Unidentified sources tipped 9to5Mac that Sprint customers may be in for a summertime surprise. According to their report, the iPhone 4 is in the late testing phase on Sprint, and could see a launch within months. They claim the device looks like the current model of the iPhone 4, which means it could be the […]
Remember those thick C-type batteries you used to toss in your flashlights before the age of LEDs? Well, they’re not likely to overtake the disposable battery market anytime soon, but they did just become slightly more useful to a very select number of Japanese MacBook Air owners. The EP-15V from Bird Electron will bridge eight of those C batts to create a 12-volt power source, giving your 11.6-inch MacBook Air a two-hour boost when used with standard alkaline batteries. The charger was released today in Japan, and will initially sell for ¥19,800 (about $250), not including batteries or the requisite MagSafe Airline Adapter (¥5,800, or about $75 in Japan). The EP-15V isn’t likely to be the most practical option, considering its cost, size, weight (2.3 pounds, or just over 1 kilogram — before you add batts), and the fact that you’ll need access to an adapter and eight batteries, which you’ll be tossing after just two hours of use. But if you find yourself in a remote village with a hearty C-type battery supply and no electricity or access to the sun, then you might just regret not picking one up.
Bird Electron EP-15V charges your MacBook Air from eight C-type batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wirelessly syncing a smartphone is hardly a new idea, but the developer of the Wi-Fi Sync app for iOS devices apparently thinks Apple’s similar new feature in iOS 5 — also called Wi-Fi Sync –is just a little too close to his for comfort. As you may recall, Greg Hughes submitted his “Wi-Fi Sync” app to Apple for App Store approval back in May of 2010 and was ultimately rejected, although not before he says he was told that Apple’s engineers were “impressed” by his effort — he then made the app available in the Cydia store, where it’s been downloaded more than 50,000 times at $10 a pop. That was apparently working out just fine for him until this week, when he says he was “fairly shocked” to see Apple announce a Wi-Fi Sync feature of its own in iOS 5, complete with a familiar looking icon. Hughes went on to tell The Register that he was “surprised” by the similarities, but he hasn’t offered any indication that he plans to push the issue any further.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Wi-Fi Sync developer says he was ‘fairly shocked’ by Apple’s similar Wi-Fi Sync feature originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Here’s a little tip for app developers: encrypt everything, especially passwords. Security firm viaForensics fed some popular iPhone and Android apps through its appWatchdog tool and found that Netflix, LinkedIn, and Foursquare all stored account passwords unencrypted. Since the results were first published on the 6th, Foursquare has updated its app to obscure users’ passwords, but other data (such as search history) is still vulnerable. While those three were the worst offenders, other apps also earned a big fat “fail,” such as the iOS edition of Square which stores signatures, transaction amounts, and the last four digits of credit card numbers unencrypted. Most of this data would take some effort to steal, but it’s not impossible for a bunch of ne’er-do-wells to create a piece malware that can harvest it. Let’s just hope Netflix and LinkedIn patch this hole quickly — last thing we need is someone discovering our secret obsession with Meg Ryan movies.
Netflix, Foursquare, LinkedIn, and Square apps expose your data originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[Thanks, Chris]
Zach Honig contributed to this report.
Apple iCloud brings previously purchased apps back from the dead originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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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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In a move that’s bound to get at least a few MADD moms smiling, Apple’s officially decided to block apps that encourage drunk driving. Section 22.8 of the newly revised App Store Review Guidelines reads:
Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected.
That revision comes on the heels of a request from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking that Google, Apple, and RIM yank offending apps from their respective mobile outlets. At the time, Google declined while RIM was quick to jump on the bandwagon, leaving Apple to stew. For now, it looks like the rest of us still have to keep our eyes out for Android users with a propensity for boozing and skirting the fuzz.
Apple to drop DUI checkpoint apps like a bad habit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 07:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has finally recognized that their App Store content subscription policy was total bullshit and reversed it, no longer making stupid demands to publishers and other content providers. Their ridiculous pricing and in-app purchase dictates are now gone. More »
Is Google Android still open? Some Android app programmers don't think so. Photo illustration: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Google’s pitch for the Android mobile platform rests on a single, oft-repeated word: “Open.” But to some Android developers, the search giant’s recent practices at its app store have been anything but open.
The company recently suspended the accounts of two high-profile programmers without reason or warning, removing all their published apps from the Android Market and effectively slashing a large part of their livelihoods.
“My income was cut in half,” mobile application developer ZodTTD (his web handle) told Wired.com. “But I feel that as a developer, not being able to use the Android Market or Checkout [Google’s payments system], that digs much deeper for me.”
