Would Apple Steal From App Store Developers For iOS Features?

Apple's iOS 5 will bring some highly anticipated features to the operating system, but many of these changes are the targets of accusations that Apple ripped them off from the work of other companies. Maybe the most glaring is the new notification system, which is being called a blatant attempt to copy Google's work on Android. The latest focus of concerns over Apple's co-opting of such features focuses on an app the company initially decline to approve for App Store sales, only to apparently go and integrate very similar functionality in iOS 5 itself. 

Developer Greg Hughes came up for a way to sync your iPhone with iTunes over WiFi instead of a USB connection. Apple rejected his app around this time last year, telling him it was due to how he had used the iPhone SDK and because of security concerns. Since then, he's gone on to successfully sell the app via Cydia. 

With iOS 5, Apple is adding sync-over-WiFi abilities to the iPhone. The icon used to represent the feature looks suspiciously like the one Hughes uses; did Apple just steal his idea? Probably not. 

The idea of wirelessly syncing a smartphone is hardly novel, and there's no way it's something Apple hadn't considered in the past. Why it chose not to implement it earlier is for only Apple to know, but it's disingenuous to suggest that Hughes's application first planted that seed. As for copying the app's icon, or even its name, "Wi-Fi Sync", they're hardly unique; ask ten people to come up with an image to depict wireless device syncing, and you'd be seeing a lot of ideas similar to what both Apple and Hughes came up with. This is all very unfortunate for Hughes, but it's far from seeming malicious on Apple's part. 



Hughes's icon, Apple's

Apple's iTunes In The iCloud Not Coming To U.K. Until 2012

Apple introduced the iCloud recently and among many other useful features the iCloud will offer backup services for purchased music. The full iCloud is coming this fall to the U.S. but how about other regions? 

It will not come for sure until quarter one of 2012, according to U.K.'s The Telegraph. The publication cites a spokesman for the Performing Right Society who allegedly said that "The licensing team at the PRS have started talks with Apple, but are a long way off from any deals being signed…It is very much the early stages of the negotiations and is similar to the launch of iTunes – which began in the US and took a while to roll out to other countries". 

Of course there are copyrights and intellectual property issues involved and Apple will have to fight the same war Microsoft is fighting for a couple of years now trying to bring Zune to more markets but artists and their labels (plus lawyers and laws) appear to be standing in the way. 

An executive (who wished to remain anonymous) with a record label also told The Telegraph that "tentative talks have begun between the major labels and Apple in the UK. However, all talks are at the really early stages and no one expects to see the cloud music service live on this side of the pond until 2012". We hear you and so do the potential Zune customers around the world. ...and we think it's safe to assume that if it won't come to UK until 2012, it won't come to other parts of Europe either. What about the rest of the world? Same laws, probably same issues...

Say Goodbye to MotoBlur

Since Android is a free operating system, it's up to the OEMs to enhance the UI and make one device different from another. HTC has Sense, Samsung has TouchWiz, LG has S-Class, and Motorola has MotoBlur. Motorola's interface in particular has frustrated customers, and it all started back with a poor first impression: MotoBlur was first seen on low-spec'ed Android phones like the Cliq, Backflip, and Charm. Not only did MotoBlur make you log in with an account before using your phone (who wants to do that), but these devices weren't fast, and the widgets of MotoBlur weren't particularly attractive compared to what HTC was doing with Sense, and so on. 

Consumers (and reviewers) will be happy to know that the MotoBlur naming will soon be phased out, says the CEO of Motorola. We'll still see elements of MotoBlur in upcoming Motorola phones, like the Photon 4G, but those ugly widgets will soon be history. 

Apple's iCloud Brings Back Software Deleted From iTunes App Store

If you have a software that you purchased and is no longer in the Apple iTunes store neither saved locally then it's time to forget it, right? Well, it looks like Apple's new iCloud service might help you there! 

According to reports, if you previously purchased and application before it went MIA in the Apple App Store, iCloud reportedly helps you re-download that certain app. As an example, there's an app called Tris, a Tetris clone that has been removed more than three years ago. Those who purchased can re-download with the help of iCloud. And the same is valid if you bought I Am Rich! 

U.S. Cellular Plans For Seven Androids And One WP7 This Year

U.S. Cellular has announced its plans for bringing a total of eight smartphones to its line-up this year out of which seven Google Android-powered (including its first 4G-enabled smartphone) and one MicrosoftWindows Phone 7-powered smartphone. 

From the above mentioned eight, three will be made by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, two running Android and one Windows Phone. There will also be a dual-core 1GHz processor-powered Motorola smartphone with a 4.3-inch display running Android (probably an Atrix-like model) as well as "one of the slimmest and lightest smartphones" from LG (the Optimus Black) with a 1 GHz processor, 4-inch touchscreen and ultra-bright LCD display. 

For those that are just entering the smartphone world there will be lower end offerings from Samsung and Huawei so there wil be definitely something for everyone this year at U.S. Cellular. We just need the dates and the prices.