Hasta La Gadget!

It looks like Apple has decided to make some pretty major changes to its App Store Review Guidelines — and, in particular, to its controversial in-app subscription policy. Under the new guidelines, publishers will be able to offer subscriptions to content outside of the App Store, as long as their apps don’t include a “buy” button that directs users away from Apple’s marketplace. Under the previous version of the policy, which was set to go into effect at the end of this month, app owners offering subscriptions outside of App Store were required to sell equivalent, in-app services at the “same price or less than it is offered outside the app,” while giving a 30 percent cut to Cupertino. Now, however, they can price these in-app subscriptions as they see fit, or circumvent the system altogether, by exclusively selling them outside of their apps. Apple will still receive 30 percent of the revenue generated from in-app subscriptions, but won’t get any money from purchases made outside of its domain. Theoretically, then, publishers would be able to offer in-app subscriptions at higher prices, in order to offset Apple’s share. This is how the new rules are worded:

11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy” button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected

11.14 Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app.

It’s important to note, though, that Apple hasn’t made any changes to its policy on sharing user information. Publishers had been lobbying to gain access to subscribers’ credit card data and other personal information, which they see as critical to applying a TV Everywhere model to online publishing. With today’s concessions, though, these demands may become less insistent.

Apple gives in to publishers, changes policy on in-app subscription prices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Adobe-Apple Flash war used to be one of the juiciest catfights around, but, much like two aging boxers, both sides now appear willing to act like adults put it all behind them. Speaking at yesterday’s D9 conference in Palos Verdes, California, Adobe head Shantanu Narayen confirmed that he and Steve Jobs have reached an unofficial armistice, bringing an end to their prolonged war of words. According to the CEO, Apple’s Flash issues stemmed from the company’s “business model,” rather than any legitimate concerns over quality. “It’s control over the app store that’s at issue here,” Narayen said, implying that Flash’s wide-ranging platform compatibility may not have jibed with the Cupertino ethos. He went on to remind moderator Walt Mossberg that developers can still use Adobe’s AIR software to get their products to the App Store, adding that his company is looking forward to the rise of HTML5 and “actively contributing” to its development.

Mossberg, meanwhile, seemed to blindside Narayen when he brought up Flash’s poor performance on Android devices. “I have yet to test a single one where Flash tests really well,” the columnist claimed. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.” Narayen sputtered a bit, before pointing to the BlackBerry PlayBook as an example of the progress that Flash has made. When Mossberg reminded him that the PlayBook doesn’t run on Android, the CEO not-so-subtly sidestepped the question by emptily declaring that Adobe’s mission is simply to provide people with the best tools to create content. Apparently satisfied with this non-answer, Mossberg changed the subject back to Apple, allowing Narayen to wax poetic about their new Pax Romana — and, perhaps, to breathe a sigh of relief. See the full interview after the break.

Continue reading Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video)

Adobe CEO has no beef with Apple, no answer for poor Flash performance on Android (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After less than three years of existence, Apple’s App Store has accumulated half-a-million mobile apps.

The iTunes App Store, which launched in the summer of 2008, surpassed the 500,000 milestone Tuesday morning, according to 148Apps, an iPhone app reviews blog that has been tracking the store closely.

To be clear, that’s 500,000 apps that Apple has approved — they’re not necessarily live yet. In the United States, the App Store is just shy of reaching 400,000 apps available for download.

“The fact that it has taken less than three years to reach this number is remarkable,” said Jeff Scott, editor of 148Apps. “With the improved tools for developers and steady adoption of smartphone technology, I anticipate there is still a lot of runway.”

Since its birth, Apple’s App Store has expanded rapidly, from 500 apps on day one to 100,000 about one year later. On the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the App Store is the only official channel for customers to download and purchase third-party software with the tap of a button.

The App Store’s seamless, friction-free purchasing process provided an efficient business model for the software industry. Prior to the App Store, independent software coders had a difficult time competing against larger software companies with big budgets. Many tried marketing and selling their apps with methods such as the shareware model, or on their personal websites, but few found success through these ad-hoc channels.

By tying the App Store to iTunes and including the store on every iPhone, Apple created a captive audience and an effective marketing platform for distributing software, where programmers both big and small had an equal chance to make serious money. A handful of lucky developers struck it rich with hot app sales.

After the App Store exploded, other competitors launched their own app stores. Google’s Android app market, which launched eight months after the App Store, is the closest rival, with about 300,000 apps to date.

To celebrate the App Store’s half-a-million milestone, Scott of 148Apps collaborated with Chomp, a company that makes an app search tool, to create a large infographic (see full graphic below the jump) summarizing statistics about the app landscape.

Some tidbits from the App Store infographic:

• It would cost $891,982.24 and over 7 terabytes to download all available applications.
• Approximately 36 percent of all apps are free, and paid apps have an average price of $3.64
• Angry Birds has held the number 1 paid spot more than any other app at 275 days total.

At one point does quantity no longer matter? Nobody needs 500,000 apps, but I’ve argued in the past that the more apps an app store accrues, the more likely it can fill every need for various professions, hobbies and special interests.

