Web Apps On iOS Being Throttled By Last-Generation Engine Now

This probably sounds worse than it is, but it’s strange that it should be an issue at all. It appears that web apps and games launched from the home screen (as opposed to being used in the browser) do not at present have access to iOS 4.3′s improved “Nitro” Javascript engine, and are restricted in using web-related cache and resources they would otherwise have when used in-browser. It could be that the Nitro engine simply hasn’t been extended for use by the non-browser web UI tools, but one developer says that the Safari team indicated the problem would not be fixed.

It’s a pretty serious oversight when Apple has indicated such an interest in HTML5 and standards-based apps, but it’s also worth considering that it has a large interest in making such apps available via the App Store, where they have editorial control and revenue possibilities. By refusing to give web apps that have “gone native” access to the improved Javascript engine or preventing them from being run while offline (another new trouble), they could be trying to subtly prod users in the direction of paid or ad-based “real” apps.

On the other hand, it could also be just a slow roll-out of a complicated new bit of code and the developers being affected could just be a minority being affected by this very specific problem.

If you’re interested, there are a number of threads and other sites investigating this issuecollected over at Register Hardware.

Google spiking 21 malicious apps with big download counts from the Market (update: Android 2.2.2 and up are immune)

We're sure that the debate of a carefully controlled and curated environment like Apple's App Store versus a free-for-all like the Android Market will rage on for years to come, but here's something to chew on: Google just removed some 21 apps from the Market in the last day from a publisher going by Myournet for doing all sorts of naughty things to your device. Offenses include attempting to root your phone, uploading phone information (including IMEI) to who-knows-where, and -- most egregiously -- adding a backdoor that allows additional code to be pulled down and executed.

At least some of the apps are pirated versions of existing apps that have been re-uploaded at zero cost to the user, which makes them appealing... and the trick apparently works quite well, because the 21 managed to clock over 50,000 downloads before getting taken down. This isn't the first time malicious apps have shown up on smartphones -- far from it -- but it's probably the highest-profile case of a first-party app store being infiltrated by really bad stuff. If there's a silver lining, it's that Google was extraordinarily quick to respond once Android Police reported the situation -- the site says it took less than five minutes from the time they reached out to the time the apps actually went offline. Still, that's little consolation if you've already installed your "free" copy of Super History Eraser. Hit the source links for the full list of pulled apps.

Update: Android Central points out that the type of root exploit used in these apps was patched in Android 2.2.2 and up, so Nexus One and Nexus S owners should be fine; everyone else is left out in the cold, though, thanks to the vexing third-party update lag.

EverNote bumping iOS version to 4.0, revamps UI

Popular multi-media note-taking and cloud-storage app EverNote, a staple of the iOS App Store, today went live with the all-new v4 which features a revamped user interface, a new home screen, Snippets View, the ability to simultaneously type notes as well as record audio, and many other features all based on user feedback that pointed back to one significant idea: moving around the app, creating things and finding things should be easier, said the company on its blog announcing the new version.

The area that got the biggest overhaul was the note creation screen, which has been completely retooled. Users can record up to 90 minutes of audio, easily attach images (multiple) to notes, easily add tags and assign notebooks, select multiple camera-roll items at once, and add or delete location information attached to a note.

Browsing notes and notebooks has also gotten a facelift. Users can browse notes by what notebook they are in, by tags or using the new, separate search screen. Images and attachments can also be quickly searched visually through galleries, as well as a map view for finding notes made in specific locations.

The company added that in the process of overhauling EverNote, too many ideas came to fruition to put into the new release without delaying it further, so some features will be forthcoming soon. Shared notebooks, Notebook stacks, in-app rich text editing of notes and significant changes to the iPad interface are among the promised features on the way.

EverNote is offered as a free app, and requires either a free or paid subscription (paid subscribers avoid ads and get extra offline features). Subscriptions cost $5 per month or $45 per year. The iOS version requires iOS v3 or later; a Mac version is also available.

Gaming-GDC 2011: The future of Imangi Studios

The husband and wife team of Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova make up Imangi Studios, the iPhone developer behind line-drawing hit Harbor Master. We've been following the duo for a while now, andlast talked to them at WWDC, when they were pretty far along in development with a game called Max Adventure, a dual-stick shooter with a plucky kid with a laser gun for a hero.

Max Adventure was released last December (and has since been updated), and Imangi tells me at GDC that the launch went well -- mostly. "It was the best launch we've had on our own," says Shepherd, adding that both the ratings and sales numbers were great after the game released in mid-December. "But then," says Luckyanova, trailing off. Then, it turns out, came the EA sale, filling the App Store charts with 99-cent sales of premium EA titles, and Imangi's carefully crafted Max Adventure got "crushed" in the Christmas rush.

