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Wow, a mutant virus? This analogy may sound like a ringing bell for another cat fight on the playground, but Acer founder and retired chairman Stan Shih is actually semi-praising Apple here. Speaking at the launch of an Acer touch-themed design competition, Shih said that while Apple’s taking the “revolution” highway to tackle the PC market, Acer’s success has always depended on its time-consuming but more pragmatic “evolution” strategy, and it’ll keep doing so to lay the ground for the next 30 years or so. Here’s how China Times paraphrased Shih:

“Apple is like a mutant virus, escaping from the traditional structure of the PC industry, but the industry will still eventually build up immunity, thus further blocking this trend, and we believe the size of the non-Apple camp will exceed Apple’s, because this is how the industry normally evolves.”

Assuming the second half of Shih’s quote refers to the tablet market share, this certainly echoes the words of his good friend JT Wang. That said, this is also the man who’s boldly predicted that all American PC brands will be gone within 20 years, but there’s no promise that Apple won’t be kicking out a few more revolutions in the coming years. Anyway, doesn’t Acer have more to worry about for the mean time?

CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Acer founder characterizes Apple as a mutant virus originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has opened up the App Store review process, dropping its harsh restrictions on the tools developers are allowed to use and at the same time actually publishing the App Store Review Guidelines — a previously secret set of rules that governed whether or not your app would be approved.

Apple did not specifically mention Adobe — though investors drove up shares of the company up 12 percent on the news — but the changes seem to mean that you can use Flash to develop your apps, and then compile them to work on the iPhone and iPad with a tool called Adobe Packager. This could be boon to publishers, including Condé Nast, owner of Wired, which use Adobe’s Creative Suite to make print magazines and would now be able to easily convert them into digital version instead of re-creating them from scratch in the only handful of coding languages Apple had allowed.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean Flash is coming to iOS as a plugin: You still won’t be able to view Flash content on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. This change in Apple’s policy just means developers can use third-party tools such as Flash to create apps sold through the App Store.

And transparent guidelines will go a long way to making iOS a better place for developers. Previously, you wouldn’t know if you had broken a rule until your app was rejected. And if your app had taken months and months and tens of thousands of dollars to develop then you were pretty much screwed.

This uncertainty has kept a lot of professional and talented developers out of the store and caused the rise of quick-to-write fart applications. In fact, the point I have heard spoken over and over is that the developers don’t mind what the rules are, as long as they know about them.

The second part of Apple’s relaxation of restrictions is even less expected. Here’s the relevant point from the press release:

We are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.

This is a direct reversal of Apple’s previous ban on third-party development-tools. Why? Games. Many games use non-Apple, non-iOS code to make them work: the Unreal Engine behind the stunning Epic Citadel shown off at last weeks’ Apple event, for example, would fall foul of Apple’s previous rules. The “do not download any code” part of this is important. Apple will let you use non-iOS runtimes within your apps as long as it can inspect them first. Anything downloaded after installation which bring out the ban-hammer.

It’s a completely unexpected reversal, and one which will eventually lead to much more complex and refined apps in the iTunes Store. And everyone should be pleased about that.

Statement by Apple on App Store Review Guidelines [Apple]

See Also:

• Steve Jobs Debates Developers Over Apple’s New App Policy
• Adobe Gives Up on Flash for iPhone, iPad
• Apple VP Defends iPhone’s App Store Approval Policy
• Apple App Store Bans Pulitzer-Winning Satirist for Satire …
• Apple App Store Takes Tiny Step Toward Transparency
• Apple’s Delays Could Cost iPhone Developer $600K
• Apple’s App Store Director Sells His Own Fart Apps

Follow us for real-time tech news: Charlie Sorrel and Gadget Lab on Twitter.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

The electronics chain will bring Amazon’s popular e-book reader to its stores this fall, selling it side-by-side with the Barnes Noble Nook and Sony’s Reader. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20015931-93.html” class=”origPostedBlog”News – Digital Media/a/p

Apple definitely surprised us this morning by relaxing its restrictions on third-party iOS development tools and publishing its app review guidelines, but that’s nothing compared to the almost shockingly blunt tone of the guidelines themselves. Grab the PDF for yourselves at the source link now and check out the highlights after the break.

Continue reading Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines: ‘we don’t need any more fart apps’

Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines: ‘we don’t need any more fart apps’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I wrote a piece on Gearlog last week titled “Will Apple’s iPad Invade Kindergarten?” In it, I highlighted the ways in which the iPad is ideal for teaching young children and cited some examples of real life kindergartens that were implementing Apple’s tablet. But what about older children? Is the device an effective tool for teaching in elementary school, junior high, and beyond?

When the iPad first launched, Apple was pushing an app called Elements. The company pre-loaded it on our test model, and I got to play around with it a bit. It’s clear, of course, why Apple chose the app as one of the best indicators for the potential of the device.

Apple, after all, has long understood the importance of positioning its products in the educational system–there are few better ways to secure a long term user base than by using your products as a training tool early in life. Elements is a great example of the educational benefits that comes with the iPad. It’s an information-packed app that takes full advantage of multimedia features to teach kids the periodic table.

The California school system is currently exploring the potential of the device in eight grade classes–perhaps marking the beginning of the end for the traditional textbook in schools. California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are bringing iPads to four eighth grade classrooms, in a pilot program of sorts, designed to explore the benefits of digital education.

“This is a seminal moment,” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt VP John Sipe told The Hill.”It marks the fundamental shift from print delivery of curriculum to digital.”

The four schools are located in the Fresno, Long Beach, Riverside, and San Francisco school districts. The iPads come loaded with more than 400 videos featuring teaching walking students through algebraic concepts, animated instructions on assignments, and a “homework coach.”

The projects will take place over the full school year.