Wednesday 18 August 2010

App Store Boss Selling Fart Apps On The Side    [ 18-08-2010 20:01 ]

Author: Irina Turina   Source: Wired via Gizmodo     Translation by: Paul Smith     

Apple's app store is never more than a hop skip and a jump from controversey so it should come as no surprise to learn that it's embroiled in another dose of shennanigans. The latest drama centres around Phillip Shoemaker who is Apple's director of applications technology. In plain English that mains that he is in charge of the app store approval process. Why is that causing a drama? It just so happens that he is selling fart apps on the side.

Wired maagzine discovered the side business and reports that the apps, which include titles such as iWiz, a pee simulator, are sold under the nome de plume 'Grey Noodle'. Other titles include 'Animal Farts', which is pretty much self-explanatory. For their part Apple are saying that Shomemaker created and submitted his apps before he began to work for Apple, but Wired point out that three of the apps actually went live in the app store after a March 2009 tweet in which Shoemaker commented about working for Apple. Standard practice at Apple is that employees need special permission to publish apps, whether Shoemaker had such permission isn't clear, presumably he does have. The real interest here is the view Apple take sof this sort of content.

There is no rule against fart apps per se so the apps submitted don't break any rules in that sense, but of course Apple's rejection policy is known for being pernickity at best with their definition of what is and is not offensive seemingly changing upon a whim ... perhaps Shoemaker's whim at that?

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

8,000+ Win Phone 7 Devices In The Wild    [ 18-08-2010 19:55 ]

Author: Ivanov Konstantin   Source: istartedsomething     Translation by: Paul Smith     

Microsoft have apparently been giving out Windows Phone 7 prototypes left right and centre in order to drum up some chatter about the platform as well as to allow devs a chance to get to grips with it and churn out some much needed apps. The actual figure, according to Australian blogger, Long Zheng, is in the region of 8,000 units. He managed to ascertain this number through taking a gander at the number of people who had signed up for the Facebook app specially configured for Microsoft's new paltform. The units being given out will most liekly be going to developers as mentioned, but also to journalists and other opinion formers as Microsoft hopes to hit the ground running when the launch comes around.

It's just another sign of how much Microsoft are trying to make sure Win Phone 7 scores big when it come sout of the starting block. With the iPhone already firmly entrenched in the popular mindset and Android semeingly unstoppable in its rise to global domination Microsoft has its work cut out for it in terms of persuading people that their platform is a game changer and will offer them something new.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

Scients Working on Bolstering Sign Language For Mobiles    [ 18-08-2010 19:41 ]

Author: Irina Turina   Source: TechRadar     Translation by: Paul Smith     

If someone were to say that a team of Americans cientists were working on a method of using sign langauge on a mobile phone you could be forgiven for thinking that video calling already addresses that question. Well not quite as video calling needs a fairly decent 3G signal to work properly without stuttery images and jittery sound and of course battery life takes a pounding from too many video calls. Those are two of the areas the scientists are trying to address and so far they seem to be making good progress.

They have managed to get the data stream down to a rather impressive 30 kbps, which should help to maintain the video call even when the 3G signal isn't top notch. The research focuses around a device that presumably connects up to your smartphone in order to be able to get that data rate down. The device does a bit more than that though, it also optimises image clarity around the face and hands so that signing is easier to read. It can also determine when someone is actually signing so that broadcast mode can be turned off when they aren't thus saving on the juice.

The technology is currently undergoing field testing so hopefully it won't be too long before it becomes commercially available

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

55 Million Android Handsets In 2010    [ 18-08-2010 19:32 ]

Author: Serge Novikov   Source: Android Spin     Translation by: Paul Smith     

It's common knowledge that Android is fast pacing it to the top of the smartphone market and some new research by DigiTimes firmly cements that picture. The report basically lays out a vision of the global smartphone market growing by some 57% in 2010 with Android taking the lion's share of that growth. Last year Android had just 5% of the global smartphone market, but that has ballooned to 13.8% in the first six months of this year and DiGiTimes are projecting that figure to almost double to 24.5% by the year's end. That figure would put Android in the number 2 spot globally, behind Symbian, which commands around 40% of the market.

In terms of actual units shipped the projection is that Android will see an astonishing 55 million units ship this year. A year on year comparison means that 55 million this year would represent a 561% growth over shipments last year. Of course big growth figures aren't surprising given that Android is coming fromhaving just one device back in 2008 (the G1) to the multitude of devices that now adorn the shelves at your local mobile shop. However, it is worth pointing out that alongside those impressive growth figures are equally impressive sales figures; 55 million units is a lot in anyone's book, whether they're coming from behind or not.

In other words impressive growth is to be expected, but Android is making short work of bashing the competition into third place whilst it does it.

Rating:

Comment
All comments (0)

News:

[ 31-07 16:21 ]Sir Jony Ive: Apple Isn't In It For The Money

[ 31-07 13:34 ]Video: Nokia Designer Interviews

[ 31-07 13:10 ]RIM To Layoff 3,000 More Employees

[ 30-07 20:59 ]Video: iPhone 5 Housing Shown Off

[ 30-07 19:12 ]Android Fortunes Decline In U.S.

[ 25-07 16:18 ]Why Apple Is Suing Samsung?

[ 25-07 15:53 ]A Few Choice Quotes About Apple ... By Samsung

[ 23-07 20:25 ]Russian iOS Hacker Calls It A Day

[ 23-07 17:40 ]Video: It's Still Not Out, But Galaxy Note 10.1 Gets An Ad

[ 19-07 19:10 ]Another Loss For Nokia: $1 Billion Down In Q2

[ 19-07 17:22 ]British Judge Orders Apple To Run Ads Saying Samsung Did Not Copy Them

[ 19-07 16:57 ]iPhone 5 To Feature Nano-SIM Cards

[ 18-07 14:20 ]What The iPad Could Have Looked Like ...

[ 18-07 13:25 ]App Store Hack Is Still Going Strong Despite Apple's Best Efforts

[ 13-07 12:34 ]Infographic: The (Hypothetical) Sale Of RIM

[ 13-07 11:10 ]Video: iPhone Hacker Makes In-App Purchases Free

[ 12-07 19:50 ]iPhone 5 Images Leak Again

[ 12-07 17:51 ]Android Takes 50%+ Of U.S. And Europe

[ 11-07 16:02 ]Apple Involved In 60% Of Patent Suits

[ 11-07 13:14 ]Video: Kindle Fire Gets A Jelly Bean

Subscribe