MacRumors

It's April 1st again -- also known as April Fools' Day. Today also represents Apple's 36th anniversary, having been founded on this day in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Here are a couple of the more ambitious pranks floating around the internet today:

Hungry Hungry Hippos for iPad

ThinkGeek has introduced a modernized version of the classic Hungry Hungry Hippos game for the iPad, but now with "capacitive-padded heads."

ee0b hungry hungry hippos ipad

Electronic Hungry Hungry Hippos iPad Game is everything you remember about HHH. All four hippos are present and hungry, except this time, the hippos fit over your iPad and the game board is an app!

Readers will remember that ThinkGeek first introduced the iCade as an April Fools prank that later became a shipping product.

Google Maps for NES

Google has created an 8-bit version of Google Maps for the NES platform - a cartridge based game console from the 1980s.


You can explore it yourself on Google's maps site.

Feral Interactive is serving up BioShock 2 to Mac users via the Mac App Store, two years after it arrived on the PC. It costs $30.99 on the Mac App Store, or via Feral directly. The game does include a multiplayer component as well.

Feral is dedicated to bringing major game titles to the Mac, and has taken to the Mac App Store in a big way. The company already sells a Mac version of BioShock 1, amongst a number of other titles.

mzl

Welcome back to Rapture. Paradise reborn.

Deep within the ruined undersea city of Rapture, your beloved Little Sister, Eleanor, awaits your return. As her Big Daddy, you protected her from a world of insanely selfish adults, now you must shield her again from those who demand that everything must be shared.

Ten years after the events of BioShock, Rapture has fallen under the control of a collectivist cult who plan to transform Eleanor into a genetically-engineered messiah, who will put an end to individuality forever. To save her, you must deploy a unique combination of shooting, role-play and stealth as you rampage through Rapture’s leaking halls to confront her captors.

Whether you choose to forgive those who threaten Eleanor or wreak vengeance upon them, remember, she is always watching and will follow your example.

Minimum system requirements for the game are a bit steep, unsurprisingly: Processor: 2.0 GHz, RAM: 4GB, Graphics: 256MB, Free Space: 10GB. The following graphics cards are not supported: ATI X1xxx series, ATI HD2xxx series, NVIDIA 9400, NVIDIA 7xxx series and Intel GMA series.

BioShock 2 is available for $30.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]

BioShock 1 is also available for $29.99. [Direct Link]

ibooks iconEarlier this month, we reported on word from the U.S. Department of Justice that regulators were looking at filing suit against Apple and e-book publishers over the "agency model" of pricing championed by Apple leading up to the launch of its iBookstore. Under the model, retail book prices are set by publishers, with retailers receiving a cut of the proceeds.

Of most concern to regulators, Apple's agreements with the publishers included "most favored nation" clauses that prevented publishers from selling their books through any other retailers at lower prices than offered through Apple's iBookstore. Reuters now reports that the parties involved in the dispute are continuing to move toward a settlement in order to ward off a lawsuit, and that the settlement is likely to see the removal of these clauses. As a result, the publishing industry will likely in some form return to the previous wholesale model in which retailers set their own prices for books.

While negotiations are still fluid, the settlement is expected to eliminate Apple's so-called "most favored nation" status, which had prevented the publishers from selling lower-priced e-books through rival retailers such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) or Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N), the people said.

The deal could also force a shift, at least temporarily, in pricing control from publishers to retailers, one of the people said.

Such a move to a "wholesale model" would not only benefit consumers but also Amazon, which had been the leading bargain e-book retailer with its Kindle reader.

Under the wholesale model, Amazon priced e-books at or even below cost in many cases in order to draw in customers who would then purchase other items from its online store. But the practice generated concern among publishers that their works were being devalued, and many were happy to sign on with Apple's agency model in order to create more price stability.

Analysts estimate that a return to the wholesale model could add $1 billion to Amazon's revenues this year given its commanding 65% share of the e-book market and the impact of discounted pricing on sales of other items in its store. Book sales make up only a small portion of Apple's revenue, with estimates pegging iBookstore sales at roughly $50 million annually, and the company is expected to see little impact from any pricing changes in the book market.

