Former NYTimes apps columnist creates an app

Bob Tedeschi, the former app columnist for The New York Times, has helped create “Bobo Explores Light,” an award-winning best-selling iPad application, reports Claire Atkinson of the New York Post.

He moved off the column after alerting his editors about the app, Atkinson writes.

Atkinson writes, “‘Bobo,’ created with two executives at Game Collage, has hit No. 1 in 12 countries in both the education and book categories.

“Costing $4.99, ‘Bobo,’ which launched Sept. 15, 2011, is currently the No. 72 top-grossing iPad app, according to AppData, and is the first children’s educational app to make the App Hall of Fame.

“While even some developers have no idea how many downloads are needed to reach the top of Apple’s charts, the more popular free apps need at least 100,000, according to executives at Flurry, a mobile app measurement firm.

“Ironically, Tedeschi’s app creation was first discussed with a Times editor as a possible story that would address how hard it was to make a living developing apps.

“The story assignment was eventually dropped — but Tedeschi continued pursuing the idea.”

Read more here. Tedeschi is now a gardening columnist for the paper.