectively, as of early December. 

And while the Amazon Appstore is still catching up with these two behemoths, it shows potential for accelerated growth, with the massive digital retailer touting 2011 as "the best holiday ever for the Kindle." Throughout December, Kindles flew into the hands of customers, who purchased more than one million Kindle devices each week. And the latest in the line, the Kindle Fire, ended up as "the best-selling product on Amazon.com’s mobile website and across all of Amazon.com’s mobile applications."

— via ReadWriteWeb

More stories:

• Mac App Store downloads tops 100 million
• Android Market hits 10 billion downloads
• App showdown: Android vs. iPhone
• Apple exceeds 10 billion apps downloaded

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Android Market

When they spotted a free app called "Siri for Android" in the Android Market, many folks must've thought they were getting a lovely New Year's gift. The only problem? The app's nothing like Siri, the personal assistant built into Apple's iPhone 4S.

You don't have to worry about warning your less tech-savvy friends or family members about this misleading knockoff app though — because Google banned it, as well as its developer, from the Android Market.

According to the Next Web, at least a thousand Android users installed the banned app prior to its removal from the Android Market. It can't be said for certain whether they were drawn to it because of curiosity or because of its misleading description and the authoritative sounding developer behind it ("Official App").

Either way, what the folks who downloaded Siri for Android wound up getting — instead of an Android-friendly version of Apple's personal assistant feature — is essentially an on-screen button which opens the Google Voice Actions app. (Amusingly enough, the button looks exactly like the actual Siri icon.) It was basically a simple shortcut and didn't offer Android users anything that they didn't already have on their devices.

It's worth noting that Siri for Android isn't the first misleading app to come from developer Official App. As the Next Web's Matt Brian explains, the (now-banned) firm had also put out an app called "Pinterest," which "was a mobile wrapper for Pinterest’s own mobile website." 

Related stories:

• Apple explains why iPhone won't find abortion centers
• Siri (knockoff) out for Android phones
• What if Siri went evil?

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

For travelers who received a new tablet or smartphone over the holidays, it's time to begin finding and downloading apps that will be of use on the road.

In addition to a few basics such as Google maps for driving directions; Gas Buddy for finding the cheapest places to buy fuel; and TripIt for organizing, tracking and sharing an itinerary, here are some others to get you started.

Forgot to pack underwear?
No matter how well you plan, chances are you’ll discover you’ve forgotten to pack fresh underwear, a camera battery or something else you’ll really need on your trip. Goodzer helps locate — and price — pretty much anything you’d want or need and includes stores of all sizes throughout the U.S. in its database. Goodzer is available online and as a free iPhone app.

Where to go when you have to ‘go’
Tourist bureaus load their websites and brochures with lists of art, history and cultural attractions, but visitors often find themselves flummoxed when they simply need a place to ‘go.’ The Sit or Squat app (you laugh now…) is a free online and mobile database that helps you find the nearest public restroom based on a zip code, address or intersection. In many cases, the site shares information about the hours a restroom is open and includes user ratings.

Other road-tested apps for travelers
Sommer Cronck, a Bellingham, Wash., executive director at Technology Alliance Group for Northwest Washington and a mother of three, favors the free MapQuest GPS app with spoken navigation and, for families planning their 2012 Disneyland trip, the free Disneyland wait times app “and a free flashlight app in case they get lost along the way.”

Sinje Lesemann, the creative director for London-based luxury travel accessories company, KOZA, relies on the free Concierge Insider Guides, Goby and Foodspotting apps during her frequent travels.  

“Concierge is full of insider recommendations from [Intercontinental Hotel Group] concierges around the globe,” said Lesemann. “I like the videos that show you around the destination and [the] interviews with locals. It’s also divided by things to do in the morning, afternoon and evening.”

Lesemann finds Goby useful for filtering and finding local attractions — “especially the offbeat ones” — and Foodspotting for getting tips on bars and restaurants. “What I like about Foodspotting is that it is curated by real people, not just food critics. People take pictures of their favorite dishes so you can see what they look like before ordering. And that’s very useful for exotic and unfamiliar dishes.”

Have a favorite travel app to recommend? Tell us in the comments section below.

