To Play With Giants, App Devs Risk Getting Squashed

Hot-selling mobile apps have earned some independent programmers hundreds of thousands of dollars. But one of the greatest risks of developing apps for a platform controlled by a large corporation, such as Google or Apple, is that you can easily get crushed.

Take for example Mike Jacobs, a developer of software startup Hello, Chair. For nine months, his team of three has been working on an iPhone app called Appsaurus, which makes App Store recommendations based on the apps you already own. So it was very bad news for Hello, Chair when Apple in September introduced a free App Store recommendation tool called App Store Genius.

“That’s one of the scariest things: If Apple moves an inch, they crush a bunch of little developers,” Jacobs said in a phone interview.

With giants dominating Silicon Valley, start-ups and independent programmers are fitting in between the cracks by developing apps for corporations’ mobile platforms. Apple’s App Store, which launched July 2008, is the largest to date with 100,000 apps and counting. Google’s Android platform is second largest, serving roughly 14,000 apps. In the case of the App Store, a lucky bunch have struck it rich with soaring sales, while others have suffered at the mercy of the giant they’re developing for.

More often, Apple is scrutinized for its questionable approval policy. The company has rejected some developers’ apps for unclear reasons, which often puts them in financial hurt (in severe cases, a six-digit loss).

But stories like Hello, Chair’s — where the corporation inadvertently competes with its developers — are a bit rare. Jacobs said his company was striving to provide something the iPhone was missing in hopes to make the platform even better. However, Apple, too, is thinking of ways to improve its products — and with a considerably larger team of in-house programmers and billions of dollars in resources, the Cupertino, California company beat a small start-up to the idea of an App Store recommendation tool.

Hello, Chair submitted Appsaurus to Apple this week and nervously awaits Apple’s approval. The team is hoping it does not face the same outcome as Podcaster, an app Apple rejected in September 2008. The Podcaster app enabled the iPhone to download podcasts and listen to them on the fly. Apple rejected Podcaster, saying it “duplicates the functionality” of the iPod. However, the iPhone didn’t have this feature when Podcaster was submitted. Only after rejecting Podcaster did Apple introduce a podcast downloader through its iTunes app.

Alex Sokirynsky, who developed Podcaster, said he had spent four months learning the iPhone’s programming language, and he was “heartbroken” by Apple’s rejection of Podcaster.

“Apple has a very tight hold on everyone in the App Store,” Sokirynsky told Wired.com. “They could pull any app for any reason, and the developer has no say. This could ruin a new company.”

This Goliath-stomps-on-David scenario isn’t unique to Apple, either. Etienne Baratte, a software engineer, was developing an app for the Google Android platform called Jamdroid, which would provide real-time traffic information anywhere on the globe. Baratte entered Jamdroid in Google’s Android Developer Challenge, a contest inviting developers to submit app prototypes for a chance to win awards. Jamdroid received an honorable score in the competition — but Google in August 2009 announced it was working on almost the exact same traffic-analysis tool.

Baratte was dismayed: He’d been working on Jamdroid since November 2007 with a few partners. He killed his project when Google rolled out its traffic service in August.

“There’s no competition possible at all,” Baratte said in a phone interview. “I can’t say they stole my idea. They’re in their right to implement such a service, and in fact, in a way I am quite happy that they did so…. But I spent all my free time on this.”

Hello, Chair hasn’t given up on Appsaurus, however. When Apple introduced App Store Genius, Jacobs and his team proceeded to add more features to Appsaurus to make it better than Apple’s recommendation system. When making recommendations, App Store Genius only takes into account the apps currently installed on a user’s iPhone. Appsaurus, Jacobs said, will use an interactive algorithm that allows users to rate and modify suggestions in real-time. The app will also make app recommendations based on other apps people have purchased, similar to Amazon’s “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” feature.

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Obama under fire on trade as Asia-Pacific leaders meet

US President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong before the gala dinner for APEC leaders in Singapore. Photo: AP

US President Barack Obama has come under fire from Asia-Pacific leaders for backsliding on free trade at a regional summit devoted to driving the world economy out of crisis.

"President Obama is facing severe political constraints that run counter to free trade," Mexican President Felipe Calderon said, complaining about US foot-dragging on full implementation of the NAFTA pact for North America.

"The cruel paradox is that within a global economy, what really kills companies is inefficiency and lack of competition. Therefore protectionism is killing North American companies," he said in a speech in Singapore on Saturday.

