Is iAds Apples New Revenue Stream Or A Developer Support System?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says the companies new ad platform for mobile devices, namely the iPhone, iPad, and iPod, is not a get rich quick scheme for his company but a support system for application developers by which they will be able to keep the cost of apps down, increasing the likely hood of continued interest in app development. The iAds program offers developers a platform onto which they can "build complex interactive ads into apps..." according to the NYTimes. Apples plan is to keep 40% of the revenues with 60% going to the apps creator, following a similar model as the iTunes App Store. “This is us helping our developers make money so they can survive and keep the prices of their apps reasonable.” said Jobs. When comparing his iAds network to Google's Adsense Jobs said “Search is not where it’s at” on phones, he said. “People are not searching on a mobile device like they are on the desktop.” I tend to agree with the observation but I have a hard time believing it's all about helping the developers...

The iPad Unboxed - bow chicka wow wow

The folks at Revision 3 decided to poke fun at Apple's iPad with an unusual unboxing, in a video segment reminiscent of a 70's style porn movie... not that I would know what they looked like.

iPad Content Work Around For Canadians

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Canadians will be faced with a copyright issue when the iPad is released north of the border. It's an issue that we're already used to regarding video content from US television networks. The apps, books, and video content that is catching fire with our neighbors to the South, may not be available to us here because of domestic licensing and copyright ownership laws regarding certain content. Bummer! The article goes on to describe the dilemma, but the most valuable piece of information that you'll get is the following:

Workaround Tip:

Globetechnology reviewed the iPad earlier this week using a pre-paid MasterCard purchased at Shoppers and created a U.S. iTunes account with a throw-away U.S. mailing address. That allowed us to download all of the apps available on the U.S. store, including iBooks, the ABC Player and Netflix. Some apps are geo-blocked, such as the ABC Player, but we were able to buy and download books from iBooks.

Enjoy your new iPad!

North Korea Trumps China On Sensorship And PC Usage Spying

According to the BBC a Russian student studying in North Korea, of all places, has revealed a government created operating system (OS) sold to residents known as Red Star. The OS, according to researchers in South Korea, is aimed at monitoring user activity, though very few North Koreans have computers or Internet access.

It is designed "to control [North Korea's] own information security", a report by South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) said.

"Due to few applicable programmes available, Red Star will not even by easily distributed in North Korea," it added.

Red Star is Linux-based and is influenced by Microsoft with versions Office embedded and an e-mail system called Pigeon as well as a Mozilla Firefox browser - which opens to the North Korean government website as the home page.

I'm not surprised by this, just that it's made the news! Would we expect anything less of this dictatorship? Perhaps the BBC is simply looking for anything to report other than iPad...

And Now For Something Completely Different Than iPad

In order to resist the urge, and because the only thing you can find online is iPad news I'll present you with something completely different. Happy Easter... enjoy!