Posts tagged with "apple"

UK Won’t Get iTunes Match, Cloud Until 2012

Those living in the United Kingdom will get to enjoy Spotify for a bit long as those living in the United States get to enjoy Apple’s iCloud and iTunes Match services between iOS 5 and Lion. Apple is still in the early stages of negotiations with the Performing Rights Society, who ensure composers, songwriters, and publishers all receive fair compensation for their works.

A music executive at one of the major record labels, who wished to remain unnamed, said: “Tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012.”

Even here in the United States, Apple still has yet to make deals with independent labels, and as with the initial launch of iTunes, Apple took their time as the rolled out their service to other countries. Mark Mulligan, VP and research director at Forrester Research, comments:

These types of negotiations take a long time… For one thing the UK arms of all the major record labels are biding their time and waiting to see how the service affects download sales in the US before they sign up to anything.

While the The Telegraph specifically exams licensing agreements in the UK, it’s likely that this situation holds true for the remainder of the world as well. For those in Europe, you’ll need to hang tight as Apple’s iCloud and the companion iTunes Match service go live. At the very least, iOS 5 doesn’t officially launch until this fall, so you just might not have to wait that long once iOS 5 devices start shipping.

[The Telegraph via MacRumors]

Apple Goes Shopping, Comes Back with Over 50 Domains

In a move to protect key terms and product features related to Monday’s Keynote that kicked off WWDC 2011, Apple decided to go domain shopping. Obviously you’d want to protect product names like Lion and iOS 5 from being abused, but Apple may have overdone it with their acquisition of over fifty domain names, including goodies like “macmailconversationview.com” and “pcfreeiphone.com”. Robin Wauters from TechCrunch was quick to point out that Apple still doesn’t own ipad.com or ipods.com, but what is Apple really afraid of?

You can tell Apple is clearly trying to protect their branding, but are they going too far? Do they have anything to worry about? I guess iTunes in the cloud is pretty important. But Mac gestures? Apple should definitely put a tutorial there.

Here’s some good examples of what Apple has picked up.

  • airplaymirroring.com
  • itunesinthecloud.com
  • macgestures.com
  • osxlionairdrop.com

For the full list, be sure to hit up the source link below.

[via Techcrunch]

“There Is No Chance” Cupertino Will Say No To Apple’s Spaceship Campus

Two days ago, Steve Jobs pitched Apple’s latest project to the Cupertino City Council: a massive, spaceship-like, 4-story new campus that would be located in the 98-acre ex-campus Apple acquired from HP last year. Designed with modern and green technologies in mind and entirely based on curved glass running around the whole structure, the new “mothership” would host 12,000 employees, come with a new auditorium, labs, office, and much more. When Steve Jobs presented the project, answering questions on environmental issues, energy and free Wi-Fi (the City Council asked whether Apple would provide Wi-Fi for everyone outside the campus, like Google does – Steve Jobs simply replied being Cupertino’s top taxpayer would be enough to contribute to the city), it was clear the City Council members were inclined to accept Jobs’ proposal, though no official announcement had been made there.

In a press conference responding to Steve Jobs’ campus proposal, Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong stated that “there’s no chance” the City Council is saying no, even if a public hearing will be necessary. However, Wong expressed his appreciation for Apple and Steve Jobs’ visionary attitude, confirming that when they have to deal with a large sales tax producer, they’re usually very accommodating to that company. Apple’s new campus should get done by 2015 if everything goes well.

Video of the press conference after the break. [via TechCrunch]
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Apple Backs Down Over Subscription Rules

A few days ago Apple quietly modified its ‘App Store Review Guidelines’, and it has significantly reduced the requirements that apps, which deliver content, must abide by, effectively stepping down on their previous demands. In February this year it was revealed that Apple had imposed a deadline of June 30 for all publishers of iOS Apps that delivered subscription content to implement In-App Subscriptions. The requirements were that any app that sold content outside the App Store must also offer the same content to users through In-App Purchases and at the “same price or less than it is offered outside the App”.