"So I think this has to do with the fact that the US government is under strong political pressure that really is not being counteracted from the political perspective" of the Obama administration.

The US Congress has turned even more sour on free trade after the worst economic crisis since World War II.

One landmark pact with South Korea is languishing and critics say the White House has done little to revive it.

The US economy is picking up but unemployment has breached 10 per cent and economic leaders, including the heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, warned in Singapore that protectionism could choke off recovery.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said controversial tariffs enacted by his government to shore up ailing industries were temporary and urged his regional colleagues to "do anything we can to refrain from protectionism in any sphere".

The warnings came as a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum began on Saturday.

Obama arrived later in Singapore to join the 20 other leaders, after a visit to Tokyo.

In a speech in the Japanese capital, Obama reaffirmed a US commitment to finally concluding the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks - a long-running bid to tear down barriers to global commerce.

And he said the United States was interested in an obscure trade pact that leaders say could become the nucleus for a massive trans-Pacific free-trade zone covering 2.6 billion people.

"The United States will also be engaging with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries with the goal of shaping a regional agreement that will have broad-based membership and the high standards worthy of a 21st century trade agreement," he said.

The TPP now involves Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.

Australia, Peru and Vietnam have expressed interest in joining, and Obama's remarks were the clearest so far about Washington's plans.

"The US announcement is a significant statement of its intent to the Asia-Pacific region," Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said.

"Importantly, it provides the critical mass essential for this initiative to go forward."

Obama meanwhile called for "balanced and sustained" growth around the world in the post-crisis phase, pressing Asian exporters including China to wean themselves off US consumers and build up their own demand.

His comments underlined a central theme of the APEC summit - that the world economy must be rebalanced so that voracious US consumerism is no longer the sole cylinder firing global growth.

Officials said the realignment was a main item of summit discussion prior to an evening dinner, when the leaders continued an APEC tradition by donning specially designed shirts reflecting the host nation's culture.

AFP

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China bank regulator: US dollar's decline adding risk

Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission

(AFP) – BEIJING — China's chief banking regulator warned Sunday that persistently low US interest rates and a declining dollar were seriously affecting asset prices and threatening the global economic recovery.

China Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman Liu Mingkang told a finance forum in Beijing that Washington's promise to keep interest rates low for an extended period was encouraging a dollar "carry trade" and fuelling massive speculation.

He was referring to investors who have been taking advantage of low US interest rates to borrow cheap credit there to invest in higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

These conditions "are seriously impacting global asset prices and encouraging speculation in stock and property markets," Liu said.

Liu warned the declining US dollar was threatening the global economic recovery, especially in emerging economies.

He spoke at the Beijing International Finance Forum ahead of US President Barack Obama's first visit to China, which was scheduled to start late Sunday.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --

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Broadcast pioneer NBC prepares for cable takeover

By DAVID BAUDER (AP)

FILE - In this Oct. 11, 1976 file photo, NBC's "Today" show host Tom Brokaw and newswoman Jane Pauley share a moment prior to Pauley's first appearance on the network morning news program. Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television's decline. (AP Photo/File)

NEW YORK — Eight decades after pioneering the concept of broadcasting, NBC is on the verge of a startling move that illustrates broadcast television's decline.

Cable TV operator Comcast Corp. is expected to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal, perhaps as early as next week, bringing the network of Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Hope, Milton Berle and Tom Brokaw under the corporate control of the company that owns the Golf Channel and E! Entertainment Television.

"This is highly symbolic," said Tim Brooks, who had worked at NBC for 20 years and now writes books on television history.

Starting Sunday, Vivendi SA has an option to sell its 20 percent stake in NBC Universal. Majority owner General Electric Co. is expected to buy it and then sell a 51 percent stake of the entire NBC Universal unit to Comcast, which serves about a quarter of the nation's subscription TV households.

Broadcast people, the folks who remember when television was ABC, CBS, NBC and little else, used to look down upon cable.

The idea of broadcast TV was implied in the name; the networks tried to reach the broadest possible audience. For cable it's important to do something specific and do it well, and the audience doesn't need to be as large.

NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker recognizes this. Cable properties such as USA, SyFy, CNBC and The Weather Channel mean more to NBC Universal's bottom line than staggering NBC, fourth place in the ratings.

