To recap: the creator of iSinglePayer, an app that claims to document “the inefficiency of the US health care system”, is complaining about Apple rejecting the informational app, preventing it from appearing from the company’s widely popular App Store. The creator has thus accused Apple of “censorship”, claiming that it is inconsistent by allowing “certain propaganda” on the App Store.
In a certain sense, that claim is valid. How many RSS readers are available on the App Store? Ranging from free to several dollars in price, these kind of apps allow users to subscribe to liberal websites like The Huffington Post, …read more

The contributions of Julien Madérou to humanity: the apparent invention of an iPhone dock made out of paper, and DIY instructions on how to make it made available for easy sharing. Now Apple fans have another way to maintain their snotty consumer-electronics superiority!
Seriously though, Madérou is a genius! He even made provisions for the iPhone cable! The instructions are available for printing on A4 or US letter (8.5″ x 11″) sheets, and are a simple matter of cutting out the template and following the video below.
I’m assuming a iPhone dock made out of Japanese paper will crumple in an instant …read more

Under fire for covering up incidents of exploding iPhones and iPods, Apple asserts these were caused by “external forces”.

In a statement to the AFP, Apple says ” To date, there are no confirmed battery overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits… The iPhones with broken glass that we have analysed to date show that in all cases the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone.”
In non-marketese layman-friendly terms, Apple is characterizing these incidents as isolated, most likely caused by user carelessness. What’s interesting …read more

Update: Whoops, correction time! Got this in my inbox a few hours after this post was published:

As stated in your article, Kevin Duerr is not “the leader of the team behind the high-profile Google Voice iPhone app.” His company, Riverturn, developed a Google Voice-related app for the iPhone called, VoiceCentral. The VoiceCentral app was accepted, then removed from the App Store. Can you please make this correction? Thanks.
The original post with corrections is below. Apologies to Kevin Duerr.
Apple-bashing seems to be en vogue nowadays. Both Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis and Kevin Duerr, leader of the …read more

It’s New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority vs. Chris Schoenfield, with the former insisting the latter pay license fees or take down his iPhone application. The app in question lists schedules for trains running on New York’s Metro-North Commuter Railroad service. That, according to the MTA, is a violation of its copyright on the information.
Since when did schedules for a mass transit service enjoy copyright protection? In any case, MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz has an unrelated explanation: ” ‘The bigger concern is that he is not licensed by us, so we can’t verify the information he is providing is correct. If …read more

To be fair, it’s Apple’s status that are causing people to pay attention, when they hear stories about iPods and iPhones exploding and injuring their owners. But the company’s stance of offering refunds in exchange of keeping quiet also merits notice.
At first glance, Apple is protecting its bottom line—which any publicly-listed company has a legal an obligation to do, given it’s responsibility to shareholders to increase share value and dividends. What I personally find disturbing about reports requiring silence in exchange for refunds is that the company wants to be held unaccountable for obvious design faults with its products. Something …read more

Like Palm restoring iTunes sync for the Pre, you just had to see it coming: after not getting approval for the App Store, GV Mobile developer Sean Kovacs came out with a version for Cydia, an iPhone installer that lets users—among other things—use software not approved for release on the App Store.
Sean coded the port for free, and is apparently working on a version for the Palm Pre. Just to be clear, GV Mobile is just one part of the iPhone Google Voice suite; speculation that a Cydia version of GV Dialer is upcoming.
Has dissatisfaction over Apple’s walled garden approach …read more

Yesterday, Apple blocked Google’s official Google Voice application from the App Store. And this after Apple’s Phil Schiller, the Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, gave his personal approval.
In retrospect, you just had to see it coming. The Google Voice iPhone app basically allowed free texts and much cheaper calls. That meant more money for carriers from data plans, but less profit from their traditional voice and SMS services.
It’s easy to point fingers at partner AT&T, as they’re the carrier with the most to lose if iPhone owners figure out how to send texts and do calls without adding to …read more

If I was attending the upcoming WWDC and Apple does reveal new iPhone functionality or a model (as rumored by so many websites online), I’d sarcastically scream the following phrases at the top of my lungs.
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“Oh my God!!! It can now capture video??!?!? Fantastic!!!!!”
“People can now copy and paste text from one app to another??!?! Amazing!!!!!”
“Wow, people can now get an iPhone for less than $100?!?!??! Why, how generous of Apple!!!!!”
“What, I can now send pictures, music and videos as text messages?!?!? Unbelievable!!!!!!”

So what new features will Apple introduce with the latest iPhone, presenting them as revolutionary to the Jobsian …read more

Engadget recently speculated that WSJ tech emeritus Walt Mossberg was actually playing around with the long-rumored new iPhone, giving out subtle hints while honoring a supposed press embargo.
et what really caught my attention was Mr. Mossberg’s assertion that Palm—set to release the Pre in the US two days from now—may have to worry about Apple’s new smartphone:
Unfortunately for Palm, Apple has both a new iPhone operating system and new iPhone hardware coming, likely available within a month, that could obviate many of these advantages.
Apple already has announced it’s adding MMS, universal search, and copy and paste. And, although Apple hasn’t …read more