The offending apps were emulation software for playing console games from different systems, such as PlayStation and Super Nintendo. Not coincidentally, Google pulled these apps at the same time Sony released a PlayStation phone in late May.
The removal of these apps is a sign that Google’s “open” regime is gradually crumbling, as the Android platform becomes more commercialized and entangled in corporate partnerships. Combine this episode with Google’s lockdown of source code for Android’s Honeycomb tablet operating system, and it’s no wonder why programmers and technology journalists have begun challenging Android’s claims of being open.
Android debuted in the fall of 2008 as the self-proclaimed “open” alternative to Apple’s closed iOS platform. In the name of openness, developers flocked to the platform in droves, and the Android Market ballooned in less than three years. Now host to more than 200,000 applications, Google’s app store is Apple’s only serious app-ecosystem competitor. Apple’s App Store now offers about 400,000 apps.
The word open speaks directly to the hacker ethos — open source software is made to be shared, pored over and freely distributed. Open networks were made to be entered, explored and (occasionally) exploited. Open markets, self-governed. For better or for worse, it’s pure libertarianism at its finest.
Part of the Market’s original appeal to developers came in the friction-free app-submission process. Completely antithetical to Apple’s model, the Android Market allows developers to publish their apps almost instantaneously, with no vetting or pre-approval process by Google.
“It was just so simple,” says Ralph Gootee, a mobile platform developer whose past includes coding for companies like Sony Ericsson and Pixar. “You published the app, and it was just … there. In the Market.”
That’s a stark contrast to the App Store. Apple’s team of reviewers carefully curate the App Store, with every submitted app undergoing a strict approval process. The app-review guidelines (.pdf) that a developer’s submitted app must adhere to are seven pages long, and the timeline for the process is ambiguous. Many apps that don’t adhere to Apple’s policies get rejected or banned.
“There’s this strange waiting period,” Gootee says of Apple’s process. “After you submit your app, you’re in limbo for anywhere from two days to two weeks, with no word from Apple whatever.”
Of course, there are lines Android app publishers aren’t allowed to cross — like uploading malware programs or apps that promote illegal activity — but the Android Market relies primarily on a system of self-policing, with patrons reporting suspect apps to Google for removal.
Apple’s lack of transparency seemed to be what irked developers most. For years, Apple refused to publish its app-submission guidelines, leaving developers playing guessing games as to whether or not their apps would be approved. Relative to Apple, Android’s instant-publishing model was more open than ever.
So when Google started pulling strings on high-profile apps from behind the scenes, developers noticed.
Google suspended mobile developer Yong Zhang’s Android Market developer account without warning in late May, along with all seven of his highly popular applications. A few weeks prior, Google did the same with another high-profile application developer: ZodTTD.
“I was quickly notified of my account suspension via my Twitter followers and e-mail,” ZodTTD said, though his official notice from Google didn’t come until later that day.
In a formal letter, Google offered a vague explanation, citing a “violation of Android Market policies.” The company refused our request for further comment.
It left both ZodTTD and Zhang in the lurch, with inboxes full of confused customer e-mails and no explanation to give them.
“Customers were concerned about how they would be able to reinstall the application,” says ZodTTD. Currently, Android Market users can reinstall apps they’ve already purchased on any of their devices, as long as the applications are still distributed in the Market. Those who already purchased the six-buck PSX4Droid app wouldn’t be able to install the app if they decided to switch phones or wipe the memory on their current device.
Aside from individual developer headaches, a larger dilemma seems to be at hand. Android’s open philosophy is getting more difficult to defend.
“The biggest offense is that Google pulled these apps with no warning whatever,” says Gootee, a self-proclaimed proponent of the Android platform. “It was a total Big Brother move.”
The unveiling of iOS 5 at this year’s WWDC keynote brought a wonderful feast of features, but it left us wondering if the iPhone 3GS would be updated with a few cards short of a full deck — the same way the 3G was treated last year. Reports are starting to flow in from folks who’ve tested it, so let’s get the bad news out of the way first: yes, some features are being withheld from the 3GS. The good news? They’re much more minor than we feared. So far, it appears that full Twitter integration and notifications are included; the newsstand and App Store are also intact, as well as the Safari reading list and grid lines in the camera. The only things we see missing so far are the photo editing features in the camera and the tab bar in Safari. So breathe a deep and well-deserved sigh of relief, fans, because your iPhone 3GS isn’t obsolete — at least, not yet. The full walkthrough of iOS 5 on the 3GS is right after the break.
Continue reading iOS 5 imposes minor feature limitations on iPhone 3GS, 3G owners still bitter
iOS 5 imposes minor feature limitations on iPhone 3GS, 3G owners still bitter originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 05:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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