Apple Hits the 500,000 Apps Mark on iTunes

It happened in the early hours of Tuesday: in less than three years the App Store reached the half-million mark.

For some interesting stats, like on the image, a giant infographic was produced by three app-related companies. Mobile app blog 148apps, the search company Chomp together with game developer Chilingo collected a number of curiosities, including a timeline and a various facts.

To understand this data better and make a brief comparison, there have been 10 billion iOS app downloads through the App Store as of January. Although having been on the market 8 months less, the applications Google's Android currently count almost 300,000 apps and 3 billion downloads.

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Image : 148Apps, Chomp and Chillingo

Compressive: Abu Dhabi's Intuitive Parking Lot

You look at the picture and you imagine many different uses. But this is Compressive, the latest cutting-edge and futuristically designed sky-scraper in Abu Dhabi, and it is an intuitive parking lot.

Together with the design itself, what is truly amazing of this structure is that its intuitive thinking reacts to the weight of both you and your car. The uniqueness of Compressive is that it can sense occupancy, compressing the floors according to the need and depending on the cars parked on them. Groups of up to 5 floors can actually begin to sag, following the programmed use throughout the day. Or, the bright yellow pedestrian paths detect users and create an on-the-spot inverted speed bump to slow cars down.
Isn't this just amazing?

As part of the advanced Exotic Variables and States of Change studio, the project is led by Thom Faulders.

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Massive Energy-Generating Wind Tower for Japan

Take wind energy; imagine the "traditional" wind mill scenery. Three-sails white giants down to the horizon. This may not happen, as producers are starting to "think big". ZENA Systems is developing a new dimension in wind energy generation, dwarfing all its predecessors. 50 metres in height, the Wind Tower is an ambitious project that compressed wind from any direction using a three-point compression technique.

What is most relevant is that the system apparently would not be constrained by the "Bets limit value theory", which places the maximum efficiency of wind power generators at 59%. Higher values, together with the on-site energy storage of this project, would revolutionise the way in which wind is harvested.

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Make Your Way With the Clerkenwell Design Week App

We are proud of our neighbourhood and excited about tomorrow's opening of Clerkenwell Design Week, home to over 60 showrooms and a multitude of architectural and creative practices. Using a digital "guide" was mandatory and we loved the iPhone app, to remind you of the coolest events and make your way through the cutting edge design.

A veritable cultural hub, the festival will be attracting visitors from Tuesday 24th to Thursday 26th May 2011, encompassing an amazing 150 events, pop up exhibitions, installations, talks... Register online for your free entry!