Report- Apple to retain tight control over iPhone apps

Report: Apple to retain tight control over iPhone apps
The specifics? Apple would apparently mandate that all iPhone or iPod Touch applications be sold through the iTunes Store. That's not too surprising, since the iTunes software is the primary vehicle for getting software updates and contacts onto or off of the iPhone. And the visibility of the iTunes Store would be a boon to smaller developers trying to get noticed.Secondly, the report says Apple will deny developers access to the iPhone or iPod Touch dock, meaning their software would be unable to talk to third-party peripherals like keyboards or audio equipment. The applications could use the basic functions of the iPhone, such as the phone, Wi-Fi, and camera, according to the report, but that keeps developers inside a relatively small box.The detail that will generate the most angst and frustration, however, would be Apple's apparent plan to serve as the clearing house for all proposed applications. The company would retain veto power over the number and types of applications that could be installed on an iPhone, meaning no application could be officially released without a thumbs-up from an Apple committee or executive.If true, this policy would fall heavily to the "restrictive" side of the application-development spectrum outlined we outlined earlier this week. Apple plans to reveal the actual details at an event in Cupertino next Thursday.UPDATED 3:40pm - Electronista is now reporting that the restrictions might only apply to paid applications, and that free applications destined for the iPhone or the iPod Touch would not be subject to the same kinds of limits. This would be very helpful for extremely small developers or homegrown application development inside companies, but would still mean Apple plans to control the marketplace for iPhone applications.

Grooveshark coming to iPhone--if Apple allows it

Grooveshark coming to iPhone--if Apple allows it
This week, Grooveshark announced plans to submit an iPhone app to Apple's App Store. They sent me a version to test, and I'm pleased to report that it offers the same on-demand functionality--play any song you want, right now--as well as the ability for registered users to create and save playlists. But it's far from perfect, especially compared with the Web site. Most notably: both over my home Wi-Fi connection and AT&T's 3G network, new songs or playlists sometimes stuttered a few times as they started playing. Search results are harder to filter on the iPhone, since you can't divide results into albums, songs, and artists, and the results aren't organized as intelligently. For instance, a search for "Pink Floyd Dogs" turned up many instances of the atrocious "Dogs of War" from the band's 1980s incarnation, but not the song "Dogs" from their classic 1977 "Animals" album. I had no such problem on the Web site. And some songs appear in search results and can be added to your playlist, but when you actually try to play them, you're presented with a "not available" error (probably a legacy of the company's legal tussles). I also uncovered a couple of bugs or feature gaps with the playlist function. For instance, sometimes from the playlist menu, the buttons at the bottom of the app disappear, and you can't get back to the search screen (for example, to add a new song to your playlist) without exiting the app entirely. No fun. All this is academic unless Apple decides to accept the app. Here, Grooveshark is in the same boat as Spotify, whose plans to build an iPhone app I covered last week. Like Spotify, Grooveshark will charge a monthly fee for using the mobile version of the service, but hasn't decided on pricing yet. So now Apple has to decide: is it better to please iPhone users by giving them low-cost access to any song on demand, or is it better to preserve iTunes for music downloads? I have a feeling that iTunes is not going to be sacrificed. In fact, if Apple wanted to offer subscription-based on-demand streaming music for iPhone, it would probably deliver it through iTunes and collect the subscription fees itself. That's OK with Grooveshark: the company says it's planning to release apps for other mobile platforms as well. Follow Matt on Twitter.

Report says iPad Mini will be priced to move

Report says iPad Mini will be priced to move
With speculation pointing to not only a smaller iPad but a cheaper one too, will Apple try to crush rivals on price?The New York Times chimed in today with a relatively tame report on the expected 7.85-inch iPad. Nothing startlingly new was revealed -- and it follows a long line of reports including a recent CNET report.But the Times report did state that smaller iPad "is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad."Considering that Apple offers a $399 iPad 2, would Apple venture below $399? Here's one way to look at it.If Apple wants to own the tablet category and fend off (i.e., crush) rivals like the $199 Google Nexus 7, aggressive pricing is one way to do it. And the so-callled iPad Mini does seem very likely now.Back on July 3, Richard Shim of NPD DisplaySearch, commenting on the display for the iPad, told CNET that "there's a business plan for it, there's a mass production target for it. And we know that it's for Apple."

