So much happens around these parts it’s difficult to keep track of it all. But since 2010 is about to fade into history, it’s time once again to highlight what we were up to these last 12 months. This year saw exciting developments at the Iconfactory, and as is par for the course, most of them centered around what Apple had up its collective sleeve.
Since its release back in 2007, Twitterrific has steadily grown in popularity from the original Mac version to the iPhone and iPod touch in 2008 and this year, to Apple’s revolutionary new iPad. The iPad’s introduction back in April put a temporary kink in our plans to rev Twitterrific for Mac, but it turned out for the best. The iPad forced us to rethink our design approach and start fresh. We released Twitterrific for iPad in April, then an all-new universal version 3.0 in June that was designed to be both elegant and super easy to use. Users took to the new version in spades and in December Macworld gave Twitterrific their App Gems Award for Twitter Client of the Year. When we think about just how far Ollie has flown, we couldn’t be more proud.
Other exciting software developments in 2010 included a universal version of Pickin’ Time, the porting of our game Frenzic to the Android and Nintendo DSi platforms, and the release of Take Five for the iPhone. Take Five is a handy utility that automatically un-pauses your music for you after a set amount of time. Finally, in October we were proud to launch our fourth entertainment title, Astronut, for the iPhone and iPod touch. This year, thousands of players have enjoyed blasting off on a cosmic adventure as Jacques the Astronut and we’ve been humbled by the tweets and reviews from players and critics alike.
With all the efforts devoted to software this year, our freeware releases were a bit lighter, but not by much. We still managed to pump out 19 freeware icon sets containing over 250 free icons for your Mac and PC desktops. Add to that some 10+ cool desktop pictures and oodles of Quickpix and there were plenty of freebies to download in 2010. Noteworthy freeware sets from this year included Trek Tech, Clash of the Titans, Smoothicons 15, ATV Drives, Steampunk Storage and Carcassonne Meeple and People.
The year ahead looks to be an exciting and surprising one. We’ll have the long-awaited 4.0 update to Twitterrific for Mac plus an all-new Mac application we’re developing in conjunction with Wolfgang Ante of ARTIS Software, the author behind xScope. We’ll also add to the mix new iPhone and iPad software plus scores of new freeware releases to keep you downloading and happy.
As we do every year at this time, we take a moment to say thank you to all of you who have supported our efforts. Your willingness to visit the Iconfactory, tweet to your friends, download our creations and purchase our software is what keeps us going and makes our work our greatest pleasure. Quite frankly we couldn’t do what we do without you, nor would we want to. We hope to see you return again and again in 2011 and wish you and yours a happy holiday season!
