Apple tweaks App Store, e-book categories prior to iPad launch
Apple has been making last-minute changes to its App Store and iBookstore leading up to the April 3 launch of the iPad, according to a new report.
Citing data from San Francisco mobile media research firm Busted Loop, Forbes reported Thursday that Apple has designated 20 categories for books on its iBookstore, which will be available for download on the iPad. That number has been whittled down from about 35 categories that were listed in February.
The categories include "Fiction & Literature," "Comics & Graphic Novels," "Reference," "Romance," and "Cookbooks." The top-level categories include more than 150 sub-categories, such as "Manga" under the comics section.
Apple has also reportedly gone through and deemed some applications as compatible with the iPad as developers update their existing software on the App Store. Developers have been given the option to test iPad compatibility when they update their applications, and so far only 16,700 of the more than 140,000 applications on the App Store have been deemed compatible.
Given the fact that the Wi-Fi-only iPad lacks a GPS receiver, Apple has also flagged certain applications as "iPad Wi-Fi" and "iPad 3G." About 40 of the 16,700 certified applications are iPad 3G-only, the report said.
The report also made note of the "explicit" category that Apple temporarily enabled for the App Store. The tag was quickly removed, and one source with the company said that though the company is considering an option in the future, "It's not going to happen anytime soon."
Busted Loop found that the "Explicit" category was renamed to "Test" after it gained attention on the Internet.
As the App Store has swelled with software, Apple has worked to make combing through the tens of thousands of options simpler and easier. Last September, the Cupertino, Calif., company introduced a "Genius" system that recommends new applications to users based on the software they already have installed.
Last summer, the company also allowed developers to add keywords to applications, to make searching within the App Store easier and more accurate. Developers can enter words and characters, separated by commas, which are used in searching the store for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Citing data from San Francisco mobile media research firm Busted Loop, Forbes reported Thursday that Apple has designated 20 categories for books on its iBookstore, which will be available for download on the iPad. That number has been whittled down from about 35 categories that were listed in February.
The categories include "Fiction & Literature," "Comics & Graphic Novels," "Reference," "Romance," and "Cookbooks." The top-level categories include more than 150 sub-categories, such as "Manga" under the comics section.
Apple has also reportedly gone through and deemed some applications as compatible with the iPad as developers update their existing software on the App Store. Developers have been given the option to test iPad compatibility when they update their applications, and so far only 16,700 of the more than 140,000 applications on the App Store have been deemed compatible.
Given the fact that the Wi-Fi-only iPad lacks a GPS receiver, Apple has also flagged certain applications as "iPad Wi-Fi" and "iPad 3G." About 40 of the 16,700 certified applications are iPad 3G-only, the report said.
The report also made note of the "explicit" category that Apple temporarily enabled for the App Store. The tag was quickly removed, and one source with the company said that though the company is considering an option in the future, "It's not going to happen anytime soon."
Busted Loop found that the "Explicit" category was renamed to "Test" after it gained attention on the Internet.
As the App Store has swelled with software, Apple has worked to make combing through the tens of thousands of options simpler and easier. Last September, the Cupertino, Calif., company introduced a "Genius" system that recommends new applications to users based on the software they already have installed.
Last summer, the company also allowed developers to add keywords to applications, to make searching within the App Store easier and more accurate. Developers can enter words and characters, separated by commas, which are used in searching the store for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Comments
YES the HP tablet will be able to run just about ANY Windows app but think about it... Those apps were not build with touch screen in mind and weren't written with any care what so ever for conserving battery life. The HP tablet will fail for this reason and this reason alone... Yea it'll work and maybe some people might like running apps that were expressly written for a conventional computer (computer, screen, keyboard + mouse) but once these folks start installing Apps they will see just how fast the battery dies. I guess they COULD keep it plugged in all the time..
Back to the apps... I'm curious.. what the 40 apps would be that 'REQUIRED' 3G in order to work (instead of simply using the faster and more reliable wifi)... 40 seems like pretty big number. Anyone wanna throw out the names of some AppStore Apps that they know for a fact demand 3G to function.
