MacRumors

Apple will now begin accepting old products for recycling at all of its retail stores worldwide, reports The Associated Press. While the company has had a recycling program for quite some time, the terms for trading in a product would vary by device category.

For instance, those looking to trade in a Mac or iPad for recycling were limited to filling out an online form and shipping it with a prepaid label, while those looking to drop off an iPhone or iPod could bring it into an Apple Retail Store or ship it to a recycling center.

Now, customers are welcome to bring in all products to any of its retail locations, where the company will recycle them for free. While all devices will be accepted for recycling at no charge, those who bring in products that are in fair condition will also receive a store gift card.

Apple made changes to its recycling program in 2011, expanding the program to include more devices and older computers. Last year, Apple also introduced an iPhone trade-in program that allowed customers to trade in a device for a gift card that could be used toward the purchase of a new iPhone, which has since expanded to multiple countries.

The move comes as Apple launched its "Better" environmental campaign yesterday ahead of Earth Day, which included a video detailing the environmental efforts of its Apple Campus 2 project. Apple will celebrate Earth Day at its retail locations around the world by giving its logos green leaves and having its employees wear special green shirts. The company will also reportedly hold an event at its main campus in Cupertino, California.

In celebration of Earth Day, which takes place on April 22, Apple has started updating the logos of some of its retail stores with green leaf accents, a departure from the standard white logo.

For example, Apple's massive Nanjing East retail store in Shanghai has been updated with the green Earth Day logo, as it is just after 8AM on April 22 in China.

As noted last week by 9to5Mac, Apple is planning to celebrate Earth Day at multiple retail locations around the world, changing its logo and encouraging employees to wear special green shirts. The company is also planning to hold a special event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Earlier today, Apple launched its "Better" environmental campaign, highlighting its efforts to lower its carbon footprint. Included in the campaign was a video detailing the construction of Apple Campus 2, which will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources.

(Thanks, Nina!)

Intel's third-generation Thunderbolt technology could see throughput increase to 40Gbps, double the current capacity of Thunderbolt 2, first introduced in Macs last fall, according to leaked information posted on a Chinese technology site [Google Translate].

The site says Intel's new Thunderbolt controller, code-named Alpine Ridge, will see power consumption reduced by 50 percent, support for PCIe generation-3, and charging capacities of up to 100 watts. Backward compatibility will be maintained through the use of connector adapters, but the new Thunderbolt connector itself will be reduced in size.

Last April, Intel first announced Thunderbolt 2 in April before seeing it move to the Mac in October. There is no indication of when the third-generation of Thunderbolt could make its way to consumers.

Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs biopic may be directed by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes a week after The Social Network director David Fincher failed to reach a deal with Sony, reportedly over fees.

Boyle is said to be in talks with Sony Pictures to direct the film, which uses material from Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography and will focus on three 30-minute scenes ahead of three product launches.

While Fincher was rumored to be interested in Christian Bale to play the role of Steve Jobs, Boyle reportedly has his eye on another big star -- Leonardo DiCaprio. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Boyle has approached DiCaprio to play Jobs in the film.

Aside from Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle has directed hits like 127 Hours, Trainspotting, and The Beach, which DiCaprio also starred in. DiCaprio has been in major films like Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Great Gatsby. Boyle was also in charge of the opening ceremonies at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Aaron Sorkin completed the script for the biopic back in January, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak working as a consultant on the film. No potential release date has been announced.

Apple is continuing with its plans to introduce a mobile payments service and has began interviewing senior payments industry executives to take on roles within the company, reports Re/code.

Apple is looking to fill two new positions, focused on building an electronic payment service based on the company's existing iTunes accounts. Millions of customers have personal accounts that already store credit card information, allowing them to make purchases within the Apple Store app, in retail stores, and through iTunes. Apple hopes to expand this to third-party avenues as well, both online and at retail locations.

The company has been meeting with potential applicants for two new positions at Apple focused exclusively on building a business around the hundreds of millions of credit cards it already has on file. Apple is seeking to fill head of product and head of business development positions, one of these people said.

"Their ambitions are very, very serious," one of the sources said.

Apple's interest in the mobile payment arena has been rumored for years but gained renewed attention in early 2014, when The Wall Street Journal announced the company was working on a new mobile payment service, hoping to allow people to use their iOS devices to make purchases for physical goods in apps and on the web as well as in retail stores using payment info stored in iTunes accounts.

Apple has also been in talks with Paypal about a possible partnership and reportedly mulled an acquisition of mobile payments company Square, though it appears an acquisition did not pan out.

The company's mobile payment system will possibly be tied to Touch ID, the fingerprint scanning home button built into the iPhone 5s and reportedly slated for the upcoming iPhone 6 and future iPads. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in January that mobile payments were "one of the thoughts" behind Touch ID. He has also said that Apple is "intrigued" with mobile payments and noted there's a "big opportunity on the platform."

Apple has promised new hardware, software, and services across 2014, and it's possible that a mobile payment solution could come later this year, though a set date is unclear as the company is clearly still in the hiring stages.

As part of the "Better" environmental campaign that was initially unveiled this morning, Apple has posted a video of its Apple Campus 2 project, displaying a series of renderings of the building along with some details on the site from campus designer Norman Foster.

Foster speaks on Jobs' inspiration for the campus, noting his love of both Stanford and the area that he grew up in. "The idea is to bring California back to Cupertino," said Apple's senior arborist David Muffly, who is in charge of the flora that will be added to Apple's campus.

Along with the video, Apple outlines its plans to make its second campus more environmentally friendly. The site will be "the most energy-efficient building of its kind," powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources, including a massive solar energy installation.

The company also plans to have huge amounts of open space, which will be accompanied by both fruit and shade trees, and commute alternatives will see 15,000 Cupertino employees using biofuel buses, public transit, bikes, and more instead of cars.

The building itself is just part of the story. Just under 80 percent of the site will be open space, populated by more than 7000 trees — including more than 6000 newly planted shade and fruit trees. Drought-tolerant plants will be used throughout the landscape to minimize water use.

While the Apple Campus 2 video shared by Apple was initially unveiled in October during a session with the City of Cupertino, this is the first time Apple has released the video in high quality to the public. Apple is hoping to complete its second campus by 2016.

Last June, Apple began registering for trademarks on the "iWatch" name in a number of countries, but since that time the company has been bolstering its trademarks on the actual company name "Apple" to also cover jewelry and watches, MacRumors has discovered.

By international agreement, trademarks are broken down into 45 different classes to organize the types of goods and services being registered for protection. Watches and other jewelry are part of Class 14, which is focused on precious metals/stones and products made from those materials. While some of Apple's trademarks on the "Apple" name have previously included some goods from Class 14, the company is now broadening and cleaning up its trademark applications in those areas. The moves come as the company is widely expected to introduce its "iWatch" smart watch as soon as later this year.

Among the recent expansions for Apple is Ecuador, where Apple filed a new trademark application in late December specifically to add protection in Class 14 for a long list of product types including jewelry and watches. Google translation of new category application for "Apple" trademark:

jewelry; watches; watches; goods in precious metals or coated therewith; cufflinks or cufflinks; keychains; timers; brooches in precious metals or coated therewith; ornaments in precious metals or coated therewith; tie pins in precious metals or coated therewith; tie clips or tie clips of precious metal or coated therewith; badges of precious metal or coated therewith; bracelets of precious metal or coated therewith; Necklaces in precious metals or coated therewith; medals in precious metals or coated therewith; short chains and ornaments in precious metals or coated therewith; buttons in precious metals or coated therewith; clip in precious metals or coated therewith; boxes of precious metal or coated therewith; decorations in precious metals or coated therewith; jewelry; sculptures and precious metals products.

Applications in other countries have followed in recent months, including a nearly identical filing in Mexico in early January that again solely focused on Class 14. Other expansions have come as part of larger filings, such as in Norway, where Apple in mid-February applied for increased protection in seven different classes including a significant list within Class 14. And just last month that effort extended to the United Kingdom, where Apple filed to broaden its protections in over a dozen classes, including Class 14 for the first time there.

While new applications to protect Apple's use of its own name in jewelry and watches have appeared in a number of countries in recent months, the company has yet to make the move in all countries where it operates, most notably the United States where the "Apple" name is not currently covered under Class 14 at all.