But the best part of the story is what happened next: a little while after Imangi had a blue Christmas, EA called them. The company liked Imangi's games, and maybe wanted to talk about a publishing deal.

Nothing has come about (yet), but Shepherd and Luckyanova said they asked EA the same question they ask all potential publishers: What can you do for us? What do you bring to the table? And EA replied, just a short time after rushing the Christmas App Store to the chagrin of independent devs, "Well, have you seen the top 100?"

To be fair, EA didn't say that with malice. Imangi doesn't hold either EA or Apple responsible for getting lost in the Christmas rush. In fact, they hold themselves responsible. "In retrospect," they say, "launching at Christmas was a mistake." Since then, Imangi's gone back to updating both Harbor Master and Max Adventure, and sales have picked back up. The recent update brought some new arenas to play, and fans are asking for "more story levels," says Luckyanova. "They want more, so that's a good sign."

Imangi has a few ideas for other content, including "some neat ideas for challenge levels," though they're not yet sure if they want to do free upgrades, maybe create some paid content packs (Harbor Master sells various maps for in-app purchases) or maybe push for a whole new sequel. Imangi is also working on another new game, though we won't hear more about that for a little while.

I asked if the two-person studio (they also have a designer for hire that they use frequently) is interested in growing, and Shepherd confirmed that they "would like to be a little bit bigger." They're looking add two or more developers onto the team, both to help out with creating content for already-released titles, and to help release Imangi games on other platforms and in other languages. Shepherd says that "what's important to us is not growing too fast." They're happy with what they're doing, and any growth, either in terms of bringing on more employees or even being acquired by a larger company, will be carefully considered going forward.

Seriously Scary Android Malware Quickly Being Pulled From Market

Apple’s semi-arbitrary approach to app store management may have problems, but Android (as much as I love it) is a jungle in comparison. Just tonight Google has pulled an app that, if downloaded, would have essentially rooted your phone and sent off every single detail it could find to a server in Fremont, California. Not only that, but it had the ability to download more code, potentially making it even more dangerous.

Redditor lompolo was investigating a suspicious app (Super Guitar Solo) that appeared to be a dupe of an existing app (Guitar Solo Lite), and found that it did indeed contain root exploits. Google pulled the code shortly after the guys at Android Police posted it, but it looks like at least 50,000 people have already downloaded the app, and there are a bunch more from the same publisher.

It’s the peril of an open app economy, but I have to say there’s rather a mismatch between the mentality behind the app store (essentially that behind the wave of download sites on the web in the late 90s) and the type of people increasingly using the OS. Right now this stuff is pretty limited, but if users get wind of it, or enough of these apps take down enough Droids, people will decide Android isn’t a “safe” mobile phone OS.

News : Completely Redesigned Evernote 4 for iPhone Is Now Available

Evernote for iPhone launched with the Apple App Store, and the app has ungone a number of evolutionary steps in the years since. Today Evernote is unveiling version 4 of their iPhone app and the changes, while maybe not revolutionary, are certainly substantial. The home screen, for example, is completely revamped to show snippets of notes making the app useful as soon as you launch it.

The changes to the home screen look great. Most of the time when I launched Evernote I wanted to look at a note I had previously made, so being able to access this information immediately is a huge time saver.

Creating a new note in Evernote version 4 has been upgraded, too. You can type text as normal, but from the same screen you can now embed images from your photo roll, take new pictures, and record audio. Multiple media types can be added to the same note at the same time, which makes Evernote notes much more useful. From the Evernote blog: “So, if you’re sitting in a meeting or lecture, you can have notes, recorded audio and a whiteboard snapshot all in a single note.”

For folks that use multiple notebooks, you can now view a list of notes in a specific notebook. You can also view a list of all the tags you’ve assigned to notes across all notebooks, so you can find that note you made three months ago tagged “Important” but have since completely forgotten what you titled it.

iPad owners may be a little disappointed that Evernote 4 is currently only for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The changes should trickle into the iPad version soon, though.

I think it’s important to note that almost all — if not all — of the Evernote 4 features are the direct result of user feedback. The folks at Evernote listen to their users, and incorporate useful feedback into a better app for everyone, even the freeloaders like me using the free version.

BMW Connected now hitting 1 Series cars first, lets you tweet your disregard for speed limits

The BMW Connected app has been available for a few months now, following in the footsteps of Mini Connected as it sits there, and taunting you from the App Store. We knew cars supporting the feature would be coming in March, and now we know which ones will be first: BMW's svelte little 1 Series. To enable the streaming radio and even streaming video (when the car is stationary) on the dash-mounted display you'll need to tick the box next to a €150 (about $205) option. In your suitably equipped car you can then get your Facebook and Twitter feeds read to you and even provide automated responses using "vehicle information such as current speed, outside temperature or navigation destination." We're hoping the car can apply some flowery language to such hard data, like "bat out of hell" for those particularly warm days in which you're driving at a high rate of speed from an unpleasant point of origin.

