MAC APP STORE APPLICATIONS MUST BE SANDBOXED BY MARCH 2012

As of March 1st, 2012, Apple will require all apps available in the Mac App Store to be "sandboxed," which Apple says is "a great way to protect systems and users by limiting the resources apps can access and making it more difficult for malicious software to compromise users' systems." The other side of that coin is that by limiting access to said system resources, applications are also more limited in what they can do, which has left some developers facing a tough decision: either comply and get in the App Store, or go it alone. They will be able to request access to some resources, but they'll have to provide a justification for it to Apple as part of the submission process. Apple had actually intended to implement the requirement this month, but it's apparently decided to give devs a bit more time to get used to it.

GOOGLE+ APP NOW AVAILABLE FOR iPHONE

Apple finally approved the official Google+ application for iOS on Tuesday. Google took the wraps off of Google+, its new social network, on June 28th and immediately made an Android application available to its users. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Apple to approve the iPhone version. Google+ for iOS is supported on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4, provided that the device is running iOS 3.1 or later. There’s no word if a dedicated iPad version is in the works.

APPLE'S BID TO KEEP AMAZON FROM USING 'APP STORE' DENIED

A U.S. judge denied Apple Inc's attempt to quickly stop online retailer Amazon.com Inc from using the "App Store" name, according to a court document.

Apple, the maker of best-selling iPhones and iPad tablets, filed a trademark lawsuit saying that Amazon has improperly used Apple's App Store name to solicit software developers throughout the United States.

Apple also asked a federal judge in Oakland, Calif. for a preliminary injunction to stop Amazon from using the name, which Apple says is trademark protected. However, Amazon argued that the term is generic and therefore not protectable.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton did not agree that the term is purely generic, according to an order released on Wednesday. However Apple has not established "a likelihood of confusion" with Amazon's services to get an injunction, Hamilton wrote. [Reuters]

APPLE'S FINAL CUT PRO X FACES HARSH CRITICISM, POOR REVIEWS FROM USERS

During our call to discuss Final Cut Pro X earlier this week, an Apple product manager boasted about the product's low price, media management, and ground-up redesign. Unfortunately, when starting from scratch, developers seem to have overlooked a few features that professional users have come to depend on, prompting widespread backlash -- both on internet forums and even on Apple's own App Store, where the $300 download-only app currently has a rating of just 2.5 stars (out of five), including nearly 500 one-star ratings. (Note: you must purchase the app before submitting a rating or review.) The New York Times spoke to product managers about these issues, which include an inability to import old FCP files, no multicamera editing, no support for RED cameras, and no ability to specify QuickTime export settings, among many others. Apple says there are (pricey) workarounds available, or fixes on the way for all but the first issue

APPLE CHANGES POLICY ON IN-APP SUBSCRIPTION PRICES

It looks like Apple has decided to make some pretty major changes to its App Store Review Guidelines and, in particular, to its controversial in-app subscription policy. Under the new guidelines, publishers will be able to offer subscriptions to content outside of the App Store, as long as their apps don't include a "buy" button that directs users away from Apple's marketplace.

Under the previous version of the policy, which was set to go into effect at the end of this month, app owners offering subscriptions outside of App Store were required to sell equivalent, in-app services at the "same price or less than it is offered outside the app," while giving a 30 percent cut to Cupertino.

Now, however, they can price these in-app subscriptions as they see fit, or circumvent the system altogether, by exclusively selling them outside of their apps. Apple will still receive 30 percent of the revenue generated from in-app subscriptions, but won't get any money from purchases made outside of its domain. Theoretically, then, publishers would be able to offer in-app subscriptions at higher prices, in order to offset Apple's share.

DANGER SIDEKICK SERVICE COMES TO AN END

It’s been a long time coming, but the day is finally here. The servers that made your Sidekick devices so great — that insanely addictive push email, one of the best AIM experiences, one of the first app stores, and more — are shut down for good.

Since the Danger Sidekick devices were tied directly to the cloud, the devices had limited memory. What this means is that since there will no longer be data on the server, the data on your Sidekick will erase if your phone loses it’s charge. T-Mobile has recommended that Sidekick users go into T-Mobile locations to help get their data backed up, but if you’ve missed the boat, you can hit up your online T-Mobile account at the link below to access and export your data for free.

This does not apply to the new Sidekick 4G, which is Android based.

AMAZON LAUNCHES MAC DOWNLOAD STORE

Amazon on Thursday announced yet another online application store, this time for Mac OS X users. The Amazon Mac Download Store will compete directly with Apple’s own Mac App Store, and there will be no love lost between these two giants.

There are currently 201 software titles and 51 different games available, including full blown apps like Microsoft Office and Intuit QuickBooks, and hit games such as Dragon Age: Origins. Customers can quickly purchase and download applications using their Amazon accounts, and purchases are automatically backed-up in case you need to reinstall the apps at a later date.

APPLE'S APP STORE HITS 500,000 APPS

According to new data from Chop, 148apps, and Chillingo, Apple’s iTunes App Store has approved more than 500,00 applications. In an infographic posted on Facebook, the group notes that Apple has worked with 85,569 different developers and that the average price of a paid application is $3.64. Similarly, 37% of all applications are free. The most popular iTunes categories (ranked by downloads), are games (15%), books (14%), entertainment (11%), education (8%), lifestyle (7%), and utilities (6%). If it seems like Angry Birds has been a hit for nearly a year, that’s because it spent 275 days in the No. 1 spot. Apple has yet to confirm these figures and App Shopper, another third-party that monitors the App Store, currently says there are about 499,200 live applications in the store.

NOOK COLOR UPDATED WITH ANDROID 2.2, FLASH SUPPORT AND NOOK APPS

On Monday, Barnes & Noble announced that it will be updating the NOOK Color eReader with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and a number of other enhancements. The software patch — which will deliver Adobe Flash Player support – adds a NOOK Friends beta social network for sharing books, 15 new NOOK Kids Read and Play books, NOOK Email, NOOK Books Enhanced with embedded video and audio, and NOOK Newsstand for quick access to magazines and newspapers. A new NOOK Apps store will provide access to more than 125 applications, many of which are free or are priced below the $2.99 price point. The update, officially known as NOOK Color v1.2, is available now for free. NOOK Color owners can visit www.nookcolor.com/update to apply it now, or you can wait for an over-the-air update to roll out over the coming weeks.

APPLE REMOVES CONTROVERSIAL 'GAY CURE' APP FROM APP STORE

Exodus International made news last week with the release of its self-titled application in Apple’s App Store. The organization billed the application as a "resource for those looking to help cure themselves or someone else of homosexuality." Now the app is making news again, as Apple has pulled it from the App Store.

Apple has been a quiet supporter of gay rights, and during the 2008 Proposition 8 campaign in California, the company issued the following statement: “Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation.” The statement, which was made via its website, accompanied a $100,000 donation to the campaign opposing “Prop 8.”

An online petition started by change.org collected over 140,000 signatures in an attempt, which appears to have been successful, to get Apple to remove the controversial Exodus app. Apple has yet to issue a statement to articulate why Exodus’ application was removed from its mobile app store.

LEAK: AMAZON APP STORE PRICES AND APPS

A few days ago we reported that the ever-so popular game Angry Birds would be launching for Android through the Amazon Appstore, not the Android Market. Rovio, Angry Birds’ publisher, decided to offer the new Angry Birds Rio game exclusively to the Amazon Appstore. However, there is no Amazon Appstore yet. But thanks to German site Androidnews.de, we got a glimpse of what the app store may look like thanks to a discovered URL that perhaps accidentally went live.

Frank of Androidnews.de added “/apps” on the end of the Amazon.com URL, and found that, if logged out of Amazon, a list of Android apps appeared for him to browse through. Frank reported seeing 48 apps, whereas Androidguyssaw 49, some of which differed from those that Frank saw. Amazon has since taken down the http://www.amazon.com/ apps link.

Amazon is known for offering great deals. Its MP3 store is often cheaper than buying music from the iTunes Store, and it seems Amazon may offer some discounts on Android apps as well. Androidnews.de put together a spreadsheet comparing the two stores’ prices. We see a large difference with Vignette, which will cost $2.49 in the Amazon Appstore or $4.02 in the Android Market, and Sacan2PDF Mobile 2.0 which will cost $3.99 through Amazon and goes for $6.44 through the Android Market.

OPERA BROWSER GETS AN OVER-17 RATING IN APP STORE; RESPONDS HUMUOROUSLY

You might not yet be aware of this, but Apple's policy towards web browsers is to treat the entire internet as their content. As a result, all browsers on the iOS App Store come with a minimum age requirement of 17 and the same rule will apply to them on the Mac App Store. Opera, the first non-native web explorer to make it in Apple's new desktop app repository is taking a humorous approach to things, with VP Jan Standal saying he's "not sure if, at that age, people are ready to use such an application. It's very fast, you know, and it has a lot of features."

All that said, Opera's willing to be reckless if you are, and will totally let you download its Mac software through its homepage -- no age or credit card checks required, though you might want to ask for your parents' permission first.

APPLE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES APP STORE SUBSCRIPTIONS

In a press release Apple announced that its App Store would make the subscription service available to all app publishers, just like it was on The Daily (the iPad only newspaper/magazine Rupert Murdoch just launched).

The service seems pretty simple from the buyer side–you download the app you want and then within the app you can sign up for a subscription. The publisher sets the price and length, and then you are automatically charged prior to each period. It’s just like a magazine subscription, though it should be a whole lot easier to cancel. Apple is giving customers a spot in their account page where they can manage subscriptions so you aren’t paying for anything you don’t want.