And those cable properties — more than the flagship "Peacock" network — were the draw for Comcast. By owning more content, Comcast further hedges its bets as mainly a distributor of shows in case viewers ditch their cable TV subscriptions and migrate to the Internet, mobile devices or a platform that has yet to emerge. The company could charge for the shows or sell ads wherever the viewers are.

In a sense, NBC would become a pioneer again, as it seeks to stay relevant amid intensifying audience fragmentation.

NBC was established as the nation's first radio network in 1926. Its parent company, the Radio Corporation of America, made radios and realized the best way to get people to buy the product was to make sure there were interesting things to listen to.

"Without NBC, there wouldn't be broadcasting as we know it," said Walter J. Podrazik, a consulting curator at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

NBC was the leading radio network, so powerful in those days it had two networks: NBC-Red and NBC-Blue. It was forced by the Federal Communications Commission in the early 1940s to divest itself of one network. NBC-Blue eventually became ABC. In fact, all three original broadcast networks can be traced back to NBC. One of its original owners, Westinghouse Electric Co., bought CBS in 1995.

Some of NBC's radio profits were funneled into researching the new television technology. NBC began television broadcasts in 1939 by covering the opening of the New York World's Fair.

RCA's chief David Sarnoff took to the airwaves to introduce that broadcast, and his description of the moment — "the birth of a new art bound to affect all society" — was prescient and maybe even understated. The Nielsen Co. reported that just last year, the average American watched four hours and 49 minutes of television each day.

"He was as much a cheerleader as he was an investor," Podrazik said, "and he was right."

In 1947 came the first NBC program that's still around today — Sunday morning's "Meet the Press." But 1948's "Texaco Star Theater" with Milton Berle was television's first big hit. Many people bought their first TVs, or crowded around the few ones available, to see a comic who'd mine for laughs each week by wearing a dress.

Television's early years had NBC and CBS fighting for dominance, with CBS more often than not gaining the upper hand. NBC settled for innovation, and the work of executive Sylvester "Pat" Weaver is still apparent today. He introduced the concept of multiple ads appearing on shows, instead of programs that had single sponsors, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Weaver expanded television's day by introducing the "Today" and "Tonight" shows, which became huge profit centers for the network.

"Tonight" was particularly influential, with Steve Allen, Jack Paar and, for more than a quarter-century, Carson. His monologues were the bedtime stories for millions, and he introduced hundreds of talented artists to the public. "Saturday Night Live" is a new generation's comic touchstone.

NBC News expanded in the 1960s, and the evening news report with David Brinkley and Chet Huntley made "Good night, David" and "Good night, Chet" simple catch phrases. News is a strong suit for NBC today, with Brokaw retiring at the top and Brian Williams continuing the legacy. The "Today" show has been No. 1 in the ratings for 726 consecutive weeks.

There's been no such consistency in prime time through the years, however.

NBC slumped in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the "Supertrain" series became a shorthand for a comically inept idea. Spinoff ABC surpassed NBC in ratings. One man changed all that: Bill Cosby's sitcom dominated television in the mid-1980s, as millions of Americans checked in each week on the Huxtable family.

In the 1990s, NBC's promotion team dubbed Thursdays as a "must-see" night of television. The slogan stuck because it was true. The network's run of memorable series including "Cheers," "Seinfeld," "ER," "Frasier," "Friends" and "The West Wing" represented a golden age. NBC was not simply the most popular network. It was the best. That seems more distant each year, and not just in time.

NBC's decline has been slow, steady and sad. Their "must-see" series all ran their course, replaced by nothing comparable. Each of their rivals minted influential, highly popular reality series — Fox's "American Idol," ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and CBS' "Survivor" — yet the best NBC could do were the moderately successful "The Apprentice" and gross-out show "Fear Factor."

Worse yet is Hollywood's impression that NBC now is more interested in saving money than in producing memorable television.

Famed producer John Wells said as much in criticizing the network for canceling his expensive drama "Southland" this fall before the season's first episode aired. Jay Leno's move to prime-time, replacing more expensive scripted show at the 10 p.m. slot, reduced NBC's audience and influence even more.

NBC is turning, some of its fans fear, into something comparable to a cable network in ambition and reach.

Yet Comcast may give the network hope as audiences turn to video on the Internet and mobile phones. NBC is a founding partner in Hulu, an ad-supported site that lets viewers watch shows for free. NBC's combination with Comcast could let the network take advantage of the cable operator's efforts to reach additional platforms.

