October 2008 Archives

By Marjorie Gorospe INQUIRER.net HAVING a hard time with your own PC? Tired of not being cool enough to switch t o an Apple computer? Well, you donât have to go any further to find sexy and co ol Apple products located in one store. Thereâs now one in Alabang Town Center owned by Ben Loo. INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Lawrence Casiraya got to talk to Ben Loo and h ere's the video interview:
A fan of Apple products, Loo opened an Apple store, dubbed Switch, to encourage more local users to consider switching from using the PC to Apple. The store o ffers everything from the latest iPod, iPhone, MAC notebooks and other peripher als genuinely manufactured by Apple Inc. Loo calls his target market "potential switchers." The store in Alabang may be a long drive for most people. But he wants to concentrate first in small commun ity and not jeopardize their business with the current competition. Having been an Apple user for a long time, Loo admits that he is always awaitin g for the next innovative Apple product. At the present, he's very excited and is looking forward to all "switchers" com ing to see his store.

DUE to pressures from developers, Apple has finally decided to drop the non-disclosure ag reements that software developers for the iPhone are required to sign, a report from Agence Fr ance-Presse said. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON -- Apple said Wednesday that it was dropping a controver sial non-disclosure agreement that software developers who wanted to create app lications for the iPhone mobile telephone had been forced to sign. The non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, prevented software developers seeking to take part in the iPhone Developer Program from discussing their work, even with colleagues. Apple's move to drop the NDA came just days after Internet search giant Google jumped into the mobile telephone market with a handset powered by Google's open -source Android software. The ability of outside developers to freely write applications for the phone, t he T-Mobile G1, which Google developed with telecom carrier T-Mobile, is seen a s a major selling point by Google and its partners.

Also from the Apple website:

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple i nventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others donât s teal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of pate nts on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off b y others. However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and ot hers interested in helping further the iPhoneâs success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA c overing released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased soft ware and features will remain under NDA until they are released. Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter.