Apple antitrust suit over e-books set for NY trial

NEW YORK (AP) — In a civil case where the words of Steve Jobs play prominently, the government and Apple Inc. are set to square off over allegations that Apple Inc. conspired with the country's largest book publishers to make consumers pay more for electronic books.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote is scheduled to begin hearing the price-fixing case Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

The trial stems from an antitrust lawsuit brought last year by the Justice Department, which accused Apple of helping hatch the scheme at a meeting with publishers in 2009 as it was preparing to launch the iPad. Its purpose was to force Seattle-based Amazon.com — the marketer of Kindle e-book readers — to raise the $9.99 price it had set for the most popular e-book titles because that was substantially below their hardcover prices, the government says.

"Apple wanted to sell e-books to the public, but did not want to compete against the low prices Amazon was setting," the government wrote in its court papers. "Apple knew that the major publishers also disliked Amazon's low prices and saw Apple's potential entry as a pathway to higher retail prices industrywide."

The Justice Department accuses the conspirators of agreeing that instead of selling books to retailers and letting them decide what price to charge readers, the publishers would convert the retailers into "agents" who were restricted from lowering the publisher-set retail price. The arrangement guaranteed Apple a 30 percent commission on each e-book it sold.

The government has alleged that the scheme cost consumers tens of millions of dollars by adding $2 or $3, sometimes as much as $5, to the price of each e-book. It also argues part of the proof is Jobs' own account of the arrangement.

The former Apple CEO "conceded the price-fixing conspiracy when, the day after publicly announcing Apple's forthcoming iBookstore, he explained to his authorized biographer that Apple had told the publishers, 'We'll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30 percent, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that's what you want anyway,'" the government says in court papers.

In its papers, lawyers for Apple have accused the government of basing its case "on mere allegations, faulty assumptions and unfounded conclusions." The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has denied claims that its agreements required publishers to force Amazon to charge more for e-books.

The agreements "required no such thing," the defense papers say. "They set forth the terms of Apple's business relationship with each publisher; they placed no constraints on how a publisher should deal with other retailers, including Amazon."

The government has reached settlements with the five publishers named in the suit — Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Holtzbrinck Publishers, doing business as Macmillan, and The Penguin Publishing Co. Ltd., doing business as Penguin Group — that requires them to lift restrictions on discounting and other promotions they had imposed on e-book retailers. The judge has urged Apple to settle, even suggesting at a recent pretrial hearing that its chances of prevailing at trial are slim.

"I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that," she said.

On May 22, British publisher Pearson's Penguin unit announced it would pay $75 million in damages plus costs to settle claims by 33 attorneys general of 33 states and a class-action lawsuit by consumers alleging price-fixing in the e-book market.

Via Yahoo News!

Apple Updates Mac OS X To Battle Malware Threats (NewsFactor)

Responding to a widespread fake antivirus program targeted at Macs, Apple released Tuesday an update that will warn users and remove the threat. The update is available for Macs running Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.6, as well as Mac OS X Server 10.6.

In its Security Update 2011-003, Apple said the update, available via Software Update or from Apple Downloads, refreshes the malware definition on File Quarantine to include MAC Defender, the fake antivirus malware, and provides for automatic, daily updating of known definitions. Automatic updating can be disabled by the user. The update also removes MAC Defender and known variants if the malware has already been installed, and an alert will notify the user of that action.

Reports on the web Wednesday indicated that malware makers have already circumvented Apple's update by changing the name of the malware file to mdinstall.pkg. The move could be short-lived if Apple adds the file name to its new daily update of malware definitions.

'Give Apple Credit'

Apple said files downloaded via Safari, iChat or Mail are checked against a list of known malware that includes viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and other malicious software. If a file is found to be on the list, the Mac OS X update displays a dialog prompting the user to move it to the trash. The list is stored on the computer and, with the update, refreshed daily.

For years, Macs have enjoyed the reputation that they weren't susceptible to the many kinds of malicious software that have plagued Windows machines, because of the inherent strength of Mac OS X. Many observers have also argued that, because the installed base of Macs was so small, it wasn't worth the effort for a self-respecting hacker.

Chris Christensen, an analyst with IDC, said the myth of the Mac's invulnerability to hacking attacks "still largely stands in public perception," although they were "never technically invulnerable." Rather, he said, it was because their installed base was too small, but now the Mac's usage, transactional functions, and larger installed base present a tempting target to attackers.

Christensen added that he has to "give Apple credit" for its quick response to this vulnerability.

According to Mac security firm Intego, MAC Defender targets Mac users primarily through "SEO poisoning attacks," in which web sites with malicious code use search-optimization tricks to rank at the top of search results. A user who clicks on a malicious search result is sent to a web site that shows a fake screen and a fake malware scan, after which it tells the user that the computer is infected.

A Variant: MacGuard

JavaScript on the page automatically downloads a compressed ZIP file. If the user has been using Safari and the "open safe after downloading" option in Safari is enabled, the file is unzipped and the user is presented with an installer window for which the user's administrative password is required.

If the user proceeds with installation, MAC Defender launches. Intego describes the application as "very well designed," with a professional look, a number of different screens, attractive buttons, and correct spelling.

Once installed, MAC Defender indicates the computer is infected and opens web pages for pornographic sites every few minutes. To counter the "virus," the user is prompted to buy MAC Defender's "antivirus" protection service.

