Although the iPad’s introduction was greeted by some with a ho-hum attitude, Apple’s new tablet device has sparked developer interest, in January nearly tripling the number of applications created, researchers said Friday.

As iPad frenzy reached a crescendo, development for the App Store nearly tripled, with more than 1,600 applications created in January compared to under 600 in December, said Flurry Analytics. The company’s “Smartphone Industry Pulse” for January 2010 tracked more than 20,000 mobile applications.

Who knows — soon, having to watch your cell minutes might just be a thing of the past, as more communication apps embrace VoIP over 3G after Apple nixed its no-Internet-calls-over-3G policy. The latest to do so is Fring, announcing today that calls — and video calls — can now be made over the 3G network (in addition to the already available wifi call/videocall function).

We start off with a deal on Apple’s 24-inch iMac desktop computers. The unit is available for $1,380 from Small Dog Electonics, and includes a 2.93GHz Core 2 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB drive and three years of AppleCare. Next up is a 1TB Time Capsule. The802.11n base station and storage device is offered at $270. (There’s also a deal on a 500GB version for $160). Finally, we check out the latest batch of marked-down iPhone and iPod touch apps, including “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.”

For details on these and many other bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNAg1v3Hwpg&feature=player_embedded

I’m one of the few avowed fans of Google’s Chrome browser here at Cult of Mac, but it’s definitely got its problems. As Craig eloquently pointed out, it’s a browser utterly dismissive of Apple’s own UI design principles, and the Chrome for Mac beta has a number of shocking holes in its feature set…. biggest among them the lack of a bookmark manager, a cookie manager, a task manager, bookmark sync and extension support.

Guess what features were just added to the Chrome for Mac beta? Hint: Craig’s not going to be any happier.

You should at least check it out: it’s a fuller featured browser than Safari, and the new beta not only brings Chrome for Mac up to spec compared to Chrome on other platforms, but the addition of extensions, managers and sync finally makes Chrome for Mac a serious competitor to Firefox.

If you’re interested in trying it out or upgrading your copy of Chrome, you can download the newest beta here.

The iPhone already plays Doom better than just about any smartphone out there thanks to iD Mobile’s continuing interest in porting their older titles and releasing iPhone-specific spin-off games of their more popular franchises to the App Store… but years before the iPhone’s debut, I was playing Doom RPG on my little Motorola RAZR.

Doom RPG was a great little game that did the impossible: it translated the frenetic first-person action of Doom into a wonderful, story-rich, turn-based RPG perfect for playing on a cell phone’s numeric keypad.

Ever since I got my iPhone, I’ve wished that iD Mobile would port it on over to the App Store… and while they still haven’t done so, they’ve done one better, releasing a sequel for the iPhone and iPod Touch called Doom II RPG. It’s available on the App Store now for $4.

My only question: who is that egghead shooting the demon in the screenshot? That’s not the bloodied, Schwarzenegger-esque marine I remember from Doom days gone by.

British thieves have realized it’s more profitable to snatch the iPhone from your hand than risk breaking into your home for a no-name DVD player.

Ten years ago, there were an estimated 1.28 million domestic burglaries in England and Wales, according to the British Crime Survey (BCS).   By, 2008/09 that number had fallen to 744,000 burglaries.

The drop, one researcher says,  is due to expensive portable gadgets and cheap home electronics.

“While DVD players for example, got cheaper, certain consumer items became smaller and were very, very expensive and sought after,” said James Treadwell, a lecturer at the University of Leicester’s Department of Criminology.  So the latest mobile phone, or the latest iPod, which people carry about them, have become targets for robbers.”

Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates has never been shy about commenting on Apple’s products, and now, in response to the iPad announcement, he’s pretty much towing the line of the general Windows world response to Apple’s new tablet: meh.

“You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard — in other words, a netbook — will be the mainstream on that,” Gates reportedly told Brent Schlender of BNET.

“So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'”

iBooks, one of the best-known applications for the Apple’s new iPad, won’t ship with the tablet device, according to a Thursday report. Viewed as the ebook equivalent of iTunes, iBooks must be downloaded separately.

“Apple didn’t emphasize this heavily at the introduction, but the iBooks app is not going to be bundled with the iPad — it’s an app you download from the App Store, putting it on an (at least somewhat) equal footing to e-book readers from other companies,” writes Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber.

Cult of Mac reader Jason Guest got fed up with waiting for Apple’s latest device to hit stores, and so he made his own tablet—the iFelt.

SAN FRANCISCO — Three years ago Steve Jobs took the stage to introduce the iPhone here at Macworld. The presentation was one of the best in Jobs’ career, generating enormous buzz and expectation for the device.

Also important, fans could check out the device in person on the Macworld show floor (Well, kinda — there was a prototype in a glass case). It was obvious the iPhone was a big deal, and by the time it went on sale in June, there were lines around the block. Looking back, I think the success of the iPhone’s debut had a lot to do with the venue, and the audience it was introduced to.