More on Travel Kit

• Expedia touts verified hotel reviews
• Get connected at America's techiest airports
• Ewww! Avoid airplane germs

Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter.

Boondoggle

Waking up and realizing your car is covered with snow, or worse, that the roads are paved with ice, can be stressful, and the worst part is, no matter what you do, you're going to be late — maybe very late. If only there were an alarm clock that would automatically wake you up early on such mornings.

Wait! Stop! There's no need to try constructing some sort of bizarre snow-activated Rube Goldberg machine which will set off an alarm early if the world turns into a winter wonderland as you snooze — because there's an app for that.

The app's called Winter Wake-Up and it can be downloaded for free through either the Apple App Store or the Android Market.

According to the app's promotional video, it was created by the folks of digital agency Boondoggle after some employees kept running late on winter mornings.

Using Winter Wake-Up is simple. You just set an alarm for your regular wake-up time and then tell the app how much earlier you'd need to be woken if there was snow or frost during the night. As you snooze, the app will check weather reports in order to ascertain just how many zzzZZZzz's you get to catch.

Oh, and if the snowfall is heavy enough to completely skip work, you can just tell Winter Wake-Up to not bother waking you up at all.

Related stories:

• IceBreak is like couples therapy in an app
• Kindle iPad app now offers magazines, textbooks
• Finally! An app to help the truly fashion-challenged

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

ReelDoozy

Wish you could have Santa in your holiday home videos, but don't have a costume (or beard)? No problem. All you really need is your iPhone, an app called Reel Doozy, and a couple of minutes to doctor footage.

The Reel Doozy app that you'll need for this task can be downloaded through the Apple App Store now. It'll let you edit four videos for free. Additional video packs can be purchased for a buck.

ReelDoozy

In order to have make festive videos, all you need to do is take your existing clips, import them into the app, and choose foreground scenes to add. 

And ta-da! Seconds later you'll have a dancing Santa or singing elves in your own video, thanks to some clever green-screen technology (and perhaps a touch of magic).

Related stories:

• IceBreak is like couples therapy in an app
• Kindle iPad app now offers magazines, textbooks
• Finally! An app to help the truly fashion-challenged

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Google

The Google Voice iOS app has been updated and that's a reason for cheer. After all, iPhone users are now finally able to enjoy group text messaging — a feature which has been available to Android-carrying Google Voice users for quite some time.

The freshly updated Google Voice app — version 1.4.0.2372, in case you're wondering — can be downloaded from the Apple App Store now.

Along with the group text messaging support, it brings to users multi-line text entry fields (so that you don't have to stare at a cramped single-line text entry field), better integration for Sprint iPhones and one-touch copying and pasting on the "Dialer" screen.

All in all, this sounds like a decent update which helps iPhone users catch up to their Android counterparts.

But as Lifehacker's Melanie Pinola points out, it's worth noting that some folks are experiencing log-in problems or seeing account errors while attempting to use this latest version of the Google Voice app. So be careful and make sure you back up your iPhone before updating the app — that way you could always revert to the older version if something's funky with 1.4.0.2372.

Related stories:

• IceBreak is like couples therapy in an app
• Kindle iPad app now offers magazines, textbooks
• Finally! An app to help the truly fashion-challenged

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Amazon

The Kindle iOS app — which can be used on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch devices — has received a nice little update on Wednesday. One of the most noteworthy changes? On the iPad version, users are now granted access magazines, newspapers, and textbooks — just like Kindle Fire users.

According to Amazon, all iOS users — iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad — can now sync compatible documents to read on the app, either via iTunes or by emailing files to their Send-to-Kindle addresses. A built-in PDF reader means that you don't have to use a separate app for non-book reading.

The updated (and free) app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store right now. 

But on the iPad, the app has even more. It allows users to access over 400 magazines and newspapers — the same ones that are available to Kindle Fire users — including Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Popular Science, and more. It'll be possible to buy single issues or subscriptions thanks to the Kindle Newsstand feature (not to be confused with the iOS Newsstand, of course).

Electronic textbooks that preserve the layout and graphics of the original printed versions will also be available for purchase or rental.

