Apple Rejecting ‘Flappy’ Titled Games From App Store

Apple has begun rejecting games attempting to take advantage of the popularity of the now-defunct Flappy Bird, a hit game that developer Dong Nguyen removed from the App Store earlier in February.

Shortly after Flappy Bird was pulled from the App Store, several clones of the original game soared up through the App Store charts, including a game called Flappy Bee, which stole artwork from a different app.

Two Flappy Bird clones
According to TechCrunch, Apple began cracking down on Flappy-titled games over the weekend. One developer, who tried to release an app called “Flappy Dragon” into the App Store, had his app rejected by Apple for attempting to “leverage a popular app,” thus violating App Store Review Guideline 22.2, which references apps that contain “false, fraudulent, or misleading representations.”

22.2: Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations will be rejected.

We found that your app, and/or its metadata, contains content that could be misleading to users, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.

We found your app name attempts to leverage a popular app.

Several additional Twitter comments revealed that other developers were facing the same rejections on games attempting to use the Flappy moniker, though multiple “Flappy” apps remain in the App Store, including Flappy Fish, Flappy Plane, Flappy Pig, and Flappy Puppy, having presumably made it though the review process before Apple began cracking down on Flappy apps.

Flappy Bee, the aforementioned app that used stolen artwork and managed to make its way to the top of the App Store charts, has, however, had its name changed to Jumpy Bee, suggesting that Apple may also be asking some existing clone apps to change their names to put an end to the Flappy frenzy. At the height of its popularity, Flappy Bird was reportedly earning $50,000 per day from advertising, so it is unsurprising that developers have rushed to fill the Flappy Bird void.

Though Apple has begun cracking down on the Flappy phenomenon, two popular Flappy Bird clones, Splashy Fish and City Bird – Flappy Flyer remain the number one and number two free iPhone apps some eight days after the original Flappy Bird game was pulled from the App Store.

Samsung Reportedly Drops Out of Apple’s A8 Chip Production Over Low Yields

Apple may rely on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) for the entirety of its A8 processor production in 2014, claims a report from TechNews Taiwan [Google Translate] (via G 4 Games). Samsung allegedly was dropped as a manufacturer because of low yields in its 20 nm manufacturing process for the A-series processor, while TSMC was able to meet Apple’s demands.

The Wall Street Journal reported back in June 2013 that TSMC may provide some A-series chips for the Apple’s iOS devices in a manufacturing agreement starting in 2014. TSMC was expected to handle up to 70 percent of the manufacturing load, while Samsung would pick up the rest. Production problems may, however, have resulted in Samsung being removed completely from the A8 supply chain.

According to the report, this shift away from Samsung for the A8 processor is not expected to affect production of the A9 processor in 2015. An earlier report suggested Samsung and TSMC may share the production of the A9, with Samsung supplying approximately 40% of Apple’s 14-nm A9 chip family in 2015. This latest report claims Apple may start A9 production with TSMC and its 16 nm process and then shift to Samsung and its 14 nm process when the Korean company can meet demand.

Apple’s A8 chip is expected to make its public appearance later this year in new iPhone and iPad models.

Apple’s New Brazilian Retail Store Opens Its Doors [iOS Blog]

Apple’s first retail store in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, with approximately 1,700 customers waiting in line for the grand opening (via The Globe]. Customers started queueing up on Thursday night for the Saturday morning debut, with groups waiting both inside and outside the Village Mall.

The opening of the Rio de Janeiro store was announced last week on the company’s website and is Apple’s first store in Latin America. The store has a fairly unique single floor, pavilion-style design with a curved glass exterior. Unlike most other Apple retail stores, the Rio de Janeiro location features a split-concept layout where one half of the store is dedicated to product demonstrations while the other half is focused on accessory sales and services.

Speaking to Brazilian news site The Globe, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer confirmed that Brazil was an increasingly important market for Apple. The Rio de Janeiro store is part of a larger plan to tap into the Latin American market, which traditionally has been a weak market for Apple due to the high import taxes levied on electronic devices.

Apple will be selling its full product lineup in the Rio store, including the iPhone 5S starting at the equivalent of $1,174, with high taxes making it the most expensive Apple retail store for iPhone purchases (via Bloomberg).