The fact that Zucker would likely stay at the helm, reporting to Comcast executives, suggests that the cable operator won't be making major changes overnight.

A Comcast takeover is largely symbolic now, though practical reality ultimately may overshadow that as NBC and other broadcasters face declining audiences.

"The question," Brooks said, "is what will they do with it?"

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11:44 AM | 0 comments

Sandro focused on Inter

Internacional midfielder Sandro says he is not 'frustrated' that the club rejected an offer from Tottenham Hotspur.

The highly-rated Sandro has been hly-rated Sandro has been linked with a move to White Hart Lane, with reports claiming Spurs had offered �14million.

The Brazilian club's president Vittorio Piffero has described the bid as 'reasonable', but it is not enough to secure Sandro's signature.

Sandro is aware of the rumours surrounding his future, but he insists he is in no rush to leave the Porto Alegre-based club in order to join a European team.

"I am not frustrated by this matter," Sandro told the Brazilian media.

"For me to play in Europe is a dream, but there is time to have another chance to do this.

"At the moment I want to focus on my performances for Inter."

On Friday, Spurs announced a strategic partnership with Inter which could see players head to White Hart Lane from the Brazilian side

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4:39 AM | 0 comments

Premier League round-up

Chelsea and Tottenham both maintained their 100 per cent starts to the new season on an afternoon when Liverpool came from behind to beat Bolton.

Champions Manchester United also hit back in the evening game to defeat Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford.

The Gunners controlled much of the first half and took the lead through an excellent long-range strike from Andrey Arshavin five minutes before the interval.

United improved in the second period and Wayne Rooney equalised from the penalty spot in the 59th minute after being brought down by Manuel Almunia.

Abou Diaby then headed a Ryan Giggs free-kick into his own net five minutes later to put United ahead, while the game ended with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger being sent off.

Chelsea were highly impressive as they chalked up a fourth successive league win via a 3-0 defeat of Burnley.

The Clarets will rue Martin Paterson's profligacy in front of goal with the scoreline blank, as once Nicolas Anelka broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time there was no way back.

Michael Ballack stooped to double Chelsea's lead after the break before Ashley Cole's stunning angled drive capped another imperious display from Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Tottenham left it late at White Hart Lane as Aaron Lennon's last minute strike against Birmingham City secured a 2-1 victory.

Worryingly for Harry Redknapp, Ledley King and Luka Modric hobbled off injured before the latter's replacement, Peter Crouch, scored his first Spurs goal with a looping second-half header.

Lee Bowyer restored parity via the scruffiest of efforts as Christian Benitez appeared to push Alan Hutton in the build-up to the goal, much to the ire of Redknapp, and the delight of a travelling Blues faithful.

It was, though, Spurs who had the last laugh as Lennon's impressive drive won it at the death.

Rafa Benitez has experienced better weeks in his football career and he'll be thankful for Steven Gerrard after his captain scored a thumping winner as Liverpool won 3-2 at ten-man Bolton.

Following Monday night's defeat to Aston Villa, things got a whole lot worse for Liverpool just past the half-hour mark when Bolton striker Kevin Davies stabbed home after a scramble in the box.

Davies' opener had come against the run of play so it came as little surprise when the in-form Glen Johnson restored parity before half-time when he cut inside on the edge of Bolton's box, before firing a daisy cutter beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen.

It was, though, a frailty at the heart of Liverpool's defence that was exposed again after half-time as Davies' flick header from a set-piece fell invitingly for Tamir Cohen to ram home.

Sean Davis saw red for two bookable offences before Gerrard struck the bar and Fernando Torres levelled matters with a neat finish. The scene was set fonish. The scene was set for Gerrard to emerge as a hero and he did just that with seven minutes remaining, via a searing drive from range.

Hull City and Wolves both went for three points in a bright game at Molineux but had to settle for one apiece after a 1-1 draw.

Stephen Hunt continued an encouraging start to his Hull career as his powerful run and cross from the left was headed in by Geovanni past Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey.

Wolves struck back early in the second half when a free-kick from deep fell to Richard Stearman, who finished with aplomb for a centre-half.

Dave Kitson followed up his first ever Stoke goal in midweek, in the Carling Cup, with a debut league strike as his first-half effort was enough to give the Potters a 1-0 win at home to Sunderland following a scramble in the box.

Blackburn's game with West Ham at Ewood Park ended in a disappointing stalemate as neither club did enough to take the spoils.

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