Technology News Briefs — Oct. 11, 2012

10 2012 Thursday

Apple Maps App Outs Taiwan’s Missile Defense System

Problems continue to crop up for Apple Maps.

The Taiwanese government is asking Apple to obscure satellite images of its “$1.4-billion early warning radar station that can detect aircraft and missiles coming from as far as western China” located near the Hsinchu Air Base, according to an Associated Press story.

Taiwanese Defense Ministry spokesman David Lo told the Associated Press Apple should emulate the Google Maps app, which blurs secret or sensitive facilities upon request.

Apple has already complied with Taiwan’s request — its Maps app now shows shrouded imagery over the Hsinchu Air Base.

Slingbox 350, 500 Hit Shelves Oct. 14

The Slingbox 350 and 500 will be hitting a store shelf near you next week— if it hasn’t already.

The two models recently showed up unannounced on a Best Buy store shelf. It is now official, however: the Slingbox 350 and Slingbox 500 will be available in store and online Oct. 14. The models will not be available in Canada until November.

The devices digitize video streams from your cable, satellite box or DVR, streaming content in real time to Windows PCs and Macs and various tablets and Smartphones.

Google Lays Out Guidelines for Tablet Apps

Google has published a Tablet App Quality Checklist to help Android developers meet the company’s “basic expectations” for both features and user interface.

The list contains 10 checkpoints with explanations, suggestions and sources.

“Tablets are a growing part of the Android installed base that offers new opportunities for user engagement and monetization,” the guideline reads. “If your app is targeting tablet users, this document helps you focus on key aspects of quality, feature set, and UI that can have a significant impact on the app’s success.”

The checklist points are: Test for Core App Quality, Optimize your layouts, Use the extra screen area, Use assets designed for tablets, Adjust fonts and touch targets, Adjust homescreen widgets, Offer the app’s full feature set, Don’t require hardware features, Declare tablet screen support, Follow best practices for publishing in Google Play.

RIM Seeking Apps for BlackBerry 10

RIM is accepting applications for BlackBerry 10 devices, the company announced in a developer blog post.

Developers can submit an app with the guarantee it will be reviewed, tested, and ready to launch when BlackBerry 10 goes live in the first quarter of 2013, the post says.

RIM’s blog post tells developers how to target their app submissions, referencing an “all touch” option.

“The sooner you get your app submitted to the storefront, the sooner it can be tested for the Built for BlackBerry program; and if it’s tested and certified, you can then qualify for the 10k Developer Commitment,” the post says. “To top it off, we’re going to review all apps submitted to BlackBerry App World in October and November for preferred carousel placements at launch as a thank you.”