After a credit-card number has been entered into a license-purchasing page, the virus warnings stop. But there is no service, and the user has just given the malware authors his or her credit-card information.

Intego recommends not installing the application to begin with, of course, and to uncheck the "open safe" option in Safari or other browsers.

A variant of MAC Defender, called MacGuard, has also been reported. It's placed in a user's Applications folder -- which doesn't require an administrator's password -- instead of the normal location in the system-level folder.

If a user has set Safari to automatically launch downloaded files -- the "open safe after downloading" option -- the malware's installer will launch. If not, users will see a downloaded ZIP archive and may double-click on it to find what's in it, which leads to the installer.

Mike Kent also contributed to this story.

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Steve Jobs to deliver Apple keynote next week (AP)

NEW YORK – Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs will take a break from medical leave to deliver the keynote speech at next week's Apple conference, the company said Tuesday.

Apple shares rose $5.49, or 1.6 percent, to $342.90 after rising as high as $344.09 earlier in the session on the news.

Jobs went on medical leave in January for unspecified reasons, handing over day-to-day control to chief operating officer Tim Cook. Jobs has remained involved in larger decisions at the company, and demonstrated the new iPad model at a news conference in March.

Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off Monday in San Francisco. The keynote speech will feature Apple's new Mac software, Lion, and the next version of Apple's iPhone and iPad software, the company said.

Apple said the keynote will also feature an "iCloud" service, but didn't explain what the service will do. Apple has been in talks with all four major recording companies on a music service that will allow users to stream songs stored on remote computer servers, presumably to an array of portable Apple-made devices, a person familiar with the matter said recently. The person was not authorized to speak publicly on the deals and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Such a service would give users a wide array of music on-the-go, without having to worry about limited storage space and the need to physically connect different devices to transfer songs.

The June developers' conference has in years past been the opportunity for Apple to reveal the year's new iPhone model, ahead of a retail launch a few weeks later. But this year, analysts are speculating that the new iPhone won't arrive until the fall. Apple launched a version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon's network in February, and a June-July release of a new model could disappoint new owners of that phone.

The brief statement Tuesday did not mention any new hardware.

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Taiwan show to feature Apple tablet challengers (AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Computer manufacturers of all sizes and descriptions have been pushing to get a piece of the ever-expanding tablet market created by the launch of Apple's iPad in April 2010.

The obsession with tablet computing will be on full display Tuesday as Computex, the world's second-largest computer show, begins its annual five-day run in Taipei. The prominence of tablets underscores a dramatic shift under way in the personal computer industry — and keenly felt in Taiwan, which is home to some of the world's biggest PC manufacturers — as many consumers opt to buy a tablet rather than a new PC.

Computex will feature more than 50 tablet models, said organizer Taipei Computer Association, with big names including Lenovo Group Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. having their products displayed.

Researchers have predicted slower growth in PC sales this year because of the rising consumer interest in tablets. Gartner Research recently cut its sales growth forecast for global PC sales in 2011 from 15.9 percent to 10.5 percent. According to IHS iSuppli, world PC shipments declined 0.3 percent year-on-year to 8.1 million units in the first quarter of 2011, with sales by No. 3-ranked Acer plunging 20 percent.

Many analysts say it may take two or three years before mobile device software from Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. can catch up with iPads, which have thousands of applications for consumers to choose from. That may mean a hard time for many PC makers in the short term.

Research company IDC says Apple Inc. had a 73 percent share of the tablet market in the last quarter of 2010. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. was a distant second with 17 percent. It said 2010 tablet sales totaled 18 million units. IDC expects Apple to account for 70-80 percent of 2011 tablet sales that it predicts will reach 50 million units.

Besides tablets, Computex will also feature corporate and home servers and other cloud-based computing equipment and services, a sector Taiwanese firms have recently entered to make up for shortfalls in PC sales.

The world's top contract laptop manufacturer, Taiwan-based Quanta Computer Co., is among those producing servers for global firms such as Google.

Cloud computing involves running applications in web browsers. The cloud allows users to store and retrieve data over the Internet whenever it is needed, instead of saving it on their own computers.

At least 10 of the tablet models to be shown at Computex are powered by Intel Corp.'s new Atom chip, the U.S. technology giant's first microprocessor designed for tablets. Intel has moved into the fast growing market now dominated by chips using designs by UK-based ARM Holdings.

The new Atom "delivers improved video playback, fast Internet browsing and longer battery life," Navin Shenoy, general manager of Intel's Asia-Pacific region, said in an emailed statement.

There is "a tremendous amount of experimentation going on in the industry," Shenoy said. Tablets, which are more popular in mature markets, will not replace PCs, he said, noting the strong PC demand in Asia and emerging markets.

Taiwanese high-tech firms are also entering the mobile device market pressured by Apple, whose market dominance — extending to the second generation iPad2 — has cut into their PC sales and dented the profits of some.

Taiwan's top two PC vendors, Acer Inc. and AsusTek Computer Inc., are among those using Computex to display a range of touch-screen tablet computers. Their tablets run on the Android operating system that Google distributes free to allow quick Web browsing or film viewing, or on Microsoft mobile software that mostly targets the commercial market.

