App Store

Apple has finally made a public statement on the Lodsys matter.  According to the Loop, Apple says that Lodsys has no claim to patent infringement because Apple has already purchased indemnity from Lodsys.

“Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license,” wrote Bruce Sewell, Apple Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

While it is good to hear Apple finally come out with a statement on the matter, it doesn’t seem like the end of this case for everyone involved.  Interestingly, we’ve been hearing that Apple is offering to help protect indy developers with representation against Lodsys.

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple and Lodsys haven’t been negotiating behind the scenes for a long time now.  Lodsys probably only went to indy developers when Apple decided it didn’t owe Lodsys any more money and negotiations broke off.

Full text of the email to Lodsys (via Macworld) below:

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Apple has just pushed out a software update to the Apple TV and it’s version 4.2.2 build number 8F305. The update is likely bug fix related and we’ll update with more details when they are available.

Here’s the direct download link.

Update: Here are the updates:

Jailbreakers might want to hold off.  Via MuscleNerd: (thanks commenter)

Apple just pushed out a lone AppleTV2G update…stay away from that if you’re currently untethered on ATV2G

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If you haven’t seen it yet on Google.com, today is Charlie Chaplin’s 122nd birthday anniversary. Marking the occasion, MacPhun has updated Silent Film Director, a fun video effects app currently ranked #4 in the US App Store’s photography section. I’ve been playing with Silent Film Director this morning and found it very addictive and a pleasure to use. If you’re anything like me, your iPhone is jam packed with a bunch of clips shot on the go whenever inspiration strikes.

Silent Film Director lets me breathe new life into my videos by applying high-quality effects ranging from standard Black & White, Sepia and Vintage Sepia filters to the more sophisticated 20’s Movie, 60’s Home Video and 70’s Home Video effects. In short, anything from the beginning of the movie era to a hippie style music video from the ’60s to the modern hipster look.

You can choose between two silent movie piano tracks, the movie projector background noise or select a song from your iPod library. It’s a lot of fun and only a buck on the App Store (works best with iPhone 4, 3GS and fourth-gen iPod touch). Sample clips and more information right below the fold.

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Unlike the App Store mobile bazaar which is the home to 99-cent quick sellers, with about one third free items, inexpensive software takes a back seat on the Mac App Store. According to a Distimo study based on an analysis of major application stores, less than one in eight apps on the Mac App Store are free of charge and games comprise 29 percent of all submissions.

Less than two months since launch the Mac App Store has 2,225 applications versus 8,099 iPad apps two months post-launch. Mac applications on average cost $11.21 – seven times the average selling price of iPhone apps ($1.57) and almost three times higher than on the iPad ($4.19). I have a feeling price drops on the Mac App Store are inevitable and here’s why.

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You can’t always be there at bedtime to read your kids their evening stories.  However, Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime let’s you read them their favorite stories remotely using an iPhone.  While it doesn’t replace being there, it is a nice stopgap and a great idea.  The artwork on these stories is top notch.

I see this as being fantastic for parents that are split up or even parents that travel often.  Perhaps v2 could have a little FaceTime window.

$3.99 at the App Store

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The debate about Flash on iOS devices rarely makes headlines these days, but it’s far from being over. You can see it in an increasing number of apps from third-parties that aim to solve this nasty issue once and for all. While the vast majority of solutions only tackle Flash videos, only a few iOS apps are capable of rendering other content types delivered through Flash, like games and interactive apps.

Enter iSwifter, a new iPad app that claims to stream any Flash content.

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iPad 2 comes out in 2 days (March 11th) and you know what that means… reviews! Here’s a roundup and some notes of interest.

Joshua Topolsky for Engadget:

-Unbelievably thin

Pictures don’t quite do the iPad 2 justice — it feels really, really great in your hands. Not only does the construction give it a feeling of heft and permanence, but the thin profile combined with the new, tapered edges make holding the device a real joy

-Bezel is slightly thinner

-Has 512 MB of RAM, 1 GHz A5 clocked at 800 MHz

-Clearer speaker

The sound seems clearer if somewhat quieter than the old version, and we can’t say that there’s a major improvement as far as the placement goes.

-Battery life is slightly better than original iPad’s.

-iPad 2 cameras “are really pretty bad”

More after the break…

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The British Library has introduced its first ever smartphone app, providing access to many of the Library’s most precious titles to iOS (and Android) users.

The app (available in HD for iPad users) is called ‘Treasures’ and offers over 100 library items, including the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the Codex Sinaiticus which is thought to be the oldest bible in the world, the battle plan written by Nelson before his victory at Trafalgar, and the original draft of Nicholas Nickleby handwritten by Charles Dickens.
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Twitter for Mac has arrived, as have 999 other Apps at the all-new Mac App Store — so why are we mentioning Twitter? Because it keeps a promise made by MacHeist, offering exclusive access to secret Twitter features.

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Hacked iTunes accounts are available for sale across China at prices starting as low as a few dollars, a report explains. These hacked account details (which include credit card details) were being made available for sale via China’s largest retail website, Taobao.
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Iomega is using CES to introduce Iomega SuperHero, a new combined iPhone docking station that’s also equipped with the capacity to record an iPhone data back-up when the device is inserted into the slot.

