I’m not sure what to think about this one. According to numerous rumors, Apple will start charging you to re-download already purchased apps to your iPhone/iPod Touch. You can download the app again from your PC or Mac, but not from the iPhone. iClarified has some thoughts on this.

The warning message pictured below has been appearing to some users on the iPhone 3.0 beta firmware. Previously if you had purchased an iPhone app you could remove it and then easily redownload and install it on your iPhone as many times as you like.

Now the warning dialog suggests that you must re-download it using your computer; otherwise, you will have to pay full price for the app again.

The iPhone Blog believes that this is due to the on-device account management coming to iPhone 3.0. The ability to log in and out of multiple iTunes accounts on your iPhone could lead to the sharing of iPhone purchases with others who haven’t paid for them.

I can kinda see where they are going with this. Kinda. Apple is trying to fend off people from signing into each others phones and downloading already purchased apps. But couldn’t they have come up with a better way of preventing this? I’m no genius but I would think that the brain trust at Apple could have worked this out in a more convenient way for the end user.

Last week we reported on a pretty little ereader for the iPhone that didn’t make Apple’s crazy approval process because it allowed access to the Kama Sutra. It sounds like Apple’s smarter thinking prevailed, and Eucalyptus has been reinstated at the original $10 price tag.

Though it’s tough to say what really made the difference, I’d like to think rampant posts about the ridiculous rejection brought it to Apple’s attention, at which point they actually thought, instead of just mashing the ‘declined’ stamp on seeing the words ‘Kama Sutra.’

As for the app, I’m not sure I’d spend $10 to read public domain books (read, old) on the go. It’s a nice model, though, and hopefully something others can look at to make future apps with some added functionality.

Apple’s iPhone App Store approval process has created a flurry of news with its stringent requirements, the latest of which involved an eloquent rant by Trent Reznor. It’s pretty hard to disagree with Reznor on this one, though we may have done so with more carefully chosen words (you’re too old to care so much about your rocker persona). The apps that do and don’t make it through seem arbitrary at best, and near fascist at the worst.

Developer Jelle Prins has found a way around the mess by hiding the “worst” of his app with a nifty little easter egg. Prins’ App, Lyrics, which displays the lyrics of songs in a user’s playlist, was initially rejected because it would display all lyrics, even the obscene ones. Approval came only after Prins installed a profanity filter.

That’s not the end of the story. Alongside the profanity filter, Prins scripted an easter egg that enables profanity at the user’s discretion. Just head to the “About” page on the app, swipe your fingers down three times and confirm you want to see the naughty lyrics. Prins said the egg was easy to implement because it’s a difficult thing to notice in the source code.

Prins also says the app was likely approved due to a lack of manpower on Apple’s part. Lyrics ties in to an online database to monitor usage. That database showed only one use during his approval process, meaning just one person fired up the app, searched for a few profanities, and then pushed the thing through when he couldn’t find any. Scouring lines of code for things like Prins’ easter egg isn’t even on the map.

Of course with all the attention on Prins and his little workaround, I would not be surprised to see the app pulled until 3.0 parental controls go live. So much for sticking it to the man.

Source: Wired

You’ve got your insurance card, your grocery card, your other insurance card, your gym card, your library card, your bulk-supplier-of-choice card…that’s a lot of cards, and there are plenty of other memberships I’ve not even mentioned. Luckily, the clever folks at Mesa Dynamics have programmed an iPhone app to handle all that crap.

The app, called Cardstar, comes pre-programmed with some 130 merchants and retailers across the US, Canada, and the UK. An app is only as good as its ability to be tailored to personal needs, and luckily Cardstar delivers. The app allows you to add any card that may not already be in the database.

Even though Cardstar isn’t a particularly new app, I thought I’d post since it’s running right now for free, as opposed to the normal $.99.

What a freaking disappointment! All the hype, all the love, and the sugar that was poured on Sling. So I guess it is true. Every rose has its thorn just like every Sling Player App has its guts ripped out of it. I swear that app was going to be a sweet child of mine. But now, I don’t want it, dead or alive.

OK, enough of the bad (or really good depending on your perspective) 80’s hair band lyrics. Seriously though. Have you seen the news? Have you heard what Apple/AT&T did to Sling’s SlingPlayer Mobile app? They gutted it. They sent them back and told them to remove 3G support. Thought it would be too much traffic on the network. Boo hoo. You do know that AT&T has other smart phones with Sling Player apps on them don’t you? And they work over a 3G connection. This just pisses me off. Oh, I almost forgot the best part. They want to charge you $30 for this downgraded, half hearted effort at a mobile Sling app. $30! $30 to stream my TV over WiFi only? You have to be kidding me.

So in case you’re wondering, I will not be downloading the SlingPlayer Mobile app that comes out tomorrow. I will wait for the Hulu app or for Apple/AT&T to loosen their reigns on Sling before that happens.

So until I come on and feel the noise about Sling on 3G, I’m going to take my iPhone down to the app store city, where the apps are free and they work on 3G. Oh won’t this article please end…..

Source: engadget