Back to the apps... I'm curious.. what the 40 apps would be that 'REQUIRED' 3G in order to work (instead of simply using the faster and more reliable wifi)... 40 seems like pretty big number. Anyone wanna throw out the names of some AppStore Apps that they know for a fact demand 3G to function.
As the iPad 3G is the only one with GPS capability I think these 40 apps are all more or less using this feature...
Back to the apps... I'm curious.. what the 40 apps would be that 'REQUIRED' 3G in order to work (instead of simply using the faster and more reliable wifi)... 40 seems like pretty big number. Anyone wanna throw out the names of some AppStore Apps that they know for a fact demand 3G to function.
Follow the links in the articles.
Apple has also reportedly gone through and deemed some applications as compatible with the iPad as developers update their existing software on the App Store. Developers have been given the option to test iPad compatibility when they update their applications, and so far only 16,700 of the more than 140,000 applications on the App Store have been deemed compatible.
Does anyone thing that this sort of fragmentation of the iOS will lead to problems?
... The report also made note of the "explicit" category that Apple temporarily enabled for the App Store. ...
I just find it endlessly hilarious that to Apple (and presumably the average USA American), "Explicit" means girls in bikinis and possibly a boobie now and then, whereas most of the world would reserve such a term for hard core graphic pornography.
I mean if "explicit" is the *worst* it can get, and there are five different adult or semi-adult ratings *below* that, where exactly do you go from there? This kind of censorship is more immoral than the supposedly immoral acts we are being protected against IMO.
If we are living in a society where an app that shows pictures of women in panties (ZOMG!), is so rude it has to be banned from the store (and we are), we might as well all go Muslim and force women to walk around in black bags.
Wonder if the Kindle app is one of those that will work...? If so I may acutally buy one of these and replace my Kindle with it.
Wow, if you say that on the Kindle forum over at Amazon you could get lynched.
I have a Kindle 2 myself, and I'm not prone to use terms like fanboy (as I think the term is objectively meaningless), but some folks over there no way, no how could be convinced that the iPad could ever possibly be a better device to read on, let alone a better device in general. Granted, one's purposes must considered in such an evaluation, but there are already people who declared they would never read on a iPad and they haven't even yet laid eyes on one to know what the experience would be like.
Apple has also reportedly gone through and deemed some applications as compatible with the iPad as developers update their existing software on the App Store. Developers have been given the option to test iPad compatibility when they update their applications, and so far only 16,700 of the more than 140,000 applications on the App Store have been deemed compatible.
Okay now maybe I was too quick with the accolades...
What is Apples definition of 'compatible'
#1 It's written specifically with the iPad in mind and will take advantage of the new device features (bigger screen) in one way or another.
_or_
#2 These are the iPhone apps that we believe will be okay to run on the iPhone but will not really take advantage of the devices new features.
If its #1 then yes I'd me amazed and surprised that this many titles have been revamped for the iPad, if however its #2 then 'will virtually run any* iPhone app' isn't all that accurate.
* providing said application doesn't require GPS, 3G or cellular dialing or some other feature specific to the iPhone hardware.
Also shouldn't we have/see 'category' that indicates that it is SPECIFICALLY designed to run on the table and will simply not be functional on a small screen device.
Hmmm...
Wow, if you say that on the Kindle forum over at Amazon you could get lynched.
I have a Kindle 2 myself, and I'm not prone to use terms like fanboy (as I think the term is objectively meaningless), but some folks over there no way, no how could be convinced that the iPad could ever possibly be a better device to read on, let alone a better device in general. Granted, one's purposes must considered in such an evaluation, but there are already people who declared they would never read on a iPad and they haven't even yet laid eyes on one to know what the experience would be like.
