11/20, 4:20pm
Coders must be careful to avoid tripping flags
A new automatic screening technique Apple is using for the App Store appears to be backfiring, claims developer Rogue Sheep. The screening is believed to be aimed at catching unauthorized APIs, blocked under Apple's submission rules. A number of the apps trapped so far are allegedly ones using Three20, an Objective-C library. Rogue Sheep's Postage has in the past relied on some Three20 code, and so private API calls were removed from the software before submitting a recent update.
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11/19, 7:55pm
Layout templates can be exported to JSON format
Ringce has announced the final release of Slammer, a layout and geometry utility for Mac OS X. Designed for both graphic designers and app developers, the layout tool can be used for creating blueprints, customizing borders and size presets, or saving and exporting templates. Version 1.0 includes improvements to the Unibody theme and introduces customizable themes, enabling users to alter the six built-in themes or create new ones. Layout templates can be exported to JSON format, helping to integrate Slammer creations with other apps.
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11/19, 1:00pm
Criticizes dev for responding to legal threat
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has chastised a Mac developer in response to a letter regarding a name change, reports say. The CEO of Little App Factory, John Devor, says he was recently served a notice by Apple lawfirm Baker & McKenzie, asking him to change the name of iPodRip, a program used to transfer content from an iPod or iPhone back to a Mac. Devor decided to plead his case with Jobs directly, writing an elaborate e-mail message.
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11/17, 5:25pm
Records iPhone Simulator screen
Just About Managing has announced SimCap 1.0, an iPhone Simulator screencapture utility. The title is designed for developers creating App Store images, or else professional demonstration videos. Extended sequences of stills can be captured, aiding with action shots. When recording video, users can choose whether or not to display cursors or gestures.
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11/17, 11:45am
Looking to expand first-party game production?
Apple is looking to hire a new game programmer for its Cupertino headquarters, listings show. The person would specifically hold the title of "game/media software engineer," and work with a small team on various entertainment apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Requirements include three to four years of game development experience, with knowledge of C, C++, Objective-C and/or iPhone programming. Applicants must also have "at least one AAA title" under their belt, and ideally skills in audio, graphics or network code.
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11/16, 9:55pm
Device marks Creative's foray into cellular market
Creative subsidiary ZiiLABS has announced that it will unveil the Zii smartphone platform at the upcoming Zii Summit event. The ZMS-05 system-on-a-chip (SOC) components are claimed to be the first to offer 1080p video playback capabilities on a handheld device. The Media Rich Processor also boasts OpenGL ES 3D graphics with acceleration for web browsing, video playback and imaging.
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11/16, 6:45pm
Apps rejected for using private APIs
Apple has allegedly expanded its iPhone app review process to include computerized filtering of submissions, according to Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber. The new "static analysis tools" are designed to catch developers trying to use Apple's private APIs, which the iPhone SDK terms explicitly prohibits.
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11/11, 11:15pm
Dev "philisophically opposed" to Apple's policies
Developer Joe Hewitt, the driving force behind Facebook's iPhone app, has quit working with Apple's platform to protest the company's review policies, according to TechCrunch. The well-known developer passed off the project to another software engineer, although he will still work with Facebook on projects for other platforms.
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11/11, 5:55pm
Change comes after slew of complaints
Apple has unveiled a new system for disclosing the status of App Store submissions, according to Wired. The company's Dev Center website features a chart showing specific dates and times as the app waits for review, reaches the review process, and finally enters the App Store for general availability.
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11/09, 3:45pm
Developer claims representations are in good taste
Apple has rejected an iPhone app for containing caricatures of politicians, frustrating yet another developer. The app, Bobble Rep, provides a database with the members of Congress, enabling users to navigate through list of politicians and view contact information. Representatives can be located using a zip code or GPS information.
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11/06, 1:50pm
App torn apart by one reviewer, OK'd by another
Apple has been criticized once again for its App Store review policies, as Macworld.com complains of frustrating inconsistencies between different members of the review team. The company has worked to publish its first book, the "iPhone & iPod touch Superguide," as both a PDF version and an app available on Apple's portable devices.
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11/04, 9:20pm
Build 10C540 seeded to developers
Apple's latest Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta, build 10C540, reportedly includes a wide variety of new bug fixes for software and hardware issues, according to AppleInsider. The software addresses problems with graphics drivers, AirPort performance on the new iMacs, and the latest VMWare Fusion virtualization software.
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11/04, 3:10pm
Supports Macs, iPhones
RemObjects has launched a new development tool for the Mac and iPhone, Data Abstract for OS X. The framework focuses on databases, allowing developers to focus on front-end presentation. It contains an Objective-C library supporting Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6, as well as the iPhone OS. It is said to work well alongside Cocoa and Xcode.
