Microsoft's Windows Phones just left the chute a few days ago, and already it seems that ye old DRM is getting talked about -- and not in a good way. According to one Chainfire over at XDA-Developers, the so-called "copy protection" involved in keeping applications in place rather than strewn across a neighborhood of handsets is a pitiful joke, requiring just five minutes of tinkering to save the CAB files that the Marketplace app downloads to a separate folder. In other words, that relocated CAB file could be distributed to all of your friends, turning a single purchase into freeware for as many people as you know (or don't know, even). So, Marketplace devs -- does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, or what?

[Thanks, GreeKNastY]

For every rags-to-riches story in Apple's App Store, every amazing tale of Joe Coder in his basement turning a dead-simple idea into a few thousand dollars a day, there are... well, zero in the Android Market. At least, that's the impression we're getting by digging into revenue stats published this week by mobile game house Larva Labs, lamenting the stark disparity in the economics between the two mobile distribution platforms. Despite having two apps prominently featured on the Market's home screen and racking up sales rankings of 5 and 12 overall, Larva Labs' $4.99 RetroDefense and Battle for Mars games are grossing between about $30 and $110 a day for the company -- with a scant $62 average. As they wryly note, it's "very difficult to buy the summer home at this rate." Sure, granted, there's plenty of garbage in the hopelessly overcrowded App Store -- stuff that'll never earn a dime -- but what's a little shocking here is that both of these apps are Android Market superstars and they're still not able to cover the rent.

The problem is twofold: first, the target audience is smaller. Android simply hasn't achieved the global market penetration that the iPhone has -- at least, not yet. Globally, Android sales to consumers have totaled in the seven figures -- 5 million might be a reasonable guess -- whereas Apple's pushed another order of magnitude worth of devices, something on the order of 25 million iPhones, and if you tack on the iPod touch (which you should for the purpose of running these numbers) you're totaling over 30 million. Second, Larva Labs mentions a number of systematic problems with the Market -- teething problems that Google's yet to address -- including a lack of screenshots in app descriptions, a dearth of payment methods, the seemingly preferential treatment free apps receive, and a litany of miscellaneous bugs and issues (Android owners will fondly recall the inability to find updated apps a couple months back, for instance).

And now the million-dollar question, if you'll forgive our pun: will the Market get to the point where it's a logical business proposition for devs? In all likelihood, yes -- but it's going to take plenty of additional commitment from manufacturers, carriers, and Google itself to make the place a friendly joint for buyers and sellers alike. In the meantime, thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism, Android's app variety is fated to place a distant second, third, or fourth.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Love the Pre? Love code? Love money? Well it's your lucky day. Palm has just announced that it will begin accepting applications for developers interested in producing for-pay apps for the webOS App Catalog. The company says that requests taken now will make devs eligible for inclusion in the mid-September launch of its e-commerce program. Just like Apple and Google, Palm will be splitting profits of paid apps with developers 70 / 30 (the devs get 70 percent, don't worry), and go figure -- credit cards will be accepted. Of course we're pumped about paying $.99 for a to-do app someday soon, but we're hoping this will also herald in a new age of steady releases for the Catalog, which is still looking frighteningly bare to us. Hey, that's what homebrew is for, right? Full PR after the break.

You know guys, you're not really doing yourself any favors at this point. We've seen plenty of stories thus far detailing the company's absurd, reactionary, and typically confusing application rejections or changes for its App Store, but the treatment given to dictionary app Ninjawords seems particularly telling. In essence, the program, a simple and fast reference tool -- a straight-up dictionary -- has omitted a handful of common words seen as objectionable by the Star Chamber of application reviewers at Apple HQ. What kind of words, you ask? Well, namely the same kind of words which you can find in any standard dictionary in just about any classroom in this country. John Gruber of Daring Fireball fame succinctly calls out what is patently obvious:

Apple censored an English dictionary.

