Podcaster.fm, a pod-catching App designed to help you stream podcasts via WiFi or cell data, should you find yourself away from iTunes and unable to sync, has been denied entry into Apple’s App Store — the exclusive venue for legitimate iPhone distribution:
Today I finally got a reply from Apple about the status of Podcaster.
Apple Rep says: Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.
The developer finds this odd in light of the multiple calculator, weather, and other duplicative apps already in the App Store, as well as the dedicated pod-catchers from Digg and Mobility Today.
Apple does deny iPod App access via the SDK (likely for industry demanded DRM reasons), but this is new — and uncomfortable — ground Apple’s treading, if the denial is indeed upheld. Daring Fireball links to Steven Frank’s nightmare scenario to try to put things into a grander perspective:
Apple makes code-signing mandatory for desktop Mac applications. You can now only buy them through iTunes. Think it can’t happen?
It could, but as with the great app blacklist debate, I think the repercussions from the community would be near-nuclear, and I think Apple knows that.
Have you been noticing more and more advertisements while using your favorite apps or while browsing the net on iPhone optimized sites?
According to AdMob, a company that provides advertising solutions that are created for the iPhone:
“Ads on the iPhone deliver strong engagement for advertisers with triple, on average, the already high click-through-rates seen on mobile devices. The company’s new rich media ad units designed for the iPhone have been live for just over a month and now has a reach of more than 100 million impressions worldwide each month.”
That seems like big business if indeed true:
Pay-per-click ads start at 30 cents; AdMob expects the market to settle around 40-50 cents per click, and is offering developers a 50% cut. Brand ads cost a minimum $30 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), and AdMob takes a 40% cut.
What does this all mean? Be ready to start seeing more ads on our iPhones. Now if Apple implemented a way for users to try apps before they buy, instead of forcing the developers to make two versions, one free and one paid, maybe all these ads would not be necessary. Personally, I do not mind the ads as long as they do not interfere with the main function of the app or web site. On the other hand, if it’s free, can you really complain about a few ads?
The developers are not getting much in the way of compensation, so it is only fair for the them to get some cash in their pockets for their efforts. They deserve it.
Well it’s finally here. Spore! The game that we’ve been waiting for ever since the 2.0 firmware was announced.
It was released today and can be purchased at the App Store for a cool $9.99.
TiPb will be back with a hands-on review, but I played around with it early this afternoon and I must say it is a very well polished game that is worth it’s price tag.
Got Spore? Show us! Visit us on TiPb forums and show off screen shots of your Spores here!
Trouble finding a certain app in the app store? Well, there is a new website out there called iPhonexe (mobile version can be found here) that gives everyone with a iPhone a alternative to using Apple’s official app store. While I personally have not checked for every single app currently in the app store, iPhonexe claims to include them all, broken down into categories ready for nice and easy browsing. Keep in mind that this does not bypass Apple’s app store completely. If you click “Buy Now” you are taken directly to the app in the app store to purchase it via iTunes.
But wait! I’ve saved the best feature (by far) for last: the ability to search Jailbroken apps! I know there are other sites out there that you can use to see what is available on that side of the iPhone world but none do it this nicely. It is worth a look for sure.
This cool piece of video came to us from a email tip from 18 year old Josef Průša. Have some time to spare? Have a old remote control car laying around? Well that’s what Josef had and he and his brother took “only one afternoon” to get this up and running!
As for controlling the car, you simply have five buttons. Four of which can be used to drive and the fifth button is used to toggle control via the accelerometer on and off, similar to any of the current racing games in the App Store. Pretty cool trick indeed…
If you want to try and give this a shot be sure to head on over to Josef’s blog for the full how to guide, which can be found here (Note, you will need to have a PC around to act as an intermediary between the iPhone and the RC car).
Now I’m off to see if I can find any old R/C cars laying around…
One of the last “advantages” CDs had over music downloads (like iTunes or Amazon MP3) is the printed extras they could include in booklets, like photos, art, lyrics, and other assorted bonus material.
