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How much control will Apple have over news app content?

Mark Fiore's job is making fun of political figures. And he's actually quite good at it, according to the Pulitzer Prize Committee.

Earlier this week it named him the winner of the Pulitzer Prize in editorial cartooning, but Apple rejected an iPhone app containing Fiore's cartoons in December. The reason? Apple said applications that ridicule public figures are not allowed.

That presents a problem for Fiore, and all editorial cartoonists and political satirists who'd like to submit their work to the App Store for that matter, because, well, that's what they do.

Luckily for Fiore, the Nieman Journalism Lab took up his cause and wrote about his app's rejection. A day later Apple relented, and on Friday asked Fiore to resubmit. The New York Times reported Friday afternoon that Steve Jobs himself called it "a mistake that's being fixed." That's great for Fiore, but not every political satirist is a Pulitzer winner who can get publicity for his app's unfair rejection.

So what does that mean for the future of news or editorial products on the iPad and iPhone? It's safe to assume that quashing political satire isn't Apple's goal here. But it's a legitimate concern for the journalism community that to be featured on the App Store they have to submit their news content to a company unafraid to exercise what sometimes seems like arbitrary control. The thinking goes, what if Apple finds a headline offensive? Or what if there's an unfavorable article about Apple itself even? That's not to say Apple would do that, but its inconsistent handling of App Store submissions sets a troubling precedent. … Read more

OK, but not great

It may be a direct clone from the excellent iPhone app, but Google's Mobile App for iPad loses something in the translation. Or rather, it loses an opportunity to go further and deeper by creating a rich, native home for its many services.

There's the search screen with voice search and text input, a Settings menu, and a screen displaying a long list of Google's Web services, like Google Docs, Picasa Web albums, and Google Reader. Just like Google Mobile App for iPhone, which we primarily regard as a search tool, tapping any of these shortcuts takes … Read more

Tell the world what you're listening to

I must not be part of the "always connected" generation that marketers talk about. Of course I'm on Facebook and Twitter, but whenever I post anything personal, I can't quite shake the little voice in my head saying "who cares?" Nonetheless, I sometimes like to turn people on to music that I've just discovered, like The Fresh and Onlys, who played a good show in Seattle last night.

An iPhone app called Cardinal, released in March, can help. (It also works with the iPod Touch if you've got an active Wi-Fi connection.) … Read more

Coachella iPhone app and the festival experience

Rock festivals have sure gotten easy. Back when I attended the first Lollapalooza in 1991, I had only a glancing knowledge of most of the acts on the bill, and the only way to hear them before the act was to find a friend with a deeper music collection or beg the local DJ to play, say, a Siouxsie and the Banshees song from before the MTV era. (As if.) In more recent years, navigating big multi-stage festivals like SXSW and Seattle's Bumbershoot have required the mind of a military logistics expert. To catch all the acts I wanted … Read more

Google, Apple play nice for Google Mobile on iPad

As of about noon Tuesday on the West Coast, Google's mobile app for the iPad is available as a free download in the App store. If you've used the iPhone version, be ready for more of the same. And that's too bad.

Google has basically just taken the iPad's Safari browser and used this app to make it very Google-centric, but that's about the only thing the app brings: no Chrome, no Android-ish interface, nothing. Sure, you get voice search and location-specified searches built in, but it comes across as a half-effort.

Google perhaps missed … Read more

Google ready to get down to business

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google wants to be the next big enterprise software company.

Truth be told, Google wants to be the next big everything. Monday's target was the budding Web-based enterprise software market, as Google pulled out all the stops to convince an audience of 400 CIOs and technology managers--plus far more on a Webcast--that cloud computing isn't so much the future as the present and Google can make it happen.

Enterprise computing hasn't been sexy for years. Indeed, author Geoffrey Moore of TCG Advisers explained to the crowd that after binging at the Y2K trough, enterprise … Read more

More details on Microsoft's free Office

Microsoft has said that, starting with Office 2010, it will allow computer makers to bundle in a limited version of the product onto new PCs. However Microsoft has shared relatively little about Office Starter 2010, the product that will replace Works at the low-end of Microsoft's productivity lineup.

Over lunch on Wednesday, Chris Capossela, a senior vice president at Microsoft, shared a little more about what users can expect when they open up Office Starter.

As previously detailed, the product includes scaled-down versions of Word and Excel and is free for consumers, but does include advertising. Capossela said that … Read more

Netflix app coming to iPhone, iPod Touch

CNET's Dan Ackerman called Netflix for iPad "one of the best reasons we can think of to sign on to Apple's new device." And I believe him.

That's why I've been battling the green-eyed monster since iPad launch day. The surprising news of streaming Netflix movies and TV shows was almost enough to get me to stand in line and spend $500 I wasn't planning to spend. Almost.

But surely, I thought, surely Netflix will share the app love with us lowly iPhone and iPod Touch users? Please, please, please, please?

Thank you! Turns out, Netflix does indeed plan to offer an iPhone/Touch version of the app. Here's the word from The Official Netflix Blog:

Steve Swasey, VP of corporate communications, here. Terrific response to our news today about Netflix on the iPad. For those of you asking whether Netflix will be on the iPhone and iPod Touch: We wouldn't invite you to dinner without planning to serve dessert. In other words, we're working on it so stay tuned.

Happy dance!… Read more

iWork on the iPad is a great way to work

Of the many apps available on iPad release day--and the continuing flood of new additions coming in as developers get their apps primed for the new device--a few key apps came straight from Apple. As reported when the iPad was initially announced, Apple has created iPad versions of its popular iWork productivity suite, including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote apps--each of which is available for $9.99 at the iTunes App Store.

We've had a chance to get a close look at each of the iWork apps and have found them to be extremely useful on the new platform. Obviously, … Read more