Apple’s iPhone Apps Store approval process clearly has some bugs to work out. Apps will be approved, and then pulled. Some bad apps remain in the store, while others aren’t approved at all.

The latest casualty is an application that, well, I probably shouldn’t publish what it does here in the first paragraph, but Beavis and Butt-head would have loved it.

The rejected application is called iFartz. I think you can figure out for yourself what the application does. The rejection letter was sent to the application’s developer by an Apple employee named Victor Wang.

According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Mr. Wang is “a near legend for his rejection letters, usually long, delayed, and for aesthetic reasons that leave developers blinking with surprise.”

But, really. Is anyone surprised that an application called iFartz, which has what Apple called “limited utility,” wasn’t approved? I’m not surprised. Much.

TUAW writer Erica Sadun calls iFartz “a simple, stupid joke app … but it’s the kind of simple, stupid joke app that a lot of people would download and use because people like simple, stupid joke apps.”

The author of iFartz has taken his case online. He set up a Web page begging (and scolding) Apple. On that page, he wrote:

“Sure, the App Store makes it nice and easy to find, purchase, and install iPhone applications, but is it worth the cost of a single authority telling us what they think adds utility? Ironically, if ‘limited utility’ was a factor by which we judged all software development, Mac OS probably would have died in the ’90s. At the very least, we can show Apple they’re wrong, that there’s a demand for Pull My Finger. Join this campaign pledging to spend up to $0.99 cents if PMF is accepted to the iTunes store.”

But Sadun says it better. She writes:

“Until Apple offers developers a firm set of guidelines, developers will continue to be ticked off by seemingly arbitrary rejections like this one. Apple needs to step forward, and do so soon, with a clear set of guidelines that explain to developers exactly what to expect when they press that ‘submit’ button for their new app. Developers shouldn’t be wasting Apple’s time with unpublishable software. Apple should not be wasting Developers’ time with a secretive and arbitrary review process.”

Until Apple does send out a usable set of guidelines for developers, we’ll have to abide by its sense of what’s good and what isn’t, rather than let us determine for ourselves.

Apple, can’t you let the free market decide?

Early in the evening on August 4, Apple released a firmware update for the iPhone. The new version — 2.0.1 — was issued to fix bugs. Does it fix anything, and did it add any new functionality?

The stability of iPhone firmware 2.0 has already been properly beat severely by the media and users alike. Application crashes, keyboard lag, and other issues made the new firmware less than a joy to use. In fact, quite the opposite, it was often infuriating. Apple heard our pleas, and issued a firmware update for the device less than 30 days after its release.

The firmware download was a whopping 250 MB. It took a few moments to download, but the install process took far less time than I imagined it would. It was up and running with the new software in less than 30 minutes.

Lo and behold, the darn bug fixes appear to have worked. I haven’t had any applications crash since updating the firmware. Crashes were pretty consistent prior to updating. I opened every application, played with it for a few moments, and then closed it. Everything worked as it should.

I also tested out sending some text messages and emails. The annoying keyboard lag is mostly taken care of, though I noticed a few short lags here and there. They definitely weren’t as bad as previously.

Lastly, switching between pages of the home screens appears to be faster and more fluid.

So far, no new functionality has been reported. But that’s fine with me. As long as the darned thing is more stable, that’s all I needed for now.

Google’s latest improvement now allows users to save bookmarks to specific Google services directly on the desktop of their iPhone as icons. Rather than stand-alone applications, however, these are just links to the web-based services. Also, ever mindful of how fast its services are, Google has picked up the pace a bit.

I am glad Google took this step to speed up the time it takes to reach certain Google services. Previously, you had to open a link to Google.com. Once that page loaded, you could use the tabs at the top of the page to jump to the Calendar, Gmail, Reader and More screens.

Now, if you want to go straight to Google Reader — or any over the others — you can jump there from your iPhone’s home screen. As long as you are signed in to your account, it will bring up your information right away. Google writes:

“We’ve created cool new icons for all the applications. Simply go to www.google.com in your browser, tap on any of the application tabs, click the ‘+’ button, and select ‘Add to Home Screen.’ The icons will appear on your iPhone Home Screen allowing you to go directly to the application with a tap of your finger.”

It’s simple to set up, but I am still disappointed that Google has not created on-board applications for the iPhone that provide more robust features than those that are available via the online versions.

Google also says it has sped up page load times for the main search site:

“At Google, improving the speed of our applications and user experience is a top priority. The new Google.com for the iPhone browser now loads twice as fast as before — and not just over 3G or Wi-Fi but also EDGE. We’ve optimized the page for fast searching, while still providing easy access to other Google applications. We also improved the user interface so that there’s more room on the page for search results.”

I timed it. The home screen loads in 6 seconds via EDGE, 4 seconds via 3G, and 3 seconds via Wi-Fi. The expanded real estate on the the search results page is also nice to have, as you can view more results at one time.

Source: Google Mobile Blog

Yep, you read that correctly. It isn’t officially available through iTunes yet, but the file is out there and can be downloaded and installed on your iPhone.

In order to snag the file to update your Apple iPhone’s firmware, go to MacRumors for the download.

MacRumors reports:

“In order to install the firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the ‘Check for Update’ button in iTunes. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a ‘.zip’ file, rename it to ‘.ipsw’ before proceeding.”

The Apple iPhone firmware update is a 225 MB file, so it’s going to take a while. You can also grab the iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw firmware from here. Enjoy.

Yesterday, reports were surfacing that the iPhone had been completely sold out at the U.S. and U.K. online Apple stores. Apple confirmed the reports. No more iPhone for you.

In an un-Apple like announcement, the company admitted that it has run out of iPhones at its own online store in both the U.S. and the U.K. Anyone interested in buying an iPhone online will need to go through other channels.

Apple did say that the iPhone is still available at brick-and-mortar stores, as well as at AT&T Mobility retail shops.

The company didn’t comment on the reasons for the shortages at the online store, nor if stocks will be replenished. The fact that Apple said to go to its retail outlets instead suggests that it won’t be stocking back up.

This is yet another sign that the 3G iPhone is nearly at hand.

Apple’s logo can make people think more creatively than IBM’s logo, according to researchers at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Canada’s University of Waterloo.

Professors Gavan Fitzsimons and Tanya Chartrand of Duke, and Grainne Fitzsimons of Waterloo, in an article scheduled for publication in the April issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, claim that a mere 30 millisecond exposure to famous brand logos can influence view behavior.

Their findings are sure to stir up controversy because they suggest that subliminal advertising, until recently regarded as a hoax, may actually have something to it.

In 1957, a market researcher named James Vicary claimed to have boosted sales of Coca Cola and popcorn in a movie theater by flashing the messages “Drink Coca Cola” and “Eat popcorn” so fast that the audience was unaware of the ads. Vicary’s reported findings have been largely dismissed, but recent research suggests he might have been on to something. Read the rest of this entry…