Wired did some poking around and discovered Phillip Shoemaker, Apple’s director of App Store — the man purportedly in charge of App Store approval and rejection — was or is the developer of fart and urination apps.

Shoemaker apparently had or has a company named Gray Noodle, whose titles include Animal Farts and iWiz. Although the social networking profiles and posts that led Wired to the discovery have subsequently been removed, they’ve retained archive copies. An Apple spokeswoman gave them the following comment:

“Phillip’s apps were written, submitted and approved before he became an Apple employee,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement. “His experience and perspective as a developer is one of the valuable things he brings to Apple’s developer relations team. Apple’s policy allows for employees to have apps on the App Store if they’re developed and published prior to their start at Apple.”

Other former Apple employees confirmed that special, executive level permission was required in order for an Apple employee to publish on the App Store, though if the apps predated Apple employment permission for them to remain on the App Store might be easier to obtain.

So is it reassuring for developers to have someone with experience getting controversial apps approved inside the App Store? Does it mean if you were rejected, you didn’t even meet the Animal Farts sniff test?

[Wired, thanks Luke!]

Director of App Store for Apple also made fart and wiz apps is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Verizon today announced they’re working on an app that would allow FiOS subscribers to watch the same linear TV shows on their iPad as they do on their current set top boxes. What does that mean?

At first, subscribers with an iPad will only be able to watch linear programming within their own home, which allows Verizon to authenticate and make certain that the users have access to whatever content they’ve paid for. Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir said in a press briefing that the iPad app takes advantage of Verizon’s architecture, which he characterized as “cloud TV.” The experience is similar to what’s available today on FiOS set-top boxes, and takes advantage of the same software that Verizon uses for its set-tops. As such, Verizon says it should already have rights to stream the content, as it’s just another screen in the home.

In other words, it would be just like a regular TV, not video on demand or a la carte service. But it would be a TV you could carry around with you from room to room. Verizon is currently making sure their “content partners” are comfortable with the idea though. You know, those crazy backward thinking cable types can get mighty scared when it comes to their moving pictures showing up on an iPad… Sigh.

Also in the works is a video on demand service where content could be rented by the user and watched on any video capable device they own:

Under the new VOD platform, videos can be purchased through their set-top box or through Verizon.com and then be downloaded and watched on up to five different PCs and mobile devices.

We’ll believe it when we — hopefully very soon — see it. Any of you interested?

[NewTeeVee via @meinck]

Verizon app to allow FiOS subscribers to watch linear TV on iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple’s latest iPad ad kicks up the apps and the verbiage, taking us through a delicious, current, learning, playful, literary, artful, friendly, productive, scientific, and — you guessed it! — magical journey. (Absent Peter Coyote this time.)

So while iPhone has left apps and headed back to feature-based (i.e. FaceTime-based) advertising, Apple is moving iPad firmly into the app space. Interesting.

iBooks is just one of the apps highlighted. Can you name them all?

Video after the break!

Apple’s latest iPad ad is… magically delicious! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Do you sometimes struggle trying to find the perfect iPad position when on the couch or sitting in your favorite chair? Elite Home Theater Seating has a solution for you – the iPad Chair!

With the Luxa2 H4 iPad holder firmly securing the remarkable device in its tight grasp with its 6 rubber pins, you can now wield the power of the iPad in total relaxation with both hands free. The holder slides into the existing cupholder of the Elite HTS chair, and can then swivel and pivot 360 degrees. In addition, the iPad can be rotated vertically or horizontally, and can even be positioned flat like a table. Like malleable modeling clay, a dynamic mechanical joint hinge holds any position, and delivers all the pivoting action.

On the surface, it seems the iPad chair is nothing more than a normal fancy chair with a special attachment for the cup holder that holds the iPad. This is not the case. The chair itself is designed to provide optimum comfort while using the iPad, specifically in the head rest, back, and arm rests. The only thing that would make this chair better, would be an extendable attachment so that the ipad could be positioned in front of the user for more comfortable typing. The current design is awesome for everything else.

Starting at $2495.00 per chair for the Standard Package, I won’t be rushing to pick one up, but it’s fun to dream, right? What about you? Are considering adding this piece of furniture to your entertainment room at home? If so, please invite me over for dinner!

Check out the video after the break!

[Elite Home Theater Seating, thanks Tracy for sending this in!]

iPad Chair by Elite Home Theater Seating now available is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Vimeo has announced a new HTML5 universal player to finally bring Flash-free embedded videos to iPad and iPhone. How do you use it?

Starting today it is the new default embed code and is available via the embed button on any Vimeo video. Just copy and paste like any other embed code. This new embed code is available for any video, new or old.

They’ve also created a small javascript snippet you can add to your site to enable older, legacy embeds to work with the new player.

Mobile versions of all videos, however, is still a Plus feature.

For much, much more on the new feature, check out the link below.

[Vimeo]

Vimeo adds HTML 5 universal player for iPad, iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Yahoo! has released an HTML5 iPad friendly version of its mobile webmail.

• Faster and more reliable: If you’re offline, Yahoo! Mail uses local caching capabilities to help you access and search your messages even without an internet connection.
• Smart: You can find and organize your messages using Full Search, personal folders and Smart Folders with messages from your most important contacts and optimized views for photos and file attachments.
• Feature Rich: View rich photo attachments in their full form, or as previews directly in the inbox view. Also includes a dual-pane view to make reading and organizing a breeze.

You don’t have to do anything special to begin using the new Yahoo! mail webmail experience on your iPad. Just visit http://mail.yahoo.com in Safari and you should see the change. Yahoo! promises to bring more features, improve performance, and Yahoo! Mail for iPad the “best it can possibly be.”

If you use Yahoo! mail on your iPad, let us know what you think!

[Yahoo! Mobile Blog]

Yahoo! mail now optimized for iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Great news for HBO fans! In an interview with Mossberg, HBO Co-President Eric Kessler said that HBO subscribers will be seeing HBO Go on their iPad’s soon.

In six months, HBO Go will be available to the channel’s paying subscribers at no additional cost through all major cable systems, on Apple Inc.’s iPad, on mobile devices and elsewhere.

In addition to this great news, Kessler also delivered the disappointing report that HBO and Netflix will likely not be making a deal, so don’t expect to see HBO shows on Netflix for iPad anytime soon.

If you’re an HBO subscriber, how excited are you to have access with your iPad? If you’re not a subscriber, will this additional feature entice you to sign up?

[Bloomberg via Engadget]

HBO coming to iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Playboy magazine is coming to iPad by the nudity isn’t coming with it. According to founder Hugh Hefner, who broke the news on Twitter, the reason is:

Steve Jobs has a thing about nudity

So yes, you really will be reading it for the articles.

[@hughhefner via 9to5mac]

Playboy magazine coming to iPad absent nudity is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

I went by Apple’s Canadian Flagship store this week and there was a lineup of about 100 people waiting for iPhone 4. Actually, waiting just to see if there’d be a shipment of iPhone 4 so they could lineup for those. Apple staff said it’s been happening every day around 10am. Even some of the smaller stores are seeing dozens of people lining up every morning. Checking with carrier stores it was the same, only they had less stock to begin with. So did the Best Buys and other big boxes. As Apple COO Tim Cook said about the US launch a month earlier, iPhone 4 is selling out as fast as Apple can make and deliver them.

This isn’t launch day. This isn’t artificial supply constraints. This isn’t a product that’s only available in Apple Stores. This is a single phone sold in probably more places than any other phone. It’s on every carrier, it’s in every tele-franchise, it’s in every big box.

Or it would be, if they had stock.

Curiously, Apple hasn’t put out a press release with post-international launch sales numbers, but we’ll keep an eye on next quarter’s result.

International lineups persist for iPhone 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

There’s a rumor — repeat, rumor — going around that Apple will switch the Apple TV to iOS and rename it iTV, and that seems to be enough to get British broadcaster ITV all dressed and wigged up in litigation clothes.

“You only have to look at recent problems with the iPhone 4 to see not everything Apple produces is gold dust. We all take our ITV brand very seriously and we’ll do everything in our power to protect it.”

Ouch. Meow.

Apple for their part is staying mum:

“Apple does not comment on rumours and speculation.”

We’ve seen Apple take iPhone and iOS from Cisco and work out licensing deals later. Could iTV be next and this saber-rattling just a way to tell Apple they better open up that Cupertino vault?

[Mirror, thanks to everyone who sent it in!]

ITV getting ready to sue Apple over rumored name change? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog