Apple has not been shy about publicizing its culture war with Adobe over the use of Flash on the iPhone or iPad platforms. Yesterday, Apple took the battle to a new level, though, by changing the legalese for the App Store to prohibit any apps not built solely on Apple’s proprietary Objective-C programming language.
Apple has not been shy about publicizing its culture war with Adobe over the use of Flash on the iPhone or iPad platforms. Yesterday, Apple took the battle to a new level, though, by changing the legalese for the App Store to prohibit any apps not built solely on Apple’s proprietary Objective-C programming language.
The new iPhone Developer Program License Agreement includes the following text: “3.3.1–Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).”
This is essentially checkmate in the chess match between Apple and Adobe (ADBE). However, checkmate comes at the end of a well-played match as a result of superior strategy and tactics. Apple’s move is more equivalent to throwing a tantrum, taking your chess board, and going home.
I understand this strategy. I see it on a regular basis in games between my young children and their friends. All of the kids can be playing with a ball and having fun, but if the other kids won’t play the game that the owner of the ball wants to play, or if the owner of the ball is not winning, that child will simply storm off and take the ball home with them.
It is effective, but there are no real winners. And, I am not sure how well the immature toddler tantrum translates as a business strategy. Ultimately, Apple’s decision to slam the door on alternate development platforms limits the potential capabilities of iPhone and iPad apps, and increases the effort developers need to invest in order to provide the same app across multiple platforms.
By banning Adobe, Apple may be biting the hand that feeds it, though. Apple and Adobe have had a symbiotic relationship that has been mutually beneficial. The Mac computer has always been perceived as a superior platform for graphic arts and design, and Adobe has provided the fuel to drive that engine with products like Photoshop and Illustrator.
Adobe is set to release CS5–its flagship Creative Suite product–next week. One of the key features of the new software is Adobe’s Flash-to-iPhone compiler that enables developers to create an application in Flash, then package it for use on the iPhone–circumventing Apple’s lack of Flash support.
While restricting development to the Objective-C programming language effectively blocks Adobe’s flanking maneuver, and arguably helps Apple maintain the stability and consistency of apps with a minimum of effort, it also hinders what developers can achieve.
Facebook’s Joe Hewitt stated via Twitter “I’m upset because frankly I think Objective-C is mediocre and was excited about using other languages to make iPhone development fun again.”
Setting those considerations aside, Apple’s war with Adobe puts developers in a tough spot as well. Apple has managed to establish itself as the de facto App Store–meaning that it is virtually a requirement to at least create an app for the iPhone and iPad, but it is not the only platform.
Developers want tools that allow them to develop an app once, and repackage or redistribute it across multiple platforms such as Android, Windows Mobile, WebOS, PC, etc. Flash is fairly ubiquitous, so developers could create an app in Flash that would work across most platforms, then use the Flash-to-iPhone compiler to port it to the iPhone and voila!
Unfortunately, those compiled apps won’t ever see the Apple App Store because they violate the new rules. So, developers will have to create one app for the iPhone and iPad, and then develop the same app all over again for other platforms.
The move by Apple seems petty. There may be some benefit to Apple, but Adobe, app developers, and ultimately iPhone and iPad users all suffer as a consequence.

Do you remember the OS X game SketchFighter, the shooter made from pencil drawings? Sketch Nation Shooter is certainly very similar, letting you draw your own levels, players, and even enemies. You pretty much design the game yourself!
It’s 99 cents / 59p, and from what I can tell sounds worth every cent. Or penny. It’s compatible with iPhones, iPod Touches and the iPad, and if you’re not feeling too creative then you can download other players’ attempts too. The game is apparently available on Facebook too, meaning you can send your lovingly hand-crafted game to Facebook players as well.
[iTunes Link]

In a report on forthcoming challengers looking to rival Apple’s iPad, The New York Times notes that Google is reportedly preparing to launch its own Android-based entrant into the field as Nokia, HP and Microsoft also move forward on their own plans for devices in the emerging industry segment.
Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive of Google, told friends at a recent party in Los Angeles about the new device, which would exclusively run the Android operating system. People with direct knowledge of the project — who did not want to be named because they said they were unauthorized to speak publicly about the device — said the company had been experimenting in “stealth mode” with a few publishers to explore delivery of books, magazines and other content on a tablet.
After reportedly holding back to see what Apple would do with the iPad, competitors such as HP and others have been hard at work developing their own answers to Apple’s challenge.
The rivalry between Apple and Google has become increasingly personal as the two companies have begun to compete in a growing number of areas. Google’s Android operating system has been a fast-growing alternative to the iPhone in the smartphone market, with Apple signaling that it is taking the threat seriously by filing a patent infringement lawsuit against handset maker HTC in what has been seen as an indirect assault on Google’s smartphone offerings.
While an unsurprising development given Google’s and Apple’s increasing overlap, a Google tablet would offer yet another area of direct competition between the two companies and likely escalate tensions even further.

