It’s been quite a while since Apple’s tight reins on the App Store were a subject worth discussing, but they’re back in the spotlight now following the company’s rejection of Sony’s Reader app for iOS. The reasons given to Sony were that Apple will not no longer accept applications that permit in-app purchases of content that don’t go through Apple itself, and, moreover, will not tolerate apps that access material purchased through external content stores. So the Sony Reader Store is out — but wait, doesn’t the Kindle app spend its time serving up Kindlebooks? No comment has been offered on the matter from either Apple or Amazon, while Sony’s Reader Store page describes the situation as “an impasse” and promises to seek “other avenues to bring the Reader experience to Apple mobile devices.” In the mean time, you can get the Reader app for Android or just read your ebooks on a device dedicated to that task.
Update: As noted by Harry McCracken over at Technologizer, it has actually been Apple’s longstanding policy to forbid in-app purchases — the Kindle and Nook apps send you to a browser — so Sony’s desire to do so will have been the major cause for the Reader application’s rejection. That doesn’t invalidate the second concern expressed in the New York Times article, that Apple will no longer tolerate content brought in from external stores, which is a displeasing development, if true.
Update 2: Looks like McCracken nailed it — Apple’s come out with a statement pointing out that the App Store guidelines require that apps that allow content purchases must also allow them in-app through Apple’s official iTunes-backed system. We can’t imagine that Sony is thrilled with the idea of cutting Apple in on Reader content, but if they want to play ball, they should be able to score an approval. Notably, Apple says that they are “now requiring” this even though the guidelines haven’t changed, suggesting they’re just now getting around to enforcing it; the effect on iOS’ Kindle and Nook apps isn’t yet known, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Apple started nudging them in the direction of pushing updates. More on this situation as we have it.
Apple rejects Sony Reader app, really doesn’t want you buying content from others (update: Apple says it needs official in-app purchases) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Being number one is usually an honor, but not when it comes to Kaspersky Lab’s top ten PC vulnerabilities list. Unfortunately for the software giant, Adobe took top dishonors for Q1 this year, pulling in five total spots on the list, including the top three. According to the security firm, all of the vulnerabilities appearing on the list allowed cyber-criminals to control computers at the system level. The number one spot was occupied by a vulnerability in Adobe Reader that was reportedly detected on 40 percent of machines running the application, while Flash Player flaws took second and third. Other dishonorees included the Java Virtual Machine, coming in at fourth and fifth place, Apple QuickTime, Winamp, and Microsoft Office. That ain’t bad, considering Microsoft ruled the vulnerabilities roost in 2010.
