Apple removes Hottest Girls soft-core iPhone app

Hours after the App Store introduction of Hottest Girls, seemingly the first Apple-authorized iPhone and iPod touch application to feature nudity, the computing giant reversed course and removed the app Thursday. Hottest Girls, which promised consumers topless models alongside a gallery of "2200+ sexy bikini babes and lingerie models," briefly emerged as an Internet cause célèbre, with many pundits speculating that the application heralded a new, less conservative era in the App Store's evolution. However, Apple now contends that the topless images were added to Hottest Girls only after the application ran the submission gauntlet.

"Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography," said Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr in a statement. "The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store."

According to TechCrunch, Hottest Girls development team Allen the Geek initially claimed it pulled the app on its own accord, citing overwhelming consumer demand. "The Hottest Girls app is temporarily sold out," read a now-deleted message on the Allen the Geek website. "The server usage is extremely high because of the popularity of this app. Thus, by not distributing the app, we can prevent our servers from crashing. Those who already have the app will still be able to use our app. To answer the question on everyone's mind: Yes, the topless images will still be there when it is sold again."

For more on the Hottest Girls removal:
- read this CNN.com article

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