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at the iPhone and the iPad — that it can’t run third-party apps in the background — will be fixed at last (partially, anyway), with a little help from iPhone software 4.0, Steve Jobs announced Thursday. The major OS revision will arrive this summer for the iPhone, while iPad users will have to wait until the fall.
The new iPhone software will pack in more than 100 new features, Jobs promised, including (besides multitasking) a unified email inbox, support for Apple’s new iBookstore, a social gaming network, a series of interface enhancements (such as app folders and wallpapers for the home screen) and — yep, it was bound to happen — a new, Apple-controlled mobile ad framework, with Apple set to keep a generous 40 percent of future ad revenue for itself.
Without further ado, then, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty:
Multitasking
Here’s how it’ll work: If you’re running an app on the iPhone — anything from the core Mail app to, say, a game like Tap Tap Revenge — you just double-click the Home key to pull up a small window shade at the bottom of the screen, which can show four apps at a time (just swipe to scroll through more running apps). Tap an app in the new multitasking “dock” and you’ll switch to the app, with the first app’s state saved in the background.
So, will all these apps actually be running in the background? Well, no (if they did, they’d slow iPhone performance to a crawl and eat up battery life, Jobs said). That said, Apple will be allowing a few selected processes to run in the background, including music, VOIP, and location-based apps.
For example, Pandora will still play music while you’re browsing on Safari (you can even pause Pandora or skip tracks using the iPhone’s “lock” control bar), you’ll be able to answer and maintain VOIP calls (think Skype and the like) while you’re working in other apps, and location-aware apps like Loopt will be able to track your location in the background via cell-tower triangulation. (An icon will appear in the iPhone’s top status bar to warn you if a background app is tracking your location; you’ll also get to tweak a series of new location-based privacy settings).
Universal e-mail inbox
Here’s a feature that’s been a long time in coming. Currently, iPhone users checking multiple email accounts have had to switch back and forth between those accounts to see their respective in boxes (a process that takes several more clicks than it should). With iPhone OS 4.0, however, users will at last get a single, unified in box, just like BlackBerry users have enjoyed since … well, forever. You’ll also be able to “fast switch” between accounts, sort messages by thread, and open attachments with a third-part app (nice). Also, good news for Exchange users: No longer will you be restricted to a single Exchange account.
Home screen enhancements
You know how the iPhone won’t allow you to select wallpaper for the home screen? (That’s the home screen with all your app icons, not the lock screen with the digital clock and the “slide to unlock” thingy). That’s all set to change once iPhone OS 4.0 comes out. You’ll also be able to create “folder” icons that contain a series of apps — say, for all your games — effectively boosting the number of apps that can be displayed on the iPhone’s home screen from 180 to more than 2,100.
Social gaming network
The Xbox 360 has Xbox Live, the PS3 has the PlayStation Network, and now the iPhone will have Game Center, a new social gaming system that’ll let you earn achievements, invite pals to your personal gaming network, compare top scores on leaderboards, and square off with other players via matchmaking. Third-party developers who’ve already set up their own social gaming networks for the iPhone (such as Gameloft and OpenFeint) aren’t gonna like this one bit.
A word from our sponsors
Plenty of iPhone apps already feature in-app advertisements, but Steve Jobs (unsurprisingly) thinks Apple can do it better — thus, iAd, a framework for dynamic new in-app, HTML5-powered ads that “deliver interaction and emotion” (I know, I know). Jobs showed off a series of demos, including a full-motion app for Pixar’s “Toy Story 3″ (shocker!), a Nike ad that lets you design your own shoe, and a Target ad that lets you set up your dorm room. Ads won’t pull users out of a running app, Jobs promised, and you’ll also be able to play videos, games, download wallpaper, and view maps from within the ad itself. Last but not least: Apple says it’ll split ad revenue with advertisers 60-40, with Apple keeping the 40-percent cut. Look who just got into the advertising business.
Other enhancements
Expect the iBookstore to come to the iPhone with OS 4.0, along with a series of enterprise enhancements (in-app encryption, wireless app deployment for an entire workforce, etc.) and support for Bluetooth keyboards.
Which iPhones/the iPad will be compatible with OS 4.0?
The iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod Touch will be fully compatible with the new OS, multitasking and all, Jobs said. If you have the iPhone 3G or the second-gen iPod Touch, they will run “many things” in OS 4.0, but multitasking won’t be one of them. Finally, the iPad will also be getting all the new OS 4.0 features — including multitasking — but not until this fall. Jobs didn’t mention the original iPhone or iPod Touch, nor did he mention a fee for iPod Touch users wishing to upgrade (as we’ve seen in the past).
What we didn’t get
No Flash support (just “no,” Jobs reportedly said). No status-bar notifications for new email or SMS messages (which already exist on WebOS and Android phones). And no mention at all of an iPhone for Verizon.

