Posts Tagged ‘Apple’
Apple Rejects App For Containing "Minimal User Functionality" [Apple]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on March 2nd, 2010
A million fart app developers must've just started sobbing in hysterical fear as Apple decided to reject an app because it "contains minimal user functionality and will not be appropriate for the App Store."
The app in question, DuckPhone, was developed by Nick Bonatsakis of Atlantia Software and had one simple purpose: To make your phone quack like a duck. For whatever reason, Apple didn't think that was useful enough to an average user and wrote Nick this love letter:
"Dear Atlantia Software LLC,
We've reviewed your application DuckPhone and we have determined that this application contains minimal user functionality and will not be appropriate for the App Store.
If you would like to share it with friends and family, we recommend you review the Ad Hoc method on the Distribution tab of the iPhone Developer Portal for details on distributing this application among a small group of people of your choosing or if you believe that you can add additional user functionality to DuckPhone we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.
Sincerely,
iPhone App Review Team"
My guess is that whoever was stuck reviewing DuckPhone really hates Jersey Shore, but the bigger issue remains: Apple's now got yet another completely arbitrary reason to reject an app. [Crunch Gear]
Apple Says No More Titillating Apps, Period [Apple]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on February 21st, 2010
Recently, Apple removed Wobble—an app that adds real jiggle to photographic boobies—from the App Store. Other removals followed. Now, a developer who talked to Apple has the scoop on the future of iPhone titillation, and it is bleak.
Really bleak. Like no racy photos, no suggestive language, no bathing suits bleak.
This devastating news comes by way of TechCrunch, who has been following this story closely (but not in a weird way). Initially it seemed that Apple's new policy was to ban "overtly sexual content," which was disappointing, but, you know, understandable. Now TC has received word from a developer who has discussed the matter with "multiple App Store reviewers," and things aren't looking too hot. Not even close to hot, in fact.
Said developer was told "there will be no more applications that are for any purpose of excitement or titillation." Huh? I get pretty excited playing Tapulous—are they going to ban that too? Well, if you're thinking that maybe behind the hyperbole things aren't actually so bad, think again. Here's the full shakedown, as recapped by the developer of Wobble, an individual who has been standing in the shower since Apple first turned on the cold water on Thursday night:
1. No images of women in bikinis (Ice skating tights are not OK either)
2. No images of men in bikinis! (I didn't ask about Ice Skating tights for men)
3. No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry)
4. No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic)
5. No sexual connotations or innuendo: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned
6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing!! (I doubt many people could get aroused with the pic above but those puritanical guys at Apple must get off on pretty mundane things to find Wobble "overtly sexual!)
7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content (not sure how Playboy is still in the store, but …)
This can't be life! Of course, the glimmer of hope here is that Apple is still reviewing their policy and taking a hard line while doing so, just to be safe. On the other hand, this could it, the real deal, the Puritanical future of apps on the iPhone. I hope you have a thing for girls in turtlenecks. [TechCrunch]
The Week’s Best iPhone Apps [IPhone Apps]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on February 20th, 2010
In this week's porn-free app roundup: Expensive instant messaging apps, humbled! Cars, leered at! Zombies, organically defeated! Enigmatic Japanese game developers, being enigmatic! The sun, closely monitored! Malls, fearlessly navigated! And more...
This Week's Apps
If you'd like to view the following gallery as a single page, click here
This Week's App News on Giz
• This Is Why I Want Photoshop 1.0 on My iPhone Right Now
• A Better Way to Passcode Lock Your iPhone (At Your Own Risk)
• You Can Now Download iPhone Apps Up to 20MB Over 3G
• Google Buys iPhone Email Search App reMail and Pulls It From the App Store
• SlingPlayer Mobile 1.2 With 3G Streaming Now Available
• Street Fighter IV on iPhone Brings New Definition to Sore Thumbs
• Apple Removes An Innocent Boob-Jiggling App From the App Store
• Opera Mini On iPhone Is "Fast," Though There's No Pinch To Zoom
• Here's What Final Fantasy For iPhone Will Look Like
This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!