Report- Top Apple marketing exec to depart

Report: Top Apple marketing exec to depart
Allison Johnson, Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, is said to be leaving her post at the company to co-found a new marketing firm.All Things Digital reports that Johnson, who came to Apple from Hewlett-Packard back in 2005, is still in the process of negotiating her exit. Johnson's new gig is said to be co-founding a new marketing firm with former Facebook PR executive Brandee Barker.This would mark Johnson's second departure from Apple, where she had worked previously. During the 1990s, Johnson held the position of director of media relations both at IBM then later Netscape Communications.Prior to joining Apple for the second time, Johnson had spent six years at HP as the senior vice president of marketing, where she was said to be one of then-CEO Carly Fiorina's closest advisers. News of Johnson's reported departure comes just a day after Microsoft Senior Vice President Mich Mathews announced her plans to leave the company later this year.

AOL's Truveo re-launches, takes on Google Video search

AOL's Truveo re-launches, takes on Google Video search
Truveo's claim to fame is that they crawl and index both user-generated video sites, along with ones that put out professional media content like NBC and CBS. For example, searching for an episode of The Office will pull up results from YouTube and Google video (what hasn't been taken down at least), along with links to "official" video hosted on NBC's various video pages, and links to various episodes for purchase at online stores like iTunes.It will also list videos from other video services like BBC News, Blip.tv, and Metacafe. The key emphasis, however, isn't on user generated content, as much as professionally produced video content. A good number of the videos indexed through Truveo will play right in the engine, except for ones that have rights usage restrictions. A big change old Truveo users will notice with the re-launch is that videos play much larger than they used to--many now appear twice as big. There's also an increased emphasis on sharing, and community features--including a way to build your own widget containing a hit list of clips you've bookmarked. A great use for services like this is for finding recent video clips from news stations. Google's video search is great for finding the most popular content on YouTube and Google Video, but head-to-head, Truveo did a much better job at finding recent clips, and avoiding the "backyard" handicam videos you tend to run into. Blinkx on the other hand was just as capable at finding similar content, although I prefer Truveo's static result pages to Blinkx's visual overload of moving thumbnails and auto-playing videos. I've embedded an example of the video playlist widget after the jump. There are also several more screenshots. To see them, click the "read more" link below.Truveo's sports section will show you all sorts of sports clips, some that were just put up on the internet within the last few minutes.CNET NetworksHere are some video search results for Apple's iPhone. On the right are results from CNET TV, which was the category I was checking out the last time I did a search.CNET Networks

AOL launches tool to monitor kids' social networking (podcast)

AOL launches tool to monitor kids' social networking (podcast)
Ever wish you could be a fly on the wall for what your kids post on Facebook and other social media sites?One option would be to get them to friend you, but a lot of kids are reluctant to let that happen. Privacy issues aside, some kids find it uncool to have their parents show up on a friends list.AOL, in partnership with SocialShield, is launching AOL SafeSocial, a $9.99-per-month service that lets parents monitor their kids' online activities without having to be a "friend."The service doesn't work in stealth mode. In fact, kids have to agree to be monitored. But once a kid does agree, the parents get to see what the child posts and who their kid's online friends are.In addition to posts, the service shows what photos a child posts as well as pictures where he has been tagged. One problem with monitoring everything your kid does online is that you're likely to be overwhelmed with a lot of irrelevant information.To counter that, the service has software that looks for words or phrases that raise red flags for possible conversation about drugs, sex, violence, alcohol, and suicide.You get alerts if these conversations come up and anything alarming is brought to the top of the dashboard.The service also tries to find out what it can about your child's "friends."According to AOL, it checks your child's online "friends" against "more than 50 Web sites to find out more about them."Holly Hawkins, AOL's director of Consumer Policy and Child Safety, said that the product "requires open and honest dialog between the parent and the child." The service sends an invite to the teen so "it's completely open and upfront." Hawkins said that "it's very important to speak with the child to let them know that this is a way that mom and dad can keep an eye on you for peace of mind."Because the parent isn't seen as a friend on the site, they "don't have to worry about peer pressure or being ridiculed by your friends."The site works with Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. The service, which is based on a similar service from SocialShield, costs $9.99 per month after a 30-day free trial.Listen to my podcast interview with AOL's Holly HawkinsPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element.Subscribe now:iTunes (audio) |RSS (audio)