No, this has nothing to do with the Olympics or World Championships, but it is of equal importance to those who live and breathe Apple – paying members of Apple’s iPhone Developer Program can now access the Gold Master seed of the iPhone SDK for OS 3.2. What is the big hoo-ha for this, you ask? Well, for the uninitiated, this would be the maiden version of the operating system that offers support for the iPad that looks set to take the world (or at least, North America) by storm. Guess with this, we could be looking at a flurry of iPad apps coming our way sooner rather than later.

Some owners of Apple’s new iPad have complained of weak wireless signals, dropped connections and slow surfing speeds, messages on the company’s support forum show.
Although users have also reported problems with recharging their iPads from Windows-based PCs or synchronizing the tablet with other computers, Wi-Fi issues have garnered the most complaints, as tallied by the message counts on multiple support forum threads.
As of late Monday, the thread titled “Weak wifi” leads all others with more than 130 messages, and nearly 13,000 views.
“Signal is weak, downloading anything is painfully slow and it will drop the signal and go offline every 5-10 minutes,” said a user identified as “mbell75″ early Sunday, near the beginning of the thread. “Pretty annoying.”
“It will work fine for a while, but show a low signal. Then, after a few minutes of use, my connection will drop completely and I will have to reset my wi-fi radio,” complained “mlp8104″ in a message Monday afternoon.
The biggest beef was that the iPad’s Wi-Fi signal indicator would fluctuate, going from full-strength to the lowest level without warning, or any change in the tablet’s location.
“My wifi went down to 1 bar after working great for a few hours,” said “syunker” Monday. “My download speeds started to crawl, I couldn’t even surf the web. I rebooted my router and it didn’t help.”
Several users said their iPads could not acquire a signal, or only a faint signal, while other devices, including new Apple laptops and iPhones, had no similar trouble. “In our living room where laptops get a full signal, my iPad gets a very poor signal which is so bad that it even cuts completely out sometimes,” complained “Panjandrum” Monday morning. “I had to walk the iPad into the same room as my router to get a movie rental to download.”
As is often the case on Apple’s support threads, users hoped that a software update to the iPad’s operating system would not only solve their problems, but be released soon.
Others, however, chimed in to say that they were perfectly happy with their iPads’ Wi-Fi signal, which was strong and stable at home, work and in public hotspots at locations such as Starbucks.
Some who reported that their iPads intermittently lost a Wi-Fi connection said that they solved the problem temporarily by shutting down the iPad, then restarting it. “But should I have to do that with a device that costs this much and has so much hype about changing the way we use the Net?” asked “sandersn” on Sunday in a different thread.
Monday, Apple posted several iPad-specific support documents to its Web site, including one that suggested users modify settings on their wireless routers. Another troubleshooting document told users to “Move closer to the Wi-Fi router or hotspot,” if they were having problems.
Suggestions from users ranged from disabling the iPad’s “Ask to Join Networks” feature to rebooting routers.
Connectivity issues aren’t new for Apple hardware. Shortly after the company’s ultra-thin MacBook Air debuted in early 2008, owners complained about weak signals when their notebooks’ lids were closed. iPhone owners have complained about poor reception and lost signals over AT&T’s data network since the smartphone first appeared in 2007, to the point that several filed class-action lawsuits against both Apple and the carrier.
The version of the iPad now for sale connects to the Internet only via Wi-Fi; a more expensive model that also uses AT&T’s 3G data network is not slated to ship until later this month.
Over the weekend, users voiced frustration at other problems, including an apparent inability to recharge the iPad through USB ports on many computers, keyboards and hubs. On Saturday, for example, Consumer Reports said that its initial testing indicated that the iPad would recharge via the USB ports on desktop and laptop Macs, but failed to do so on USB ports in a variety of Windows PCs, or through the ports on a keyboard directly connected to a Mac.
Apple clarified the recharging process in a support document published Sunday, noting that the iPad requires a high-power USB 2.0 port to charge while it is in use. The iPad will only charge via older USB ports, including those on most Windows machines, when the tablet is asleep, Apple said.
Apple began selling iPads Saturday at its own retail stores and Best Buy. On Monday, the company announced it had sold 300,000 iPads the first day.

