Apple

Want to get your app in the top of iTunes? Design and good app and market it, but don’t try to work the system to get a higher ranking. If you do, you might get kicked out of iTunes.

In response to the growing number of services that aim to help app developers manipulate  iTunes in order to get higher rankings, Apple is fighting back. In a blog post Apple warned app developers not to get involved in using services that “guarantee top placement in App Store charts.”

Apple explains further on its developer blog: “Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership.” Read more

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

Here’s a 30 second video that shows almost every Apple gadget ever made. It was made by a BoingBoing contributor who isn’t actually an Apple fanboy.

We’ve been hearing about the iPad 3 since shortly after the iPad 2 launched. The latest rumor going around is that the next generation of Apple devices will have a larger battery, which we assume means a more powerful battery with a longer life. The other detail that has surfaced is that the new iPad will have a new higher resolution screen. And it may be here in March.

The rumor comes from the Repair Labs at Fix-iPhones.com who reportedly got their hands on a component that is supposedly for the new device.

Apple Insider has the scoop: “Finally, the site also declared that the LCD display will also be “different” than the current iPad 2, based on different mounting in the new back panel. Apple is rumored to utilize a new, high-resolution Retina Display for its next iPad.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook does not want Apple employees to be working in unsafe working conditions.

Responding to The New York Times‘ investigative report on dangerous working conditions in Apple factories that have led to death and injury, the Apple chief sent out an email to employees last week.

9to5mac.com reposted the email. Cook wrote: “As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”

While the iPad is still the leading tablet worldwide, according to a new study from Strategy Analytics, the Apple tablet has lost market share. In Q4 2011 Apple owned 58% of the market, a drop from the corresponding quarter in 2010 when Apple owned 68% of the market.

The study draws a parallel to this drop and the introduction of the Kindle Fire. However these two devices are in different price brackets and it may be the growth in the tablet market overall that is making Apple less dominant.

The Telegraph UK has more: “The firm estimates that the total tablet market grew from 10.7m in the last quarter of 2010 to 26.8m in the same period of 2011. Within that, total Android sales tripled to 10.5 million worldwide. Combined BlackBerry PlayBook and Windows 7 tablet sales accounted for fewer than a million units.”

Workers in a factory that makes iPads in China were harmed in an explosion at the plant this week.

The New York Times reports: “Two people were killed immediately, and over a dozen others hurt. As the injured were rushed into ambulances, one in particular stood out. His features had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.”

Apple reported this week that they sold 15.43 million iPads during fiscal Q1 2012. In order to keep up with the demand, The Times reports that working conditions in these factories are not always regulated and can include violations such as the improper use of hazardous chemicals, seven day work weeks and underage workers.

To be fair, The Times piece points out that Apple is not alone. Dell, HP, I.B.M. Motorola, Nokia, Sony and others have also had unsafe factory issues.

Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the fiscal first quarter of 2012 (which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011), a 111 percent unit increase over the same period last year. The company also sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, which was up 128 percent over the same quarter last year.

Apple’s website explains more: “The Company posted record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per diluted share.”

Interestingly, 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue came from international sales.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, expects the growth to continue. He stated: “Looking ahead to the second fiscal quarter of 2012, which will span 13 weeks, we expect revenue of about $32.5 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $8.50.”

The market research firm Global Equities Research released some surprising figures this morning. It looks like Apple’s new textbook platform is off to a good start.

Global Equities hasn’t disclosed how they know, but according to their data Apple has seen more than 350,000 digital textbooks downloaded since Thursday’s announcement. What’s even better was that iBooks Author, Apple’s new proprietary eBook making app, was itself downloaded some 90 thousand times.

These  numbers look great, yes, but they are the silver lining in a very gray cloud. While Global Equities Research was tracking the downloads, everyone else was digging up its shortcomings. For example, iBooks Author has a rather extreme license agreement. If you use it to make a digital textbook, you have agreed to give Apple complete control over it. You cannot sell it outside of iBooks, and you cannot sell it in iBooks without Apple’s approval. Of course, selling it in iBooks assumes that Apple will even allow you to.  This option is closed off for most of the world, including all of Africa, most of Asia, and  large part of South America. A majority of the world’s population is excluded, and that would generally render any benefit moot.

via AllThingsD

Yesterday Apple revealed a new digital textbook business with affordable interactive textbooks from publishers including Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Various different companies who are already in the educational eBook market have commented on the news.

John Conley, VP of publishing at Xerox, released this statement: “In the K-12 market, AP courses and specialty one-off titles are excellent targets for this solution. Adoption of the major series like reading, math and literature, is going to take longer in development especially with NASTA adoption states.  It is unknown if adoption states and open-territory school districts could make room in their budgets for a technology infrastructure update of this nature – it seems likely that the printed textbook for the major K-12 series will hold on a bit longer.” Read more

At a special education announcement in New York City, Apple revealed partnerships with Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to create more interactive and affordable textbooks.

A few of the books are now available on iTunes, including the free Life on Earth by E.O. Wilson, a $14.99 Physics high school textbook from McGraw-Hill and a $14.99 Biology high school textbook from Pearson.

The company also revealed iBooks 2, a more interactive kind of eBook format. Peter Kafka listed these features in his liveblog: “Quizzes and review questions built into book. ‘The bottom line is: Immediate feedback.’ Can highlight text with finger, change color, etc. Add notes … Turn notes into study cards. Can turn glossary terms into study cards.”