In today’s mobile and social news roundup: AppGratis CEO speaks up; Apple and Yahoo! in talks of deeper mobile partnership; T-Mobile sweetens iPhone 5 deal; Tumblr kills Storyboard; and Teenagers more interested in owning an iPhone.

AppGratis CEO speaks up

After news came out that Apple booted AppGratis from the App Store, speculations were bountiful as to the real reason why it happened.  News sources claimed that it was because the app was in violation of two clauses in Apple’s App Review Guide, 2.25 which restricts apps that promotes other apps and 5.6 which prevents apps from sending push notifications.  Then there were others who speculated that Apple was threatened with AppGratis’ business model as it directly competes with the App Store.

AppGratis CEO Simon Dawlat decided it was time to break the silence and set things straight.  According to Dawlat’s written statement, in 2011, they did have a problem with Apple’s guidelines that involved clauses 2.25, 2.20 which states that “Developers ‘spamming’ the App Store with many versions of similar Apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program,” and 2.12 which states that “Apps that are not very useful, unique, are simply web sites bundled as Apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected.”

AppGratis was able to prove that the app was not in violation of any of the clauses and the app was approved.  On April 4, 2013, AppGratis received a letter from Apple approving its iPad version.  Then on April 5, 2013, after failing to contact Dawlat, an Apple representative decided to pull AppGratis from the App Store because of clauses 2.25 and 5.6.  Dawlat asked why the plug was pulled overnight but the Apple representative didn’t seem to care much about the implications of his actions.  Dawlat wants the issue ironed out and is open to communicating with any Apple representative to clear the matter.

Apple and Yahoo! in talks for closer mobile partnership

Perhaps in an effort to spite Google, Apple and Yahoo! are said to be in talks to make Yahoo services a more prominent presence in Apple’s devices.  Some of Yahoo’s services are already on iDevices’ homescreens.  Yahoo provides data for weather, Stock exchange, and some like sports statistics are being used on Siri.

The two are said to be in talks of making Yahoo News and other web properties come preloaded on iDevices and be deeper integrated to Siri.  Yahoo is also said to be thinking of ways how it can provide better web search for Apple devices to lessen or cut the Cupertino company’s reliance on Google, currently facing scrutiny for bundling too many services into its partners’ devices.

T-Mobile sweetens iPhone 5 deal

Virgin Mobile recently launched its “Retrain your brain” program which offers cheaper phone deals without a carrier contract to compete with T-Mobile.  Unfortunately, what Virgin offers is far less than what T-Mobile has, since it doesn’t offer the iPhone 5.

Now, ahead of the iPhone 5’s launch on T-Mobile on the 12th, the UnCarrier sweetens its own offerings with some fresh trade-in options.  Anyone who has an older iPhone version, such as the iPhone 4 and 4S, can trade-in their device for an iPhone 5 at no additional cost, plus a $120 credit will be put to their monthly device fee.  The trade in offer will run until mid-June.

Tumblr kills Storyboard

A year ago, Tumblr created Storyboard – an editorial team of experienced journalists and editors to to cover Tumblr developments.  It aimed to tell the story of Tumblr’s team, and the effort even received a nomination for a James Beard Award, as well as entries into this year’s NY Press Club Awards.  Unfortunately, Storyboard was just an experiment and though it seemed successful, Tumblr has pulled the plug.

“What we’ve accomplished with Storyboard has run its course for now, and our editorial team will be closing up shop and moving on. I want to personally thank them for their great work. And please join us in wishing them well,” Tumblr CEO David Karp wrote.

Teenagers more interested in owning an iPhone than Android 

Piper Jaffray’s 25th bi-annual teen survey showed that Apple’s iPhone is the most desired smartphone for teens.  Ninety-one percent of those surveyed stated that they are interested in purchasing a smartphone for their next high-tech gadget with 59 percent stating that they are likely to purchase an iPhone over an Android device.  Of the teens surveyed, 48 percent are already iPhone owners with 62 percent of non-iPhone owners plan on purchasing an iPhone.