After mere hours of
App Catalog-stravaganza, the paid apps have been removed for the time being by Palm due to a major flaw in purchase verification. From what we've gathered from the seedy underbelly of the internet, an exploit involving building your own dummy application with the same name as a paid application allowed folks to download a free "update" to these falsified shells and score for-purchase apps galore without dropping a cent. Whether or not this was the only exploit afoot we're not sure, but it sounds like plenty of folks found ways to nab apps for free because Palm has clamped down hard on distribution for the time being. Optimistically, the company claims it should have the Catalog back up by tomorrow morning, but if the failure is really as severe as it sounds, we won't be holding our breath.
Update: And... they're back.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; picture courtesy of glamajamma]
posted October 6th 2009 12:02AM
Major bug? No no, that's the torrent application on the phone they approved onto their Palm application store.
I don't see this as a big deal. I check a Pre board very often, mess with my phone all the time. I went to my daughters volleyball match and came home and watched the rest of the Packers pathetic o-line led loss, and this all happened in that amount of time and I never knew. Most people aren't glued to the app catalog or their computer checking this crap out. I am close to it and still missed it.
What's the big deal ... everyone should haven the right to free apps, even if they have to hack to get them. Just like everyone has the right to iTunes content .. even if they have to hack to get them. Cmon palm .. stop being hypocritical.
Everyone should have the right to iTunes content after they've paid for it.
And everyone who pays for Pre apps does have the right to their App Catalog content that they paid for.
Not completely against restriction.
But when you're talking about a standard defined by its interoperability like USB is though, then yes, any device with a USB connection should be able to connect to it in any way.
If Apple doesn't want other devices to use iTunes, then they shouldn't use an interoperable standard like USB. And while you'll argue that since Apple allows third party connector programs to access iTunes, they don't want people to connect directly to it. Adding an extra step for the consumer is a huge hassle for many. Of course, I'm not talking about the types of people who read Engadget, of course we can all figure that out. But for the mass-market, that extra step is too much for them.
As I alluded to before, it's the same type of thing that's got Microsoft in trouble so many times with the EU. Bundling software with their operating system and with hardware from the manufacturers increases inertia. People stick with IE just because it's already on there, and the EU cracked the whip on that, even though it's simple for people like us to go to Firefox.com or Opera.com and download an alternative. Apple is doing the same thing here, if you want to use iTunes, they're making it so that the only method to do so natively is with an iPod/ iPhone, causing people to stay with them at least partially because of inertia (no, of course I realize the iPhone has other advantages, but it's something that affects some users). Again, people like us know that there's alternate sync software and programs like iTunes Sync, etc, but how is it that this is okay for Apple but not Microsoft?
That was of course supposed to be a response to kyleomusic that Engadget's comments put it the wrong spot.
How's this epic fail. It took apple a year to get an app store that worked. Most people never new there was an issue as they weren't trying to scam apps off the catalogue. Palm has done a good job fixed there screw ups quickly and moved on. Believe it or not somebody will make a better phone then the iPhone oneday, just like apple had to beat somebody to be the best somebodies gonna beat them. I have a pre and iPhone they both are great phones and do certain things better then the other.
You do realize that Palm has been in this business for far more years than Apple has? Apple does not have a three year head start on the whole 3rd party app disruption thing. Rather, it's Palm that has something like a 10+ year head start. They have data on what store models sold well, experience with SDKs and interacting with their devs, etc etc. Palm was a mighty giant in both the PDA and the smartphone world for a long time. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Sorry, that should have been formatted as a general comment.
There is no longer an app for that
Anything to make a quick buck because no one wants this crappy phone get a real phone, iPhone 3GS is the only way to go best of the best. Oh and I'm not an Apple Fan, I hate Apple. They try so hard to unjailbreak peoples phones with their crappy updates.
If it weren't for the iPhone Apple would be out of business.
hahaha. palm fail.