Technomaly » store

Wi-Fi Stumblers Vanish From App Store

Asterios Kokkinos — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:18:27 +0000

Apple’s really gotta knock this off. Once again, we all wake up to a story of Apple arbitrarily removing apps from their iTunes App Store – some which have been sold for years – for vauge and arbitrary reasons.

Today’s victims? Wi-Fi stumbling programs like WiFiFoFum, WiFi-Where and yFy Network Finder, which are all designed to help you find open wireless networks. You know, the same thing your iPhone does when you ask it to.

The reason? “Using private frameworks to access wireless information.” What? Why not just ban the iPhone from accessing any unprotected network, then? Because that’d have an even better effect on halting access to unprotected wireless networks.

The days of the one-man iPhone app developer are quickly vanishing – if you can’t be sure that your app won’t be removed for no good reason, why even bother spending the hours and hours coding the program in the first place?

Source & Photo Source: Mashable

Final Fantasy: Now on the iPhone

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:01:48 +0000

And a great horde of moogles and chocobos rejoiced, as their franchise, straight and true, landed on that most chosen of platforms!

Final Fantasy – specifically, Final Fantasy’s I and II – have arrived for the iPhone, greedily sucking apart whatever was left of your free time. The twin franchise leaders – the second of which is the actual Japanese Final Fantasy II and not the NES version of Final Fantasy II (which was really Final Fantasy IV) – are available now in the iTunes store for $8.99 each, a mere pittance when compared to the hours of fun they’ll bring!

And are the graphics updated? As Sarah Palin would say, You Betcha! They look to be the same or similar versions as to the ones released for PSP a few years ago. Check out these sweet screenshots Mashable pulled, and tell me with a straight face that this isn’t the most exciting thing to happen to the iPhone since 3g.

Source & Photo Source: Mashable

Couple Marries at Apple Store, Parents Die Of Shame

Asterios Kokkinos — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:35 +0000

Comedians, start your engines! Last Valentine’s Day, geeks Josh & Ting Li tied the knot at, of all places, New York’s 5th avenue Apple Store. The details:

The two were married by a priest dressed up like Steve Jobs himself. That explains why, during the ceremony, the priest went on a two hour rant about how much he hated Flash.
The ring bearer for the ceremony was a first generation iPod. Unfortunately the flower girl was NOT a Newton, but one out of two ain’t bad.
The groom explained that he felt that “the apple store was his church.” Which explains why the people at the Genuis Bar were absolving people of their sins.
Final fun fact: the ceremony took place at the stroke of midnight. Good thing because at 12:01, the bride turned into an iPod touch, which did not bother the groom at all.

Want to see video of the whole geeky affair? Feast your eyes below!

Source & Photo Source: Mashable

The App Store: Now With 100% Less Fun!

Asterios Kokkinos — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:00:50 +0000

Many of you have likely been hearing about the iPhone App Store’s crackdown on suggestive or titillating apps. The common thread in all the stories has been a deliberate vagueness on Apple’s part – they know if they define the content they don’t want as a list of rules then developers are just going to create content that follows those rules but is still suggestive. By keeping the definition of suggestive as “whatever we say it is,” Apple retains editorial control.

So given that infuriating but suggestive strategy, one wonders why an Apple employee defined the do’s and dont’s of the iPhone App Store for TechCrunch. Regardless of the brightness of the move, here’s the list:

No images of men or women in bikinis or ice skating tights. No word yet as to bikinis over ice skating tights are OK.
No “skin”? Hilariously, the TechCrunch reported then asked the Apple employee if Burqa’s were OK, and the Apple guy got angry.
No suggestive silhouettes. Damn, so much for my new iPhone app, “ShadowBreasts.”
No innuendo…and we all know what that means! I’d censor that app anyday!
Nothing that can be sexually arousing. Sorry Anderson Cooper, you’re outta here!
No apps that in any way imply sexual content, although apparently, the Playboy app is still in the store.

It’s a brave new world for Apple, or 1984, or whatever – pick your crappy literary metaphor that I have a tenuous hold on – this is straight up bad news.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple Bans The Word “Android” From The App Store

Asterios Kokkinos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:00:55 +0000

“Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” could soon read, “Do ********s Dream Of Electric Sheep?”

At least in the App store. Last week new regulations came down the pipe from Apple banning the word “Android” from being mentioned in any app descriptions. The culprit that caused the ban was Tim Novikov, whose “Flash of Genius” SAT prep flashcard app mentioned its status as a “finalist in Google’s Android Developer’s [sic] Challenge.”

First off, you probably shouldn’t be using the word “developer’s” in that context if you’re creating SAT prep materials. But besides that, it seems like a fairly innocuous mention of a competitor.

“Competitor? SMASH THEM!” responded Steve Jobs. Actually, here’s the official statement:

“Providing future platform compatibility plans or other general platform references are not relevant in the context of the iPhone App Store.”

Other words banned from the app store? “Boobs” and “Booty.” The word “Android” sure is joining some illustrious company.

Source: Appscout

Google Store Sells $300 Scarf, Keeps Straight Face

Asterios Kokkinos — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:00:20 +0000

The Google Store (which before this story I had no idea existed) is selling a ton of high end clothing and accessories, apparently under the impression that any of us have any money these days.

Chief among the items sold? This $300 designer scarf, “inspired by Google.” How a search engine could inspire a long rag you wear around your neck is beyond me, but to be fair, it is designed with the Google colors. Also, designers Alexa Adams and Flora Gill claim the scarf is designed to be worn several different ways, so as to be as “multi-functional as Google itself.”

Yeah, I can think of plenty of ways you could wear this scarf! You could wear it around your neck on a bread line, wrap it around your head at the unemployment office, or use it as a noose when the depression of our nation’s +10% unemployment finally gets to you!

Google’s also selling an $85 t-shirt inspired by Google Maps and a $200 magnifying glass pendant inspired by Google’s ability to search for things. Maybe while you’re searching, you can look up “common sense!”

Source & Image Source: TechCrunch

The App Store Is Coming! The App Store Is Coming!

Asterios Kokkinos — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:00:14 +0000

Google’s App Store is right around the corner – hooray for the 12 people out there who own a Nexus One!

Actually, this is great news for anyone running Android – soon, you’ll be able to download crappy application after crappy application just like your iPhone’d counterparts.

According to the Wall Street Journal, many of the applications planned will be third party add-ons to Google’s existing suite – programs like Gchat, Gmail, Google Maps may soon get programs enhancing their security, filling in gaps in their word processing or allowing for better porting of information.

As someone who’se already in love with the Gsuite (I’ve been using Gmail since college), this is pretty cool news. Hopefully Google won’t be as iron fisted about what they allow or disallow as Apple, who, according to NPR, rejected an application for including the word “fuck.”

Rumor has it that Google will drop it’s announcement in March – when we get more information, we’ll let you know.

Source: Mashable

Image Source: HTCpedia