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(credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Apple has a team of "about 100 employees" working on search improvements for the iOS App Store, according to a report from Bloomberg. Of the improvements being considered, the only one the report specifically calls out is a potential system by which app developers could pay Apple to feature their apps in search results, not unlike a service that Google rolled out for Google Play developers early last year.

On the one hand, this might bring some order to the current App Store discovery process. The Top Charts are habitually stocked with the same big-name apps, which are more likely to stay in the Top Charts because that's how many apps are discovered in the first place. Search results are often packed with clone and knockoff apps. Apple curates lists of apps, but developers can't just sit around and wait for that to happen. Being able to pay money to improve visibility at least creates a clear chain of cause and effect that developers have some level of control over.

That said, charging for visibility might not actually solve any of those problems. Those with the money to pay Apple's fees could well be the same big-name app developers whose software already dominates search results and the Top Charts. And making enough money from your app to make paying for search results worthwhile could still be contingent on getting into those Top Charts or onto one of Apple's curated lists somehow.

President Obama and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. (credit: White House)

President Obama today pledged support for the Federal Communications Commission effort to give cable TV customers a greater choice of set-top boxes. Shortly after, the top cable lobby group expressed its displeasure, saying the White House's statement "may be good politics, but it's bad government."

The White House published a blog post this morning saying that cable TV subscribers shouldn't have to spend "nearly $1,000 over four years to lease a set of behind-the-times boxes." Americans should "have options to own a device for much less money that will integrate everything they want—including their cable or satellite content, as well as online streaming apps—in one, easier-to-use gadget," the White House said.

The FCC in February approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would force pay-TV companies to provide content and programming information to makers of third-party hardware and applications. This would create a software-based replacement for CableCard, allowing other companies to build set-top boxes or mobile applications that display a pay-TV subscriber's channels without a physical CableCard.

Why do we butcher animals the way we do? Why do we eat some animals and not others? When did we start associating meat with cultural traditions? Find out at Ars Technica Live on April 20 in Oakland, California. (credit: Proletariat Butchery)

We're excited to announce our first episode of Ars Technica Live, a monthly interview series with fascinating people who work at the intersections of tech, science, and culture. Join us tonight in Oakland, California--that's Wednesday, April 20--from 7 to 9pm, for a discussion with anthropologist Krish Seetah about the complicated history of meat-eating and animal butchery.

Filmed before a live audience in Oakland tiki bar Longitude (347 14th St., Oakland, California), each episode of Ars Technica Live is a speculative, informal conversation between your fine hosts Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar and an invited guest. The audience—that would be YOU—is also invited to join the conversation and ask questions. These aren’t soundbyte setups; they are deepcuts from the frontiers of research and creativity.

April’s event is about the scientific study of meat-eating, from the first archaeological traces of humans hunting other animals, to our contemporary obsession with locally sourced meat and paleo diets. Guest Krish Seetah is a Stanford anthropologist and former butcher who is working on a book about the history of meat.

Just one day after Ars and other outlets published comments by the CEO of AMC Entertainment saying he's interested in allowing some texting in theaters, the movie chain is backing away from the idea.

"We have heard loud and clear that this is a concept our audience does not want," the company said in a statement published on Twitter. "In this age of social media, we get feedback from you almost instantaneously and as such, we are constantly listening. Accordingly, just as instantaneously, this is an idea that we have relegated to the cutting room floor. With your advice in hand, there will be NO TEXTING ALLOWED in any of the auditoriums at AMC Theatres. Not today, not tomorrow and not in the foreseeable future."

AMC CEO Adam Aron mentioned that he was considering allowing phone use during an interview with Hollywood trade magazine Variety, published Wednesday. In Aron's view, changes are needed to ensure that millennials attend theaters "with the same degree of intensity" as baby boomers.

The FileFront logo, as it existed before the 2010 renaming to GameFront.

One of the Web's oldest and largest repositories for classic and current PC gaming mods will be shutting down for good later this month. GameFront announced today that its servers will be going offline on April 30 and that "any files not downloaded by that time will no longer be accessible."

"Since our founding as FileLeech almost 20 years ago, we have always strived to offer the best file hosting alongside quality gaming content," former GameFront staffer Ron Whitaker wrote. "To all of our fans who have supported us throughout the years, we thank you for making us your destination for gaming files. Despite name changes, ownership changes, and staff changes, you have always made our jobs rewarding and fun."

The shutdown is a blow to those who rely on GameFront for access to tens of thousands of mods, demos, patches, tools, maps, skins, and add-ons for PC games dating back to the mid-'90s. It's especially significant to those looking for mods and patches for older games with smaller communities or defunct publishers, which can be hard or impossible to find elsewhere.

(credit: US Air Force)

It has been six months since the US Air Force awarded the contract for its next-generation long-range bomber to Northrop Grumman. The exact terms of Northrop's winning bid to build what the Air Force has designated as the B-21 has been kept secret, but it was based on cost estimates that came in substantially below what the Defense Department's analysis had predicted.

That, along with the classified nature of the budget and the way the Air Force is packaging the project, has raised concerns in Congress that Northrop may have underbid the cost of its proposal to get a foot in the door, with hopes of getting more money later once the project is underway. A report released this week by the Congressional Research Service suggests that legislators may want to take a hard look at that possibility.

The Air Force made cost per plane a key factor in the award of the initial development contract, setting a fly-away cost of $550 million per aircraft (for a fleet of 100 bombers) as the benchmark for bids on the Long Range Strike Bomber program. When Northrop's bid was revealed as the winner, it was also revealed that Northrop had said it could deliver the aircraft at $511 million. But it's not clear what that price tag encompasses. Some features of the aircraft—such as sensors, nuclear weapons capability, and uncrewed flight—could be packaged under separate, classified contracts and raise the cost per plane significantly.