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10/30, 6:30pm
Infinity Data Systems supports MailForge customers
In Brief: macProVideo.com has released a new tutorial video that provides lessons for working with Apple's MainStage 2 software. PlayHaven has announced a new platform that allows iPhone developers to create community sites for their games. Meanwhile, Infinity Data Systems has extended free phone support to customers using MailForge.
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10/29, 9:25am
Concentrates on graphics fixes
Apple has begun distributing a new developer build of Mac OS X 10.6.2, 10C535. The release follows a week after 10C531, and is mainly said to address graphics issues, specifically relating to drivers, QuartzCore and ColorSync. Separately fixed are problems with the Dock; as with the past two builds, Apple has identified no outstanding issues.
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10/28, 10:50pm
Unity 2.6 adds new search function for scripts
Unity Technologies has launched Unity 2.6, a new version of its 3D creation tool for designing iPhone games. The upgrade offers a variety of enhanced graphical features such as improved shadow map rendering, anti-aliasing, and integration of ambient occlusion. It provides users with a profile maker that displays where computer resources are being sent or what scripts are currently running, as well as a hierarchical CPU-usage data. Additional support has been added for Visual Studio and Utility Pro, enabling use with Subversion, Perforce and Bazaar apps.
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10/28, 12:10am
Enhanced support for large image collections
Excel Software has announced an update to its project- and document-protection application, DocProtect 1.1. The program is designed to protect rights and prevent access to HTML projects, image collections, video and audio files, PDFs, and Excel spreadsheets for all non-licensed users. The latest version enables users to release and restore licenses between computers, while adding a new PDF-style subscription model for newsletter and magazine publishers.
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10/23, 4:25pm
Company may be working on its own alternative
Despite previous efforts to bring support for the ZFS file-system to Mac OS X, Apple has dropped the project. Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz several years ago publicly claimed Leopard would utilize ZFS instead of HFS+, although Apple only provided limited support for the new technology. Even the read-only functionality was dropped with the transition to Snow Leopard.
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10/23, 1:00pm
Further adds Snow Leopard support
Absoft has launched Pro Fortran 11 for the Mac. Version 11 includes both 32- and 64-bit compilers, allowing developers to design code for Mac, Windows and Linux using a single code source. Similarly present is support for OpenMP multi-core parallel programming standards when using Nehalem-era Xeon processors.
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10/20, 8:10pm
Technology designed for 3D web-based apps
NVIDIA has teamed with a rendering technology company, mental images, to introduce the RealityServer platform for cloud computing. The technology integrates GPUs and software capable of supporting 3D web-based applications for consumers and enterprise users.
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10/20, 11:40am
NYC, London, Tokyo talks already full
Apple has scheduled the dates and places for the 2009 iPhone Tech Talk World Tour. Each event brings educational sessions normally reserved for WWDC to a different city, in select countries around the world. Some topics include push notification, OpenGL ES, improving general performance and integrating web content.
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10/19, 1:45pm
Controversy surrounds H.264 on iPhone
Apple is not playing fair in terms of supporting video hosting services beyond YouTube, claims the chief technical officer of Dailymotion. Olivier Poitrey comments that the iPhone edition of Safari relies on a special plug-in for YouTube videos, allowing it to jump straight to H.264-encoded copies. Because of Apple's battery and processor worries, Flash is not supported in any form on iPhones or iPod touches.
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10/19, 11:30am
Tech migrates to first non-Apple OS
Grand Central Dispatch, originally introduced with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, has been ported to its first third-party operating system, says the team behind FreeBSD. When it is released, FreeBSD 8.1 is expected to support Grand Central by default. The technology is said to have been harder to adapt than some other Unix-compatible frameworks, due to the need to make kernel modifications. Mac OS X blends elements of BSD and Mach.
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10/16, 3:45pm
Hints at rapid patch cycle
Apple is already distributing a third beta seed of Mac OS X 10.6.2 to developers, sources say. Called 10C527f, the build adds fixes for 13 different components of the OS. Of special emphasis are corrections for video errors, including several GraphicsDrivers problems which can cause screen flickering, crashes in OpenCL or stuttering while playing 1080p movies in QuickTime X. QuickTime itself has been fixed to allow some movies to play properly.
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10/15, 6:30pm
Developers have called for policy change
Apple has changed its SDK policy to allow in-app purchases for free iPhone apps, according to Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber. The service previously was restricted to apps requiring payment for the initial download, although the limitations have been criticized by a variety of developers.
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10/15, 11:45am
Software utilizes Quick Look to explore apps
atPurpose has launched a new iPhone development tool, atPeek 1.0. The software is designed for professionals, but said to be simple enough for casual users. Through Apple's Quick Look architecture, it explores and displays fully-functional previews of the resources found in iPhone apps. The tool can discover normally inaccessible details, and export specific assets or entire folders for follow-up viewings.
