Apple hasn’t really been in good standing with developers as of late. But, this recent removal of 5,000 or so sexually explicit applications is especially troublesome. I’m still unsure as to how I really feel about whether or not the applications should have been in the App Store to begin with. I tend to lean towards no, however I think a better compromise would be to keep the apps in the App Store but only allow them to be accessed via direct links from with your web browser. But beyond that, it worries me that Apple is willing to remove applications in such large quantities on a whim.

It must be terribly unsettling (to say the least) that a developer can have an application in the App Store for nearly a year and a half only to wake up to an email informing them that it has been removed.

We’re not just talking about people developing applications in their spare time and making a little extra money while continuing to have day jobs, at this stage in the game there are more and more developers making a full-time income from the App Store. This isn’t just Apple pulling the plug on these developer’s applications, this is Apple completely removing their entire income and their ability to pay their bills.

If I was a developer with an application in the App Store, regardless of it’s subject matter, I would be incredibly concerned with the way Apple treats the developers that have made the App Store as successful as it is.

John Gruber puts it best:

What developers see is that the App Store is a shaky foundation upon which to build a business. One day you’re prospering, the next day your app is gone. There are awesome iPhone OS apps that aren’t being built because developers don’t trust Apple not to yank the carpet out from underneath them.

Apple appears to have a little more leverage than originally thought in regards to e-book pricing in the iBookstore.

Motoko Rich writes the following for the New York Times:

according to at least three people with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke anonymously because of the confidentiality of the talks, Apple inserted provisions requiring publishers to discount e-book prices on best sellers — so that $12.99-to-$14.99 range was merely a ceiling; prices for some titles could be lower, even as low as Amazon’s $9.99.

What this means is that if a book is released to the iBookstore at $14.99, if that book hits one of the best-seller lists it would be discounted to $12.99 or less.

From Neven Mrgan’s tumbl:

In landscape orientation, anything between 4:3 and 2.39:1 feels natural to humans. Now switch to portrait – 16:9 feels pretty weird. […] Every aspect ratio is a compromise. If a device is ever to be used in portrait mode – and my guess is that people will use the iPad in this book-like mode most of the time – that compromise must result in something closer to 4:3.

Neven has published an image of what the iPad would look like in 16:9. I can’t imagine Apple designing anything that looks this silly.

I’ve watched a few demos of Microsoft’s newly announced Windows Phone 7 Series and while I’m glad that Microsoft finally did something new, I’m not sure how I feel about the actual design of the software.

I’m glad that they finally decided to break backwards compatibility, especially since (whether Microsoft knows it or not) Windows Mobile died years ago. The lack of backwards compatibility might be the kick in the pants Windows Mobile developers needed to build better applications. Nothing helps developers build great software than an interesting platform to write for and this is certainly an interesting platform.

The most striking difference between Windows Mobile and Phone 7 Series is the home screen which uses tiles. I don’t really like the home screen as it doesn’t seem to fit with the design of the applications. While the home screen clearly indicates what can and can’t be tapped making use of the tiles, the typographic interface of the applications themselves doesn’t really differentiate between tappable, un-tappable, and swipe-able text with any type of visual cue.

I haven’t actually used the device and the experience could be completely different once I get my hands on it, but I don’t see the interface as being very inviting to use. It looks like it was designed as something to look at, but not something to interact with.

I’m happy that Microsoft finally built in Zune integration, but this is a predictable move, and I can’t imagine the amount of complaining that would occur if Microsoft didn’t build in Zune integration. Windows Mobile has never really had a great Microsoft-built desktop syncing interface and I hope that the Zune software will be that software.

Microsoft has been very hush hush regarding multi-tasking for this platform. The rumor is that Windows Phone 7 Series won’t have “true” multi-tasking, instead implementing it similarly to how Apple does. In other words, if there is multi-tasking it will likely only be enabled on the music app, email app, and a few other default apps.

One of the most interesting aspects of this announcement is that Microsoft will be setting minimum specs for handsets. This isn’t something Microsoft has really done in the past and will certainly help push the platform to where it needs to be. Microsoft will be dictating the aspect ratio of displays, Wi-Fi is required, AGPS is required, along with standards on what buttons you must have. My first worry here is that every manufacturer will be building essentially the same device. Competing based on price is exactly what’s plaguing the PC market — I don’t think this is the direction Microsoft needs to be going if they expect there to be any innovation. However, I might be eating my words if Microsoft continues to raise the minimum requirements of handsets and somehow manages to keep people interested with further software updates. I’m weary of these types of requirements but they could end up being a blessing in disguise (no matter how much handset makers hate them).

