One app boldly goes…into copyright infringement territory, where many, many have gone before. And Apple’s in-app purchase system is apparently the equivalent of child-proof caps: no problem for kids, but hard for adults to grasp. Elsewhere, it seems POTUS has gotten the short end of the technology stick. The remainders for Friday, April 15, 2011 want your vote!
CBS legal threat forces Star Trek-like DiagnosticPADD from App Store (iLounge)
Red alert! Park Bench Software, developer of the $1 DiagnosticPADD iPad app, is facing a real Kobayashi Maru: CBS has asked them to remove the app, as it violates the network’s intellectual property. The program, which provides system information about the iPad, uses a software interface borrowed from Star Trek. Since a one-man shop can’t compete with CBS on a legal footing, the app is due to be beamed off the store any time now. And here I thought they’d finally gotten rid of lawyers in the future.
Apple hit with class-action suit over iPhone in-app game currency purchases (AppleInsider)
Speaking of lawsuits, Apple’s found itself on the receiving end of a class action suit over in-app purchases. Yes, now that Cupertino has responded to politicians’ concerns and enacted new restrictions, it’s obviously time to sue them for not doing enough to protect our children—or, more specifically, their parents’ bank accounts. Says the suit: “Because the passwords now required for purchases of Game Currency are the same passwords required for any Apple purchase, minors aware of such password may purchase Game Currency without authorization from their parents for that purchase.” Yes, this is exactly what our legal system is for! Just what the founding fathers intended!
Obama Disappointed With Lack of ‘Cool’ Phone in Oval Office (Fox News)
At a fundraising event in Chicago, President Obama shattered the dreams of kids everywhere who one day hoped to have the nation’s top job: “The Oval Office, I always thought I was going to have really cool phones and stuff…I’m like, c’mon guys, I’m the president of the United States. Where’s the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up? It doesn’t happen.” There you go, folks: your taxpayer dollars not at work.
Google: we want iPhone to grow (AdNews)
You might think Google and Apple were constantly at loggerheads, what with Android and the iPhone going head to head. But nothing could be further from the truth, insists Google Asia-Pacific president Daniel Alegre! In an interview, Alegre said, “Whenever iPhone succeeds, Google succeeds…I actually don’t look at it as iPhone versus Android. iPhone is a very strong driver of query growth for Google. We also monetise apps through the iPhone…we actually benefit from iPhone’s growth.” Does anybody else get the feeling someone totally switched out this guy’s cue cards?