Apple’s New Brazilian Retail Store Opens Its Doors [iOS Blog]

Apple’s first retail store in Brazil opened in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, with approximately 1,700 customers waiting in line for the grand opening (via The Globe]. Customers started queueing up on Thursday night for the Saturday morning debut, with groups waiting both inside and outside the Village Mall.

The opening of the Rio de Janeiro store was announced last week on the company’s website and is Apple’s first store in Latin America. The store has a fairly unique single floor, pavilion-style design with a curved glass exterior. Unlike most other Apple retail stores, the Rio de Janeiro location features a split-concept layout where one half of the store is dedicated to product demonstrations while the other half is focused on accessory sales and services.

Speaking to Brazilian news site The Globe, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer confirmed that Brazil was an increasingly important market for Apple. The Rio de Janeiro store is part of a larger plan to tap into the Latin American market, which traditionally has been a weak market for Apple due to the high import taxes levied on electronic devices.

Apple will be selling its full product lineup in the Rio store, including the iPhone 5S starting at the equivalent of $1,174, with high taxes making it the most expensive Apple retail store for iPhone purchases (via Bloomberg).

Apple SVP of Design Jony Ive Removed from Leadership Webpage

Apple Senior Vice President of Design Jonathan Ive has been removed from Apple’s Leadership webpage in the past few hours with no explanation. However, his profile still remains at its original URL and can also be viewed on Apple’s last updated Leadership page through Google’s cache.

Ive currently oversees Apple’s Industrial Design Group and is the leader of the company’s Human Interface division, a position he took in October 2012 after then-Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall was forced out of the company. Ive spearheaded the effort behind iOS 7, which was released last September and featured a completely new design in addition to various other tweaks.

Last year, Apple Senior Vice President Bob Mansfield was removed from Apple’s website entirely, although it was revealed soon after that Mansfield would be stepping down from Apple’s executive team to work on special products and report directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Ive has been very instrumental in Apple’s success since assuming his role after the return of Steve Jobs in 1997, as he has designed Apple’s most successful products including the iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Apple Among Tech Companies Interested in Acquiring Health Tracker Maker Basis

Basis, the company behind the Basis Health fitness tracker, has put itself up for purchase and has discussed the possibility of a buyout with tech companies including Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft, reports TechCrunch.

Basis Health Tracker 2014 Edition

The price we’ve heard for any possible activity is “sub-hundred million” which could mean a small return for investors like Norwest Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund and Intel Capital, who have poured over $30 million into the company.

While it is unknown as to how much interest Apple has in purchasing the San Francisco-based company, an acquisition would make sense. Recent reports have suggested that the iWatch will include optical sensors to measure physical functions, and Basis’ experience in developing advanced fitness tracking products would make them a natural fit as Apple looks to integrate more health-centric technology into its smart watch product.

Furthermore, Basis’ most recent tracker includes the ability to monitor health-related metrics such such as heart rate, sleep activity, movement, perspiration levels, and skin temperature, which is similar to what past reports have indicated as tracking features for the iWatch. Apple is also said to be developing a “Healthbook” app for iOS 8 which could also be bolstered by the technologies currently found in Basis’ products.

Over the past few months, Apple has also hired a number of health experts in fields related to heart rate monitoring and fitness tracking. Two executives from pulse-oximetry company Masimo joined Apple, which includes its former Chief Medical Officer. Other health-related hires have also been from C8 MediSensors, a company that develops non-invasive blood monitoring sensors.

Overall, details on the iWatch have been mostly limited, but more information is likely to be revealed as the product’s release grows closer. It is unknown when Apple plans to launch the iWatch, but a fall release date alongside iOS 8 and a next-generation iPhone is likely.

Apple May Have Considered Purchasing Tesla, Researching Audio to Predict Heart Attacks

Apple’s interest in vehicle and medical integration for its products is well-known, but a new report from the San Francisco Chronicle claims some new details on both fronts, including word that Apple may have explored a potential purchase of electric car manufacturer Tesla last year.