Yet as MacRumors has published today, Apple has amended the App Store Review Guidelines to state as follows:

11.14 Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app

In plain English this means that content providers with an App Store presence are no longer forced to offer In-App purchases or subscriptions for content. But if they do choose to implement IAP or subscriptions they can offer the content at any price they wish – even if it is more than what they charge outside the App Store. The only requirement is that within an app, there cannot be an external link that redirects users to purchase content from outside the app.

It is unknown why Apple has decided to change tack on this issue, but a likely reason is that a number of publishers decided the 30% cut was too much to bear and had put pressure on Apple to redraw the guideline. Just a few days ago The Financial Times released its iPad webapp in order to sidestep the App Store and its overbearing terms. Similarly, earlier this year Time magazine had also ruled out using the subscription service because of the 30% revenue cut and customers ability to opt-out of giving them certain personal details .

Readability, which launched in February, was also set to offer iOS users an app that would tie into the Readability service, but because of the subscription rules they weren’t able to release the app. Similarly iFlowReader complained in mid-May that Apple’s subscription policy had shut them down because the 30% revenue cut would eat into their already small profit margin. The question now is whether these services and magazines will now re-embrace the App Store under these revised terms.

[Via MacRumors]

Apple to Reject Apps that Identify DUI Checkpoints

After four US Senators sent a letter to Apple’s Scott Forstall concerning apps that reveal DUI Checkpoints, Apple has updated their App Store Review Guidelines to reject apps that aid drunk drivers (and sober drives who just don’t want to be bothered by the delay) from evading the law. Senators Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenberg and Tom Udall expressed grave concerns about apps that enabled those who drink and drive to escape law enforcement, and cited the apps as harmful to public safety. Apple’s new rules can be found in section 22.8:

Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving, will be rejected.

If flashing your lights to alert oncoming drivers to a speed trap is against the law in the United States, why shouldn’t these iPhone apps be banned as well? This certainly opens up the opportunity for drunk drivers to break the law, but what about other iPhone apps that can check into police radio and point out speed traps? Just like with sexually explicit apps, this is going to be another hot topic of debate as Apple curates content on the App Store.

[via Autoblog]

Apple Among World’s Most Reputable Companies According To Customers

In a survey of 48,000 consumers across 15 countries, the Reputation Institute named Google, Apple, Disney, BMW, and LEGO as the world’s most reputable companies overall. While I am a little astonished that Google made the top of the list, no one can argue that Google’s search engine is the front and center when we load up web browsers or open new tabs. However, while Apple and Disney were among the most reputable overall, it was Kelloggs that was the clear favorite in the United States, and LEGO took the crown in Europe. Speaking on company excellence, Reputation Institute Executive Partner Nicolas Georges Trad says,

“To build a strong reputation on a global level requires a broad platform that covers all seven dimensions of reputation, including Products & Services, Innovation, Workplace, Governance, Citizenship, Leadership, and Performance.”

Reputation is important for these companies not just for bragging rights, but because being reputable pays off in a big way. Companies with a strong reputation, on average, receive three times the support of less reputable competition. The loyal customer base is more willing to stand-by the brands the associate themselves with, spend more, and say good things about those products. As said by Reputation Institute Chairman, Dr. Charles Fombrun,

The greater the reputation of a company, the more support it earns from consumers, the better its operating performance, and the more money investors are willing to pay for its shares.

Below, we’ve highlighted the top ten overall most reputable brands below. Google edged out Apple (who are neck-and-neck), and Microsoft just missed the list in the 11th spot.

  1. Google
  2. Apple
  3. The Walt Disney Company
  4. BMW
  5. LEGO
  6. Sony
  7. Daimler
  8. Canon
  9. Intel
  10. Volkswagon

The Reputation Institute measures company reputation via a RepTrak Pulse statistic, and looked at over one hundred different companies before reaching their conclusion. Fore more information, check out the source link below.