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10/14, 1:45pm
Most pirates located outside of US
Piracy is a minor but still important problem for iPhone app developers, says analytics firm Pinch Media. The company notes that shortly after the launch of the App Store in 2008, it began receiving complaints that Pinch tallies of new users were exceeding official figures displayed by iTunes Connect. The discrepancy is now believed to be attributable to piracy, tracked by Pinch since May of 2009.
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10/14, 11:15am
Oriented towards media-based iPhone apps
NewsGator has formally announced TapLynx, a new development framework for iPhone and iPod touch applications. Titles produced through the framework are meant to display constantly-updating media content, delievered via RSS feeds. Text, images and video clips can be arranged inline, and sharing options can be integrated in the form of e-mail, Twitter and Facebook support.
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10/13, 12:50pm
Policy allows broken apps to survive
Apple is facing new media criticism over the absence of a comprehensive App Store refund policy, most prominently from the New York Times. One writer notes that while people can get refunds if a download is delayed, or not properly executed, it is impossible to get money back based purely on quality complaints. The issue can become serious when dealing with more expensive iPhone apps, such as navigation software. It may also impact people buying less expensive titles which do not work, in spite of Apple's quality assurance.
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10/12, 12:35pm
Editor adds new XQuery debugger
Syncro Soft has released updates to Oxygen XML Editor and XML Author, bringing the versions of both to 11. Editor provides tools for creating basic XML code, as well as handling XML Schema languages and multiple forms of debugging. Author meanwhile contains only the relevant authoring features of XML Editor, and is now available as a standalone app as opposed to simply part of the Oxygen software.
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10/08, 10:40am
Preventing maximum app exposure
Developer Cramzy claims that although its Celebrity Birthday Match app was approved for the App Store on October 4th, it never appeared in the list of recently-released apps. The program was more importantly submitted on September 24th, which is said to be around the same time a number of developers were reporting difficulty with iTunes Connect. Due to Connect being used for everything from app delivery to software management, developers experienced severe problems when submitting new apps or updates.
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10/07, 10:55am
Initial success stories overhyped
Despite initial impressions given by Apple and the media, success stories at the App Store are actually rare, a new report suggests. Apple has enjoyed pointing to Trism developer Steve Demeter as an example of App Store profits, as well as a new egalitarian footing for independent developers. Demeter managed to accumulate $250,000 in two months through his iPhone app; while some observers believed he would be able to retire on future iPhone profits, Demeter now admits that he is only living a wealthy lifestyle because he invested in Palm stock, which jumped in value from $1.76 to $12.
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10/06, 10:05pm
Books focus on Cocoa design patterns, iPhone apps
Pearson has introduced four new instructional books titled Cocoa Design Patterns, iPhone for Programmers, Sams Teach Yourself Cocoa Touch Programming in 24 Hours and Sams Teach Yourself iPhone Application Development in 24 Hours. The first book explains the object-oriented design patterns used in Apple's Cocoa frameworks and other software libraries. The book aims to supply an understanding of the design and logic of Cocoa so to be used while programming original software.
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10/06, 12:50pm
Debugs iPhone graphic engines
Graphic Remedy says it has released the completed version of gDEBugger iPhone, its latest development tool. The software debugs OpenGL ES-based graphics engines intended for iPhone apps; programmers can thus work on improving rendering speed, as well as reducing memory footprints. gDEBugger operates on top of the Apple iPhone Simulator and supports iPhone 2.2.1, 3.0 and 3.1 SDKs, as well as both OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0.
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10/05, 7:55pm
Apple restricts necessary technology for Flash
Adobe's mobile website contains new information that directly blames Apple for preventing the company's Flash Player from being allowed onto the iPhone platform. Visitors attempting to install Flash Player on their iPhone are reminded that the project has stagnated due to Apple's rules.
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10/05, 4:55pm
May simplify cross-platform development
Adobe is well into the production of updated Flash Authoring software, allowing the creation of iPhone apps, says an Adobe product manager. Mike Chambers notes that a private beta of the new software is already in effect, and some titles built with Flash have already reached the App Store, such as Fickleblox and Trading Stuff. A public beta of the tool will be released by the end of the year, alongside Flash CS5.
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09/29, 9:35pm
Apple claims content is "politically charged"
Apple has frustrated yet another developer, as the company allegedly rejected an iPhone app, iSinglePayer, which promotes health insurance reform in the US. The app displays charts and information regarding single-payer health care systems, while GPS information can be used to find a local congressperson. Users can even view the donations to each congressperson from the health sector.