Apple adds Android 4.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 to Samsung lawsuit

Apple adds Android 4.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 to Samsung lawsuit
Apple appears ready to fire its legal salvo directly at Google. In a move that could draw Google into the fray, Apple attempted to add Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 10.1 and Google's Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean, to an existing complaint against Samsung in California.Apple made the argument to U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal today in San Jose, Calif., Bloomberg reported.Related storiesAT&T to sell Moto Backflip March 7?Dialed in 110: Lessons for Android (podcast)IT players in motionGoogle's peers mulling their options in ChinaU.S. law firm behind China piracy suit targeted in attacks The move followed Samsung's own action to add the iPhone 5 to its own counter-claim that Apple infringed on its patents.The ongoing complaints show that the massively complex legal battle between Apple and Samsung is nowhere near over, despite a seemingly crippling defeat in the form of a $1.05 billion jury verdict handed to Samsung in August. That case, which dealt more with design patents, is separate from the current software-centric case involving the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Jelly Bean.Apple had won the initial judgement, but Samsung appealed the decision and the case doesn't go on trial until 2014. While Apple initially listed a few features of Android, the company has opted to get more aggressive and call out the Android operating system specifically. A Google representative declined to comment.CNET contacted Apple and Samsung for comment, and we'll update the story when they respond. Because the complaint dealt with software and user interface patents, Google was already expected to play a bigger role in the proceedings than in previous trials. But by naming the operating system, Apple may have triggered a much larger presence from Google, even if the company isn't actually named in the lawsuit.

Apple acknowledges antenna issue in iPhone 4

Apple acknowledges antenna issue in iPhone 4
Apple has finally acknowledged that the way you hold the iPhone 4 can hinder the device's cellular reception.Complaints about weakening or disappearing signals when the iPhone 4 is gripped in a particular way--usually by touching two seams of the antenna band on the exterior of the phone simultaneously--began popping up late Wednesday night, and continued to appear Thursday.While Internet commenters and bloggers spent most of the day trying to figure out if the problem was related to the phone's hardware or software, Apple released a statement late in the day to PC Magazine."Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases."There are two antennas on the iPhone, which are built into the steel band on the exterior of the phone. The one running on the left side of the phone is for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the one on the right is for cellular reception. That means how a left-handed person holds the phone will affect it differently than how most right-handed people would hold it. Steve Jobs said at WWDC the exterior antenna was supposed to help reception--he didn't mention there was a particular way you had to avoid touching it. However, if you don't feel like spending more for a case for the phone, it sounds like that's the cheapest solution.

Apple accuses Proview of 'misleading' courts over iPad

Apple accuses Proview of 'misleading' courts over iPad
In its most detailed statement yet regarding its battle over the ownership of the iPad trademark in China, Apple said Proview International was deliberately "misleading" Chinese courts.Proview tricked Apple into signing a carefully crafted agreement in 2009 that has raised questions over the trademark's rightful owner in China, Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu said in a statement cited by The Wall Street Journal. She went on to say that the troubled company was trying to exploit that situation to extract more money from Apple."Proview clearly made that arrangement so they wouldn't have to give the money to their creditors" in mainland China, Wu said. "Because they still owe a lot of people a lot of money, they are now unfairly trying to get more from Apple for a trademark we already paid for."An attorney for the Hong Kong-based company, meanwhile, told the newspaper that Apple was "misleading the public.""The fact is that Apple's former lawyer made a silly mistake," Xiao Caiyuan said, apparently referring to the 2009 deal Apple made with a Taiwan subsidiary of Proview even though the trademark technically belonged to the mainland-based Proview Technology Shenzhen, which is reportedly $400 million in debt. Proview has claimed that its subsidiary didn't have the authority to sell the trademark and has reportedly been looking to settle out of court over the issue. Proview has filed numerous lawsuits in China, as well as one in the United States, that seek to keep Apple's tablet off retailer shelves and stop Apple from using the iPad trademark on its products.But while Proview has been battling Apple over the trademark, it's also been fighting to stay in business. Taiwan-based Fubon Insurance, looking to recoup millions in outstanding debt, has filed an application to declare Proview bankrupt and have its assets liquidated.

Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design

Apple accused of ripping off famous Swiss clock design
The new look of Apple's clock app on the iPad that came alongside iOS 6 yesterday is ruffling some feathers abroad.In a report in Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger (by way of Macrumors), the Swiss Federal Railway service, or SBB, has taken offense to the app's design, to which it says it owns the trademark. The 1944 design by then-SBB employee Hans Hilfiker (which you can see here) is used in station clocks throughout the railway system, which is well-known for its timeliness. It's also licensed to Mondaine, a Swiss watch manufacturer. An SBB spokesman told Tages-Anzeiger that he was pleased Apple was using the design, but noted that the company was not authorized to do so. The report suggests a legal complaint is being drafted as a result. Apple is no stranger to defending the look and feel of its own designs, including clocks. In 2009, Apple sent a letter of rejection to popular app developer Tapbots -- the makers of Tweetbot and other iOS apps -- saying the clock icon the company used in its pocket converter application looked too much like the icon used in Apple's own telephone app. Tapbots changed its design as a result. More recently, the company's defense of its designs has extended to the look and feel of its smartphones and tablets. The very spearhead of its massive litigation against Samsung has focused on what it says are similarities -- not just in hardware, but in the look and design of its applications and iconography as well. CNET has reached out to Apple for comment, and we'll update this post when we know more.iOS 6 makes your iPhone easier to use (p...See full gallery1 - 4 / 16NextPrev

Apple A4 chip, iPad vs. the competition

Apple A4 chip, iPad vs. the competition
As reported back in January, the A4's central processing unit, or CPU, design, as it stands now, is thought to be based primarily on technology from U.K.-based ARM.Linley Gwennap, who is the president and principal analyst of The Linley Group, believes the A4 uses a fairly common ARM CPU designed by Intrinsity and manufactured by Samsung. Where Apple, instead, may have chosen to enhance the A4's capabilities is outside the core CPU, modifying functions such as the 3D graphics engine. Along these lines, last year, Apple picked up former chief technology officer Bob Drebin of the Graphics Products Group at Advanced Micro Devices, who is now listed as a senior director at Apple."You pick and choose one or two places where you can invest and do something different from what other people are doing and then you just license the rest," Gwennap said. "In Apple's case, they've always differentiated based on the user experience, so it may be more valuable to them to control the graphics or the video or the audio or something like that rather than the CPU itself." And what is the A4 up against?An overview of Apple's rivals and their competing technologies reveals a diverse ecosystem for smartphones and tablet/slate devices.The competition for the Apple A4, iPad: Qualcomm Snapdragon: Speed: 1GHz / Design: Qualcomm design using ARM instruction set / Products: Dell Mini 5 slate, Lenovo Skylight smartbook, Lenovo IdeaPad U1 laptop/tablet (see photo above), Google Nexus One Texas Instruments OMAP3430:Speed: 550MHz / Design: ARM Cortex A8 / Products: Motorola Droid, Nokia N900, Palm Pre. Nvidia Tegra 2:Speed: 1GHz (max) / Design: Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 / Products: Asus Eee Pad, Notion Ink, Viewsonic, T-Mobile UK.(Rumored: Microsoft Courier tablet, Motorola-Verizon device.) Marvell Armada 610:Speed: 1.2GHz (max) / Design:Marvell design using ARM instruction set / Products: Now sampling to customers. Intel Atom:Speed: 1.83GHz (max) / Design: Pine Trail, Moorestown/ Products: Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba Netbooks (Pine Trail).LG smartphone and other mobile Internet devices and tablets (Moorestown).