[via PRNewswire]

Apple Wants To Build A Spaceship-like Campus In Cupertino

Amidst the software announcements at WWDC that finally confirmed the existence of iOS 5 and iCloud, a new build of Lion and the Apple Design Awards, Apple has been busy releasing new software for its platforms and devices. But this week has turned out to be more than just software for the company, as CEO Steve Jobs explained to the Cupertino City Council earlier this week Apple’s plan to build a new campus in Cupertino: a spaceship-shaped, 4-story building to host 12,000 employees and completely revolutionize the way Apple operates in Cupertino. The proposed project is impressive: not only it really looks like a mothership landed on Cupertino, it’s green and eco-friendly in the way it should be built using curved glass thanks to Apple’s retail experience. Not a single piece of glass in the building would be a straight piece – it’s all curved. Parking would be underneath, the number of trees would increase from the current 3,700 to 6,000 with some “apricot orchards” as well – furthermore, it would be located in the 98-acre campus Apple bought from HP last year.

Overall, it’s an impressive project for Apple – and we suspect it may have something to do with a rumor that claimed Norman Foster was collaborating closely with Apple to build a revolutionary campus based on modern, green technologies and renewable energies. Apple would rely on its natural gas facility and use an electricity grid as backup.

As Steve explained to the Cupertino City Council:

It’s a pretty amazing building. It’s a little like a spaceship landed. It’s got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle… It’s a circle. It’s curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It’s all curved. We’ve used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building… It’s pretty cool.

You can check out Steve Jobs’ detailed proposal of the new mothership after the break. [via MacRumors] Read more

The Best of the Best: Apple Design Awards 2011 Winners Announced

The Apple Design Awards “recognize outstanding achievement and excellence” in apps made specifically for Apple platforms and devices. For the first time, this year’s ADAs (which will be announced tonight at the WWDC 2011 in San Francisco) will award developers of applications for all iOS devices and Macs: whilst last year’s edition skipped the Mac to focus on iOS, 2011 is back at full speed to celebrate great, usable, and well-designed apps available in the Mac and iOS App Stores. For the full list of 2010 ADAs winner, check out our previous coverage here.

So what’s in for tonight? As you may be aware of we’re not in San Francisco to attend WWDC (let’s leave that to developers), but we’ll be following the events as they unfold on Twitter, also thanks to a few developer friends who are actually there to enjoy the show. We will update this story with the fresh names of winning apps and devs as soon as we get them, as well as Apple’s official statements about this year’s ADAs once the official page gets updated later today or tomorrow.

So follow us on Twitter as @macstoriesnet, come back to this post in around 10 minutes from now, and let’s wait and see who’s going to grab the prizes this year at WWDC.

You can check out the full list of winners after the break.

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Hands-On with iTunes’ Purchase History for Apps, Songs, and Books


iTunes 10.3 was released a couple of hours ago and one of the new features it brings is a ‘Purchased’ screen that lists every song, app and book that you have ever downloaded from the iTunes Store, App Store or iBookstore. You can get to the ‘Purchased’ screen simply by going to the iTunes Store homepage and clicking “Purchased” from the sidebar on the right of your screen(see below), it should also have a ‘New’ tag beside it, at which point it will take you to ‘Purchased’ screen.

The ‘Purchased’ screen is a really  handy feature to easily and quickly find a previous purchase and instantly download it or even download all of your previous purchases with just one click. The feature, which is also included in iOS 5, is part of Apple’s iCloud, which was unveiled at yesterday’s WWDC keynote. The ‘Purchased’ screen also gives you some fairly powerful tools to find the exact purchase you want, either from just searching, only displaying items not downloaded to your iTunes library or just list the purchases alphabetically.

Make sure to jump the break for a whole slew of screenshots that demonstrate the new feature from iTunes 10.3 (for developers, this feature is also present in iTunes 10.5).

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