Want to catch up on the latest adventures of your favourite ABC program while you’re waiting at the departure terminal? With the ABC Player application for the iPad you’ll be able to do just that. And did we mention that it is entirely free?
We had an inkling that it was coming and that’s been confirmed as ABC has officially unveiled its iPad app on the App Store. ABC Player currently has about 20 of the network’s most popular shows, with the likes of Desperate Housewives, FlashForward, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Modern Family, and V making the list.
The app will allow you to browse through the shows and check out the network’s primetime television schedule. You’ll be able to watch full episodes for free, with a sprinkling of advertisements thrown in. However, video streaming is only supported over Wi-Fi. The app will maintain a history of the episodes you’ve watched and allow you to resume watching any of them from the point where you’d left off.
ABC Player is available on the App Store for free and is compatible with any iPad running iPhone OS 3.2 or later.

The process to develop an iPhone app is not as hard or as simple as one might think. I am not a programmer, but wanted to see if I could teach myself how to develop an iPhone app. The news features all sorts of articles about kids as young as 9 that can make them. If they can do it, surely the rest of us can, too?
Like cooking, there is a bit of a process involved in “cooking” up an app. This article isn’t about your style of cooking, per se (i.e programming), but just the general steps necessary to get it from your head and into iTunes.
Creating an app isn’t entirely free, so it is important to know up front that, at some point in this process, you will be shelling out $99 (USD). Also, it is important to know up front that you will need to use a Mac at some point, and will need to use specific Mac-happy code to create your app.
Now that we have all seen the fine print, here are the exciting steps to app happiness!
Step 1: Craft A Brainy Idea
Have a unique idea for an app? There are, as you probably know, a trillion (OK, may not a TRILLION) apps out there. So what makes an app stand out? Why would anyone want to use your app? Why would they pay money for it if you are going to charge?
Be sure to check that there aren’t other apps that do the same thing that you are proposing. Or if you want to create something better than an app that already exists, think about how your idea will be better. Draw it out on paper or on the computer.
Step 2: Get A Mac
The iPhone is an Apple product and uses a variation of the Mac OS. Currently, the iPhone development tools are only available for Mac users (even though there is evidence of designing in jail break mode on a PC), but in order to get it up in the App Store, you will eventually need a Mac to get it there. You can buy a Mac mini relatively cheaply if you don’t have a Mac at your disposal.
Step 3: Register As An Apple Developer
To work with the Mac tools, you will need to become an official Apple Developer. Registration is free so you simply have to give them your information and agree to their terms. You only need to register once, and you are able to use the same username and password used for your iTunes account. Once you are an Apple Developer, you can develop iPhone apps for any of the Mac products.
Step 4: Download The Software Development Kit For iPhone (SDK)
Once you are an official developer, you can download the SDK for iPhone. The version you need depends on the OS you are currently running. This download is HUGE because it comes with all sorts of documentation, sample codes, and all sorts of things you will be glad to have later on. It could take a few hours, so you might want to start the download, put in a good movie, and wait.
ManiacDev is a really great site with TONS of information geared to both uber-newbies like me and tech gurus. Just start with the first video, watch and take notes as you go. Really and truly, these are the best tutorials I have found!
Step 5: Download XCode
If you don’t already have it, download XCode. According to Apple, “Xcode is a complete, full-featured IDE built around a smooth workflow that integrates the editing of source code, with the build and compile steps, through to a graphical debugging experience – all without leaving the view of your source code.” This is another huge download, so you might want to rent a second movie.
Step 6: Develop Your iPhone App With The Templates In The SDK
Once you have your app drawn out on paper or in Photoshop, you can start designing it with the templates provided in the SDK. This is where that HUGE amount of download time will be a huge benefit. You will have lots of templates to choose from, and there are a lot of great YouTube clip tutorials on how to use the templates effectively.
Step 7: Learn Objective-C For Cocoa
If you love programming languages, you will love Objective-C. If you don’t know how to program, this is the part that can get pretty sticky, so you might want to find a programmer friend or hire someone. It really does help to get a book, too, for reference.
Step 8: Program Your App In Objective-C
Once you at least understand the basics of Objective-C (or at least know how to find answers to programming questions), you are ready to program your app. It helps to take screenshots as you go along so you can remember what you tried. Some apps can take just a few hours to program while other Apps can take months. Only you know how much detail you want out there for its maiden voyage in the App Store!
Step 9: Test The App In The iPhone Simulator and on relevant devices
The SDK comes with a lovely iPhone Simulator. You will need to load up your app and do your own testing. You should try to work out as many bugs as possible and think about all the ways someone might use your app.
Step 10: Host A Bake Sale
Remember when I told you in the fine print that you would have to raise some cash? This is that moment. Sadly, loading an app into iTunes costs a one time member fee of $99 (USD). There is no way out of this fee, but you might earn it back in triplicate if your app is worthy! Truly though, you DO get a lot for your $99. For one, you get access to some of the coolest people on this side of Pluto!
Step 11: Have Others Test Your App
Once you pay your fee, you will be able to have others in the app community test your app and help you work out final bugs. This is a great community, and testing new stuff is lots of fun. If you are a newbie like me, you will be in awe of the kings and queens of geeky stardom. Depending on the nature and complexity of your app, this process can take some time.
Step 12: Submit Your App For Approval
After testing your app in the community and working out all the bumps, you can submit the app to iTunes for approval. You will be able to upload it right from the community. The process of approval can take some time, so be patient!
Step 13: Watch The Dough & Traffic Roll In!
If you created a paid app, just wait for the money to roll in to shore. If you created a free app, watch the traffic!

