A Mad Magazine contributor has been told by Apple that his iPhone app featuring drawings and contact information of members of the 111th Congress has been rejected because it depicts politicians in an objectionable light.
Richmond's iPhone app in action.
(Credit: Tom Richmond)According to Tom Richmond, who wrote about his app's rejection on his personal blog, his app--dubbed Bobble Rep-111th Congress Edition--in no way should have been construed as objectionable.
Richmond said that the focus of the app was to create a "database of all the members of the United States Congress which allowed the user to find the names and contact information of their senators and congressional representative either via Zip code or by using the iPhone's GPS location services." Rather than use the politicians' individual portraits, the app depicts each senator and representative in caricature form, which Richmond drew himself. All told, the app features 540 caricatures of the politicians.
... Read moreAfter Sid Meier announced on Thursday that a new Civilization title called Civilization Network was on its way to Facebook, it had me thinking: what other games could I play until I'm ready to take on Meier's new title next year?
To determine that, I've spent some time with several games on Facebook and narrowed that list down to the titles that are actually worth playing. If you want to have some fun on Facebook, check out these games.
Get your game on
FarmVille At first glance, FarmVille might seem like a lame game that isn't worth playing. But once you give it a few minutes, I think you'll find that it's extremely addictive.
The premise behind FarmVille is simple: build a farm that grows all kinds of fruits and vegetables. When you first start the game, you'll see a few patches of land where you can start planting. From there, you need to ensure that your farm is healthy as you continue to grow the items in your inventory. The game features simple point-and-click controls, making it accessible for any Facebook user.
FarmVille's "neighbors" feature is quite fun. Users can find other "farmers" in their friends list and grow a nice, bountiful farm together. It's a great concept that adds more value to the game. And the best part is, the more people who farm in FarmVille, the more money that will go to Sweet Seeds for Haiti, a charity that gives healthy meals to families in Haiti. Try it out.
FarmVille features some fun, farming goodness.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Mafia Wars If you're as much of a fan of movies like "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas" as I am, you might have some fun with Mafia Wars.
The object of Mafia Wars is simple: become a boss of a mafia family. When you first start playing the game, you'll see several different "jobs" that you can take on. They include (pretty much) any criminal activity you can think of. That said, you won't actually engage in those activities like you would in a Grand Theft Auto game. Instead, you'll simply tell the game that you want to perform a particular job and you will. When complete, you receive more cash and credibility. Think of it as a simple role-playing game.
Like the other games in this roundup, Mafia Wars has a social element to it. Your goal is to recruit members into your own family as you fight for mafia dominance. When that social element comes in, Mafia Wars shows its value. It's a really fun game when you play with friends.
Mafia Wars asks you to perform jobs to become a mafia kingpin.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Civilization Network is coming to Facebook in 2010.
(Credit: Firaxis Games)Famed video game developer Sid Meier, best known for the Civilization franchise, announced on a Civilization Facebook page Thursday that a new title called Civilization Network is on its way to the social network.
According to Meier, he has been "looking at ways of expanding the Civilization gameplay experience to include solo, competitive, and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks." Civilization Network will allow users to join with friends to "create the world's most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization," Meier said.
Like so many of its predecessors, Civilization Network will welcome users into a life-like world. Players will be able to take on others in battle, share technological innovations, form a government, win elections, manage growing cities, and more. Meier also said that users can "spy on enemies and work with friends to create the great Wonders of the World." He didn't say how users will control elements of the game.
Civilization fans will be happy to know that users can play as often as they'd like in the game's "fully persistent environment" for free.
Meier wrote on the game's Facebook page that he'll be looking for beta testers, once the closed beta is ready. Civilization Network will launch in 2010 on Facebook.
If you want to stay up-to-date on Civilization Network happenings, join its Facebook fan page here.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Amp Up Before You Score iPhone app.
(Credit: Pepsi)PepsiCo has tweeted an apology on its Amp Energy Twitter account, as well as its Pepsi account, to those who may be offended by its new iPhone application, Amp Up Before You Score, which some have complained is insensitive to women.
"Our app tried 2 (sic) show the humorous lengths guys go 2 pick up women," a tweet read on Amp Energy's Twitter page. "We apologize if it's in bad taste & appreciate your feedback." The message was retweeted on Pepsi's official Twitter page.
The soft-drink maker stopped short of removing the free application from Apple's App Store.
Amp Up Before You Score is described by Pepsi as a "road map to success for your favorite kinds of women--24 in all." According to the company, the app first helps men "identify her type." To do so, the app shows a listing of "types of women" and features a "cheat sheet on the stuff she's into, with lists, links, and some surefire opening lines."