Acer and AsusTek have promoted their tablets — Iconia Tab and Transformer among others — as having expandable memory slots, hoping to lure consumers with more storage needs. The iPads don't have built-in USB ports.

In addition, the companies say their sleek devices can become full-fledged laptops when plugging them into a keyboard docking station for easy typing.

In terms of tablet prices, Apple's big orders give it a huge edge, while South Korean Samsung Electronics is able to bring costs down by making key components in house — an advantage denied local makers, said Simon Yang, an analyst with Taipei-based Topology Research Institute.

So far, the Taiwanese company with the best success in selling mobile devices is HTC Corp.

The company manufactured the first handset based on the Android operating system in 2008. It has since marketed a wide range of smartphones to meet different tastes, and has recently introduced a movie viewing program called "HTC Watch." HTC's sales jumped to 9.7 million handsets in the first quarter, up from 3.3 million a year earlier.

HTC's first tablet, the 7-inch Flyer, sold well in pre-orders in Taiwan this month, vendors say. Its 16 gigabyte Wi-Fi version is priced at $499, the same as the 9.7-inch iPad. But HTC says its smaller-size device has an advantage, because it is lighter, and more manageable than the iPad.

By contrast, Acer and AsusTek have pursued a low-price strategy. Their Iconia Tab and Transformer models — despite having larger 10.1-inch screens — are priced at $450 to $500.

"Taiwanese companies are yet to become serious rivals to Apple," said Yang. "They either price their tablets too high or sell them at a loss in order to become competitive."

(This version CORRECTS Corrects research company name to IDC instead of CDC.)

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Keep your Apple computer safe from Mac Defender malware (Yahoo! News)

One of the benefits of going with an Apple computer over a Windows-based machine is that most viruses and malware programs are designed to exploit Windows architecture, leaving Macs much less vulnerable. Earlier this month, some Apple forum-goers began reporting that a malicious program called Mac Defender was on the loose, tricking unsuspecting users into giving up credit card information and other information.

After being installed on a computer, which Apple warns can be done automatically and without a user's knowledge, the program performs a fake "scan" of the machine and reports that a virus is present. In the brief moment of panic that such a declaration can produce in many computer users, the malevolent program offers to remove the non-existent virus for a small fee, payable by credit card. But the scam doesn't end there; the unauthorized third party can now wreak havoc using the stolen financial information.

In the days since its discovery, Apple has acknowledged the threat is real, and the company is reportedly hard at work on an update that will remove the software. Until then, the Mac makers have posted a handy removal guide for those who prefer to take matters into their own hands. Follow the steps below — straight from Apple — to remove Mac Defender and make sure your computer is clean.

Move or close the Scan WindowGo to the Utilities folder in the Applications folder and launch Activity MonitorChoose All Processes from the pop up menu in the upper right corner of the windowUnder the Process Name column, look for the name of the app and click to select it; common app names include: MacDefender, MacSecurity or MacProtectorClick the Quit Process button in the upper left corner of the window and select QuitQuit Activity Monitor applicationOpen the Applications folderLocate the app ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtector or other nameDrag to Trash, and empty TrashOpen System Preferences, select Accounts, then Login ItemsSelect the name of the app you removed in the steps above ex. MacDefender, MacSecurity, MacProtectorClick the minus button

Upon completing these steps, your Mac should be completely free of the offending program, but it's still crucial to keep your computer up to date on all suggested software updates.

Apple via VentureBeat

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Federal court demands Samsung give Apple access to upcoming products (Digital Trends)

Last month Apple filed a lawsuit accusing Samsung of copying its iPhone and iPad design, most specifically with its Galaxy lineup. Samsung responded with a countersuit, claiming it was Apple and its iPhone and iPad that infringed on various patents, and that the company must stop doing so as well as compensate Samsung.

Samsung lost, and now it appears that it will be required to pony up to Apple for future products. A court document filed May 18 reveals that federal judge Lucy Koh has given the company 30 days to hand over the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1 (all three of which are unreleased), Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge to Apple so that the Cupertino giant can decide if it wants an early injunction. Koh also said that since Samsung has begun advertising these products, it cannot argue that giving Apple access to them is unacceptable. She also quoted a Samsung executive who earlier this year said, “We will have to improve the parts [of the Galaxy Tab 10.1] that are inadequate. Apple made it [the iPad 2] very thin” as a reason that Apple may be justified in believing its competitor is imitating its own devices.

Koh did attempt to stay neutral however. “Although the Court expresses no opinion on the merits of Apple’s claims, the Court notes that Apple has produced images of Samsung products and other evidence that provide a reasonable basis for Apple’s belief that Samsung’s new products are designed to mimic Apple’s products.

The court document says that this access will give Apple time to “take early action to stop the allegedly infringing activity before Samsung’s new products become established in the marketplace.” It also says the court agrees that Apple deserves “limited expedited discovery” – something Apple had not requested, but authorities granted.

It isn’t only the devices themselves that Samsung is being accused of copycatting: The packaging is also being called into question and called “directly relevant to Apple’s trademark, trade dress, and design claims” which can create “consumer confusion.” But the court doesn’t want to appear one-sided, and goes on to acknowledge these actions will seriously aid Apple, and that it understands Samsung’s concerns about “the sensitive nature of the information sought.” Because of this, the court will not require a Samsung executive to testify, despite Apple’s request. It also will not ask Samsung to produce “documents relating to any copying of design elements, or attempts to design around Apple’s intellectual property relating to, the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPad 2,” calling this request “broad and somewhat vague” on Apple’s part.

While it’s keeping any concrete, insider company information out of Apple’s hands, granting the company access to arguably its most able competitor’s forthcoming devices is a huge coup for Apple. Suppose that Apple is unable to find any evidence that Samsung has been using its’ innovations as a blueprint – which is a big, big “suppose.” Given the accusations and evidence Apple has produced thus far, we’re certain it will. But if not, the company is being given even the slightest of slight edges over Samsung by getting the first look at its newest technology, although Apple’s legal team will be denied access to the devices.

It’s an interesting complication for the two companies, who have a business relationship: Apple could potentially spend $7.8 billion on components from the manufacturer.

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Shares of Apple iPad maker Hon Hai fall after plant (Reuters)

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Shares of electronics company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (2317.TW) fell as much as 5 percent on Monday on fears major client Apple Inc (AAPL.O) may shift orders to other producers following a blast at one of the company's plants in China.

Foxconn Technology Group, of which Hon Hai is the flagship unit and Apple's biggest manufacturing partner, said three people had died following a large explosion at its plant in the south western city of Chengdu on Friday.

Analysts said investors were concerned that a potential loss of orders from Apple for its iPads and iPhones could impact Hon Hai, the world's largest electronics component maker, adding to pressure on margins from rising costs.

"Foxconn Group makes 70-80 percent of Apple's parts, and Apple may reconsider concentrating production with one contract maker," said Hua Nan Securities Chairman David Chu. "This could hurt Hon Hai in the long run."

Hon Hai's Chengdu plant makes mainly casings for iPad 2, while final assembly is still done in Hon Hai's main plant in Shenzhen, Southern China, according to a report by Citi.

The brokerage said the explosion happened in a machinery room for cutting metal and, given that no assembly line or inventory was involved, the blast was unlikely to lead to any meaningful production disruption.

Last month Apple reported results that smashed expectations after booming sales of its iPhone and Mac computers and as demand for its iPad tablet computers outstripped supply.

Supplies of the hot-selling iPad were also slightly affected by the Japan earthquake in March, industry sources have said, and brokers including Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan have cut shipment forecasts.

Taipei-based Hon Hai said on Monday the company was assessing the damage to the plant and the local authorities were investigating the explosion. The plant would resume operation once the investigation finishes, it added in a statement to the stock exchange.

Hon Hai shares slumped as much as 5.2 percent after the news to the its lowest since late August. At 0454 GMT, Hon Hai shares were down 2.4 percent, versus broader marker's (.TWII) 0.9 percent decline.

"UBS analysts believe that a majority of iPad2 production is still done in Shenzhen, and that even if the whole Chengdu iPad2 production line is damaged, the impact should be less than 20 percent of iPad total production," according to a UBS research report.

Foxconn International Holdings (2038.HK), the group's Hong Kong-listed unit, fell 3.1 percent in a Hang Seng (.HSI) down 1.73 percent.

"The explosion has hit investor confidence hard," said Prudential Financial fund manager Bevan Yeh. "But we think the impact on Hon Hai will be limited, since it has many production facilities available for use."

The Chengdu facility is the new location set up late last year in an effort to lower labor costs which are cheaper in the inland areas.

Chengdu city government has said last October that Foxconn Technology Group would invest $2 billion on a new plant in Chengdu.

Many manufacturers including PC contract maker Quanta Computer Inc (2382.TW) and Compal Electronics Inc (2324.TW), have also been moving operations in China away from coastal regions such as Guangdong and Fujian to inland areas.

(Additional reporting by Faith Hung and Argin Chang; Editing by Chris Lewis and Lincoln Feast)

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Apple probes blast at Chinese plant (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is investigating an explosion that killed two people, injured 16 and forced a production halt at a Foxconn Technology Group factory in China said to produce the popular iPad 2.

Foxconn, whose flagship unit is Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industries (2317.TW) group and Apple's main manufacturing partner, said in a statement the explosion happened at about 7 pm local time (1100 GMT) on May 20.

"Production has been suspended at the site of the explosion until the completion of the investigation," Foxconn said in a statement.

"The safety of our employees is our highest priority and we will do whatever is required to determine and address the cause of this tragic accident."

It did not name the affected plant or say what it made, but China's official Xinhua News Agency said it was the Hongfujin Precision Electronics plant in a high-tech industrial zone west of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

Hon Hai spokesman Edmund Ding said the company is still evaluating losses. He could not say whether group founder and chairman Terry Gou had gone to the site.

IPAD AFFECTED

Apple shares closed down 1.56 percent at $335.22 on the Nasdaq, which saw a broad sell-off on euro-zone debt worries.

The explosion could affect the supply of iPads and investors were watching closely. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the company was assessing the situation.

"We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at the Foxconn plant in Chengdu and our hearts go out to the victims and their families," he said. "We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event."

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White said the factory makes a lot of iPads because some production had been shifted to the facility from factories in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Apple's iPad 2 commands 80 percent of the burgeoning tablet market in which Motorola Inc (MMI.N) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) also compete.

Apple sold 4.69 million iPads last quarter and is scrambling to meet staggering demand for the mobile device, but is heavily backlogged. Executives had expected production to ramp up during the present quarter to meet demand.

The plant explosion is the latest setback for Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer.

The company made headlines last year after reports emerged about poor working conditions at factories in southern China, which critics say may have helped drive several employees to suicide.

The company pledged to improve employee welfare.

Facing higher wages in the southern China manufacturing belt, the scene of labor disputes last year, some Taiwanese manufacturers have opted to shift some operations to the country's interior, where costs are lower.

Foxconn also has plants in North America and Mexico, as well as in European countries, including Slovakia and Poland.

(Additional reporting by Clare Jim in Taipei; Editing by Edwin Chan, Lisa Von Ahn, Richard Chang and Andre Grenon; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Gears developer explains what it takes to be billed “Game of the Week” by Apple (Appolicious)

Corey Redlien is a developer who creates his own luck. With a sensibility that appeals to both hardcore and casual gamers alike, Redlien (in concert with Crescent Moon Games) created the ever-addictive game Gears.

A casual marble rolling game with just enough “meat on its bones” to reach players looking for a challenge, Gears rose earlier this year to become a top-selling iPad app in the iTunes App Store and was named by Apple as a “Game of the Week”.

Here’s our recent video review that showcases the game’s appeal.

In this edition of Game Theory Redlein shares how Gears transformed from an entirely different concept to the game you play today, how to appeal to multiple demographics, and why the ubiquity of Android-based devices is scaring away many developers from creating titles for what would otherwise be a very lucrative platform.

“I really, really have no interest in buying several $600+ off-contract phones to test on,” he explains.

Read on.

Appolicious: Describe the combination of creative development, marketing and luck that can help an app like Gears rise to become at one time the top-selling iPad app in the iTunes App Store.

Corey Redlien: With over 300K competitors on the App Store, it helps to have a unique concept with great gameplay and visuals.  When I started work on Gears, it was a very, very different concept than the final product.  It was something fun, but it wasn't anything really all that interesting. It basically looked and played like your standard ball-roller, albeit one with a somewhat interesting concept.  Many iterations later though, Gears as we see it today started to emerge and I knew it could be something more fun and unique.

Fortunately, it was about this time that Crescent Moon Games came along and offered to help with the visuals, and from there, we were able to really blow out the concept to something fully-realized and awesome.

I feel there's a certain amount of luck to any success, but as a developer you have to make as much of your own luck as possible. Gears was the result of a very large effort over the span of many months, many late nights and generally just a lot of hard work from the interesting and fun parts of level design to the boring "code grinding" work. The quality that that effort resulted in is what helped us get the attention of Apple, got us Game of the Week, and was the primary factor in our success. n between getting the art perfect, Crescent Moon Games also worked tirelessly to get Gears coverage in the press to give the game every chance it could to succeed. Ultimately, what "luck" we did have was really the result of a lot of hard work over a long period of time to get to where we were.

APPO: When developing Gears, did you have a particular target audience in mind?

CR: Yes. Gears was intended for a player who wanted a casual game, but one that had a bit more "meat to its bones."

Personally, I find most casual games are usually too one-dimensional; with simple play mechanics that keeps getting used and over used in the same general situations. For Gears, I wanted to keep that same "simple play mechanics" but expand the situations in which you would use those mechanics. That meant having more intricate level designs that made you pay more attention and "think before you jumped."

APPO: What are the challenges of developing a game that appeals to casual and hardcore gamers alike?

CR: Many! In my opinion, casual users are interested in a game with quick pickup and play that they don't need to invest much energy or thought into. It's a quick, fun diversion. A more hardcore game is one that demands greater attention and focus from the user. Ultimately, I feel Gears leans a bit more towards the hardcore gamer then the casual, however I tried to not completely lose the casual gamer.

For instance, many of the levels have at least 2 ways you can play them; one is a straightforward path that's relatively simplistic and can be accomplished fairly quickly, and the other is a branched path that is harder and more complicated. The casual user who's not really interested in getting the absolute highest score on Game Center can take the easy path with no timer on and just have fun with it, while the more hardcore user who likes the challenge can take the more intense paths with a timer on.

APPO: Explain how you took advantage of the iPad 2's superior speed, graphics and capabilities.

CR: The iPad 2 came about towards the end of the development cycle for Gears, and we knew instantly that we needed to support its capabilities. Generally speaking though, we didn't have to make too many design changes, but we bumped up the graphics to 11. We had a lot of fun experimenting with the capabilities of the iPad 2, and started putting back in all the graphic elements we had originally taken out because of performance issues on the existing devices. You can really see the difference that the iPad 2 brings to the table when you run Gears' high-quality graphics setting on an iPhone 4 or iPad 1. The game is choppy and slow with many performance issues on those older devices, however on the iPad2 is just flows.

APPO: It is a guessing game as to when Apple will come out with its next iPhone.  As a developer, before new iOS devices become official and you get your hands on them and/or access emulators, how can you best anticipate and prepare for the cutting edge technology that Apple unveils?

CR: As a developer, I look forward to a new iOS device not just because of what new capabilities and performance it will bring, but also because it usually means a "sunsetting" of a new set of older devices. One of our biggest challenges was making sure that the game would run and perform well on the last 2 generations well, including the iPhone 3GS and iPod 3. Unfortunately, below that level the game doesn't perform as well due to memory constraints and other technical issues. We try and communicate this issue with users, strongly suggesting that they do not run the game on anything older then a 3rd gen device. However, many users are still using iPod/iPhone 2nd and 1st gen devices.

