Apple Launches Mac App Store

Apple (News - Alert) Computer, Inc., the giant multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, computer software, and commercial servers, launched its app store for its Macintosh computers Thursday. The company said the new store initially contains more than 1,000 computer apps in 21 categories, such as productivity, games and education.

The store will include contributions from third-party developers such as Twitter Inc., Evernote (News - Alert) Corp., and Rovio Mobile Ltd., offering its colossal hit game, Angry Birds.In a statement, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said, “We think users are going to love this innovative new way to discover and buy their favorite apps”.

Apple sees its Mac App Store as a way to capitalize on the popularity of its iPhones and iPads to sell more computers. Mac computers have been overshadowed in recent years by the faster-growing mobile-device businesses, thus, Apple is aligning its Mac strategy more closely with that of its mobile devices.

Apple previewed a new version of its operating system with features that allow users to organize their screens and manipulate applications in a way that's similar to the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad. The Mac App Store will also provide application developers with a new opportunity to expand their businesses.

Developer companies like Evernote are genuinely excited said Phil Libin, a chief executive of Evernote. Mr. Libin also said the app format will be much easier for consumers to get.

Online-auction site eBay (News - Alert) Inc. also plans to join the Mac app store fun this quarter. Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile speaking on his company’s involvement, summed it all up, saying "If I'm just in the browser I need you to launch the browser, but if I'm an app, we can grab your attention".