Apple Stole My Idea: Student

A British university student is accusing Apple of stealing a syncing app that he presented to the official Apple app store more than a year ago. Earlier this week, Apple unveiled new features for its upcoming iOS 5, including a function to wirelessly sync iPhones and iTunes that has the same name—Wi-Fi Sync—and essentially the same logo as the one presented to Apple by computer science whiz Greg Hughes. “Obviously I was fairly shocked,” said Hughes. “I'd been selling my app"—through another outlet—"with that name and icon for at least a year. Apple knew that, as I'd submitted it to them, so it was surprising."

An iPhone representative called Hughes after he submitted his app last year, saying that while the app was "admirable," Apple had security concerns about it, which he did not detail, Hughes tells The Register. "They did say that the iPhone engineering team had looked at it and were impressed,” said Hughes. “They asked for my CV as well.” Hughes' app has become one of the most popular offered through alternative app outlet the Cydia store, selling more than 50,000 in the last year. There was no immediate response from Apple. (More app stories.)