Digital Chocolate Raising $12 Million For Mobile, Social Gaming

Digital Chocolate, the mobile and social gaming firm started and led by Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) founder Trip Hawkins, has raised $12 million in a Series D round of funding led by Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Capital, with past investors Sutter Hill Ventures and Bridgescale Partners also participating. The company says that it will use the funds to further expand its social gaming reach to new platforms: Digital Chocolate already publishes games on platforms such as Apple’s App Store and Facebook.

Digital Chocolate says in its release that it has had 100 million mobile downloads to date across iPhone, Android and other platforms.

Its entry into social gaming has been more recent. The company counts Millionaire City, MMA Pro Fighter, Rollercoaster Rush and Tower Bloxx in its catalog of 100 titles.

Another title it owns is Mafia Wars, which also happens to be the name of a hugely popular game published by social games leader Zynga. This became the subject of atrademark suit filed by Digital Chocolate against Zynga last year; that suit was settled out of court a few weeks ago.

Digital Chocolate has raised $54 million to date, according toTech Crunch.

Oscar Backstage Passing for iOS, FileMaker Conference

A new iOS app that provides an insider's view of the upcoming 83rd Academy Awards has been released in the App Store. The Oscar Backstage Pass application, which is the result of a collaborative effort between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Disney-ABC TV Group's digital media team, provides a number of features for enhancing the Oscar experience. Users are provided with live video streams from multiple cameras, including coverage of the Governors Ball, a celebration which immediately follows the Academy Awards. The app is available through the App Store at a cost of $1.

FileMaker Conference set to take place this May in La Rochelle, France

The 7th annual FileMaker Conference has been announced and will take place at the Mercure du vieux port hotel in La Rochelle, France. The three-day event will begin on May 19 and consist of 15 sessions covering technique, integration, and business topics. In addition, this year will feature three sessions dedicated to FileMaker Go, the latest line of FileMaker products designed for iOS devices. Early Bird registration is currently available for three-, two-, and one-day passes, bringing costs down to $805, $680, and $340, respectively. Those interested in attending are also encouraged to book a hotel room soon as the La Rocelle is a popular destination for both conferences and tourism.

Hot: Apple’s Message to Publishers: Content Is King

This week Apple, caused a storm by announcing their new iOS App Store terms and conditions for publishers. In a nutshell: Long-awaited in-app subscriptions are here, and the service brings with it the usual 70/30 revenue split common to Apple’s other content channels, like music and apps.

So why the controversy? Apple prohibits publishers from offering more attractive (read: cheaper) subscription deals to customers outside the walls of the iOS App Store. Whatever publishers offer outside the App Store must be matched (or bettered) inside the App Store. Oh and just one more thing; Apple will not hand over to publishers the personal details of customers making in-app purchases/subscriptions without the permission of those customers. This last point is great news for consumer privacy, but another nail in the coffin for publishers accustomed to using said data in valuable advertising deals.

If you’ve ever subscribed to a magazine or newspaper you know how it works: A subscription card often asks for far more than just your name, address and credit card number. Those mini questionnaires publishers require of their subscribers supply them with a huge variety of valuable information they can use when selling space to advertisers. In fact, advertisers now demand it; after all, they want to be sure they’re placing their ads strategically — and therefore, spending their money wisely.

It matters not one jot if a publication acquires a few thousand subscribers through the App Store; without the typically-concomitant subscriber data, advertisers will be less inclined to buy space in any iOS publication.

How Did We Get Here?

Much publishing today is less concerned with quality than it is with quantity. The more copies there are of a magazine in circulation — or clicks on a web page — the more eyeballs see accompanying ads. In a world where, more than ever before, readers have more choice of content, but less time to engage with it, for many publishers, the key to generating appreciable revenue lies not in value, but in volume.

And I’m not talking small-time publishers here; in early February, Business Insider revealed AOL CEO Tim Armstrong’s guide to his network’s editors, titled “The AOL Way”, in which the editorial priorities of the company are laid-bare; on a page directing editors in how to decide what topics should be covered, “Editorial Integrity” (in other words, editorial quality) is ranked last, after “Traffic Potential,” “Revenue/Profit” and “Turnaround Time.”

Changing the Game

Online publishing’s focus on advertising, sponsorship and syndication is problematic, for viewers and for Apple as a company that wants to provide worthwhile content for users of its platforms. Great quality content, in this model, is of little use to publishers, despite the fact that it happens to be precisely the thing readers actually want.

Apple, I think, has noticed this problem, and is now taking positive steps to solve it. Apple wants to ensure that publishing on the iPad is never anything less than top quality, where the paramount priorities of publishers lie always in ensuring the quality of their content.