Perhaps the most suspect part of the app is the "Keep a List" function. The company describes that feature as such: "Get lucky? Add her to your brag list. You can include a name, date, and whatever details you remember."
After Pepsi released the app, people immediately took offense. Not only did Pepsi and its Amp Energy division hear it from Twitter users, the company also took shots from blogs that found the app particularly offensive. An overwhelming number of reviewers gave the app one star on its App Store page.
So far, Amp Up Before You Score is still available as a free download in Apple's App Store. If you want to see the app in action without downloading it, you can view a video from Pepsi here.
Vonage Mobile for the iPhone, iPod Touch.
(Credit: Vonage)Voice over Internet Protocol service provider Vonage on Monday announced that it has launched its first mobile apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry devices.
Dubbed Vonage Mobile, the company's free VoIP app enables users to place international calls from their mobile devices. iPod Touch owners can do so by placing calls through Wi-Fi. BlackBerry owners will transmit calls over the cellular network only. iPhone owners will be able to place calls from Wi-Fi or through AT&T's network.
According to Vonage, its app will help users save up to 50 percent on international calling charges levied by carriers. After downloading the app, users need to enter an international number. They can also select a call recipient from their existing iPhone or BlackBerry contacts list. Those who receive calls will see the user's cell phone number on their caller IDs. Charges will be taken against the user's credit card, which they need to input when they first start using the app.
For now, Vonage is offering per-minute rates. The company said in a statement that by the end of the year, it will offer the Vonage World plan to users. Vonage World for home users currently allows them to make calls to more than 60 countries for $24.99 per month.
Vonage's app launch comes on the heels of controversy over whether Google's similar Voice app should have been denied access to Apple's App Store. The debate still rages on.
Vonage's new mobile app is available now in Apple's App Store and Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World. Both versions are free.
Apple announced Monday that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since the e-commerce shop's launch in July 2008. The company also said that there are now more than 85,000 apps available.
More numbers: There are currently 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch customers, as well as over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. All that has combined to make the company's App Store the world's largest applications store, Apple claims.
"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it."
At a rock-n-roll-themed event earlier this month, Apple reported that the store had over 75,000 applications and accommodated 1.8 billion downloads. In other words, in about three weeks' time, it has added over 10,000 apps and users have downloaded an additional 200 million applications.
Among those thousands of new apps recently added, one stands out for apparently pushing the borders of what Apple allows in its store: the first app featuring images and videos of bikini-clad adult film stars.
The iStat app's killer feature has been killed.
(Credit: Bjango)The version 1.1 release of developer Bjango's iStat application for the iPhone last week was marked with disappointment.
To maintain the application's availability on the App Store, Bjango had been told by Apple that it had to remove what was arguably the most compelling feature of version 1.0: Free Memory, which enabled people to clear wired and inactive memory to increase the iPhone's battery life. It also improved the device's performance.
Bjango, which focuses on developing apps for the iPhone, felt that it had no other choice but to create a new version sans the Free Memory feature. iStat 1.1, $1.99, offers only iPhone monitoring. Among other things, users can see battery life calculations and how much memory and disk space remains.
"Apple would not say why we needed to remove the 'Free Memory' feature," Tori Gale, support manager at Bjango, wrote in an e-mail. "(Apple) simply demanded that it was removed, or (it) would delete (version 1.0 of) the app from the store...Nothing iStat did violated the terms of the developer contract, as far as we know, and Apple didn't say that it did."
When pressed for more insight over Apple's ultimatum, Gale had, much to her chagrin, little to say. "Apple really hasn't given us any information," she said. "We simply don't have much we can say."
... Read moreFrustrated programmers have highlighted what they believe to be double standards, strange policies, and flip-flopping among Apple's App Store guards.
Several developers whose applications have been rejected from the store, which hosts third-party software developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, have published their correspondence with Apple.
Apple's rejections of apps accused of infringing a patent or copyright make sense to most industry insiders. But some App Store rejections have raised quite a few eyebrows.
In an attempt to highlight--and perhaps make some sense of--a few of the more questioned rejections, I've compiled a list of those that caused me to scratch my head.
The shock starts here
CastCatcher
CastCatcher is still in the App Store.
(Credit: R7 Developers)Apple wrote in a letter to CastCatcher's developer, Amro Mousa, that the application's update was rejected because it transferred "excessive volumes of data over the cellular network." Mousa was a little perplexed by Apple's decision to suddenly deny the application access to the store, considering that the new version of the app didn't transfer more data than previous, approved versions. Worst of all, Mousa said, his app was using the same amount of data as competing streaming-radio applications.
Current status: Eventually, Mousa and Apple were able to reach a middle ground, and new versions of the application were allowed into the App Store. CastCatcher 1.4.4 is currently offered in Apple's store for $1.99.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus, an e-book reader app, was denied access to Apple's App Store after the company found that it allowed users to read the Kama Sutra. The ancient book on sexuality was downloaded from Project Gutenberg, which the app used to acquire books.
In a letter sent to Eucalyptus developers, Apple said that the app was denied because it gave users access to "objectionable" material. If the developers removed the Kama Sutra from its book listings, Apple would have allowed the app into the Store.
Current status: After having some discussions with Apple, a Eucalyptus developer wrote on the company's blog that Apple had relented and would allow the full version of the app, Kama Sutra and all, into the App Store. It's currently available for $9.99.
FreedomTime
Freedom Time takes on former President Bush.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)The app featured President Bush on an analog clock as it counted down until President Barack Obama's inauguration. When users clicked on the President's body, it played so-called "truthisms," clips from speeches President Bush had given about leaving office.
Apple rejected the application on the grounds that it was "defaming, demeaning, or attacking political figures." That's an App Store no-no, evidently.
Current status: FreedomTime is still not available in the App Store. In its place, a Web site has been built to countdown the number of days former President Bush has been out of office.
... Read moreDS DoubleSys, a Nintendo DS lookalike application, has disappeared from the iTunes App Store.
When I followed the app's unique iTunes URL Tuesday, iTunes returned a message saying it is "not currently available in the U.S. store." When I tried searching for the app, no listing was displayed in the results. Last week, a search for "DS Double" returned the app's listing in those same results.
The DS DoubleSys' iTunes link message.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)It shouldn't come as a surprise that the DS DoubleSys app was removed from the App Store. It seemed to me that it was just a little too similar to the Nintendo DS. And since it mimics the Nintendo DS' operation, its menu, and even some of its sounds, I can only bet that Nintendo wasn't happy with it.
At this point, there's no word if ZM2 Dev, the app's developer, is even aware that the app has been removed from the App Store. The company's Web site still lists it as available in Apple's marketplace. In fact, it's bragging about its sales. ZM2 Dev said its app was the eighth most popular paid music game in the U.S. App Store. It was the 72nd most popular app in the store's Arcade listing.
DS DoubleSys is no longer on either of those lists.
The disappearance of the app follows a long line of apps that have been rejected or booted from Apple's App Store. Apple initially allowed DS DoubleSys into its App Store. Although it's possible that Apple thought better of it and decided on its own to remove the app, it's more likely that Nintendo played a part.
At this point, it's still a mystery: neither ZM2 Dev nor Nintendo immediately responded to requests for comment.
Update at 1:53 p.m. PDT: The YouTube video ZM2 Dev used to promote the DS DoubleSys app has been removed from the video site. When users try to play the video, it displays a message that provides more evidence that Nintendo might have been behind the applications removal from the App Store: "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Nintendo of America." (Thanks, mista77.)
Apple might have let one slip by. An app that looks awfully similar to the Nintendo DS is now available in its App Store.
Does that look like a Nintendo DS to you?
(Credit: ZM2 Dev)Dubbed DS Double Sys, the iPhone app from ZM2 Dev "can turn your device into a 'Handheld Game Console.'" When users boot up the app, the DS's familiar design is featured on the screen, including its dual displays. App owners can change the color of the DS to match their real-life version, zoom in on individual screens, and even play games. ZM2 Dev said that gamers receiving higher scores on its Pixel Mania title will be able to unlock more DS colors and a "secret game."
According to the app's App Store listing, more games, case colors, and microphone functionality will be made available at some point in the future.
After fielding several complaints over its app-approval policy, it seems rather ironic that Apple would allow an app that looks (and works) exactly like a Nintendo DS into its App Store. That said, it could have something to do with the way the app works.
Early last month, Apple rejected a Commodore 64 emulator called C64 that was trying to gain entry into its App Store. The app, which allowed owners to use Commodore BASIC, also allowed users to play authentic Commodore 64 titles. In a rejection notice sent to the app's developers, Apple cited section 3.2.2 of its iPhone Developer's Agreement, which states that "an application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means."
DS Double Sys is not, theoretically, an emulator. The game is a simulation of a Nintendo DS. That might have helped the app gain admission into the App Store.
Regardless, it should be interesting to see how long it stays in the store. Nintendo can't be happy about an app that costs $4.99 depicting its hardware. And if more games are made available, it might cause even more trouble for the app's developers.
Look for more news on this once Nintendo catches wind of it.
Via Gizmodo (Link)
