Developers sue Apple over app store fees

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — A lawsuit filed Tuesday by developers alleges Apple is abusing its monopoly position in its online marketplace to extract excessive fees from those creating iPhone applications.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California, claims Apple cornered the market with its iOS App Store, collecting a 30 percent commission on all app sales and in-app purchases.

The complaint comes as Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California and just weeks after the US Supreme Court allowed a consumer lawsuit against Apple on similar grounds to proceed.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status for the suit, said Apple requires developers selling products through the App Store to pay an annual fee of $99, which hurts small and new developers.

They also said that by keeping all iOS apps into one marketplace -- some two million were available last year -- consumers never see most apps.

"Between Apple's 30 percent cut of all App Store sales, the annual fee of $99 and pricing mandates, Apple blatantly abuses its market power to the detriment of developers, who are forced to use the only platform available to them to sell their iOS app," said Steve Berman of the law firm Hagens Berman, which is representing the plaintiffs.

"In a competitive landscape, this simply would not happen."

The lawsuit seeks to force Apple to end its monopoly and allow competition in the distribution of iOS apps.

It also seeks to end Apple's pricing requirement including the minimum price mandate of 99 cents for paid apps.

Apple did not immediately respond to a query on the lawsuit.

In the past, Apple has defended its control of the App Store, saying it enables the iPhone maker to protect against malicious software and maintain quality standards.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that consumers could proceed with a separate lawsuit on app pricing, rejecting Apple's argument that consumers lacked standing because the tech giant was merely an intermediary with app developers.

The class-action lawsuit from 2011 maintains that Apple abuses its monopoly position, resulting in higher prices.

source: philstar.com

Want $2,000? Make a BlackBerry app

MANILA, Philippines — If you think paying $100 to submit your app to Apple’s App Store is a ripoff, then BlackBerry maker Research in Motion may have the solution for you.

In a bid to populate its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system, Canadian phone maker RIM has announced rewards for app developers who will port their Android apps or websites into the company’s new system, with compensation reaching to as much as $2000 (about P80,000).

In a fresh round of porting events the company is calling “Port-A-Thons,” local developers who have existing Android apps can receive the cash reward by participating in the 36-hour virtual porting marathon, starting from 1:00 am of January 19.

For every successful app approved into BlackBerry World — the platform’s version of the App Store or the Google Play Store — RIM will pay developers $100, with a limit of up to $2000 per vendor.

But it’s not only app developers who are eligible for the cash reward, as website owners or Facebook page administrators can convert their Web pages into a BlackBerry app using RIM’s own conversion tooland submit them for approval.

The last app Port-A-Thon, held on January 12 worldwide and featured a local event organized by the PinoyBBDev community of BlackBerry developers, garnered some 15,000 applications for RIM’s new operating system over the course of 36 hours.

A total of $500,000 is available for distribution through these events, the company said.

The Canadian phone maker is preparing to unveil BlackBerry 10, its newest mobile operating system, along with a number of new devices at an event towards the end of January.

RIM President and CEO Thorsten Heins, who visited the Philippines in October, said they are banking on BB 10 to snatch market share away from Apple and Samsung, two companies that currently lead the global smartphone market.

It is also considered the company’s last-ditch effort for a turnaround as consumers increasingly go for touchscreen phones and away from QWERTY-enabled phones the likes of BlackBerry’s offerings.

“Why did we do this? Why didn’t we go Android or Windows 8 or any other open platform that’s out there? Because we want to serve our BlackBerry users and customers. And the way to do this is to keep our BlackBerry DNA alive, we need a new platform,” Heins said in an earlier interview.

RIM’s Port-A-Thons are a means to encourage rapid adoption of the platform upon launch as the availability of apps are now a major factor being considered by users in choosing their phones — something that the relatively young Windows Phone platform is currently struggling with, as its hundred-thousand-strong app base is easily dwarfed by iOS’s and Android’s apps that number by the millions.

Early adoption of the long-awaited BlackBerry 10 devices by government and corporate clients will help breathe new life into the struggling company, whose shares are down 90 percent from an all-time high of more than $148 in 2008.