Major textbook pubs partner with ScrollMotion for iPad development
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on February 3rd, 2010
Putting traditional print publication on an iPhone screen is old hat for ScrollMotion, and now it's taking that know-how to a larger screen. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kaplan, Pearson Education, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt K-12, and the educational sector of McGraw-Hill have all made deals with the company to develop textbook apps and test-prep / study guide apps for the Apple iPad. No other details are given and we unfortunately lack any timeline. It certainly makes the machine more classroom-viable, but we'll hold judgment until we see what actually comes of this partnership -- your move, Kindle.Major textbook pubs partner with ScrollMotion for iPad development originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments 2,000 Wintek workers go on strike over bonus payments, may affect Nokia and iPhone production
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 20th, 2010
2,000 Wintek workers go on strike over bonus payments, may affect Nokia and iPhone production originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple Insider, 9to5Mac | Mingpao (1), (2), BackChina | Email this | Comments Apple Tablet rumors evolve into Zen koans: ‘it’s a big iPhone, but it’s not a big iPhone’
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 8th, 2010
Apple Tablet rumors evolve into Zen koans: 'it's a big iPhone, but it's not a big iPhone' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Silicon Alley Insider, MacRumors, BusinessWeek | Email this | Comments Apple iSlate Concept Is Exactly How This Thing Should Be [Apple]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 4th, 2010
Apple iSlate should be this simple. With an aluminum or white polycarbonate body, perhaps even rubberized, and no bezel whatsoever, with a very thin black frame. It really doesn't need anything else. Ogle its simple beauty in the gallery.
I like it. I would like the screen to reach the very edge of the device, but that's probably not possible with the current technology.
But where's the button, some may ask? I think that, for the iSlate, they can actually pass on the physical home button, since it doesn't make much sense in a 10-inch format. I mean, where do you place it? In the bottom center? Two home buttons on the sides? One? On one corner? What corner? Instinctively, I don't think it's needed. And they always implement a hard-to-reach physical reset button on the back.
Hopefully, we will have answers at the end of the month. [Thanks Rodolphe Desmare for the art]
Is Apple’s Magic Mouse an Energy Vampire? [Magic Mouse]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 3rd, 2010
Apple’s sexy, touchy feely Magic Mouse could be an energy-sucking vampire, according to a number of reports on the Apple Discussion Boards.
The present hypothesis is that the Magic Mouse is preventing the Bluetooth keyboard from entering sleep mode, resulting in weekly battery changes. One user purportedly contacted Apple Tech Support and was told the problem is a known Bluetooth driver issue and a fix is in the works.
Who here has one of these little energy vampires and what’s your story? Anything? [TUAW]
Web Personalities Stretch Their Apple Tablet Conjecture Legs [Conjecture]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 3rd, 2010
Techie people who've been right about Apple rumors in the past have been busy this past week. While there's nothing concrete in either of these posts, their track records speak for themselves, and Apple conjecture is always fun, for some.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball takes the prize for most dedicated. While I was out saying things I could never take back during an uproarious Boston waterfront New Year's Eve party, he was pounding out a thousand or so words about the Tablet, Apple, and why this thing won't be something you just take into the shitter to pass the time with a few graphic novels and TIME Magazine with movies.
Again, conjecture abound, but at the end of it Gruber opines grandly, "I say they're swinging big - redefining the experience of personal computing." I'm forced to agree, not because of some deep, primal urge to support anything and everything Apple does, but because I'm still having a hard time envisioning what a tablet will do that demands people's attention like the iPhone did. Gruber seems to think it's the apps, stupid, and on that point I agree wholeheartedly: Software will define this thing, just as it did the iPhone.
It's on the software front that a far more grounded wave of tablet predictions arrive from ars technica and John Siracusa. Calling his column "cold water" he bats down haptic touchscreens, folding dual screens, and 3D goggles, preferring the software route. And why not? There are already 100 million iTunes customers in place that prove the model works, and they in turn are fed by more than 125,000 App Store developers who currently sell more than 100,000 apps. It's a proven model, and one Siracusa says Apple will rely heavily upon when this thing arrives. For his part, Gruber says "don't bet against" anything Siracusa says. We have an accord!
Siracusa also calls his column an "antacid tablet." As I am unable to traverse the Internet these days without stepping on, consuming, or producing a steaming pile of Apple Tablet news, I am inclined to agree with him. [Daring Fireball, ars technica]
This iPod Touch Puts You In Sleep Mode [Sheets]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on January 3rd, 2010
Earlier today I lamented the relative lack of sleep-enhancing gadgets. The Internet answered with these sheets that transform your bed into a giant iPod Touch. I don't think it functions, but it is certainly compatible with puns. [Ellos via Techeblog]
