World of Apple

A furore began towards the end of last week when it became apparent that Apple had begun removing up to 5,000 apps from the App Store for containing “overtly sexual” content.

The change in policy has caused some confusion and some apps remain untouched despite still containing questionable content. The New York Times spoke to Apple worldwide product marketing head Phil Schiller who helped clarify the situation.

According to Schiller, “It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see”.

Despite this an app from Sports Illustrated that shows bikini-clad women is still in the App Store. When questioned on this Mr. Schiller outlined that Apple looks at the intent of the content, “The difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format”.

When asked about the needs of developers who have had there revenue stream pulled from underneath them Schiller said that Apple needs to “put the needs of the kids and parents first”.

Last year it was revealed that Apple would be building a 500,000 square feet date centre in Maiden, North Carolina. Apple agreed to locate the huge data centre in North Carolina after the state offered a $46 million tax incentive.

A video posted on Data Center Knowledge now reveals the extent of the construction visible from a helicopter.

Apple’s plan for one of the worlds largest data centres remains unknown although speculation revolves around cloud computing.

Two new adverts for the iPhone have begun airing on U.S. television over the weekend and have been promptly posted on Apple’s website. Of note is that the adverts have moved away from the recent theme of advertising the App Store and returned to touting iPhone features.

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Apple today has released the next build of Mac OS X 10.6.3 to registered developers.

The latest build labelled 10D558 and weighing in at 710.5MB has been delivered in close proximity to the last build and the attached notes remain unchanged. Sources continue to insist to World of Apple that a release is imminent.

Seed notes below.

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Apple has in the last week doubled the download limit for App Store downloads when using a carriers 3G network.

Previously Apps downloaded from the App Store would have to be downloaded using WiFi if over 10MB, this limit is now 20MB and is said to not only apply to Apps but podcasts and videos too.

Following a complaint filed by Kodak last month against Apple and Research in Motion (RIM) the U.S. International Trade Commission has announced that it will investigate the iPhone and Blackberry makers.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, NY, on January 14, 2010. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain mobile telephones and wireless communication devices featuring digital cameras and components thereof that infringe a patent asserted by Kodak. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and cease and desist orders.

Kodak alleges that the iPhone and Blackberry use technologies that infringe patents and has asked the ITC to ban the imports of units in the United State.

The USITC will offer a “final determination in the investigation at the earliest practicable time.”

A Reuters report on Wednesday details the issues Apple’s suppliers and manufacturers have with guarding the secrets that they hold. The piece particularly focusses on the Foxconn manufacturing plant in China.

Tipped by a worker outside the Longhua complex that a nearby Foxconn plant was manufacturing parts for Apple too, our correspondent hopped in a taxi for a visit to the facility in Guanlan, which makes products for a range of companies.

As he stood on the public road taking photos of the front gate and security checkpoint, a guard shouted. The reporter continued snapping photos before jumping into a waiting taxi. The guard blocked the vehicle and ordered the driver to stop, threatening to strip him of his taxi license.

The correspondent got out and insisted he was within his rights as he was on the main road. The guard grabbed his arm. A second guard ran over, and with a crowd of Foxconn workers watching, they tried dragging him into the factory.

The reporter asked to be let go. When that didn’t happen, he jerked himself free and started walking off. The older guard kicked him in the leg, while the second threatened to hit him again if he moved. A few minutes later, a Foxconn security car came along but the reporter refused to board it. He called the police instead.

After the authorities arrived and mediated, the guards apologized and the matter was settled. The reporter left without filing a complaint, though the police gave him the option of doing so.

“You’re free to do what you want,” the policeman explained, “But this is Foxconn and they have a special status here. Please understand.”

The article also revealed that Apple often carries out spot checks of manufacturers to ensure security is tight, adding that several suppliers have been warned about losing their contracts if leaks continue.

Apple is also said to use a lot of custom parts, request tight lead times whilst supplying different manufacturers with different parts of a product to limit how much they can discover about the device.

Apple has begun a MacBook Repair Extension Program for Hard Drive Issues to repair or refund owners of black or white MacBooks sold between approximately May 2006 and December 2007 who have suffered faulty hard drive issues.

Symptoms are described as a flashing question mark on the screen at which point Apple will “examine the hard drive to confirm if it is eligible for a replacement, free of charge, under this program.”

More specifically the issue that seems to effect MacBooks with Seagate hard drives is said to only prevail on 13-inch MacBooks with a processor speed of 1.83GHz, 2GHz, or 2.16GHz and one of the following hard drive capacities 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, or 160GB.

iPhone 3GS | Image courtesy of Apple

Apple has been officially awarded the “IPHONE” trademark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under number 3,746,840 covering International Classes 9, 28 and 38.

Of interest from the award which covers both the name and logo is that the trademark includes classes 9, 28 and 38. The most interesting of the three being class 28 which covers “Handheld unit for playing electronic games.”

View the full patent certificate here, awarded on February 9, 2010.

An issue that has plagued early 2009 Nahalem-based Mac Pros has been purportedly rectified with a small update from Apple. The issue would cause a 20 percent performance drop when audio was played in Mac OS X, and playing music in iTunes causes temperatures to sore in the Mac Pros.

Apple issued an update yesterday with an aim to fix the issue is available through software update. The 1.6MB download is described by Apple to “reduces processor utilization during audio activities, such as playing or recording music.”