Still, shares of RIM, which fell as low as $6.22 in September, have more than doubled in value over the last four months as the BlackBerry 10 launch approaches.

RIM promises that its new line of devices will be faster and smoother than existing BlackBerry phones and will boast a large catalog of apps, crucial to the success of any new line of smartphones.

source: interaksyon.com

Candy Crush Saga, Facebook Favorite, Heads to the iPhone

King.com has been producing nothing but hits on Facebook since it launched its first game on the platform in April. So much so that it’s now the #2 creator of social games on the social network, second to only Zynga.

Now it is releasing one of its most popular games to date, Candy Crush Saga, on iOS. It’s available for iPad, iPad mini, iPhone and iPod touch in November.

The Bejeweled-like game currently has an astounding 5 million daily active players on Facebook, making it the 4th most popular game and largest casual social game on the social network. The mobile version of Candy Crush Saga will offer a similar gameplay experience to the Facebook version and will keep track of player’s leaderboards, progress, and virtual goods purchased across both platforms.

“One game after another is a hit, because we take games that are hit before [Facebook],” Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King.com told Mashable.

The company first releases all of its games on King.com in the form of a single level timed game you play along with your friends, trying to achieve the highest score in the allotted time.

When a game is successful in that form, King them turn it into a saga franchise and releases it on Facebook, and later mobile.





Candy Crush Saga is following in the footsteps of King’s Bubble Witch Saga that the company launched on Facebook earlier this year and on mobile in August.

Zacconi says that players that started playing Bubble Witch on Facebook often play on mobile, but return to the Facebook game as well.

“This is increasing gameplay by 50% on top incrementally,” he says.

There’s no denying Bubble Witch Saga’s popularity. The game is currently the 10th most popular iPad app in the United States, and the 4th most popular iPad game in the App Store.

Gaming on Facebook as a whole is growing, and growing fast. The social network recently revealed that 251 million people played games on Facebook in September 2012, up from 226 million in September of 2011. Right now gaming on the social network is anyone’s game, and it looks like King is up to the challenge.

“We have a very simple strategy: to launch good games and the best games everywhere,” says Zacconi. “For me this is the most important launch this year.”

Candy Crush Saga will be available for iOS in November and later for Android.

source: mashable.com

Facebook completes global rollout of its own app store

MANILA, Philippines — Social networking giant Facebook on Thursday lifted the lid off of its own app store, called App Center, for all of its more than 900 million active monthly users worldwide — including the Philippines — as it attempts to become more relevant to mobile users.

Announced in early June, Facebook’s App Center collates all of the Web, mobile, and social applications created by developers for the social network platform. Through the App Center, users would know which games or apps their friends are using, as well as which apps are garnering popularity among users worldwide.

“The App Center is now available to people worldwide! Discover new and fun apps you can enjoy with friends today,” said the official announcement on Facebook.

But the apps available on Facebook’s store extend beyond apps developed specifically for the network, as they extend to mobile apps on the iOS and Android platforms that interact with the social network through what is known as Facebook Connect.

These apps include mobile food social network Foodspotting, mobile music streaming app Spotify, and mobile photo-sharing network Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1 billion in April, among others.

“The App Center will become the new, central place to find great apps like Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify, Battle Pirates, Viddy, and Bubble Witch Saga,” said Facebook’s Aaron Brady.

Facebook’s recent App Center move dovetails to its widely publicized struggle with the mobile space, where Facebook currently doesn’t have any form of revenue-generating implementation.

The problem was compounded with a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Facebook saying that some 102 million of its users accessed the service through their mobile phones alone in June, suggesting that the company’s revenues may be affected if it doesn’t act fast on its mobile versions.

The company is reported to be planning an overhaul its mobile apps for the iOS and Android platforms soon, with an initial update that will improve the app’s responsiveness on mobile devices, a common gripe expressed by Facebook users on smartphones.

Following the release of its first financial report following its initial public offering in May, Facebook’s stock fell to a record low of $23.97 last week, or 37 percent below its IPO price of $38. While revenue continues to grow for the company, growth has been slowing down this year.

source: interaksyon.com