A new job listing on Apple's site indicates that the company is developing a "significant growth plan" for its network of Apple Premium Resellers (APRs) in India, seeking a new national manager to oversee expansion of the program.

The Apple Premium Reseller (APR) program was designed by Apple to expand and improve the market coverage and customer experience. Apple Premium Resellers offer the complete range of Macs, iPods and iPhones, along with a full complement of software and accessories.

There are currently 49 APRs in India with a significant growth plan for the future.

The NM [National Manager] will lead the expansion of the APR coverage as per plan

The new position will be based in Bangalore, where Apple has a minor existing presence.

Earlier this year, rumors surfaced suggesting that Apple was considering opening its own retail stores in India after the government relaxed laws that had required significant domestic ownership of single-brand stores. It is unclear whether Apple's planned expansion of its APR network in India means that it has decided against opening its own stores in the country, but any such Apple retail plan appears to have been a long-term project in any case.

apple premium reseller india
India is one of the four "BRIC" countries whose developing economies are seen as major growth markets, with Brazil, Russia, and China also being included in that group. Apple has clearly focused its initial efforts for this group on China, although Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged in an interview last month that the company has also been increasing its efforts in Brazil and Russia. Consequently, India appears to be Apple's lowest priority among emerging markets, but the company is undoubtedly keeping a keen eye on developments there and building its APR network as an interim measure to increase its presence.

Apple has updated its marketing for the new iPad in Australia after regulators in that country criticized the company over "misleading" marketing claims related to the iPad's 4G capabilities. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced on Tuesday that it would pursue injunctions, fines and other remedies.

Apple responded by offering full refunds to Australian customers who felt misled about Apple's 4G advertising.

ipadaustralia
Apple has seen similar complaints over the iPad's 4G marketing in other countries including Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Currently, the iPad only works on 4G LTE networks in the United States and Canada. The Norwegian complaint is more significant than those in the other countries. Like Australia, Norway has actually instructed Apple to change the wording of its marketing materials.

The Norwegian Forbrukerombudet, or Consumer Ombudsman, has expressed particular concern over the heavy focus on the new iPad's 4G LTE support and the description of the product as "designed with next-generation wireless technology".

Because the iPad's LTE support is incompatible with Norwegian wireless networks, the fact that the iPad supports LTE makes no difference to potential buyers in Norway and is thus "misleading". The Ombudsman has given Apple until April 10, 2012 to make the necessary changes.

Earlier this week, we noted that Apple had offered royalty-free licensing of its proposed design for next-generation "nano-SIM" cards for use in devices connecting to cellular networks, on the condition that its design be selected and that other rights holders offer similar licenses to encourage adoption.

apple nano sim
Prototype of Apple's proposed nano-SIM design inside outline of a mini-SIM card (Source: The Verge)

But as reported by FOSS Patents, the European Telecommunications Standards Institutes (ETSI) has postponed any vote on selecting a standard as the various companies proposing designs continue to squabble over the issue.

According to the report, the participating companies have failed to reach an agreement and decided not to hold the envisioned vote. In accordance with ETSI rules, the vote will now have to be postponed by a minimum of 30 days.

It appears that Nokia's overt unwillingness to license its potentially essential patents in the event that Apple's nano-SIM proposal is adopted and Sandisk's resistance to Nokia's proposal have resulted in an impasse. Sandisk, too, holds patents that may be essential to a new SIM card standard.

Apple is also coming under fire from the other participants in the negotiations, with Research in Motion accusing Apple of hiding its efforts to stack the voting panel by having at least three of its employees re-register for voting purposes as representatives of various carriers.

The RIM letter, which was submitted Wednesday, states that RIM over last few days has observed a number of people from one company changing their affiliation and registering to the meeting representing a completely different company. But voting by proxy during a technical body meeting is not allowed, according to RIM.

The letter highlights four examples, including three supposed Apple employees who have registered for Bell Mobility, KT Corp. and SK Telekom. Since voting by proxy isn't allowed, they should not be allowed to take part in the proceedings, according to RIM.

Apple's proposal is supported by most of the carriers, although it is unclear exactly what Apple's justification is for changing the registered affiliations of its representatives ahead of the previously-planned voting.

In the wake of yesterday's announcement from the Fair Labor Association that it had reached an agreement with Foxconn to reduce the maximum number of working hours for its employees at its Apple production facilities, Reuters reports that Foxconn workers are concerned about the move's impact on their salaries. The concerns come despite assurances that Foxconn will augment its compensation packages to offset the loss of working hours.

"We are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important," said Chen Yamei, 25, a Foxconn worker from Hunan who said she had worked at the factory for four years.

"We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this. We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little," she added. Chen said she now earned a bit over 4,000 yuan a month ($634).

foxconn workers
Even as many outside observers have criticized Foxconn's working hours over the past several years amid increasing publicity, others have noted that rather than excessive overtime being required by the company, many workers are requesting as much overtime as they can get. For many workers who have moved far from their homes to work at Foxconn, their goal is to earn as much money as possible as quickly as possible so that they can return home.

Aside from issues of working hours and compensation, the Fair Labor Association's audits of three Foxconn facilities where Apple products are assembled uncovered a number of other issues, including those related to health and safety and worker representation. The organization notes that in each case Foxconn either addressed issues on the spot or has agreed to make changes in its policies that will improve working conditions. The Fair Labor Association will continue to monitor Foxconn's facilities and issue periodic reports on its findings.

Late last year, Apple was fined $1.2 million by Italian regulators over its marketing of AppleCare extended warranty services for its products. The regulators ruled that Apple was not adequately disclosing standard two-year consumer protection coverage available under European Union laws. Apple last week lost its appeal of the ruling, although another follow-up hearing is scheduled for early May.

apple warranty coverage chart eu
In an effort to inform consumers about the differences between Apple's standard warranty coverage, AppleCare, and EU consumer protection laws, Apple has posted information pages on many of its localized sites for customers in European Union countries. Among the differences between Apple's standard warranty and the EU's statutory warranty requirements:

- Apple's warranty is good for one year, while EU protection lasts for two years.

- Apple's warranty covers defects that arise at any time during the warranty period. EU protection laws generally require consumers to prove that a given defect was present at the time of product delivery.

- Apple's warranty coverage applies only to Apple products. EU protection laws require sellers to support any products they sell, so the EU coverage would apply to both Apple-branded products and third-party products sold by Apple.

Apple's document also provides a number of links and clarifications to help consumers understand exactly what is covered by each warranty layer, enabling them to better determine whether AppleCare extended warranties might be a desirable addition to their purchases.

osx03
Last week Overhaul Games announced that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition would be making its way to the iPad later this summer. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a recently announced remake of the original 1998 game and Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack. The original game was well received and sold over two million copies worldwide.

The company has now announced that the game will also be available for the Mac in summer 2012 in the Mac App Store.

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition™ runs on an upgraded and improved version of the Infinity Engine. It includes the entire Baldur’s Gate adventure, the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack, and never before seen content including a new adventure and a new party member.

The company reports that there will be a variety of Mac OS X specific features "including widescreen and iCloud support".

paperlogoThere are a number of iPad sketching applications on the App Store, with Penultimate clocking as one of the top 15 most purchased iPad apps ever.

Now there's a new competitor that looks to take the iPad sketching world by storm. Paper is the first app by upstart development firm FiftyThree. A number of the employees spent time at Microsoft, developing Courier -- a dual-screen digital notebook that was axed by Microsoft.

The Verge's Ellis Hamburger spoke to the team about the app.

When you first open the app, you first see a panoramic view of all of your notebooks floating in mid-air. Each notebook looks like a premium Moleskine journal, fit with a stunning cover and pages that look soft to the touch. When you tap a notebook, you're launched into a CoverFlow-esque page browser where you can thumb through sketches in your notebook. Tap a new page and your entire screen turns an almost white shade of vanilla, unadorned by faux binder rings or ripped edges you see in other apps.

Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal your artist's palette, and swipe down again to hide it. Paper comes with an eraser and just one tool to draw with, a fountain pen that's unlike any fountain pen I’ve used. The faster you move your finger, the thicker the line gets. For $1.99 each, you can purchase four other tools, denoted not by their conventional names but instead by utility: there's Write (ballpoint), Sketch (pencil), Outline (marker), and Color (watercolor paintbrush). Each of the five tools has its own unpredictable personality worth mastering, which makes these instruments so much more interesting than conventional digital pens and pencils you can find in other apps. The FiftyThree team chose these five tools because they encompass the five most common scenarios they encounter when mapping out ideas and art on a daily basis.


Check out The Verge's lengthly article for much more about the app and the team behind it.

For those who want to jump in and try it out, Paper for iPad is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

iPhoto 08 165Apple has released an update to iPhoto, the photo-management and editing app that comes on every Mac. iPhoto 9.2.3 is a minor update that weighs in at 354.55MB.

About iPhoto 9.2.3

-Improves overall stability

-Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly on systems with multiple user accounts

It can be downloaded from Apple's software downloads page, or via Software Update.

Following an audit of Foxconn's facilities where the company assembles Apple products, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Foxconn that will result in stricter controls over working hours and an examination of salaries paid to workers at the facilities.

Foxconn has committed to bring its factories into full compliance with Chinese legal limits and FLA standards on working hours by July 2013, according to its remediation plan in FLA's report. The supplier will bring working hours in line with the legal limit of 49 hours per week, including overtime. This means a reduction in monthly overtime hours from 80 to 36, and would be a significant improvement given that most of the technology sector is struggling to address excessive overtime.

More importantly, while employees will work fewer hours, Foxconn has agreed to develop a compensation package that protects workers from losing income due to reduced overtime. In order to maintain capacity while reducing workers' hours, Foxconn committed to increase its workforce significantly as it builds additional housing and canteen capacity.

During its audits, the Fair Labor Association found numerous violations of both Chinese labor laws and FLA standards when it comes to working hours, with average workload coming in at over 60 hours per week during peak times. Instances of unfair overtime pay were also uncovered, with overtime payments only being made in 30-minute increments. Consequently, workers received no pay for overtime work of up to 29 minutes, while workers putting in 30-59 minutes of work received pay for only 30 minutes' worth of work.

apple fair labor association logos
The FLA found several other issues in its audits, ranging from health and safety to lack of worker union representation. Full details on the results of the FLA's audits are available through the organization's website. The FLA will continue to monitor Apple's and Foxconn's efforts at compliance, and will post follow-up reports on its investigations.

indecision2012 is shaping up to be a great year for political and news junkies, with huge Supreme Court cases, the Presidential election and lots more. To cater to that demand for news, Comedy Central has released an "Indecision 2012" companion app to its popular nightly news/entertainment shows The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

The app won't include any video content, but will act more as a companion for news junkies watching Sunday morning talk shows and other election coverage, as well as providing easy access to Comedy Central's Indecision election blog.

- Our interactive Peanut Gallery, featuring real-time Reacticons that let you react to news shows, debates and other events while following live commentary from Indecision bloggers and special guests
- Snap Shots: For everyone who wishes the news cycle could be captured in more pictures and fewer words, especially funny ones
- Comedy Central's Indecision blog--tens of posts a day!
- A handy calendar where you can set reminders for Peanut Gallery events and key election dates
- Share it all via Facebook, Twitter or e-mail

ccindecisionscreen
Comedy Central's Indecision Election Companion is a free download for the iPad or iPhone. [App Store]

Bloomberg Businessweek publishes a cover story on the ongoing patent war between Apple and Android, outlining the history of the disputes between Apple and Android manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola.

The report notes that Apple has actually experienced only limited success in its legal efforts, suggesting that Steve Jobs' vow to wage "thermonuclear war" against Android may be backfiring somewhat with Apple's soaring legal costs and retaliatory actions from its targets subjecting the company to risk while the benefits remain meager.

jobs war on android
Photograph by Jochen Seigle/Polaris

Corroborating claims from earlier this month regarding Apple's willingness to settle with the Android device manufacturers it has filed suit against, Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Apple and Samsung have "communicated lately" about settlement possibilities. The report suggests that settlement has become a more feasible option now that Apple is led by Tim Cook.