Interestingly, the release notes that “Publishers who use Apple’s subscription service in their app can also leverage other methods for acquiring digital subscribers outside of the app,” which means that publishers with existing businesses (think magazines and newspapers) can use their systems, they just need to get the publication in sync with their apps. Also, they won’t be able to offer any specials deals there that are not available in the app. So Apple is being somewhat flexible here, but they are not going to allow increased pricing when a publisher has to pay the rev share. [Geek]

GOOGLE RELEASES TRANSLATION APP FOR iPHONE

Today, Google announced the availability of a new Translate app for Apple’s iPhone. The app gives users the ability to speak to translate, listen to spoken translations, and utilize a full-screen mode. Currently, the application accepts voice input for 15 languages and can translate more than 50 languages. “The app also includes all of the major features of the web app, including the ability to view dictionary results for single words, access your starred translations and translation history even when offline, and support romanized text like Pinyin and Romaji,” writes Google. Translate is available free of charge in the App Store starting today.

APPLE GOES AFTER IN APP PAYMENT VIOLATORS

In the wake of Apple's rejection of the Sony Reader app, Apple is now starting to go after those apps currently in the App Store that violate their terms. Apple has a policy that states all payments must go through Apple's payment system and in app payments are not allowed.

An Apple spokesperson stated that Apple is “now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase.” The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reports that developers have begun to receive notices that apps in violation of this policy will be rejected starting March 31st. This could mean existing apps like Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader, which sends users to a mobile website in order to make purchases, could run into problems unless they are updated to offer content through iTunes. According to the Journal, the only exception to the rule that will be made is for publishers wishing to give print subscribers free access to an iPad edition.

APPLE'S APP STORE HITS 10 BILLION DOWNLOADS

Apple's App Store hit 10 billion downloads late yesterday. The number includes all downloads for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The App Store, opened in July 2008, has over 300,000 available in both a paid and free format. Seven of the 10 billion downloads came in the last year alone.

APPLE POSTS RECORD $26.74 BILLION IN REVENUE

As expected Apple released its fiscal first quarter results and the news was very good. The financial results cover the fiscal first quarter of 2011 which ended on December 25th last year. Revenue was at an all time high with Apple’s highly popular devices and associated App Stores making up the bulk of the $26.74 billion generated. Net quarterly profit was $6 billion.

Compared to the same quarter last year it’s a massive gain. Revenue has increased over $11 billion ($15.68 billion in the year-ago quarter), and profit has increased by $2.62 billion ($3.38 billion in the year-ago quarter).

Steve Jobs is always looking to the future, and simply commented:

We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can’t wait to get their hands on.

Here’s a breakdown of the devices Apple sold during the quarter (percentage gains are on the year-ago quarter):

• Mac: 4.13 million (23% increase)
• iPhone: 16.24 million (86% increase)
• iPod: 19.45 million (7% decline)
• iPad: 7.33 million

We also can’t forget the 30% cut Apple takes on every app sale in the App Store, as well as the profit generated from sales of content on iTunes away from apps. With the Mac App Store recently coming online that area of revenue stream will only grow in the future.

MICROSOFT FIGHTING 'APP STORE' TRADEMARK

Microsoft has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to deny a trademark request by Apple, Inc. on the name “App Store.” The Redmond software giant called the term “generic” and thinks “competitors should be able to use it.” The trademark application for “App Store” is currently listed as pendingin the USPTO’s system; the Cupertino company has already been granted trademark protection on its App Store slogan “there’s an app for that.”

“‘App store’ is a generic name that Apple should not be permitted to usurp for its exclusive use. Competitors should be free to use ‘app store’ to identify their own stores and the services offered in conjunction with those stores,” said a Microsoft representative.

The opposition was filed on January 10th; Apple has yet to publicly comment on Microsoft’s appeal.

VLC PULLED FROM APPLE iOS APP STORE

VLC has been removed from the App Store—though not at Apple's request. Rémi Denis-Courmont, a lead contributor to the project, decided that the the DRM in the App Store violated the GNU public license, requesting that Apple remove it. We're not sure we buy this interpretation of the GPL, and it doesn't quite make sense that it takes what was a completely free and easily available app away from millions of users. Worse, it doesn't set the best precedent for other open source projects, especially with the Mac App Store having similar DRM features. [Gizmodo]

MAC APP STORE LIVE; OS X 10.6.6 AVAILABLE

Apple's new Mac App store is now live.  It is similar to the iOS App store, except for the laptop/desktop crowd.  The store comes bundled with OS X 10.6.6, which is available now.  There are over 1,000 free and paid apps available, with that number increasing daily.  The update is 151.2MB in size.   The release text states:

The Mac OS X 10.6.6 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac. It also includes the Mac App Store, the best way to discover and buy new apps for your Mac. The Mac App Store, a new application you’ll find in the Dock, includes the following features:

• Discover Mac apps: Browse featured apps, top charts, and categories, or search for something specific. Read detailed app descriptions and user reviews, and flip through screen shots.
• Buy and install: Easily purchase apps with your iTunes account. Apps install in one step and are quickly available from the Dock.
• App updates: The Mac App Store keeps track of all your purchased apps and notifies you when free updates are available.

To learn more about the Mac App Store, visit: http://www.apple.com/mac/app-store.
For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4459.
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.