I think Microsoft did exactly what they needed to do in order to breathe new life into their stale mobile division. This is what Microsoft should have done years ago. It’s unfortunate that it took Apple and Google jumping into the cell phone game for Microsoft to finally do this. Microsoft is a software company filled with really smart developers — sometimes I just can’t understand why they’re unwilling to innovate unless someone else is beating them to the punch. It’s almost as if Microsoft can’t actually get anything done unless there is a sense of urgency.

I Came across Ephemera recently and as I said on Twitter, it blew my mind.

Ephemera is one of those applications that does one thing incredibly well. Ephemera syncs your saved items in Instapaper with your e-book reader. I’ve been using it with my Kindle but it will also work with Sony’s e-readers and pretty much any other device that is capable of reading HTML, Mobipocket or EPUB files.

Set up is simple, just give Ephemera your Instapaper credentials and you’re all set. Ephemera defaults to creating HTML files for each unread item, but you can also have the option to use Mobipocket or EPUB format which will sync your most recent 20 articles in one single file.

I’m currently using the Mobipocket format but Ephemera has a really neat feature when you’re using HTML files. When using the HTML format whenever an article is deleted from your e-reader it is automatically archived in Instapaper the next time you sync your device.

The app was already good enough but the next couple of options is what really got me excited: “automatically sync after connecting” and “disconnect after syncing.” I have both of them checked, now when I plug in my Kindle Ephemera grabs the latest 20 articles from Instapaper, transfers them to my Kindle, and disconnects. Absolutely perfect.

The wildly popular game for PC and Mac has come to the iPhone. Plants vs. Zombies hit the App Store early last week and it’s no coincidence that it was released roughly the last time I wrote here.

I’ve been spending a significant amount of time playing this game, which is good and bad. The game is fantastic, it’s a kind of tower defense game in which you build plants that fend off your house from zombies. This game might be too good, it’s one of those games that you download, start playing, and the next time you look up three hours have gone by.

The game is developed by PopCap Games, the same guys who brought you Bejeweled and Peggle. Plants vs. Zombies is fun, addicting, and challenging. The controls work perfectly — this is exactly the kind of game that works well on the iPhone.

My only gripe is that you have to complete adventure mode before quick play is unlocked. But, aside from that I suggest you pick up the game, unless you’d actually like to get work done over the next week.

Plants vs. Zombies – $2.99

Jesper of Waffle Software writes this regarding Google Buzz:

One of the things I hate about Gmail is that it tries to leverage synergies. Not across the enterprise, mind you, but always across my address book. The address book that it stuck everyone you ever exchanged emails with on. The address book that suddenly saw your stupid status messages and cluttered your buddy list. And now the address book that automatically hooks together everyone’s intertubular facetweets into one big list and sticks it in your face.

Jesper is exactly right, and this is precisely the reason I’m beginning to dislike Google. I don’t have a problem with them introducing Buzz. But, when it’s force feed to Gmail users the way it has been, that’s when I start to get ticked off. Email is inherently a private communication tool and it doesn’t make sense for Google to duct tape a public broadcasting feature onto it.

Feature creep is why I stopped using Google Reader. Google Reader doesn’t even feel like a reader anymore — what exactly is the difference between “starring” and “liking” an item? And, why does “share” and “share with note” have to be two separate buttons?

Luckily Buzz is much easier to disable then it was at launch. But, this doesn’t make up for the terrible job Google did at launching the product. And, their excuse of under-testing is absolutely ridiculous. Google has thousands of engineers and developers, not to mention a labs section in Gmail that could have easily housed Buzz until it was ready for prime time.

Google made the decision to launch Buzz immediately hooking directly into Gmail. If they didn’t expect backlash they were as ignorant as they come.

9 to 5 Mac has published a video to their YouTube account showing a walkthrough of Safari on the iPad.

Some observations:

• I absolutely love the bookmark bar. I must have missed this feature because I hadn’t seen it before. But, with more screen real estate comes great features like this.
• Google suggestions looks really handy and will help alleviate some of the frustrations that will come from the software keyboard.
• The text replacement feature is going to be huge — I can’t wait for it on the iPhone.

A week or so ago I was pointing something out to my girlfriend on our MacBook. After pointing it out I did something stupid, I placed my finger on the screen and attempted to scroll to the top of the page to point something else out.

Users — especially iPhone users — are ready for this type of interaction with the web.

From the Official Google Blog:

We’re planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. We’ll deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

Even if Google’s service doesn’t make it to everyone, I hope it at least convinces companies like Comcast and Time Warner to finally upgrade their infrastructure.

Apple has placed a job posting on their website, the title of which is “Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media.” From the description:

The Media Systems team is looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks. Build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines.

There’s a strong indication that a future version of the iPad will have a camera.