General Motors partners with mystery organization to bolster OnStar technology

Thought the Chevy Volt’s OnStar apps were impressive? You may not have to buy a Volt to get them. General Motors says it would like to extend such infotainment beyond its flagship plug-in hybrid, and has partnered with a undisclosed tech firm to help make it happen. Speaking to CNN Money, OnStar president Chris Pruess teases that we could see some of Volt’s features — remote locking, charging and perhaps air conditioning options — on other OnStar automobiles, or even other ventures (the exec says they’re looking “beyond automotive”) the auto manufacturer might decide on. The big question, of course, is whether this mysterious partner might restrict smartphone functionality to a particular handset or carrier — after all, when we think of cell phone manufacturers who’ve both worked with GM and recently acquired automotive assets, one in particular comes to mind.

[Thanks, Jub]

General Motors partners with mystery organization to bolster OnStar technology originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung releases Bada SDK for developers who want to ride the Wave

Samsung releases Bada SDK for developers who want to get ahead of the Wave

Samsung still hasn’t managed to get the Wave or any other Bada handset to market yet, but it’s doing the right thing by offering developers the software development kit first. Granted, with a planned June release Samsung isn’t managing the same sort of massive lead-time that Microsoft has with its Windows Phone 7 SDK, but a few weeks of pressure-free coding are better than none. The first public SDK for Bada was just made available yesterday, and inside developers will find an Eclipse-based IDE, a phone emulator, and tutorials. You can get it all for yourself at the source link below, but make sure you get your reading glasses out before clicking through. You’ll need to agree to not one, not two, but four separate sets of terms and conditions before you can get this 606MB download flowing, and a fifth before it’ll install. Oh, and it’s all C/C++ based, so if you’ve been living in the merry land of Java and C# lately you’d better brush up on pointer dereferencing and interface definitions.

[Thanks, Sacha]

Samsung releases Bada SDK for developers who want to ride the Wave originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 09:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MiFi to Get App Store

Novatel’s little MiFi, the personal 3G router that turns a cell-signal into a Wi-Fi hotspot, is about to jump on the App Store train. Applications for the device will be sold by PocketGear, which is billing itself as an iTunes-like store, but is really just a big website that sells software for smartphones.

The MiFi is a surprise winner in the iPad accessory market. Many people are opting for the portable router over a 3G iPad. Sure, you almost always need to sign up for a monthly plan, but you can share the connection with any of your devices, from laptop to iPod.

So what can we expect? The press release is vague, with nuggets like this: “[I]ts onboard Web server enables the MiFi to connect to remote data locations, retrieve data and present it to the user either online or offline.” That web-server will enable things like BitTorrent clients, download management (continuing to pull down content even when you power-down your computer) and even logging your position using GPS, so you could geo-tag your photos later.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen “apps” on the MiFi. Back in March, Novatel added a media-server to the device, allowing you to stream movies from the MiFi’s microSD card to, say, an iPod Touch. This was courtesy of a firmware update, though, rather than a purchased application.

The launch date of the new store is as yet unannounced. One thing we do know, though, is that that the $130 premium for the 3G iPad might be better spent elsewhere.

MiFi App Store Press release [PR Newswire. Thanks, Kevin!]

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Photo: Charlie Sorrel


eBoy’s FixPix iPhone game is basically the greatest thing ever made

Okay, so this isn’t out yet, but it’s hard to deny that the eBoy-designed Delicious Toys-developed game FixPix is probably the best idea anyone has ever had since the wheel or sliced bread. Maybe that’s a little hyperbolic, but as you know, we are huge fans of eBoy and their mind-boggling pixel art. Now the design collective’s cityscapes and fantastical scenes have been turned into an iPhone app where you can piece the 3D milieus back together by tilting your phone this way and that. As we said, the title isn’t available, but there’s an awesome demo site where you can play around with the concept, and it’s likely FixPix could see Apple approval any day now. We can barely contain ourselves. Check out a video of the game in action after the break.

Continue reading eBoy’s FixPix iPhone game is basically the greatest thing ever made

eBoy’s FixPix iPhone game is basically the greatest thing ever made originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android support for memory card app storage is finally ‘coming soon’

Android support for memory card app storage is finally

One of the biggest complaints with Android since the dawn of civilization is that the expansive plains of storage available on microSD cards have been left under-utilized; coldly ignored by the OS while it did everything it could to stuff the measly couple-hundred megs of internal storage with apps. Soon that problem will finally be rectified, with a Google representative closing the long-running Issue 1151. The issue, which covers external installation of apps, was opened in October of 2008 and since then was voted on by 2561 people, all of whom want Google to set their memory cards free. Exactly when this functionality is coming it remains to be seen, but the “coming soon” note in comment 535 is very encouraging. Froyo, anyone?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Android support for memory card app storage is finally ‘coming soon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 May 2010 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Symbian^3 web app development tools come out of beta, aim for standardized simplicity

