Top Click Media Staff Blog » Apple

Apple bans ‘Hottest Girls’ App

Jenny Sanderson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:02:38 +0000

Another day another banned iPhone App. This time it was a fairly route one app that simply displays pictures of women. The app was briefly tolerated by the App Store big wigs, leading to rumours that the store was relaxing its strict no adult content policy, until the developer started uploading topless pictures to it, at which point they shut it down… With extreme prejudice.

This is all well and good of course, if the App Store wants to maintain a family vibe then fine, though it’s just the latest in a long line of apps that have had to be embarrassingly banned after the fact including the blackjack cheating app and of course the unfortunate ‘baby shaker,’ which sadly for Apple actually ended up making national television news.

For a human reviewed service, this seems a bit strange, none of these apps have been exactly cryptic about what they were, I mean ‘Baby Shaker,’ etc., surely the titles alone are going to make you take another look and think carefully.

Another factor that has rankled with developers is the perceived inconsistency in the vetting process. Critics have pointed to the fact that whilst numerous apps have scantily clad women featured within them, other apps are routinely denied, based on use of even moderate bad language.

It seems Apple really need to do one of two things, either build proper age verification into the App Store, or actually decide what is or isn’t acceptable and stick to it religiously. It’s probably not the biggest deal in the world, though it doesn’t exactly reflect well on Apple that they can’t write and stick to a content policy.

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Magazine Cover created on iPhone

Matt Thomas — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:21:43 +0000

Fairly big win for the Apple PR department this week; the New Yorker magazine hit the shelves with a piece of digital art on its front cover. Not just any digital art either, but a portrait of Times square created with just a finger, an iPhone and a $4.99 app. The picture took roughly an hour to create and was done entirely from scratch.

Those of you doubting the validity should check out the video below. ‘Brushes,’ the application used to create the picture records each ‘brush stroke,’ allowing you to play back the drawing process at your leisure. The result below is the breathtaking 51 second record of the creation of the cover.

Apple are predictably spinning this as proof positive (if any were needed) that the iPhone, far from being a glorified toy, is actually a serious piece of computing equipment capable of performing complicated and unique tasks. Obviously, impressive as it is, it is really only a good picture, done on a hand held device. Still, bit of a hurrah moment for Apple, and not just from a marketing point of view.

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Apple performs above expectations

James Oliver — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:05:35 +0000

Apple’s first quarter profits have far exceeded the gloomy predictions of many on Wall Street. The computer and software maker has not only defied a sluggish economy with the profits, but also managed to drive its share price up by three percent despite making more cautious noises about this quarter’s performance.

The market has failed to take notice of these predictions largely because Apple is famed for managing expectations with conservative predictions. However, in addition to this there is a real market buzz about the performance of the company, coming as it does in the middle of a huge amount of turbulence for the company.

Not only are they attempting to sell luxury goods in the biggest time of economic hardship since the depression, they are dealing with an absent CEO, persistent rumours about their new found susceptibility to viruses and a very aggressive Microsoft marketing strategy, that delights in highlighting the company’s occasionally below par value for money.

Before you remortgage the house and buy up Apple stock however, it might be an idea to wait three months and see what happens. All the factors just outlined pose very real threats to any company and it could well be that the effects of those have yet to be felt.

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Apple answers back to Microsoft Ad

Eddy Philipe — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:11:31 +0000

A while ago we blogged about a Microsoft advert in which a red headed actress extolled the values of PCs over Macs (mainly price and value for money), this week it seems Apple have answered back. The new Apple campaign is called ‘Get a Mac’ and attacks the perceived issues with PCs that don’t occur with macs. The relationship between the Microsoft and Apple marketing departments has never been cordial exactly but the tone has become increasingly aggressive recently with the recession only adding to the desperate scrabble for customers.

Even so, I can’t help but feel that the accusatory tone of this latest Mac campaign might have been a miscalculation on the part of Apple. For instance, one of the ads shows a man in a bio-hazard suit as a way of making the ever popular point that PCs get viruses and Macs don’t. The only trouble is that, as anyone who follows the tech blogs will know, that’s simply not true anymore. In fact, as the ads were being debuted over the weekend two Symantec researchers were announcing that they had found two separate information stealing bot-nets designed specifically for Macs… Now that’s just bad luck.

Watch one of the ads below:

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Smiley Redhead enrages Apple

Andy Russell — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:47:28 +0000

Apple and Apple supporters are very annoyed about an advert unveiled in the US last week which shows an affable woman named Lauren shopping for a laptop computer. She looks at Apple products but fails to find anything within her budget of $1000 dollars that meets her requirements – ‘Speed, Comfortable keyboard, 17-inch screen.’ Proclaiming, ‘I would have to double my budget, which isn’t feasible,’ Lauren instead decides to buy a $699 dollar HP laptop.