See Also:

• The 19 Most Wired iPhone and iPad Apps of 2010
• iPhone App Store Approaches 1 Billion Downloads
• Apple Pre-Celebrates App Store’s First Birthday
• App Sales Sluggish, Despite Android’s Popularity

Patent firm Lodsys wants a cut every time little Timmy buys a new content pack for Pocket God.  Photo: Emmanuelle Bourgue/Flickr

After threatening last week to sue several iPhone app programmers for implementing a new iOS feature, a patent firm touched off a storm of controversy and even received death threats.

Now the company has explained why it’s going after the little guys, instead of Apple: Lodsys says Apple has licensed the patent in question.

“The scope of their current licenses does NOT enable them to provide ‘pixie dust’ to bless another (3rd party) business applications [sic],” Lodsys writes in a blog post about Apple. “From Lodsys’ perspective, it is seeking to be paid value for rights it holds and which are being used by others.”

Incidentally, Microsoft and Google have also paid for licenses, too, according to Lodsys.

Lodsys sent letters last week to a number of iPhone app developers, accusing them of infringing a patent related to the usage of an “upgrade” button that customers can use to upgrade from a free version of an app to a paid version, or to make purchases from within an app.

Lodsys says that it wants 0.575% of U.S. revenue for any app using its technology.

Apple provides the “in-app billing” infrastructure programmers use to process payments from within their apps, which Lodsys says infringes its patent. In-app billing has been available to iPhone app developers since October 2009, and Apple added support for selling in-app subscriptions to serial content in February 2011.

Not a cease-and-desist letter but rather a warning, the Lodsys letter was meant to encourage developers to “engage in a licensing discussion,” the firm wrote on its blog. However, Lodsys gave the recipients 21 days to comply or else face a lawsuit.

Programmers who said they have received the complaint include James Thomson, creator of the scientific calculator app PCalc; Dave Castelnuovo, creator of the best-selling game Pocket God; and Matt Braun, developer of the popular iPhone kids’ game MASH.

Many apps use Apple’s in-app payment system, so the number of companies to receive the legal threat could soon grow much larger.

James Thomson, developer of the PCalc app, says he has asked Apple’s legal team for help.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple's App Store is home to 400,000 apps from third-party programmers. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

If your pockets aren’t deep enough to fight a corporate giant, then sue the little guys for milk money.

That’s the idea behind a patent company’s legal threats against several independent iPhone app programmers rather than Apple.

Several iOS programmers on Friday morning said they received a legal complaint from Lodsys, a patent-holding firm.

Lodsys is accusing the developers of infringing a patent related to the usage of an “upgrade” button that customers can use to upgrade from a free version of an app to a paid version, or to make purchases from within an app.

Apple provides the payment technology that programmers embed inside their apps, but the Lodsys complaint is instead aimed squarely at the programmers using Apple’s in-app purchasing system.

Programmers who say they have received the complaint include James Thomson, creator of the scientific calculator app PCalc; Dave Castelnuovo, creator of the best-selling game Pocket God; and Matt Braun, developer of the popular iPhone kids game MASH.

Many apps use Apple’s in-app payment system, so the number of companies to receive the legal threat could soon grow much larger.

“Just got hit by very worrying threat of patent infringement lawsuit for using in-app purchase in PCalc Lite. Legal docs arrived via fedex,” Thomson tweeted Friday morning.

Programmers who have received the complaint say that Lodsys is demanding that they negotiate for a license to use the “upgrade” technology within 21 days, or a lawsuit will be filed.

This incident is an example of a practice that many in the industry would call “patent trolling,” which means using patents for little purpose other than to sue other companies until they cough up damages or licensing fees.

Lodsys did not respond to a request for comment.

On its website, Lodsys claims ownership of patents related to technologies that “provide for online purchasing of consumable supplies” and “sell upgrades or complimentary products,” among others.

Lodsys is based in eastern Texas, which is home to a federal court that often sides with patent holders. Patent lawyers around the world know that the easiest and quickest way to win a patent-related dispute is to file the complaint in Marshall, Texas. As a result, many defendants choose to settle instead of fight.

“One concern is that if we are the lightning rod, it could end up being pretty expensive for us, because they would choose to sue us no matter what our argument is,” Pocket God creator Castelnuovo told Wired.com.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear whether the company will get involved in the patent dispute.

However, it seems likely that Apple will intervene. If Lodsys sues or imposes licensing fees on iOS programmers, it would deter developers from building apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, and would hurt the ecosystem as a whole. Also, Apple takes 30 percent of each in-app sale, so it would lose money if Lodsys were to succeed.

See Also:

• Patent ‘Troll’ Sues Apple, Google Over Wireless E-mail
• EFF Decries ‘Sham’ Copyright-Troll Legal Tactics
• Apple Sued Over Keyboard Patent: Troll Suspected
• Paul Allen Files Patent Lawsuits Against Entire Web … Except Microsoft