Has the Nokia N8 made a Symbian^3 believer out of you? If so, you’ll be glad to know the beta tag has been peeled off the web application development tools for the platform, which — according to Executive Director Lee Williams — provide “an ideal entry point” for coders of all skill levels. This is because the primary languages spoken are HTML, CSS and JavaScript, familiar to almost anyone who’s tried to create for the web, and with just a little extra JavaScript exercise, you’re promised access to the phone’s contacts, camera, accelerometer, and location. It sounds all kinds of refreshing, but the usefulness of this tool set and the entire environment will be determined by what people produce with it — and to that end we’ve provided you with a link to the downloads page (Windows, Mac and Linux users are all being served) where you can get your Symbian dev career started in earnest.

Continue reading Symbian^3 web app development tools come out of beta, aim for standardized simplicity

Symbian^3 web app development tools come out of beta, aim for standardized simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple acquires virtual assistant search app maker Siri

Apple has acquired Siri, a company that makes a virtual assistant app. Siri was inspired by DARPA’s CALO — the Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes — project. Originally designed to help streamline military personnel’s activities, the consumer app focuses on helping you find things like restaurants, making use of speech recognition to boot. Essentially a smart search, there’s plenty of speculation of course as to what this means about the direction that Apple might be taking… and that direction seems to lead towards Google-y territory. Now we don’t want to speculate too much, but we’ll be watching to see how this plays out over the next few weeks. The terms of the acquisition aren’t known, meaning we have no idea how much Apple paid for the small startup, but Business Insider guesses the deal could be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 to $200 million.

Apple acquires virtual assistant search app maker Siri originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple Just Says Yes to iPhone Game for Smokers

smoke1

Blogs and message boards have been lighting up with the buzz about Apple’s family-friendly App Store policy, which bans soft porn and satire — but a game that glorifies smoking somehow got the green light.

Apple on Monday approved Puff Puff Pass, a $2 game whose objective is to pass a cigarette or pipe around and puff it as many times as you can within a set duration. So much for taking the high road, Apple.

The game allows you to choose between smoking a cigarette, a cigar and a pipe. Then, you select the number of people you’d like to light up with (up to five), the amount of time, and a place to smoke (outdoors or indoors). And you’re ready to get right on puffing.

“During gameplay you can listen to a phat track,” the game’s description reads in the App Store. Apple rates Puff Puff Pass 17+ for “Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References.”

Marijuana is not present in the game. However, an Urban Dictionary entry says the slang phrase “Puff puff pass” refers to a game in which “a circle passes a spliff, bong or other smokeage.”

smoke2

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Puff Puff Pass. But given Apple’s goal to retain a wholesome shopping experience that’s appropriate for people of all ages, including children, it’s safe to guess this was a mistake on a reviewer’s part, and the game will eventually be nipped in the bud.

The App Store last year generated controversy with a number of questionable decisions. The most notable example was the approval of Baby Shaker, a game whose premise was to shake a baby to death. Apple later pulled the app amid parental outrage, admitting it was a mistake.

More recently, the company’s rejection of Mark Fiore’s Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoon for “ridiculing public figures” inspired a wave of bad press. The move raised concern among journalists (including yours truly) about the state of editorial independence for media companies distributing iPad and/or iPhone editions of their publications through the App Store.

Apple eventually approved Fiore’s cartoon app, but it did not disclose whether its rules regarding “ridiculing public figures” had changed. Then this week, Apple rejected an editorial cartoon mocking Tiger Woods.

In regard to App Store content, Apple has been blunt that it does not wish to sell porn through the App Store. At a recent iPhone event, Steve Jobs said that Google’s Android OS is a place where people can download porn, but not the App Store.

“There’s a porn store in Android,” Jobs said. “You can download porn right onto your phone. Our kids can download them. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to.”

Even with that said, Apple’s App Store serves the Playboy and Sports Illustrated apps, because they come from “more reputable companies,” according to Apple’s vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller. Given that rationale, perhaps Apple will pull Puff Puff Smoke but approve a game made by a more reputable company such as Marlboro.

A hat tip to Krapps for originally reporting this story.

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A Call for Transparency in Apple’s App Store

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The iTunes App Store is nearly two years old, and Apple still has not published a clear set of guidelines about what type of content is and isn’t allowed inside apps. That’s a problem, especially for publishers eying the iPad as a potential platform for the future of publishing, and it’s an even bigger problem for readers.