Okay, not the most subtle piece of advertising you’ll ever see. The message is pretty clear, Macs are more expensive than PCs. This is a truth that most people hold to be self evident, though Mac fans are angry at Microsoft’s bare faced cheek, with some even going as far as to call the HP Lauren buys a, ‘Craptop’ – Ooh burn. Many make the point that the comparison isn’t fair, though I’m yet to find a Mac blogger who can satisfactorily explain why.

The simple fact is that Apple laptops are more expensive, considerably more expensive, with considerably less choice. For instance, to meet Lauren’s screen size requirement she’d have had to have spent over $2,000 dollars. Apple fans, I think you may have to admit defeat on this one.

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iPhone 3.0

Matt Thomas — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:00:28 +0000

Apple have been uncharacteristically quiet on the SmartPhone front recently. For several weeks now all the chatter within the industry has been about Palm Pres and Mobile Handset Alliances, with no one really paying much attention to the market leader. That changed late last week with the announcement of changes to the way applications are developed for the App store and, going past that, plans for a brand new device, the iPhone 3.0.

The initial reaction to the iPhone was muted with official information from Apple focusing mainly on slightly run of the mill features like cut and paste and multimedia messaging functions. It’s true that these functions have been demanded by users for a while now, however it’s also true that these functions have existed on other devices for quite some time and so, don’t quite live up to the company’s reputation as an innovator.

Recently however, the coverage has improved after attention has turned to the more impressive, but curiously under publicised elements of the phone like peer to peer networking, sales within applications and APIs for additions to the hardware. If these elements play a significant part in the phone it could be a real winner though right now it’s largely unclear how Apple intends to use them. As always, when we know, you’ll know.

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The Difficulty of Competing with Apple (Part 2)

Andy Russell — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:48:37 +0000

Rival SmartPhone manufacturers are only just starting to react to the threat posed by the App Store, recently Nokia, RIM and Microsoft have all announced plans to release their own versions though this feels a lot like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. The App Store has put all of Apple’s main competitors in a very awkward position. They have to at least attempt to compete, though even they must know that they’re being forced to essentially play Yahoo to Apple’s Google.

It’s just at this point that Apple chose to drop the bombshell of yet another innovation for everybody else to catch up to. Yesterday the company announced a range of new capabilities that will make it much easier for iPhone developers to build applications for the device.

In the eight months since the App Store’s arrival, around 25,000 applications have been built by developers. The iPhone software update and the new developer kit is expected to further increase this number and quite possibly kill off the new rival App Stores while they are still in their infancy. Essentially, it just got a lot tougher to compete with Apple.

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The Difficulty of Competing with Apple (Part 1)

Andy Russell — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:45:17 +0000

Apple are a very difficult company to compete with, not only does the buzz and cache they have created around the brand and its products mean that they can charge far more than their competitors and still outsell them, the innovations they come up with are constantly putting everyone else on the back foot.

A good example of this is the iPhone. Before the device’s arrival SmartPhones were mainly seen as business tools, unnecessary to private users, with that one release, Apple managed to change the game completely, bringing a whole new market into play. Snapped out of its comfort zone the Blackberry floundered as RIM rushed two less than awe inspiring phones to market, Palm and Google’s Mobile Handset Alliance are only just starting to respond.

A large part of Apple’s success in the SmartPhone market has been the App Store, the online venue where users can buy custom programmes built by developers around the globe. The App Store has been a real headache for Apple competitors because it once again completely changes the rules. Suddenly you’re no longer competing with just a company you’re competing with a company and thousands of others working for it, each one working hard to ensure that they are first to the next innovation.

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Elite App Store

Jack Fox — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:02:59 +0000

Ever since the dawn of the App Store the charge against it has been that it’s too hard for the good apps to distinguish themselves from the bad ones. Applications tend to get a very brief window in which to excel before getting swamped by the myriad other apps getting released that day. That’s fine for small apps with low development costs but it does tend to discourage more complex, expensive applications.

If the rumours flapping about at the moment are true that could be set to change, with something like a Premium App Store being released in the next few weeks. It certainly would make sense, at least in terms of quieting some of the grumbling amongst developers, which is why I’m inclined to believe it.

Details are sketchy at present though some sources are claiming that the premium App Store will offer only programmes that start at $19.99. Also, and this could be controversial, sources are indicating that only larger developers like EA will be eligible for this kind of elite status, independents will be excluded.

Apple will have to hope that they don’t offend the independents, since they’re at least as important to the App store’s success as the big boys.

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(Even More) Apple Rumours

James Oliver — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:00:15 +0000

Since no technology blog is complete without a conjecture-filled article about Apple at least once a week, we thought we’d let you know that various online sources indicate that Apple may be planning to release a netbook. Not just any netbook, mind you, this is Apple after all. The new netbook will be a touch-screen one.

