Popular iOS apps, games go free ahead of App Store's 5th anniversary

Update: Apple has made the official announcement now. Although other apps have gone free too, officially the promotion includes five games (Badland, Infinity Blade II, Sword & Sworcery, Tiny Wings, Where's My Water) and five apps (Barefoot World Atlas, Day One, How to Cook Everything, Over, Traktor DJ for iPhone). -- Original story is below --

A number of popular iOS apps and games are currently being offered for free on Apple’s App Store. The Vergewas first to note the coordinated move, and though Apple hasn’t made any official announcement, the site speculates it may be related to the store’s fifth anniversary, which is due this week on July 10.

None of the apps have been given away for free before. Most sold for a few bucks, but there are also a handful more expensive ones on the list, such as Infinity Blade II, How to Cook Everything and Tracktor DJ -- an iPhone and iPad application for pro DJs that has gone from $4.99/$19.99 respectively to zero. Here’s the full list (so far):

Games

Title	Original price	Now	Platform
Infinity Blade II	$6.99	Free	Universal
Tiny Wings HD	$2.99	Free	iPad
Tiny Wings	$0.99	Free	iPhone
Where's my Water	$0.99	Free	Universal
Badland	$3.99	Free	Universal
Sword & Sworcery	$4.99	Free	Universal
The Idiot Test 3	$0.99	Free	Universal
Pig Shot	$0.99	Free	Universal
Liquid Sketch	$1.99	Free	iPad
Infinity Blade	$5.99	$2.99	Universal

Other

Title	Original price	Now	Platform
Day One Journal	$4.99	Free	Universal
Traktor DJ	$4.99	Free	iPhone
Traktor DJ	$19.99	Free	iPad
Over	$1.99	Free	Universal
How to Cook Everything	$9.99	Free	Universal
Map My Ride+	$0.99	Free	iPhone
Barefoot World Atlas	$4.99	Free	Universal
Knots 3D	$1.99	Free	Universal

Aside from its upcoming anniversary, the move comes nearly a month after Apple announced it had hit the 50 billion downloads milestone, and a total of $10 billion paid to developers. There are now 900,000 iOS apps available for download for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, with 375,000 designed specifically for iPad.

Hat tip to Tech Tola and Reddit for compiling the list

Judge finds Apple guilty in e-book price fixing lawsuit

A federal judge on Wednesday found Apple guilty of conspiring to raise the retail price of e-books. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote issued a 160-page document outlining the ruling and said a trial for damages will soon follow. The decision is being described as a win for U.S. government and various states which stand to receive injunctive relief.

Cote wrote in her ruling that at the end of the day, there is very little dispute about many of the most material facts in the case.

Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr persists that Cupertino did not fix e-book pricing. When Apple launched the iBookstore in 2010, it gave customers more choices and injected innovation and competition into the market. This, Neumayr said, broke Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. He concluded that Apple will continue to fight the false accusations and will appeal the judge’s decision.

The U.S. Department of Justice and state governments argued that Apple acted as a ringmaster of sorts in an effort to get book publishers to raise the rates of e-books. The goal was to change the overall business model and push Amazon from its throne as the market king.

All of the publishers involved in the case – Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster – have already settled but Apple decided to stick it out and fight until the very end as Cupertino insisted they could not admit being guilty of something they didn’t do.