Hard Work for Big Returns

You see, with the rules as they stand today, the only way publishers can be successful in the App Store is by concentrating on producing the very best content. And that won’t happen because they place “Editorial Integrity” in first place on a PowerPoint slide. Publishers will have to commit themselves to produce nothing less than the very best content in the industry. It will take a lot of investment, a lot of insanely hard work and, for some publishers, a serious restructuring of their editorial staff and policies. None of that is easy or cheap, and, for publishers used to and dependent upon advertising revenue, it must seem a ludicrous proposition.

Apple has established a sales and distribution platform that emphasizes content sales and subscriptions over advertising, but if the company really wants to help publishers embrace the “content is king” philosophy, I think they need to do much more to assist in content creation and promotion. However, it begins with giving publishers with something that is still sorely-missing; top-flight iOS publishing tools made available — for free — to all publishers and authors everywhere. iOS is a publishing platform bursting with potential. Apple needs to give content creators an easy — and powerful — set of tools for leveraging it. Its iAd Producer application for the Mac might be a good place to start.

In the end, I believe most publishers genuinely respect their readers and care about the quality of their content; and I suspect they would happily unshackle themselves from their reliance on advertising revenue if only subscriptions and sales revenues could take its place. Apple has provided a tantalizing new path for publishers to tread, provided they don’t just throw their hands up and walk away citing Apple’s greed as a way to take the easy way out.

Kindle for iOS updated, adding page numbers and progress meters

The Kindle app for iOS (my personal reading app of choice) got a nice update yesterday that brings "real" page numbers into the app. Now, as you read along in some ebooks, you'll get to see where you'd be in the printed version, so if you're reading Kindle books along with a class or book club, you can find the same pages you're all reading together. The update also adds information on the homescreen that shows your progress through the books on your iPhone, and you can now look up words using Google or Wikipedia directly within the app itself. Pretty groovy -- like I said, this is my reading app of choice on the iPhone, and the update only makes it better.

Some of these features were already seen in the Kindle for Mac app available on the App Store. But we'll probably see another Kindle update coming soon anyway, as of course the app has to comply with the new restrictions on subscriptions, including offering the same in-app deals as are offered outside of the app, per Apple's new subscription rules. That shouldn't be too hard to do -- if indeed Amazon wants to do it. We'll have to wait and see on that one.

Rhapsody won't bow to Apple's subscription policy, issuing statement

In case you weren't aware, Apple's newly launched App Store subscriptions aren't sitting so well with everybody. While the functionality could of course be a boon to services that have struggled getting paying customers, folks who have already been doing just fine, thank you very much, are balking at the new restrictions Apple has imposed. Rhapsody has issued a statement, which says that it's not going to play ball and even levels a bit of a threat: "We will be collaborating with our market peers in determining an appropriate legal and business response to this latest development." The big trouble stems from the fact that Apple requires anybody offering a subscription service to offer that service for the same price or less through Apple. That means you can still sign up folks through your own methods and get all the cash, but if anybody signs up through your app, Apple gets a 30 percent cut. In addition, Apple is no longer allowing applications to include a link to an external site for purchasing, which means vendors will have trouble getting new users to pay them directly instead of using Apple's simple but heavily-taxed option. Rhapsody claims that it can't offer its services at existing prices with Apple grabbing that much of the revenue, and it sounds like Rhapsody will be leaving the App Store soon if an agreement isn't struck.

Of course, this is just the shiny surface of the dirt Apple's new policies have scuffed up, and we might even have an antitrust case on our hands, according to the Wall Street Journal. Check out the more coverage link for more on that, and follow after the break for Rhapsody's statement in full. 

Rhapsody is the leading digital music subscription service in the U.S.,with 750,000 subscribers. Music fans can access the service using free apps from any Internet-connected device, be it on an Android, Sonos, Tivo, BlackBerry, iOS or personal computer. Today, Rhapsody subscriptions are available for purchase exclusively via Rhapsody.com.

Rhapsody offers a content-based subscription service that makes millions of tracks available to fans pursuant to longstanding partnerships with thousands of rights holders, all of which then distribute revenues to artists and other creators.

Our philosophy is simple too – an Apple-imposed arrangement that requires us to pay 30 percent of our revenue to Apple, in addition to content fees that we pay to the music labels, publishers and artists, is economically untenable. The bottom line is we would not be able to offer our service through the iTunes store if subjected to Apple's 30 percent monthly fee vs. a typical 2.5 percent credit card fee.

We will continue to allow consumers to sign up at www.rhapsody.com from a smartphone or any other Internet access point, including the Safari browser on the iPhone and iPad. In the meantime, we will be collaborating with our market peers in determining an appropriate legal and business response to this latest development.