Some may argue that this duplicates what Apple’s iTunes does on its own — the media management software takes frequent back-ups of phone data. However, this doesn’t always mean the data you most need is backed-up in time.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMltvlqEM54&w=670&h=400]

Apple’s iOS has won a big thumbs-up from the Angry Birds themselves, who say that when it comes to mobile devices, Apple’s going to excel against the rest.

“Apple will be the number one platform for a long time from a developer perspective, they have gotten so many things right,” said Peter Vesterbacka, Angry Birds development lead.
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Pretty much everything on any Apple product is playable on any other Apple product now…I think…

What’s New in Remote.app Version 2.1?

• AirPlay video support to control iTunes on your computer to stream videos to an Apple TV
• Internet radio control to play thousands of internet radio streams in iTunes on your computer
• The ability to control iTunes on your computer to play Movies and TV shows that are rented from the iTunes Store
• Addresses issues connecting to an iTunes library or Apple TV
• Includes stability and performance improvements

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Henry Ford may famously be thought to have said, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black,” as he invented mass production, but now it looks like the veteran auto company has an iPhone fixation, revealing support for the Apple device in future generations of its vehicles running the Ford Sync AppLink platform.

Some may note my determination that Apple has a story to tell in the automobile industry — perhaps partnerships will make this story thrive. So, what will this mean?
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Even while it emerges Google’s Google TV plans seem to be foundering (FIRE SALE!), Apple has announced that its new Apple TV will ship its millionth unit later this week.

While many hope the A4 chip inside Apple TV might be enabled to run some apps one day, many also consider the Netflix support within Apple TV to be the big win for sales.

Press Release follows:
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So much for Thinking Different™: Looks like Apple may have joined Amazon, Banc of America, Paypal and other corporations which have evicted Wikileaks from their servers — the briefly-available Wikileaks app for iPhone and iPad has been kicked out of the App Store.

The Time person of the year public vote-winning Julian Assange-founded Wikileaks has attracted controversy with the leak of a series of US diplomatic cables which illustrate the seamier side of international diplomacy.
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Apple has informed developers of applications and widgets on Apple’s downloads website that the site will be closing down come January 6th when the Mac App Store opens for business. Apple believes that the Mac App Store will truly be the best place to get Mac apps and this is another indication of that. One feature the downloads site has is access to Dashboard widgets. No word on whether the Mac App Store will be home to dashboard widgets and if not, Apple should think about leaving that portion up online.

Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac.  We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we’ve been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we’re bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X.  Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store.  We appreciate your support of the Mac platform and hope you’ll take advantage of this new opportunity to showcase your apps to even more users. To learn how you can offer your apps on the Mac App Store, visit the Apple Developer website at <http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/>.

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This is the world’s biggest iPhone and it is situated in the world famous St. pancras International station. It isn’t actually an iPhone, however, it is in fact a bank of 56 iPads all set up to work together in an iOS nod to signify the release of Lara Croft Guardian of Light (below) on the App Store.
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Electronic Arts set off an iApp price war last week when it discounted many of its games to just $0.99, sparking the release of Tap Tap Revenge 4 for free and a big games sale from other iOS heavyweight, Namco.

All the app makers are engaged in a stiff fight to populate the iTunes App Store top ten lists in time for Christmas — after all, Apple’s lists won’t be updated from December 23, so grabbing a good slot on those lists now is likely to translate into great sales opportunities as all those new iPads hit the store.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9JUwOavKdk&w=640&h=385]

The 4th generation of arguably the most popular iPhone music game has just hit the App Store: Tap Tap Revenge 4. For those not familiar, Tap Tap Revenge was around long before the App Store. It was the premier iPhone game on the jailbroken app market. Since then it brought in Tapulous over a million dollars a month and now Tapulous is owned by Disney. Going back to Tap Tap Revenge 4 the new, free app brings loads of improvements and new features.

First, the new version brings over 100 free tracks to the table. These include songs from popular artists/bands like Lady Gaga, Linkin Park, and My Chemical Romance. (List of several more popular artists in TTR4 is after the break.) TTR4 introduces a “like” button which when pushed displays an avatar showing who else likes the respective track. Tapulous has also done some iOS 4 housekeeping by adding both Game Center and Retina Display support.

Some new social features are now present such as the ability to share scores via Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail. Perhaps the most impressive feature in the new game is the “Arcade Mode.” This new mode presents new tapping obstacles which makes the game even more challenging and when coupled with the new up-to-the-minute global leader boards, the game should be all the more fun. Let us know how you like it all in the comments. Tap Tap Revenge 4 is now free on the iTunes App Store and you can check out some screenshots after the break.

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Facebook, who count 55,060,129 monthly active iOS app users, today updated their iPhone/iPod touch app with a few new features but mostly bug fixes, listed below:

– Improved reliability in chat and messages
– Improved notifications UI
– Fixed memory usage
– Fixed some crashes
– Walls you cannot post on no longer show the text field at the top
– Restore ability to post as a page that you admin
– Fixed group photos
– Various Places improvements

Is it silly to expect a iPad app at this point?

All 55 million of you, hit the App Store updates or head over here.

Screenies below…
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