On the surface, the iPad looks like a pretty good deal. After all, just $499 gets you in the door with the entry-level model, which seems plenty capable for most users.
But there’s a dark side to the iPad that’s now starting to surface, thanks to leaked videos of the soon-to-be-launched iPad app store. No, the apps themselves look fine: It’s the price of the apps that, to be blunt, can be downright exorbitant.
Consumerist took a close look at the apps being marketed for the iPad’s launch and found that they’re not going to be cheap. Far from it, to be honest. Where 99 cents is a common price point for apps on the iPhone, iPad apps are coming in around $4.99. The cheapest application displayed during the video demo costs $2.99, and one app shown costs $49.99.
On average, for applications that have an equivalent version on the iPhone, the price increase is 96 percent, almost double what you’d pay for the same apps on the smartphone format.
To be fair, these aren’t the exact same applications, but rather iPad or “HD” versions of the apps optimized for the larger screen. Most iPhone apps will run on the iPad, but they won’t take advantage of the larger resolution screen, so vendors have to rewrite applications for the iPad with the bigger display in mind. That’s worth something — but is it worth double, and in some cases five times, the original price? We aren’t talking about massive programming undertakings here, but primarily subbing in different graphics that will look better on the iPad’s larger screen.
Pricing on iPad applications is far from finalized right now, of course, and vendors probably know the lesson all too well that it is much easier to lower prices over time than it is to raise them. Start high and you’re a hero when you cut the cost by a buck or two, but double the price from $.99 to $1.99 and you’re a money-grubbing villain.

The first batch of iPad applications have become visible in the App Store. Applications can be purchased and downloaded, but obviously require an iPad to be functional. Downloaded iPad apps appear in a separate section of the “Apps” pane in iTunes, below iPhone and iPod touch applications.
Apple has also updated the Terms and Conditions for the App Store, reflecting the addition of iPad functionality and also clarifying that various types of iTunes gift cards and other credits are managed by a separate company known as Apple Value Services, LLC.
The early list of iPad apps can also be viewed at Appshopper.com. Notable early iPad apps includes:
Mirror’s Edge for iPad, AIM For iPad, Super Monkey Ball 2 for iPad, Things for iPad, USA Today for iPad, The Wall Street Journal, ABC Player, Keynote, Pages.