Apple Introduces Vanity App Store Links

Research In Motion isn't the only tech company that made a splash during the Super Bowl. Apple's new App Store vanity links also made an appearance.

Keen observers of the trailer for J.J. Abrams's upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness may have spotted the AppStore.com/StarTrekApp link flashed across the screen during a Sunday game-time commercial (pictured below).

CNET was the first to report the URL, which links directly to the official Star Trek app promoting the new movie.

Cupertino initially announced the new short links option on Friday, but the news received little fanfare until Sunday's Super Bowl reveal. According to the company, the short links serve as an easy-to-remember way to find apps. Developers can slap their company name onto the end of the AppStore.com link to house multiple apps; the app title will link directly to a single application.

For example, visit AppStore.com/Keynote to access the specific iWork presentation function, but to search all Cupertino-based apps, try AppStore.com/Apple. All URLs are accessible worldwide, and will replace the former itunes.com link.

As CNET reported, the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs received AppStore.com from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff in 2008.

Cupertino, however, is still in the midst of a legal battle with Amazon and Microsoft over the rights to the "app store" title. Early last month, Amazon won the court's approval to dismiss Apple's false advertising claim, arguing that Cupertino did not identify a single false statement that the online retail giant made about its app store — a necessity to prove false advertising.

Still, the Apple App Store is going strong, gaining more than 339,000 apps in 2012 — 66 percent of which are free — and touting about 800,000 total mobile apps.

More details about creating an App Store shortlink are available in the iOS Developer Library.

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