People familiar with the situation, however, note that top-level executives at both Apple and Samsung have communicated lately about potential settlement options. Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to share his predecessor’s passion about laying all foes to waste. Cook appears to view litigation as a necessary evil, not a vehicle of cosmic revenge.

Stanford University law professor Mark Lemley notes that the patent war has cost Apple and its opponents over $400 million over the past few years, and it is unclear just what benefits they have received for that massive sum of money. Lemley predicts that there will eventually be a major cross-licensing deal to bring the majority of the legal disputes to an end, but in the meantime the war continues to escalate as all sides continue to file new suits.

The latest data from Nielsen suggests that between the two of them, Android and Apple's iOS have relegated other smartphone operating systems to sub-single digit market share. The closest competitor -- RIM's Blackberry -- counted only 5% of U.S. smartphone purchases in the past three months. Other operating systems, including Windows Phone, Symbian, HP/Palm's WebOS and others, added up to only 4% share combined.

Smartphone OS share

Overall, Android continues to lead the smartphone market in the U.S., with 48 percent of smartphone owners saying they owned an Android OS device. Nearly a third (32.1%) of smartphone users have an Apple iPhone, and Blackberry owners represented another 11.6 percent of the smartphone market. Among recent acquirers who got their smartphone within the last three months, 48 percent of those surveyed in February said they chose an Android and 43 percent bought an iPhone.

Android's performance is pretty constant, with 48% of existing smartphone owners and 48% of new smartphone purchasers choosing Android phones.

Apple's iPhone has been more popular of late, with the recent release of the iPhone 4S. The iPhone is the device of choice for 32% of current smartphone owners, but has made up 43% of recent smartphone purchases -- entirely at the expense of BlackBerry and the other small-share operating systems.

Apple appears to be working on plans to open its largest retail store yet, advertising a forthcoming store in the main Century City shopping district of Dalian, China. M.I.C. gadget posts a photo showing promotional signage in a shopping center there calling the forthcoming store the "world's biggest".

apple store dalian ad
Signage in Dalian's Parkland Mall advertising upcoming Apple retail store as the company's largest

Interestingly, the article also reports on an incident that has brought Apple some additional attention, with other stores in the area complaining about new barricades for construction of the Apple retail store encroaching too far onto a public plaza.

The dispute quickly escalated just minutes after the barricades were erected yesterday, with security officers working on behalf of a neighboring business facing off with Apple-hired security guards and ultimately forcibly dismantling the barricades. A portion of the glass curtain wall on the Parkland shopping center was also smashed in the process, and police were called to the scene to address the situation.

M.I.C. gadget's report suggests that the dispute stemmed from jealously between shopping centers over Apple's choice of venue for its store, but our reading of the source article from We54.com [Google translation] indicates that the controversy is more about encroachment upon public spaces that other retailers fear will impact their business during the construction process.


Dailan, a city of 3.5 million people with a total of over 6 million people in the region, is located on the Liaodong Peninsula separating the Bohai Sea from Korea Bay in northeastern China. It is a major seaport, financial center, and tourist magnet for the region, drawing significant numbers of visitors from China, Japan, and Korea.

Following his appearance at the Xidan Joy City retail store in Beijing and meetings with Chinese government officials earlier this week, Bloomberg now reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has also toured a new iPhone production facility in Zhengzhou, China.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Foxconn Technology Group’s newly built manufacturing facility for the iPhone in Zhengzhou, China, as the U.S. company seeks to improve working conditions.

The iPhone production line is at the new Foxconn Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs 120,000 people, Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, said in an e-mail today. She didn’t provide other details on Cook’s visit or say how much longer he’ll be in China after having held high-level talks in Beijing earlier this week.

tim cook zhengzhou iphone plant
Apple CEO Tim Cook tours Foxconn's new iPhone production line in Zhengzhou, China (Source: Apple)

China is a key location for Apple for a number of reasons, including its role in manufacturing and assembly, a desire to focus on expansion in the market there, and intellectual property issues. Cook's trip appears to be addressing most of these aspects, demonstrating continued concern over working conditions in its manufacturing partners' plants while also working to build relationships with key political and business figures in the country.