To be honest, I have a Kindle 2, but I read on my iPhone almost exclusively. I wonder why I even wasted money on the Kindle. I don't buy into the eye strain of the back light screen that most Kindle-fans bring up...at least not when it comes to me. Others may have a legitimate concern there. I will say that I do enjoy the larger screen of the Kindle but the convenience of my iPhone trumps that...i.e. I can read in bed at night with the lights off and not have to strap a light to my iPhone and thus disturb my wife less, my phone goes with me almost everywhere expect work, small and compact…etc. Of course the iPad is not small and compact but I would be more inclined to bring an iPad with me somewhere such as a business trip over my Kindle which has a functionality my iPhone successfully replicates. Of course the iPhone does what the iPad does but the iPad is larger and thus (hopefully) makes it easier to surf the web.
As far as being lynched over on Amazon, I see your point and would expect nothing less. No one likes to see the functionality of their product be trumped on almost all levels.
Last summer, the company also allowed developers to add keywords to appellations. . .
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Did he really say that?
No one likes to see the functionality of their product be trumped on almost all levels.
I disagree. I think that the vast majority of folks buy a product that fits their needs, and that they don't care if there's another better product that comes along.
To care about such things, to REALLY care, is to be a fanboi of a multinational corporation. I've never truly understood that mindset.
16k apps for the iPad at its launch? While I still have a mild dislike for the AppStore as a whole I'm not fighting city hall this time.. Thats a HUGE number of Apps for a device that hasn't even hit the store shelves yet.
Compatible and made-for are not the same thing.
As the App Store has swelled with software, Apple has worked to make combing through the tens of thousands of options simpler and easier. Last September, the Cupertino, Calif., company introduced a "Genius" system that recommends new applications to users based on the software they already have installed.
Last summer, the company also allowed developers to add keywords to applications, to make searching within the App Store easier and more accurate. Developers can enter words and characters, separated by commas, which are used in searching the store for the iPhone and iPod touch.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
They need to allow friends to be able to recommend applications somehow and someway via IM, Twitter, or the like. Maybe iPhone OS 4.0 will allow for that.
Anybody know/have a clue/a guess if the iPad will be available to order from the Apple Online Store starting at 12:01 am EST??? Friday, March 12th starts at 12:01 am, after all. Whatcha think???
I have friends in Sydney, Australia who would disagree with you.
But your point remains ... I want to reserve two at the Buffalo Apple store ... I wonder exactly when I will be able to do that?
I have friends in Sydney, Australia who would disagree with you.
But your point remains ... I want to reserve two at the Buffalo Apple store ... I wonder exactly when I will be able to do that?
I just talked with Apple in Cupertino and surprise: No info on the release except that it will be March 12th! Stay tuned...
Compatible and made-for are not the same thing.
Yep ... look back to message #10 and you can read my reevaluation of the statement...
If we are living in a society where an app that shows pictures of women in panties (ZOMG!), is so rude it has to be banned from the store (and we are), we might as well all go Muslim and force women to walk around in black bags.
In most Muslim countries, women do not wear anything different from women in your country. No need to insult the whole lot because you think that what you see on your TV is the rule. Besides, people have traditions and customs, some of them forcing women to wear neck rings extending their necks, and some other shoes reducing their feet. Both of which I also find difficult and somehow terrible to cope with for us Westerners.
If one's head was not so reduced by the consumerism society one lives in, one would think for a moment that for the Arab woman in Tunis, Beirut, Alexandria, or Damascus, or for the Muslim women in Islamabad, or Shiraz, Western societies are the cruelest of all towards women : how else can they interpret the images of women being submitted to gang rapes, or being slapped around while being gagged with men's p***** until they can't breath and have to expunge liquid through their noses; or being forced to drink the c** directly from the a*** orifices of other women, sipping it, or scooping it with a spoon, etc.; or, or, or: you claim to know what is explicit porn, so I trust you can fill the void.
But, my guess is that you are being told, and you believe it, that this is done from women's entire free will; so you not only accept it, but you also think it is a virtue of our society. Whereas wearing the veil, you also are being told, and you also believe it, CANNOT be of Muslim women's free will EVER because it is so degrading, and inexplicable. Right ?
"Few people think, yet all would have opinions", says George Berkeley.
I will break the news to you: there are close to two billion Muslims around the world, and most of them live with modern secular customs, if it makes your life any easier.