And frankly, the magazine service surprises us a bit. Not that Amazon would bring it to the iPad, but that Apple would allow it in an app. Amazon is blatantly trying to get into magazine subscriptions on the iPad, and Apple has made it clear that it wants to dominate this business — especially on its own turf.

We've reached out to Apple to see why it let things go, at least for now. I will update if there is any comment.

Related stories:

• IceBreak is like couples therapy in an app
• Roomba game encourages you to attack dust bunnies
• Finally! An app to help the truly fashion-challenged

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Cloth

The irony of writing a post about a fashion app while dressed in gray kitty-cat pajamas, an oversized shirt of questionable origin, and fuzzy red socks is not lost on me. Fortunately Cloth — the app I'm intending to introduce to you — can help those who seriously struggle when it comes to selecting outfits.

Cloth costs two bucks and can be downloaded through the Apple App Store. (The app is currently on sale for just a buck as part of a limited time promotional offer.) It is the brainchild of Maxim senior editor Seth Porges and fashion designer Wray Serna — and it will help you dress better.

You see, Cloth is designed to track outfits. Which means that anytime you put together a snazzy ensemble — whether thanks to pure skill or sheer dumb luck — you'll be able to enter it into Cloth for future reference.

Cloth

All you have to do is snap a photo of the outfit, add some notes or tags, and you're done. (If you want, you can also push the photo out via your preferred social networks or even submit it to the Cloth website.)

When it's time to get dressed again, you can look up the fantastic outfits of fashionable days past by scrolling through the Feed tab or by selecting a category in the Wardrobe section.

Here's how that looks in action:

Now before you start yelling at me, please understand that I'm aware that an app like Cloth won't exactly instantly turn walking fashion disasters into great dressers. (Believe me, I'm all too aware of that fact!) But the reality is that keeping track of what you do — or in this case, wear — and studying what works and what doesn't will gradually help you improve.

Related stories:

• IceBreak is like couples therapy in an app
• Roomba game encourages you to attack dust bunnies
• How to secure your iPhone's Internet connection

Want more tech news, silly puns or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Facebook

Facebook recently made Timeline available to everyone. And now the social network's official iPhone app is being updated to offer support for this shiny and new feature.

You can download the latest Facebook for iPhone app — version 4.1, in case you're wondering — through the Apple App Store as soon as you're done reading this blog post. Once you do that, you'll face a small pile of rather significant changes.

Timelines, Subscribers, and Subscriptions can now be viewed using the iPhone app, Lists can be managed from your device, photo uploads are quicker, and notifications look just a little bit neater.

Oh, and the whole app seems to run more smoothly — which is a pretty big deal considering how quirky and temperamental prior versions could be at times.

Related stories:

• Facebook glitch reveals private photos — including Zuckerberg's
• Facebook: 6 degrees of separation? More like 4
• Facebook for Android app gets a makeover

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

Nielsen

If you're on an Android phone, it's highly likely you're checking Facebook on it. The social network dominates app usage on Androids, according to a recent Nielsen report.

Facebook is second only to the Android Market in usage on the phones, across all the age groups measured by Nielsen, edging out Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube. Only in the 35-to-44 age range does Facebook tie with Gmail. 

Across all age groups, starting with 18-year-olds and ending with 44-year-olds, more than 50 percent of those polled using these apps.

In a similar report released in September, Facebook was in the thick of things, but sandwiched mostly between Gmail and Google Search. Also that month, Nielsen released another report that showed how dominant Facebook was in general, with Americans spending 53 million minutes on the site. (Second place Blogger didn't even break the million-minute threshold.) 

Back to this current app report, two games also break into the Top 15: "Angry Birds" and "Words With Friends" (a game Alec Baldwin has now made famous, if it wasn't before). The latter seems most popular with the youngest set polled by Nielsen.

The only other Web-based email service that broke into the top 15 was Yahoo Mail, while the Amazon Appstore also saw more shopping potential as it stretched across the ages.

So what apps do you use most often on your Android?

More stories:

• Nielsen: Google & Facebook rule Android use
• Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other site
• It's Android or Apple for 71 percent of US smartphone users 

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.