We in the press don’t know to what extent we can retain our editorial freedom in the App Store. Working with Apple’s current opaque policy, we’re left to trust that Apple will do the right thing. And time and time again, Apple’s App Store reviewers have been proven fallible, as recently shown by the rejection of Mark Fiore’s Pulitzer-winning cartoon. Apple rejected the toon because it “ridicules public figures,” and after coming under fire in the press, the company approved the app. But in reversing its decision, Apple still did not make its content policy clear.

Instead, the Fiore episode raised more questions. Does it mean we can now publish satire? Or does it mean we have to win a Pulitzer in order to publish satire? Or does it mean we have to stir up negative press in order to publish satire?

The fact there are so many questions points to a paramount concern: Readers don’t know what they could be missing when they’re reading the iPad edition of a publication, as opposed to its print or web version.

The issue is poised to grow as more iPads sell. To understand, you have to consider the logistics of embracing a new publishing medium such as the iPad. Media operations must integrate digital tablet production into their infrastructure, and it’s neither easy nor inexpensive to obtain the software developers, designers and content creators to make such a transition. And if advertisers invest more money in the iPad version of a publication, that pressures publishers to give priority to resources allocated to the iPad.

Given Apple’s lead in mobile, the rate at which Apple and the App Store are growing and the wild enthusiasm among advertisers lining up for the iPad opportunity, it seems inevitable that Apple will to some extent have influence over the content that publishers produce.

Tech observers have correctly compared the App Store to Walmart, which refuses to sell musical albums carrying the Parental Advisory tag. Walmart has even suggested that artists change lyrics and CD covers it deems objectionable. Given the retail chain’s position as the world’s largest music retailer, many agree Walmart has altered the way the recording industry creates albums.

The major difference between the App Store and Walmart, however, is that the RIAA has published details about the Parental Advisory program. Apple has not published such documents regarding content for apps.

Following the Fiore incident, the journalism industry is slowly waking up to my forewarning published in February about the potential for Apple to take control of the press. The Association of American Editorial Cartoons published a letter on April 22 asking for Apple to support free speech.

“The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists calls on Apple to immediately stop rejecting apps because they ‘ridicule public figures’ and are deemed ‘objectionable,’” the association wrote. “Now is the time for Apple to welcome a vibrant and diverse world of news and opinion with open arms.”

Columbia Journalism Review’s Ryan Chittum expressed his concerns about the rejection in his editorial “It’s time for the press to push back against Apple.

“If the press is ceding gatekeeper status, even if it’s only nominally, over its speech, then it is making a dangerous mistake,” wrote Chittum. He makes an extreme suggestion: Yank apps from the store until Apple agrees to give publishers complete control over their content.

I partly disagree: A strong argument for Apple’s tight control is the level of quality and protection provided by its App Store — an experience many customers enjoy. My position is more moderate: It’s OK for there to be rules required for us to play in the App Store. It’s just not OK that publications and their readers don’t know what the rules are. As advocates of transparency, we in the press should demand transparency from our new partner, Apple.

Make no mistake, though written from the perspective of a Wired writer, this editorial doesn’t just concern the press. Everybody participating in the App Store is a part of “new media” and should be demanding that Apple come clean with its rules.

If there’s anything valuable we can extract from South Park’s last-minute censorship of Mohammed in response to a death threat from a Muslim website, it’s that capricious censorship bears unexpected consequences. Similar can be said about Apple. In a creative platform like the App Store, when censorship is imposed without making clear what the rules for censorship are, the natural reaction for eager participants is to over-censor themselves so as not to be punished. That’s bad for innovation and democracy, and the detrimental side effect is widespread conformity — ironic, coming from a company whose former slogan was “Think Different.”

Brian X. Chen is writing a book examining the positive and negative implications of the iPhone revolution, scheduled to publish Spring 2011 by Perseus Books Group.

Updated 7:30 a.m. PT: Posted a link to the letter published by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

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Photo: Bryan Derballa/Wired.com


Nook gets web browser, free in-store reading, and games in new firmware

It’s not in our nature to get all excited about firmware updates, but B&N sure seems to be bringing the good stuff in release 1.3 of the Nook’s software. The major new features include a Beta release of a “basic” web browser and a Read In Store feature that’s reassuringly true to its name. You’ll basically be allowed to browse and read the full versions of books while inside a Barnes and Noble outlet. That looks like a win-win to us, as it directly addresses the goal of using the Nook to get people in stores while affording consumers the opportunity to get a good idea about a book. The first Android apps on the device are also offered, in the form of games like chess and sudoku, both perfectly suited to the glacially refreshing monochome screen. Speaking of which, B&N claims it’s also improved page turning and loading speeds. The update is available via manual download now or you can wait for the OTA stuff to hit your Nook within the next week.

[Thanks, Davorin]

Nook gets web browser, free in-store reading, and games in new firmware originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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