One app saves lives while another is pulled after complaints of pornography. Plus, the upcoming ‘jOBS’ movie’s release date is revealed and Apple wins a patent for a smart auto-brightness feature that could find its way into future devices. Here are the remainders for Thursday 24 January 2013.
The iPhone app that helped save Algerian hostages in the desert (Atlantic Wire)
In an interview with The New York Times, one of the gas workers trapped at BP’s facility in Algeria last week, Liviu Floria said that Apple’s Compass app helped save his life.
The app, which is native to Apple’s iPhones, doesn’t require any signal, and using that combined with a flickering flame atop a gas well in the distance guided Mr. Floria to safety.
Apple pulls 500px’s mobile apps from the App Store, claiming it’s too easy to search for nude photos (TechCrunch)
Photo-sharing apps 500px for iOS and iSO500 have been pulled from the iOS App Store because they allow users to search for pornographic images.
Reports say that one of Apple’s App Store reviewers told the app’s developers that a new update could not be approved because of the mature photos, but 500px’s COO Evgeny Tchebotarev said that the app has a default ‘safe search’ mode that hides these photos. He also said: “We don’t allow pornographic images. If something is purely pornographic, it’s against our terms and it’s deleted.
The removal of the app sparked some user complaints, highlighting that it can be easy to find nude photographs in other apps, including web browsers. Apple later released an official statement which read:
“The app was removed from the App Store for featuring pornographic images and material, a clear violation of guidelines. We also received customer complaints about possible child pornography. We’ve asked the developer to put safeguards in place to prevent pornographic images and material in their app.”
Ashton Kutcher’s ‘jOBS’ to hit theatres on Apple’s 37th anniversary (Hollywood Reporter)
The upcoming Steve Jobs biopic ‘jOBS’, which stars Two and a Half Men’s Ashton Kutcher as the late Apple co-founder, is set to make its cinema debut on 19th April, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January, and depicts Jobs’ life from 1971 to 2000.
Ashton Kutcher and co-star Josh Gad, who plays Steve Wozniak in the movie, will be opening Macworld/iWorld in San Francisco next week.
Apple invention adjusts display brightness according to on-screen content (Apple Insider)
Apple has been granted a new patent that covers a “Portable media device with power-managed display”.
This patent described a method of adjusting the brightness of a device’s screen depending on what is being displayed. For example, is a light coloured image is being displayed, the brightness may be lowered, and vice versa for a dark image.
When it comes to videos, the system could sample metrics such as contrast, darkness, lightness and colour at stepped intervals to keep brightness consistent.
See also:
Disney CEO remembers ‘relentlessly honest’ Steve Jobs in new interview
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