Apple

iPhone developer frustrations melt away with NDA

Software development is complicated enough, even when you can ask for help.

Apple's decision to let its nondisclosure agreement on released iPhone software expire had an effect just hours after it was formally announced: developers such as Craig Hockenberry started sharing ideas for iPhone code.

A heavily moderated mailing list for Cocoa developers (Apple's user interface technology) rejoiced at the prospect that they could discuss tips for iPhone development the way they discuss Mac development.

Before Wednesday morning, they simply couldn't do such a thing in public, for fear of getting booted out of the iPhone Developer … Read more

Apple drops NDA for iPhone developers

Apple has decided to end the nondisclosure agreement attached to software that has already been released for the iPhone, in the latest sign that it is starting to take developer concerns to heart.

The company put up a notice on the main Apple developer Web page that, effective immediately, says developers are released from the NDA regarding iPhone software that has already been released. The NDA was one of the most frustrating aspects of iPhone development in its first three official months, forbidding developers from discussing their software and throwing into legal limbo the status of programs such as iPhone … Read more

More App Store tweaks expected with iPhone 2.2

Hot on the heels of the crucial iPhone 2.1 release, Apple appears to be getting ready to release another software update.

We've known that iPhone 2.2 has been coming for a while, with the primary change expected to involve making Safari on the iPhone look more like Safari on the Mac. But AppleInsider has some details on how the interface for the App Store--perhaps the best thing and worst thing about iPhone 2.0--is expected to change.

One notable tweak is that the selection of an application by category on the iPhone will become easier, with wider … Read more

Google releases open-source Mac updater software

Google has released an open-source software project called Update Engine that programmers can use to keep their Mac OS X software up to date.

"Update Engine can update all the usual suspects, like Cocoa apps, preference panes, and screensavers. But it can also update oddballs like arbitrary files, and even things that require root--like kernel extensions. On top of that, it can update multiple products as easily as it can update one," Greg Miller, a programmer on the update engine team, said in a blog posting Monday.

The Update Engine project is hosted at Google's open-source site. … Read more

IBM releasing iNotes for iPhone

IBM has released a way to get Lotus Notes e-mail on your iPhone that stops short of full support, but gets the job done.

IBM's iNotes Ultralite (no trademark fight necessary) will be formally released Tuesday for Notes administrators and iPhone users. The software is a Web application that allows you to access Notes mail through the Safari mobile browser on the iPhone. Administrators need to install IBM Lotus Domino Web Access 8.0.2 in order to make the whole thing work.

One of the more popular additions to the iPhone 3G was the support for Microsoft's Exchange technology, … Read more

Apple tweaks App Store listings

Apple made a few changes to the App Store over the weekend that should cheer up developers, even if the underlying issues remain unaddressed.

Reviews for App Store applications must now be filled out by someone who has actually purchased the application in question, making it more difficult for developers to pump up their own application with favorable reviews as well as for rival developers to "Astroturf" a competitor's application with fake reviews. Applications will also now be listed according to their original release date; before this weekend, an update to an application reset the release date … Read more

Apple shares drop 17.5 percent

Apple's shares fell 17.5 percent in early trading Monday, as two noted brokerage firms scaled back their recommendations to a "hold" from a "buy."

Apple fell as low as $105.77 a share in intraday trading, down substantially from its close of $128.24 on Friday. Apple's shares sold off sharply after Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock.

Morgan Stanley not only revised its recommendation for the stock, but also lowered its fiscal 2009 earnings estimate to $5.47 a share from $5.91 a share.

In listing its reasons … Read more

iTunes to be more accessible to the blind

Apple will be making iTunes more accessible to blind consumers, under an agreement reached with the Massachusetts attorney general's office and the National Federation of the Blind.

Under the agreement, Apple will make iTunes U--a portion of the iTunes Store dedicated to educational content provided by colleges and universities--fully accessible to the blind by December 31, 2008. It will then work to provide full accessibility of the iTunes application and the remainder of the iTunes Store by June 30, 2009.

The blind and visually impaired will get fuller accessibility to the Apple application and Web site for downloading and … Read more

Report: Apple TV could get update Tuesday

With September's retooling of the iPod Nano out of the way, the blogosphere's attention is turning to the possibility of an Apple TV announcement in the coming days.

Christina Warren of The Unofficial Apple Weblog wrote Saturday that TUAW.com had received an e-mail from an unnamed Apple reseller. The message: The reseller had been instructed by Apple

to remove all Apple TV displays and literature and to destroy them (which I assume means throw away the literature, send back the Apple TVs) by September 30, 2008 at 5 PM. Additionally, the e-mail says that there will be … Read more