Control freak?
Apple is believed to be further increasing its control of the App Store in a move that might surprise some people as the company had suggested it was relaxing its grip.
Despite Apple relaxing app development tools rules, The New York Times reported that the firm has told Sony what it can and can't sell within apps.
Apparently, app developers including Sony were told that they are no longer allowed to sell content, such as e-books within their apps or give customers access to products they have purchased outside the App Store.
Consequently Apple apparently rejected Sony's iPhone app, which was designed to let people read and buy books from Sony's Reader Store. The president of Sony's digital reading division, Steve Haber, told the newspaper that Apple said all in-app purchases would have to go through Apple.
"It's the opposite of what we wanted to bring to the market. We always wanted to bring the content to as many devices as possible, not one device to one store," he reportedly said.
If Apple sticks to its guns on this move it could have far-reaching consequences for firms including Amazon. The bookselling powerhouse currently sells e-books and offers free apps so readers can read their Amazon e-books on devices including the iPhone and iPad- but that may now be threatened by Apple's new rule. Neither Apple nor Amazon have commented.
The NY Times has speculated that the move may be the start of a shift for Apple, which has so far made more money by selling hardware than apps, music and e-books.
James McQuivey, a consumer analyst at Forrester research told the paper: "This sudden shift perhaps tells you something about Apple's understanding of the value of its platform. Apple started making money with devices. Maybe the new thing that everyone recognizes is the unit of economic value is the platform, not the device."
While the shift might prove correct, Apple's App Store move may still take some people by surprise as the company has recently relaxed rules for app developers and reportedly signalled it wants to work more collaboratively with publishers to give them more control of how their magazines, newspapers and other content is distributed over the iPad.