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09/29, 4:45pm
Estimates produced by fixing firm
The popularity of the iPhone is having a major impact on developers, claims iPhoneAppQuotes, a company that pairs iPhone developers with institutions needing custom work. Outfits that have recently added app development as a service are now said to have an average of 34 percent of their business taken up by iPhone projects. On top of this, mobile development is said to create an average growth of 39 percent for "most" developers.
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09/29, 3:35pm
Studio edition adds build automation
REAL has launched a new update, Release 4, for REALbasic and REALbasic Studio 2009. The software development suites are cross-platform, and object-oriented. Supported elements include the likes of RTI, vector graphics, QuickTime and XML.
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09/29, 3:15pm
Translates for supporting video cards
NVIDIA has announced that a public beta release of the PGI CUDA-enabled Fortran compiler is now available for download. The compiler was developed by NVIDIA and the Portland Group, and is billed as the first Fortran compiler that works with CUDA-enabled GPUs. The compiler translates the Fortran programming language into binary code that CUDA GPUs can interpret.
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09/28, 11:10pm
Torque 3D game-developing app
GarageGames has released its Torque 3D cross-platform game-creation software, after its six-month beta period. The app features a variety of tools for designing and editing either a game or simulated environment. The software's rendering capabilities work with photo-realistic simulation to create custom styles, and supports per-pixel dynamic lighting or normal and parallax occlusion mapping. With the integrated “world editor” users get full-access to all Torque subsystems, along with shader definition, terrain editing, or river and road creation functions.
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09/27, 12:20pm
Directors of Palm Developer Relations team
Two Web-based programming advocates, Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, announced on Friday their departure from Mozilla, stepping into new roles as directors of the Palm Developer Relations team. Almaer voiced concerns in his blog about the control companies have over the apps people can use on their phones saying "some view this revolution as a chance to seize power in downright Orwellian ways by constraining what we, as developers, can say, dictating what kinds of apps we can create, controlling how we distribute our apps, and placing all kinds of limits on what [we] can do to our computing devices."
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09/24, 12:00pm
Service essential to submitting iPhone apps
Developers are experiencing severe problems using iTunes Connect, scattered reports say. The service is the conduit through which apps are submitted to the App Store, and during this week it has allegedly been stalling during uploads. The problem is said to be independent of browser or operating system choices, and to typically involve hangs midway through an upload, though some developers complain they cannot even begin the process.
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09/21, 4:55pm
Supports development for Windows Mobile gear
TigerLogic has released Omnis Studio 5, an upgraded application development suite. Mac, Linux and Windows versions are available, and the software can create web- or enterprise-level apps which tap into a variety of database formats. These include Oracle, Sybase, DB2, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MS SQL Server.
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09/17, 3:55pm
Case raises fairness issues
Apple is giving special support treatment to at least one iPhone developer, according to the latter party. CEO Mike Simon of LogMeIn has revealed that he now has a private phone number he can call regarding Ignition, the company's remote access app. The software has an unusually high price of $30, and is said to have generated at least $1 million for LogMeIn since its December introduction.
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09/15, 11:30am
Gain Snow Leopard classes, Cocoa code
Monkeybread has released v9.6 of its REALbasic plug-ins, which expand the development platform. New in the update are special Snow Leopard classes, such as ones for OpenCL, Core Location and spellchecking. Also present are a variety of new classes and methods for Cocoa, and a variety of Core Image filters, such as CISpotColor and CIBumpDistortionLinear.
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09/14, 4:25pm
Khronos Group preparing new standard for 2010
Developers working with Khronos Group are currently testing a new standard, WebGL, that aims to bring hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to a wide range of browsers without requiring a dedicated plug-in. The system is based on the Canvas element within HTML5, but adds the ability for OpenGL functionality to be accessible using JavaScript.
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09/14, 3:30pm
Could be aimed at support Apple TV functions
The LP and Extras features introduced in iTunes 9 are built around new JavaScript framework, probing is said to show. Called TuneKit, the standard is not only aimed at supporting interactive bonus media, but handling it without the need for plug-ins such as Flash, typically used to deal with animations. TuneKit is otherwise paired mainly with HTML and CSS code.
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09/14, 11:00am
May expand accessibility for programmers
Through its open-source Mono Project, Novell has released MonoTouch 1.0, a software development kit for the iPhone and iPod touch. The SDK allows programming apps within Microsoft's .NET framework, which incorporates languages such as C#. Most iPhone development is handled using C and Objective-C, which Novell notes will necessarily exclude many people working with .NET.
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09/11, 3:05pm
Tech may encourage support
Apple has taken the decision to make Grand Central Dispatch, a key feature of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, available as an open-source project. Developers can now find the component's services API on the web. Grand Central is intended to simplify multi-core support in Mac OS X, which without an intermediate layer can be difficult to program for.
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