A dictionary. A reference book. For words contained in all reasonable dictionaries. For words contained in dictionaries that are used every day in elementary school libraries and classrooms.

According to Dieter over at PreCentral, real, honest-to-goodness usable apps are starting to "trickle out" for the Pre / webOS. Apparently utilizing a loophole in the operating system which allows unsigned apps to be sideloaded through email, homebrewers have taken to the interwebs with small utilities like the tip calculator (pictured above). This comes just a day after a group of DIY'ers figured out a workable solution for getting software onto the phone without rooting, so obviously Pre hacking is moving along at a healthy clip. These are -- of course -- very early applications, so don't expect perfection, and there seems to be some concern that Palm might want to patch up this hole, as it leaves the phone vulnerable to less altruistic endeavors. While the latter point is reasonable to consider, we do have a piece of advice for the folks at the front of this movement: don't wait and worry on how Palm will react to this stuff. It's important to push platforms like webOS, and the Pre needs all the love it can get on the development side right now.

Read - Right now: Install a Homebrew App without Hacking
Read - Homebrew Apps Tricking Out, but be careful

It looks like Sony Ericsson is taking a page out of Apple's book for the launch of its app store, bundling the service in with the very same platform it already uses to distribute music and movies. PlayNow arena -- which was originally designed for music distribution and whose movie rental functionality is going live this month in a handful of locales -- is now being expanded to incorporate applications as well, initially coming to 13 countries and some 38 Sony Ericsson models. Conveniently, PlayNow arena is already well-plumbed to support a variety of blling methods which should make the transition to paid apps a pretty seamless one for the company, devs, and users alike. Submissions from developers for inclusion in the store will kick off July 1, initially covering Java and Symbian before being expanded to cover "additional platforms" (Android, anyone?) later in the year; there's no word, though, on exactly when end users will be able to get in on the action.

The launch of the Ovi Store is just around the bend and, according to reports, Nokia is looking to blow this things out a little better than Google, which launched its Android Market with a paltry 50 selections. Nokia is said to have over 20,000 "items" ready for download when things go live, a number that compares quite favorably to the 40,000 apps Apple currently offers through its App Store. However, what remains to be seen is exactly what an "item" is defined as. We're sure that count includes custom apps and WidSets, and there's talk about N-Gage games finding inclusion as well. However, video and music downloads seem to be counted as well, and we'd guess ringtones too. So, how many actual applications will it have at launch? That remains to be seen.

According to folks over at Android Community, Google has begun to pull tethering applications from the G1's Market. One of the contributors to the "WiFi Tether for Root Users" app claims that the company is citing distribution agreements with carriers as the cause of the takedowns. In their words:

Google enters into distribution agreements with device manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation of the Device manufacturer's or Authorized Carrier's terms of service" Google Developer Distribution Agreement

Of course, this should come as quite a surprise, given statements T-Mobile's Cole Brodman made to us during the G1 launch last year, and Google's seemingly rampant interest in being the de facto open source mobile OS. It's not clear at this point if this is an isolated incident (possibly related to the root nature of the app), or just the beginning of a more widespread move. Google (and T-Mobile to some extent) -- we await your response.

[Thanks, Chris]

You may have seen some reports today about a new app from Ripdev called InstallerApp, which some people have mistakenly been covering as a desktop client that lets you install Cydia and Installer apps without having to jailbreak your iPhone using something like PwnageTool. Just to set the record straight, here's the deal: InstallerApp is a kind of jailbreaking tool (let's call it "jailbreaking lite") coupled with a separate application management client for your computer. From what we can tell, the first thing it does is jailbreak your device (or, if you're already jailbroken, installs some additional software so it can talk to your phone). In no way is it allowing you to install non-Apple-approved apps onto a non-jailbroken phone: it's tweaking your underlying system to allow for those apps to run, and giving you an iTunes replacement to add and delete programs on your device. Keep in mind, RipDev is charging $7 for this, which isn't a bundle, but not free either... unlike PwnageTool and QuickPwn, which essentially do the same thing (minus the desktop client). We're not saying it's not a useful app -- it might be to some -- it just isn't the "get into jail free" solution that you may have heard it is. And now you know... which is half the battle.

