14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly ‘buying’ a developer with experience in notification systems, in order to improve the rather intrusive system implemented in iOS, reports indicate.
Citing an unnamed source, Cultofmac.com reports that Apple is working on a new notification system for iOS.
To achieve their goal, they will be buying a small company to build its technology into the operating system, this source allegedly said.
The blog points out to Apple’s pop-up notification system for text messages, voicemails and other services as being a weak part of Apple’s mobile operating system.
According to the Cult, notifications are intrusive, modal and often cryptic.
And Apple wants to improve it by “trying to buy a small app developer to fix it.”
The report thus suggests Apple hasn’t quite finished signing the papers, and may be negotiating a price with the developer who already has an iPhone app in Apple’s iTunes Store.
It is believed that one likely candidate is Boxcar, a free title developed by App Remix that enables push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, and email.
The app’s notification system is highly regarded, particularly on the iPad, Cultofmac notes.
Inquired on the possibility of signing a deal with Apple, App Remix’s CEO Jonathan George replied, “No comment…”
Apple is known to buy small companies whenever it has a gap to bridge, whether it’s software, or hardware-related.
For example, Apple’s iAds are the result of buying out Quattro Wireless, an expert in advertising.
To carry out research on the best chips it could use in its mobile iDevices, the Cupertino giant acquired P.A. Semi, a fabless chip designer.
Apple also signs licensing deals to be able to employ the latest technologies, and the best materials.
One such example is the deal signed with Liquidmetal, a company whose research has long ago turned out a space-age metal alloy with the properties of plastic, glass, and titanium all in an easy-to-mold form.