Yes, I know, there’s been speculation about this for a while on the various Apple fanboy blogs. We wouldn’t even bother to tell you, except for the fact that the main source for this story isn’t a blog, it’s US news giant, CNN.

According to the CNN website, Apple are working with Wintek Corp to make the touch-screen elements of the device, though the source would not be drawn on any of the precise specifications. Surprise, surprise.

CNN notwithstanding, I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high on this one. Of course it could be true, however, it could equally be that Apple is only in the preparatory stages of thinking about a netbook and the source simply got overexcited or, in fact, that there’s no truth at all to it.

However, it would be an interesting move for a company that has thus far shied away from the affordable end of the market. We’ll watch with interest.

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New Mac Minis hit the Shelves

James Oliver — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:46:34 +0000

I love it when a plan comes together. As we predicted yesterday, this morning saw the release of the long awaited release of brand new Apple Mac minis. The new devices are better synchronised with current technology, earning themselves a processor upgrade to a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. The Intel graphics adapter has fallen by the wayside, replaced by the much, much better NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. By all accounts the computers have been long overdue a refresh.

The new minis retail at $599 dollars which should allow Apple a hefty profit margin, even on a bottom rung product like this. Analysts are predicting that the figures will look particularly bright on the slightly better $799 dollar model. The extra $200 dollars buys you another gig of memory and another 200 GB of space on the hard disk, the retail cost of adding this yourself would be around $70 dollars (I’m working in dollars because GBP prices aren’t available yet).

This leaves Apple with $130 profit on the upgrade alone, that’s if they’re paying retail prices for their components, which, of course, they almost certainly aren’t. It seems Apple are continuing their policy of making no concession at all to the recession, they might just get away with it too.

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Melinda Gates covets the iPhone

Mark Isle — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:27:32 +0000

With the patriarch of the house being the founder of Microsoft it’s not surprising in the slightest that the home of Bill and Melinda Gates is a no iPhone zone. However, Melinda Gates, trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has revealed in an interview with Vogue magazine this month that she secretly (not so much now though) covets the shiny Apple device.

Whilst discussing her children with the magazine Melinda explained that in order to keep their children as grounded and normal as possible, she and her husband allow them most of the experiences that regular children have though one thing they do forbid is iPhones. However, Melinda admitted one or two impure thoughts about the device to the interviewer, stating that, “Every now and then I look at my friends and say ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t mind having that iPhone’.”

In all seriousness I wouldn’t imagine this will cause too much friction between the first couple of philanthropy they do after all have bigger fish to fry right now, like battling malaria epidemics and fighting third world poverty.

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New Apple Announcements in the Pipe Line

Matt Thomas — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:04:41 +0000

When, in January, Macworld and the traditionally vaunted Apple keynote came and went without any particular revelations or ‘game changing,’ additions to the Mac brand, many were disappointed, some even predicted that Apple had lost their touch in the absence of Steve Jobs. However, it now seems that these people just may have been a little premature in their predictions. It appears the Apple hierarchy are preparing for a glitzy event sometime in March where some key announcements are likely to be made.

It is thought that the event will feature updates to the iMac and the Mac Mini, with some new features for the Mac pro also a distinct possibility. The fact that supplies of iMacs are low and the Mac mini hasn’t been updated for a while all lead us to believe that this rumour is probably has some truth to it. ‘My Apple Guide,’ have a source who claims…

“Apple is said to be announcing a new Mac mini, iMacs with the new NVIDIA chipset, Mac Pros with Xeon processors along with a pleasant ’surprise’.”

It’s this ‘pleasant surprise,’ that’s fuelled much of the speculation online though we’d advise you not to pay too much attention to that side of things, Apple speculation is after all one of the blogosphere’s favourite parlour games.

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Jobs Probably not attending Shareholders Meeting

Jay Smith — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:34:24 +0000

Steve Job’s, Apple’s charismatic CEO, is unlikely to attend this week’s Apple shareholders meeting. Jobs is currently out on a six month medical leave of absence, owing to various health issues. Whilst Apple maintain the departure of Jobs is only temporary, his absence from the shareholders meeting, the first one he’s missed in more than a decade, highlights Apple’s need for a plan if Jobs’ leave has to be extended or even, in the worst case, he has to stand down.

Apple are, thus far remaining quiet on the Jobs front and indeed have been loath to comment on their ailing head for quite some time now. This has been frustrating for the press as well as Apple’s shareholders.

Obviously it’s the shareholders’ ire that will concern them most and their annoyance is considerable. There are likely to be some taxing questions asked at this week’s meeting about the company’s confusing and late disclosure of Jobs’ condition which led to rumours about the CEO. Negative rumours lead to stock price falls and stock price falls lead to disgruntled shareholders.

If I was Steve Jobs, I wouldn’t go either.

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