Well, get ready to kiss that goodbye. According to TechCrunch, who bills the story as “Apple Puts One More Nail Into the CD Coffin”:
Apple will make [an App Store application] available to users in tandem with the release of Snow Patrol’s upcoming album, A Hundred Million Suns. The app will add the extra features to more iTunes albums over time, but because it will be made available through the company’s App Store, it will only provide the extra content on the iPhone and iPod touch.
Release date is on or around October 27, and it sounds (and looks!) good to us! Now if only the woefully out-of-touch recording industry would stop punishing legitimate consumers and provide DRM-free, 256-bit MP3’s to iTunes the same way they give them to all its rivals, they might actually figure out a working 21st century business model!
The self proclaimed World’s Toughest Programmer, Mike Lee, who left Delicious Monster to work on iPhone apps for Tapulous has revealed on his blog that he and the Tap Tap Revenge and Twinkle maker have parted ways, and not on the best of terms:
So it came to pass that when my Engineering and Design team had irreconcilable differences with where the company seemed to be headed, I was asked to make good on those promises. Serving as the team’s reluctant spokesman was not in my best interests, but honor dictated my actions. I delivered the team’s message, and was invited to resign.
And what direction exactly was Tapulous headed? The always outspoken John Casasanta, MacHeist creator and iPhone developer, says:
…we’re about to experience in the iPhone world is going to be a bubble along the lines of the one in the late 90s / early 2000s. The vultures are out and and they taste blood. The iPhone’s one of the hottest things around right now and there’s little sign of its popularity letting up anytime soon. And the venture capitalists want in… badly. The fact that the iFund™ exists is overwhelming evidence of this.
People are remarkable. We can spend time figuring out precisely what we’re not allowed to do. Spend even more time doing it. Then spend triple that complaining when we suffer the foreseeable and reasonable consequences of our informed and deliberate actions. Heck, Dr. Phil has amassed a money-bin throwing us up on TV for just such spectacle.
Witness all the PR flackery and blog blustering (present posting included!) going on about the strategic geniuses who decided to go ahead and make an iPhone App Store-optimized engine for navigating and displaying specially formatted comic books.
Was their debut feature a family friendly installment of the Tremendous Super-Spider? Nope. It was “Murderdrome” and it was rejected. Find out why after the jump!
It’s happened to a lot of us, I know. You’re in a new city and you’re hungry but you don’t know where or what to eat. You delay the decision, growing edgier by the second and maybe even a little dizzy. Finally, you give in and order McDonald’s or Pizza Hut or any fast food joint you can eat anywhere in this world when a great local spot was right next door. But of course, you had no idea.
With LocalEats, that scenario no longer exists. You’re in a new city, you’re hungry, you fire up LocalEats on your iPhone to find a great restaurant. You eat at said great restaurant. Don’t be mistaken, this isn’t a comprehensive food-review app like Yelp but rather a program that points you to the best restaurants when you need it most. To quote our own Dieter Bohn about LocalEats:
“It’s [really] spot on!”
LocalEats uses a team of experts to find the best tasting restaurants in each locale. It’s currently limited to 50 cities nationwide but there are plans for more. Click the Read Link to learn more about LocalEats or download the paid app HERE.
Panic makes killer Mac apps. I use Coda daily, and Cabal Sasser designs UI the way they’re meant to be designed. Likewise, Steven Frank’s recent blog post on the double-edged sword that is Apple’s App Store is one of the best descriptions I’ve seen on the subject from a developers point of view:
I’ve been trying to reconcile the App Store with my beliefs on “how things should be” ever since the SDK was announced. After all this time, I still can’t make it all line up. I can’t question that it’s probably the best mobile application distribution method yet created, but every time I use it, a little piece of my soul dies. And we don’t even have anything for sale on there yet.
The App Store is definitely a Hobson’s choice when it comes to virtue and compromise. Sorta like being let loose in the fields of plenty after being bound and gagged and given a swift kick in the tenders.
If you’re a developer, how’s your soul holding up?
