Smart Move: Apple Yanks 'Baby Shaker' App From iPhone

While they're busy removing this, they need to remove the idiots who thought this was a good application for an iPhone.

This is just sick.

Apple yanked a despicable iPhone application from its online store today, putting to bed the "Baby Shaker" program that directs users to simulate infanticide.

The 99-cent download brings the image and sound of a crying baby to the phone. Then after the user's vigorous shaking, the crying stops and red x-marks cover the baby's eyes, gleefully marking its death.

There's a stop watch at the top of the screen to time the user.

"Baby Shaker" first showed up on Apple's App Store on Monday, but 2 ½ days of bad publicity finally forced the tech giant to dump it.

"Apple is supposed to have this rigorous vetting process where you can't even curse on an application -- but now it's OK to simulate killing a baby?" said Jennipher Dickens, communications director for The Brain Tree Project, a group that seeks to prevent childhood brain injuries.

While "Baby Shaker" is gone from Apple, it's still available through developer Sikalosoft.

The taste-challenged makers describe their program: "On a plane, on the bus, in a theater. Babies are everywhere you don't want them to be! They're always distracting you from preparing for that big presentation at work with their incessant crying ... See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!"

Jersey Kid Unlocks iPhone

Nice to see the local kids working so creatively.

New Jersey teen cracks iPhone network lock: Frees device from AT&T, opens phone for overseas users

NEW YORK - A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties Apple’s iPhone to AT&T’s wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones.

George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone’s cellular technology.

While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.

“That’s the big thing,” said Hotz, in a phone interview from his home in Glen Rock.

The phone, which combines an innovative touch-screen interface with the media-playing abilities of the iPod, is sold only in the U.S.

Calls to AT&T and Apple for comment were not immediately returned.

The hack, which Hotz posted Thursday to his blog, is complicated and requires skill with both soldering and software. It takes about two hours to perform.

Now all I have to do is go buy an iPhone and try this myself...