The specific claim that Apple was considering a purchase of Tesla seems to be primarily speculation, but the report notes that Apple’s head of acquisitions Adrian Perica met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk early last year. According to the report’s source, Apple CEO Tim Cook was probably also involved in the meeting.

In October 2013, German investment banking analyst Adnaan Ahmad created a media stir when he wrote an “open letter” to Apple CEO Tim Cook and board director Al Gore, urging the company to acquire Tesla. […]

Six months before Ahmad’s letter, Musk met with Perica and probably Cook at Apple headquarters, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect business relationships. While a megadeal has yet to emerge (for all of its cash, Apple still plays hardball on valuation), such a high-level meeting between the two Silicon Valley giants involving their top dealmakers suggests Apple was very much interested in buying the electric car pioneer.

One analyst suggests that discussion of a deal to integrate iOS devices with Tesla cars may have been a much more likely topic for the meeting, but it is unclear why such a discussion would directly involve Musk and Apple’s acquisitions chief.

On a separate note, the report claims that Apple’s interest in medical functions, rumored to be linked to its iWatch initiative, includes an innovative effort to predict heart attacks using audio sensors. That effort is reportedly led by Tomlinson Holman, the audio pioneer behind the THX sound standard who joined Apple in 2011.

Though Apple has never confirmed it, the company hired Holman in 2011 to “provide audio direction,” according to his LinkedIn profile. At the time, observers assumed Holman would focus his efforts on boosting the audio quality of MacBooks and iPhones.

But under Holman, Apple is exploring ways to measure noise “turbulence” as it applies to blood flow. The company wants to develop software and sensors that can predict heart attacks by identifying the sound blood makes as it tries to move through an artery clogged with plaque, the source said.

The report also points to Apple patents covering heart-related biometrics such as the ability to authenticate a device based on a user’s unique heart rhythm.

Apple’s iWatch has been rumored to include an array of sensors for monitoring a wide variety of health-related statistics, and reports have indicated that the device could arrive later this year.

Apple Launching Updated iPad Air in 2014, No 12.9-Inch iPad or New iPad Mini Until 2015

Apple may be preparing to introduce an upgraded iPad Air this year and will likely hold off the release of a 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” and a newer iPad mini until next year, KGI Securities Ming-Chi Kuo states in a new research note. The analyst believes that a new iPad Air with an A8 processor and Touch ID fingerprint sensor will be the only new tablet that Apple introduces this year, as the company focuses on shifting its resources from the Retina iPad Mini towards developing the 12.9-inch iPad. Kuo estimates that the larger iPad will debut early next year or late this year with limited supply.

12.9-inch iPad (left) with 13-inch MacBook Air (right)

Compared with lower-margin iPad mini with Retina display, which shipments has been tepid, higher-margin iPad Air was a hot selling item in 4Q13, which will slow Apple in developing new iPad mini models. We believe Apple plans to launch upgraded iPad Air early this year, and will accelerate development of 12.9” iPad. As such, more resources will be allocated to these two products, which will affect the progress of the development of new iPad mini. All told, we think chances of the debut of a new iPad mini in 2H14 are slim. In addition, the 12.9” iPad is unlikely to be offered in 2014. For these reasons, we predict the only new iPad product in 2H14 will be the upgraded iPad Air.

In his research note, Kuo also states that the 12.9-inch iPad will act as a driver in allowing developers to create more interactive apps for a bigger screen. However, the analyst notes that Apple has prioritized developing the operating system for the iWatch this year, with plans to release its smart watch in 2014. Kuo also predicts that Apple will restart mass production of the iPad 4 in Q1 2014 as Apple looks to wind down iPad 2 production after a three-year run, which was reported earlier this week. Overall, the analyst predicts the iPad shipments will fall from 34 million units in the 1st half of 2013 to below 30 million units in the first half of 2014.

Kuo shared similar thoughts on the possibility of a 12.9-inch iPad last October, stating that the sixth-generation iPad would contain a 30-40% higher pixel density instead of a bigger screen. Various reports throughout the past couple of months have stated that Apple is targeting a late Q3 2014 launch for the iPad Pro, with some indicating that the device could be aimed toward the enterprise market.