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Apple Spin-Off Hosts Enterprise App Stores
An anonymous reader writes "Last year Apple quietly authorized private-label app stores with its OTA (over-the-air) protocol, and now an Apple spin-off is offering the first hosting service to uses OTA to create alternative app stores for iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. One of the first is Cisco's App Fridge (for cool networking apps), but a dozen other Fortune 500 companies have also signed up. And this fall, Apperian promises to add Android apps to its service, enabling one-stop-shopping for private-label apps store hosted in the clouds. So far these store are for employees only, but by 2012 Apperian claims it will be offering alternative app stores for the rest of us."
Don't worry, Apple is still evil. They're not allowing other app stores for us plebes.
Basically, Apple tried to sell iPhones and iPads as enterprise devices. IT departments looked at them and laughed, pointing out that they need to be able to deploy custom in-house apps to them.
Apple for once listened to a customer (so maybe the world really is ending) and agreed to allow in-house app stores for customer enterprise apps. (Then again, I'm fairly sure said customer was the US DOD. So I suppose the thread of a Predator "mishap" around Cupertino can be quite the motivation.)
Think things like using an iPad as an inventory control device, not something like allowing us silly plebes to install our own browser that supports the entire web and not just Apple's small vision of it.
So, no, Apple is still evil. You and I will never be allowed to write our own iPad apps without paying Apple a large fee on top of 30% of all income. This is only for large companies already willing to pay Apple an even larger fee for the freedom to use iPads as tools and not toys.