Fortunately, this number is getting smaller and smaller with each new device cycle. To create really exciting games and applications, developers need the freedom to start cutting loose from the very old devices whose performance is nowhere near acceptable anymore, and new devices help with that progression.

APPO: Is there typically enough lead time between when Apple announces a new device and when you need to have fresh titles and updates available to download?

CR: No, not usually. However, I would also suggest that in some regards it's irrelevant. Any product I've ever been involved in and/or worked directly on is something that takes months to complete and will target both the latest tech and at least 1 or 2 generations before it.  New device uptake doesn't happen overnight, and you'll end up creating a better product if you focus more on making an amazing product that a lot of people can enjoy, regardless of whether or not it hits all the right "technical notes" of the latest and greatest.

APPO: Do you develop games for Android or other mobile platforms? From your vantage point, how does Android as a gaming development platform compare to iOS?

CR: So far just iOS. I have done quite a bit of research into Android. From a pure development and business standpoint, Android is not much different than iOS. It has different languages, different ways of doing things, but ultimately it does the same general thing. Android also has a large user base that trends demographically younger and I feel most of the games I would make, including Gears, would be one that's well received on Android.

From a game maker perspective, Android presents a lot of potential challenges so far. Gears in particular, and the types of games that interest me in general, are intense "big" games that need to be finely-tuned to their hardware. Gears was tuned to death to get the best balance of graphics and performance out of it on the iOS devices we support.  This basically amounted to 4 devices:  iPhone/iPod 4, iPhone 3GS/iPod 3G, iPad 1 and iPad 2. This allowed us to make sure that everyone on those platforms had a good experience relatively painlessly.

With Android you have a much, much greater variety of devices to worry about, many with different performance and device characteristics, from speed and graphics capabilities to simple things like touch-screen responsiveness and screen size. Doing actual development for Android isn't terribly complicated or difficult, testing for, and having to QA and certify many, many different devices will be a significant challenge that adds a lot of roadblocks to developing large horsepower-intensive games.  If there's one giant issue I've already run into, it's actually procuring devices to test with. There is no clear "iPod Touch" of the Android world that can be a good, generic and inexpensive stand-in for a broad set of high-performance Android phones. I really, really have no interest in buying several $600+ off-contract phones to test on.

From a consumer level, my head is still spinning trying to figure out what the differences are between the many different "Droid" models, for example. What makes each of the many different HTC models unique, and the differences between the slew of other devices being made by other manufacturers? If I were to go to the AT&T store and pick up a new Android phone, is it really the "best one" they have?  Everyone's opinion of what's "best" is going to be different and device manufacturers seem to create devices that have one or two "best" features as their focus (screen size, 4G, etc.), but leave the other features to be at or below par. As a consumer, it's a frustrating shopping experience.  As a developer, it adds a lot more to the complexity of developing and releasing your product. (and I haven't even gotten into the "which app store is best..." discussion.)

In contrast, Apple provides a very clear answer to consumers and developers on what to buy and what to develop for. Each year, they produce a newer, better model that's standardized for that year. There's no question to a consumer what type of device they have and if it's better or worse then last year's model, and no question to the developer what features those devices support. Also, if the developer doesn't wish to pick up the new phone (with contract or at full price) to develop/test with, the developer can pick up the iPod version for a lot less and get right into developing and/or provide several of them to testers for QA purposes.

APPO: What is the next project you are working on, and when will we be able to tap into it?

CR: Still under wraps :)  I'll just say that what interests me are games and apps that present something really unique and take advantage of being on a very personal and mobile touch-screen device.

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China Telecom in touch with Apple on CDMA iPhone (Reuters)

HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Telecom Corp Ltd, the smallest of the country's three wireless carriers, has contacted Apple Inc to introduce the popular iPhone based on CDMA (code division multiple access) technology, Chairman Wang Xiaochu said on Friday.

Larger rival China Unicom is the only operator in China, which has 886 million mobile phone users, to offer the iPhone so far. However, some analysts say China Telecom could be next after an exclusive agreement with Unicom expires this year.

"We're not denying that we're in touch with iPhone (Apple), but I cannot comment on the progress," Wang told reporters after a shareholders' meeting.

Shareholders also approved an up to 90 billion yuan ($14 billion) bond issue, including 60 billion yuan overseas and the remainder domestically.

Some of the proceeds would be used to develop its CDMA network, executives said.

"From what we see now, we'll need money to acquire our parent's CDMA network. But other than that, we won't need to issue a huge amount of bonds," Wang said.

Wang also said China Telecom would consider Hong Kong as a first priority for issuing overseas bonds, although it had no immediate plan for a yuan bond in the Chinese territory.

China Telecom, a relative newcomer to China's mobile market, operates the country's largest fixed-line network and is aggressively promoting broadband over that channel.

China Telecom had 103.10 million mobile phone users as of April, including 17.84 million 3G subscribers.

China Telecom shares, which have gained more than 10 percent this year, were up 1.8 percent in Friday afternoon trading, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's 0.06 percent gain.

(Editing by Chris Lewis)

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Apple fans’ brains react in a way similar to religious people (Yahoo! News)

Apple devotees are notorious for their steadfast dedication to the computer and gadget manufacturer, standing in line for hours and sometimes days just to be the first to try out a new piece of hardware. According to a new study, the areas of the brain which produce that tenacity in Apple fans are the same spots that fuel religious fervor.

Scientists using an magnetic resonance imagine (MRI) machine presented Apple fans with images of the company's popular gadgets. Upon doing so, they found brain activity that mirrors how a religious person's brain reacts when presented with a picture of their chosen deity.

It's hard to determine whether the reaction the researchers observed is peculiar or not, as nearly everyone has strong allegiances to a particular product or service, and the test was limited to the Apple brand alone. Still, the fact that something like an iPhone or a computer can create a reaction similar to a hardwired belief system like religion is surprising in its own right.

[Image Credit: Goodrob13]

(Source)

More from Tecca:

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Apple patents tech for using locally saved snippets with cloud media (Appolicious)

Amazon (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) are already running their cloud-based media streaming services, flying in the face of convention by not dealing with record labels directly to get their blessing on the technology.

Apple (AAPL), on the other hand, is playing it safe and has reportedly signed a deal with record company BMI, with more on the way, for its upcoming streaming service.

Coming from behind, it’s fair to speculate that Apple is looking for ways to one-up rivals Google and Amazon in creating a better music-streaming Internet service than those two companies have. With both Google and Amazon, users upload their music to an Internet server, and then are able to access that music through apps and web browsers to stream it down to other devices – smartphones, computers and tablets.

A new patent for Apple suggests a different, and potentially better, approach to using the cloud. According to a report from Apple Insider, Apple has patented cloud technology that relies on using a “snippet” of a song in a user’s iTunes library to work with the song file as stored in the cloud. Instead of storing a whole user’s library on a device like an iPhone or an iPod, only a small piece of each song – and therefore a whole lot less data – would be stored on the device, with the rest going out into the cloud to be recovered using Internet streaming.

The idea is that having the beginning portion of a song stored on a device gives Apple’s streaming technology time to do its work without having a delay in playback. Users can click any song in their library that they want to stream and it starts to play immediately, because what’s playing at first is actually stored locally like any other song file. Meanwhile, as the song plays, iTunes is working to stream down the rest of the song.

This also means that users can listen to half a song, get bored and click a different track and have that one start immediately, too – instead of having to wait for the streaming service to catch up with the choice, as is the case with something like Amazon’s Cloud Player. With the whole track stored on the cloud, changing songs quickly means waiting for the data to stream down from the Internet again, and a large amount of data has to be cached on the device before actual playback can start up. Since Apple’s playing you a piece of the song you have on your device’s hard drive, it has a buffer period during which the streaming can happen unbeknownst to the user.

The drawback to Apple’s method is that while it makes playback better, it’s not as significant a reduction in storage necessity as Amazon and Google users might enjoy. Locally storing a snippet of a song is still less data-intensive than storing the entire song, but that’s still music data stored on your hard drive, and it still takes up space. Instead of having a fully cloud-based service and thereby not needing to use hard drive space almost at all, as Google and Amazon do, Apple requires users to save some music space on their hard drives.

Apple’s patent doesn’t nail down exactly where the content is coming from, leaving that open for the company to define later. We’ve heard that Apple might pull its tracks not from a user-controlled data storage locker, the way Amazon does, but might take a Streamedy approach, allowing users to copy their songs to a giant database and then stream anything they own from that one big source.

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Facebook, Apple pressed on kids' mobile privacy (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A high-tech Wild West where location data, including some gleaned from teenagers' mobile devices, is scooped up and sold without consumers' consent needs to end, lawmakers told a panel of tech companies on Thursday.

While lawmakers noted extraordinary technical innovation by Apple Inc, Google Inc, Facebook and others in Silicon Valley, they also showed irritation at data collection and sale without consent. Much of the ire was aimed at smartphone applications and the collection of teenagers' data.

"A teenager accessing an application may not realize that her address book is being accessed and shared with a third party. That is not meant to happen in this country without the permission of an adult," said Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the Commerce Committee.

Twenty percent of children aged 11 or younger had a cell phone in 2009 while 66 percent had one by age 14, and just under 75 percent of high schoolers have one, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project report.

The revelation last month that Apple's iPhones collected location data and stored it for up to a year -- even when location software was supposedly turned off -- has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy.

Google, which has had privacy battles of its own with controversy over Buzz and Street View among others, has been dragged in because it provides the guts of the Android phones.

But Google's Alan Davidson warned lawmakers against focusing on headline issues and said they should instead hone in on establishing principles. "Otherwise, this committee and others will be returning term after term to address the latest new technology fad," he warned.

Senator Pat Toomey, the ranking Republican on the Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Internet subcommittee, noted that he was the father of two young children and was "very concerned," while adding: "As a general matter, I prefer to see the market self-regulate."

LOTS OF LEGISLATION

Rockefeller also pressed Facebook, which says it bars children under age 13 from the website, to explain why 7.5 million children aged 12 or less have accounts.

Facebook Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor said it only shuts down the accounts of children when someone else reports that a child is on the website. Children 12 and under get special privacy protection by law, which means that many web sites prefer not to cater to them.

Apple also said that it bars children under age 13 from its iTunes store and does not sell apps that target minors for data collection. "If we learn that we have inadvertently received the personal information of a child under 13, we take immediate steps to delete that information," said Apple's Catherine Novelli.

Democratic Senator John Kerry called for changes to "modernize our privacy laws."

"We want ... legislation to work for both the consumer and entrepreneur. I reject the notion ... that privacy protection is the enemy of innovation. It absolutely doesn't have to be," said Kerry, who has introduced a privacy bill with Republican Senator John McCain.

In addition to the Rockefeller and the Kerry-McCain bill, there are online privacy bills introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Bobby Rush and Jackie Speier. Representatives Ed Markey and Joe Barton are mulling an update to the children's online privacy protection laws. It is too early to tell whether any will become law.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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Apple and Android phones face strict laws in Europe: report (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Apple and Google smartphones may come under tighter regulation in Europe after a data protection panel ruled that data on the location of their users should be classed as private, the Financial Times said Thursday.

The proposals by the panel, which advises the European Commission, are a first step to formulating a law on mobile phone location data, and could be written into Europe's revised Data Protection Directive this year, the FT said.

The panel said companies should get permission from smartphone users before collecting user-location data and should specify what purpose the data are being used for.

"Since smartphones and tablet computers are inextricably linked to their owner, the movement patterns of the devices provide a very intimate insight into the private life of the owners," the FT quoted the panel as saying.

"One of the great risks is that the owners are unaware they transmit their location, and to whom."

(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris)

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What are they building in there? Speculation on the Apple Store birthday mystery (Appolicious)

With all the chatter about Apple’s super secret sweet 10th birthday party for the Apple Store, what better time than now to engage in some trivial speculation?

There’s just something about new tech that’s much more fun when it’s shrouded in mystery and built up like some sort of Secret Service need-to-know business, isn’t there? Whatever Apple has planned for this big 10th birthday party for the Apple Store seems likely to be much more iPhone 3G than iPhone, given that it probably won’t change the very idea of shopping, whatever that would mean.

Instead, there’ll be some cool feature added to the store, possibly something to do with NFC Scanners or a separate NFC device, if you can believe the speculation from FastCompany.com.

The point is, all of this is much more fun and interesting because of the mystery. If Apple just rolled this thing/idea be into stores Thursday and nobody had bothered speculating, how many people would notice? I’ve lived with people who re-arranged the furniture in my living room and it took me weeks to figure it out.

But making employees come in for a mysterious overnight shift, covering the windows and collecting everyone’s phone so they don’t ruin the surprise? Like Tom Waits, I just want to know what they’re building in there. Unfortunately I don’t have a mole on the inside of the operation, so unless someone contacts me beforehand, I’ll have to wait it out like the rest of you. And waiting, especially waiting on something involving secret NDAs and zip-drive memos, is arduous. Waiting on something like this can make a day feel like a year.

To help pass the time let’s break down some of the loudest bits of speculation and see if we can’t tire ourselves out at least.

NFC Scanners: I’ve always thought those custom iPhones that the Apple Store uses to check people out were really unique and inventive. I guess If you use them every day they’re probably a lot more boring, so this rumor might be the most fun for Apple Store employees.

Without NFC technology in the iPhone, however, I’m not too sure how it would impact the consumer. Even if that tech arrives in the iPhone 4G or 5 or whatever it will eventually be called, I’m still not sure providing me with a new way to blow large amounts of money in short time is worthy of an NDA.

A standalone NFC-enabled device: This certainly gets the juices flowing a little more, but adds its own set of questions or concerns, at least for me. Apple has already segmented the portable market once, between the iPhone and iPad. Is a third device really a smart business move? What could it possibly accomplish, other than its inclusion of NFC technology, that couldn’t also be done by either the iPhone or iPad?

If we’re talking about something that literally does nothing but act as a mobile NFC-enabled device, that’s still intriguing but wouldn’t it need to be about the size of a credit card to make any sense? While I realize NFC can be used for much more than transactions, that’s its most obvious primary use at the moment. In my mind then, it has to be at least as convenient in size to make me want to stop bringing my wallet everywhere.

A new paint job!: All right, no one has actually mentioned this, but wouldn’t it be the most surprising? What if you walked into the Apple Store on Thursday and saw a rainbow of colors on the walls and the floor? I would not have seen it coming had I not speculated about it right here, first.

Whatever the case, we’ll all find out together tomorrow, but for now I’ll enjoy the speculation and the thought that there are a number of Apple Store executives and employees who are operating on a very 007 frequency right now. It’s hard not to be jealous! If you’ve got your own ideas for what you think the big surprise is, leave them in the comments below.

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Lawmakers ask Apple to explain iPhone's tracking function

Following up on yesterday's revelation of the Big Brother tracking capability of the iPhone and iPad, lawmakers are asking Apple to explain what data is collected, and at least one is calling for an inquiry.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the House Energy and Commerce committee and its former chairman, sent a letter today asking Apple to confirm the report and explain by May 12 how the data file works.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) sent Apple a similar letter Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal points out that Apple disclosed in a letter to Markey's committee last summer that the phone automatically transmits to itself information on a user's location.

Tech pundit Andy Ihnatko offers a "few reality checks" about what the iPhone is/isn't logging and why:

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