Apple told it’s application developers that they were invoking a 30% tax on any purchase made through their system. It the past, Apple has been very lax about how they enforced this rule. They were allowing apps like the Kindle, to have a buy button that would link to the Amazon website where you could purchase new content. This was still a rather clunky process, but it wasn’t nearly as disjointed as what exists now.
Of course, Apple has their own e-reader dubbed iBooks, which now has a major advantage over these other vendors in the space.
Amazon, the Nook, and Google have updated their apps this week to comply with Apple’s new policy, signaling the end of the grace period. However, if you refuse to update the Kindle app, you can still make purchases the old way which is of course only a short term solution. Many critics are saying this gives Apple an unfair advantage with their iBooks reader.
This is not the first example of a major platform changing the rules of the game… Both Facebook and Apple have started a very powerful precedent in the developer community by allowing apps and purchases to go on without a tax and then changing their mind. Developers would thrive in these open markets which were magnets to entrepreneurs and engineers, and as soon as companies like Facebook and Apple have leverage and enough size, they decided to take a 30% from each of their content providers. While it’s perfectly within their legal right to do so, it doesn’t send a good message to someone out there who wants to develop on their platforms. What’s stopping them from taking a 50% cut, or changing other rules that greatly affect their ability to compete. I don’t think this is the last we’re going to hear of this.
With these new innovations, there’s definitely a level of uncertainly while the dust settles on these new technologies.
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Speaking of disruptive ideas, there’s a new company that just received a billion dollar valuation who’s looking to change the way you book your accommodations. The company is called Airbnb.
Airbnb is a service that turns your extra space into a temporary bed and breakfast. Owners can opt to stay in the home while their guests are in town, or they can rent their entire space out to would be travelers. Renters opt to share local accommodations for less as opposed to higher priced hotels.
Airbnb boasts that they are renting 10,000 rooms per night and growing very quickly.
The two main advantages are cost savings, and the experience of seeing how locals live. Obviously you need to balance that with a willingness to share a space with a stranger, which also has it’s down sides. You could share a space with someone that likes to listen to loud music, or smokes for instance. But Airbnb has initiated a rating system so you can read reviews of the rooms (and renters) before you stay there. They even have a nifty Facebook feature where you can seek out roommates that you have things in common with.
Some people travel quite a bit and want to make use (and money) from their space when their gone. While other people might use the extra income to subsidize their mortgage or rent a larger place because they have the means to do so now.
I am considering trying it out on my next trip. If I can rent a place for a lot less than I would pay for a hotel, and get income from renting my space out, the accommodations could pay for themselves.
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Qualcomm just acquired the rights for gesture based controls for digital devices. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but GestureTalk has sold the intellectual property for hand and body motions to control computer systems without holding, wearing, or touching any device to Qualcomm.
That’s right, there’s enormous potential to improve how we interact with computer, smart phones, gaming systems, and much more by reading our gestures. It’s just another major step in how we are humanizing computers and making them easier to interact with. It will be exciting to see what Qualcomm does with this technology.
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Apple has filed for a patent on a keyless keyboard. Apple files many patents they don’t do anything with, often times for their own protection. But in the case you could envisage a notebook that didn’t have any keys with a keyboard projected on any surface. It will be fun to watch this evolve over the years.
