the problem with app approvals…
by Chiyin on Sep 15th, 2008 @ 3:23 pmA whirlwind of protests blew over the iPhone development world this weekend when Apple rejected an app claiming it duplicated a function on one of their program. The app in question? Podcaster, which allow users to subscribe, download, stream and manage podcasts without using iTunes. And apparently Apple didn’t like that. What’s more interesting is that Podcaster wasn’t even competing directly with a first party app but only a functionality available within iTunes.
Now, this wasn’t entirely unexpected, rejecting an app that directly competes with one of their own programs. But how they apply this criteria is what doesn’t make sense. There are many apps in the store that duplicate functions built-in to the phone such as calendar, weather, stocks, among many others. So, how are they deciding what to allow and what to reject? What are the specifics? Why is Weather Bug ok while Podcaster is not? It’s frustrating for developers to work all those long hours producing a quality product just to be rejected because there were no specific rules saying that what is allowed and what is not.
Apple really needs to come up with a specific set of rules so things like this don’t happen. And they should not be afraid of apps competing with their own software. After all, progress and innovations are brought upon by competition. So unless they are afraid of progress, a little friendly competition is always good.
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Apples & Oranges, iPhone, iPod
some furniture guy invented the digital audio player? amazing…
by Chiyin on Sep 15th, 2008 @ 10:07 amI came across this story earlier today and I don’t know what to think about it… The story says that a British man, Kane Kramer, patented the digital music player in 1979… Not only that, apparently he also came up with the whole idea for digital distribution… On his website you can download a presentation he showed to investor at the time… Ok, either this guy is a genius and thought about all the inventions and technological requirements needed for this or he has a crystal ball that can see into the future… What amazed me the most is that he even factored in the piracy issue and invented DRM to counter it… Amazing…
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Apples & Oranges, iPod
iPhone 2.1… hello? where are you? [It's OUT!]
by Justin Horn on Sep 12th, 2008 @ 12:28 amUPDATE:
Ok, it’s 9:19 AM EST and guess what???? I’m downloading 2.1!! All 237.8 MB of it! So leave this window open and go to iTunes and get downloading… then come back to this post and watch some videos and leave some comments!
Here is a page on apple describing what’s new in 2.1
http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/
Hey look at the new cool 3G logo in the top left! Wow, glad I’ve been waiting for this and checking for updates every 5 mins.
Follow me on Twitter @justin_horn
new macbooks coming Ocotober 14th?
by Justin Horn on Sep 11th, 2008 @ 4:16 pmThere are rumors flying around the Internet on just about every apple website out there that the macbook refresh will be coming October 14th. This is good news for me as I don’t own a mac yet and need one so I can start making bad ass apps and “make 10 million dollars” like Cartman is always trying to do.
What would be really cool is if they release the “macbook touch” or whatever they are going to call it! Not that I will be able to afford one, but still nice.
This might be a good time to take your guess in our when will macbook refresh be released? poll for a chance to win a $50 apple store gift card! Remember kids you can make a non-official vote for fun, but you must be a registered member of WhenWillApple.com to enter the contest.
Here is some more info on the rumors:
Macrumors
Apple Notebook Updates on October 14th? 120GB MacBook Air HDD?
AppleInsider
Apple notebook overhaul rumored for mid-October
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MacBook
Phonesaber, now Lightsaber Unleashed, much improved and still free
by Justin Horn on Sep 11th, 2008 @ 10:04 amMacenstein [via TheMacBox.co.uk] is reporting that darkside has not overtaken the Phonesaber app. Not only is it still FREE, it’s coming back with some extras…
[photo via Macenstein]
“The app will have a new name and a whole new look. The new version, Lightsaber Unleashed, will have a strong link to the new multi-platform title Star Wars ®: The Force Unleashed™, which is out soon. Lightsaber Unleashed will feature exciting characters from this new game as well as vastly improved graphics, sound effects and optional dueling music (which was a popular request).
We are still going to be publishing the application, and it will still be free… we hope users will be able to update their copy of PhoneSaber to the new LightSaber Unleashed when it becomes available through the App Store.”
I’m not the biggest star wars fan, but I will admit I do have the orignal Phonesaber installed and can confirm nerio does as well. We will now both be able to download the new one for free and have duels with music and cross a line into a new galaxy of “nerdiness”. It’s not in the store yet, but the Macenstein article reports that it will be on the soon.
Follow me on Twitter @justin_horn
oops… we got carried away…but you still get the prize…
by Chiyin on Sep 9th, 2008 @ 7:06 pmEven though the event didn’t have any big surprises there were quite a few announcements… And we got confused with the poll results with the dates and the polls and the users and the dates… Long story short, we messed up… But since there weren’t any excitement at the event, we will make it exciting by giving our lucky winner the prize!!!
So Demitri… Come on down!!!
You are the lucky winner of a $50 gift card!!!
Follow me on Twitter @chiyinng
