The Download Blog

For some audiophiles, Counting Crows and The Wallflowers will forever be associated with the mid-1990s--along with Netscape Navigator, Hotmail, and of course, Windows 95. But don't call their joint summer outing a nostalgia trip. Velvet-tongued Counting Crows vocalist Adam Duritz, hot off the heels of The Outlaw Roadshow (alongside a slew of new indie bands), prefers to view his comparatively intimate Wallflowers double bill as a much-needed respite.

Other than sharing a decade, the comradely combos have shared previous tours, a track (Duritz sang on The Wallflowers' "6th Avenue Heartache"), and even a producer (T-Bone Burnett, back … Read more

Endless runners have been a longtime staple for many casual gamers. Whether you're a Temple Runner, Jetpack Joyrider, or Robotic Unicorn on the Attack fan, you realize that these games are fun for one simple reason: they are easy to pick up and put down. Race The Sun, at its core, is not very different from these other running games. With that said, we were surprised how much time it sucked out of our day.

In Race The Sun you pilot a solar-powered craft, racing at a breakneck speed down a desolate gray desert toward the sunset (Sounds like … Read more

Android users who employ the TWC TV application will soon have far more functionality available to them.

Time Warner Cable announced on Tuesday that the upgrade to its Android application will deliver access to more than 4,000 On Demand TV shows and movies. The app will also allow for out-of-home access to some On Demand programming and live TV viewing over a Wi-Fi connection. Time Warner Cable says mobile users will have access to over 1,100 On Demand shows and movies and live television from "a dozen or so" news, sports, and entertainment channels.

Time Warner … Read more

Last week, Apple announced that its App Store is approaching 50 billion app downloads. In celebration of the milestone, Apple is giving away a $10,000 App Store gift card to the lucky person who initiates the 50 billionth download.

As part of the celebration, Apple listed the top 25 apps -- both free and paid -- for iPhone and iPad. None of the apps listed is particularly surprising (especially to someone who studies the most-popular list every day), but one thing that did strike me is that a lot of the all-time best sellers still sit near the top … Read more

These days, regular folks across the world are using free software to easily create homespun music, Webisodes, and movies, so why not interactive fiction? A little program called Twine (download for Windows or Mac) that brings a DIY ethos to text-based Web games has slowly emerged as a huge player in the indie-game scene. If you're new to Twine, it's freeware that lets users develop their own interactive stories and games. It enables players to determine their own adventures by clicking on hyperlinks scattered throughout the text.

Originally developed by Chris Klimas, Twine has been used by myriad … Read more

It seems like only yesterday that the iTunes App Store hit its 25 billionth download...actually it was only last year. It's incredible that the online marketplace (currently at over 49.2 billion downloads) will soon be doubling that number. To mark the momentous occasion, Apple is holding a contest that app addicts will surely appreciate. Feeling lucky? Then download on.

If you happen to download the 50 billionth app, you will win a $10,000 App Store gift card. Though the odds seem stacked against you, don't despair, as the first 50 users after the 50 billionth … Read more

Yesterday, along with the genuine release of Game Dev Tycoon (Windows demo; Mac demo; Lite version for Windows 8), developers Greenheart Games treated some online gamers to an extra "gift" in the form of a cracked version of the game, which they then seeded via BitTorrent protocol.

Soon after seeding the cracked version of the game, thousands of users downloaded it. As those players progressed through the game--which takes players from producing games in a garage to becoming global leaders in the industry--establishing and growing their companies, they were blocked from proceeding further with the following, not-so-subtle hint--delivered … Read more

Many developers are wisely taking advantage of the powerful cameras in today's smartphones and trying to replicate the success of photo sharing apps with video apps. Apps like Viddy, Klip, and Socialcam compete to let users make clips and add quick effects before publishing and sharing. But no developers have really taken that a step further to include the all-important creation component.

Directr and its creators want to distance themselves as far as possible from the new Video-Instagram crowd. The brainchild of a former Microsoft Software Engineer, Directr is a little video app that aims to help the average … Read more

Meson Player (32bit, 64bit, Mac)

Meson Player is a tiny music player without a conventional graphical user interface (GUI). The lack of a GUI puts the bulk of the application control in hot keys rather than the usual mouse and click. Using your keyboard's number pad, you can quickly skip tracks, turn volume up or down, and save and open playlists. Meson Player can handle a variety of audio file formats as well as Internet Radio playlists. Meson Player also supports the multimedia keys on some keyboards for advanced functionality.

Barely consuming any system resources, the software leaves a … Read more