Microsoft has begun laying out plans for its version of the App Store -- dubbed the Windows Marketplace -- with some familiar numbers, and a few unfamiliar tweaks. According to Ina Fried, the company will charge developers an annual fee of $99 to become part of the ecosystem, and an additional $99 for every app they submit (though throughout 2009, they'll have a chance to submit five apps at no cost). A rep from the big M states that the fee is "an acceptable cost of doing business for [software developers] looking to get in front of millions of customers," and justifies the charge on the grounds that Microsoft will "run a rigorous certification process to ensure that the end user's experience is optimal, and that the device and network resources aren't used in a malicious way."

Additionally, the company maintains that the process will offer "complete transparency throughout the application submission process," which indicates the folks in Redmond wouldn't mind courting devs who've been burned by Apple's opaque, confusing, and sometimes unfair system of approval. Besides the flat rates, Microsoft will take 30 percent of earnings from sales just as Apple and Google do -- the lone standout being RIM, who's generously offering 80 percent to devs (though hasn't exactly been blowing doors off hinges with its movement on fostering development). Microsoft's Marketplace will debut with the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 in Q4 2009, though developers can apparently register come Spring, and start submitting this Summer.

While Symbian is generally best associated with Nokia, history proves that Samsung has had a pretty fruitful relationship with the operating system as well. In fact, it's looking to beat Nokia at its own game by launching an S60 App Store first. Samsung Mobile Applications, which already has a website up, is expected to initially focus on providing apps to Symbian S60 users in the UK, and just in case you were curious, "there is no initial outlay or ongoing costs associated with marketing or hosting your product on the storefront and freeware is distributed at no cost to the developer." Reportedly, the storefront will be officially unveiled at Mobile World Congress with 1,100 applications ready at launch (for UK residents), and while details are vague, we're told the program will also support Windows Mobile and possibly other systems later in 2009.

[Via Symbian-Guru]

Apple's doing it. RIM's doing it. Google's doing it. Heck, even Microsoft might be doing it. As the peer pressure mounts, Palm has finally decided to cave and introduce its very own applications market place, which is simply being christened Software Store. Oddly, it looks as if Palm farmed out the production of said store to one PocketGear, but we're assured that the app will hum along just fine on over 25 Windows Mobile / Palm OS-based Palm devices. Available for download as we speak, it offers up over 5,000 apps and games, 1,000 of which are completely free. Hmm, we wonder if Palm's keeping a Nova-compatible version in its back pocket?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Palm pinged us to say that this is actually the very same software store that has been around, it's just a sweet looking veneer to make accessing it easier.

Recently we were sent a PR email about an iPhone app called BdEmailer. No big deal, press releases about new iPhone applications show up in our box in large bundles every day -- but this one was different. According to the release, the program is the "the first wide email iPhone app that supports client SMTP." That means, in essence, that it duplicates an exact function of Apple's Mail application on the iPhone and touch. That's kind of a huge deal, because up until this point we've been led to believe that this duplication of functionality is one of the company's red flags when it comes to approval. Now mind you, we're not complaining. The idea of having more apps to choose from for doing things like sending email is a great idea, but Apple... what the hell is going on? You refused MailWrangler and Podcaster for similar reasons, yet BdEmailer passes through your review process, SMTP functionality intact? This means one of two things as far as we can tell -- either you've relaxed your policies on duplicate functionality, or you've gotten incredibly lazy when it comes to approving applications. We're inclined to believe it's the latter, as BdEmailer has a fair share of bugs that need working out, but really, people need some clarification here on what will and won't pass -- and moving the goalpost all the time isn't going to help.