In advance of Earth Day, Apple overhauled its Environmental Responsibility website with new content that reconfirms the company's dedication to operate its business in a way that is best for the environment. The updated website features a new "Better" video narrated by Apple CEO Tim Cook that explains the company's environmentally friendly values.

Keeping with this Earth Day theme, Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president for environmental initiatives, recently gave Wired an exclusive tour of Apple's newest data center in Yerington, Nevada. Apple is close to powering all its facilities entirely with renewable energy, with both its corporate office and data centers now at 94 percent and climbing. This Nevada facility continues Apple's commitment to obtain its energy from cleaner sources.

Though Jackson can’t take credit for Apple’s renewable initiative, she monitors its progress and, perhaps even more important, spreads the word that renewables aren’t just for tree-huggers, but are serious energy sources that can take on the biggest jobs. “No one can ever claim again you can’t have a data center that runs on 100 percent renewable,” says. “Once those proof points are out there, it makes it easier for policies to follow.”

Though the company uses wind and hydroelectric power in its other facilities, Apple is relying on solar power in its Nevada facility. This design mirrors the company's Maiden, North Carolina data center, which uses two 100-acre solar fields to produce a total of 50 megawatts.

Apple is now building out a similar solar array in Nevada on a 134-acre field within the grounds of the Nevada facility. When completed sometime next year, this array will generate approximately 18-20 megawatts of power, with the remaining power for the center being supplied by geothermal energy.

Apple today has added new channels from A&E Networks to its Apple TV, including A&E, The History Channel and Lifetime. Select Apple TV owners will be able to watch episodes from popular TV shows such as Duck Dynasty, Storage Wars, and Project Runway.

These new channels on the Apple TV offer a preview to all users, but full content is only available to cable television subscribers. Currently, the service is available to customers who subscribe to DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, and Cablevision Optimum, with support for additional providers coming in the near future.

The addition of these channels is part of a larger push by A&E Networks to expand their content beyond broadcast TV. Earlier this month, the network updated both its A&E [iTunes Link] and History Channel apps [iTunes Link], letting iOS owners stream live episodes of popular shows to their iPhone or iPad. Similar to the Apple TV, this iOS-based live streaming requires a valid cable subscription.

A new report from The Wall Street Journal today highlights the increasing competition between Apple and Google to gain exclusive games for their respective iOS and Android platforms. According to the report, both companies have been offering developers promotional perks, such as premium placement on their app store home pages, in exchange for the first rights to a title.

For instance, the popular title Cut The Rope 2 was reportedly part of an exclusivity agreement between Apple and and developer ZeptoLab:

ZeptoLab's sequel to its popular puzzle game "Cut the Rope”, introduced in December, reflected a similar pattern. The company and Apple agreed to about a three-month window of exclusivity for Apple's App Store, in exchange for the store prominently promoting the game, one person familiar with the matter said. ZeptoLab launched an Android version in late March.

The report also notes a promotional agreement between Apple and EA to launch Plants VS. Zombies 2 on iOS two months before its release on Android. This is in line with a story from Giant Bomb last September that shared similar details. However, while both companies denied the claims and stated that no money was exchanged as asserted by the original story, The Wall Street Journal notes that Apple doesn’t offer money for game exclusives, but rather just marketing and promotional assistance.

Plants VS. Zombies 2 was prominently featured by Apple during the week of its release, as it was mentioned on the App Store Facebook page and featured in top banners on the App Store itself.

Amazon has also carried out similar practices, offering promotional spots on its Amazon Appstore in order for the rights to launch games on its Kindle family of devices. An Amazon spokeswoman corroborated these claims, stating that the company "works with many developers to bring their apps to the Amazon Appstore." The company’s new Fire TV media streaming box, which was released earlier this month, contains dedicated support for games, even offering a $39 wireless Fire game controller.

The news also comes as the amount of money spent by consumers on mobile content grows. According to the results of a study done by research firms IDC and App Annie, mobile games accounted for $16 billion of app sales, jumping 2.3x over the past year.

Apple's first generation Apple TVs have lost their ability to connect to iTunes and appears to be affecting users worldwide.

A lengthy Apple Discussions page shows that the problem started on the 17th of April and has persisted for 1st generation Apple TV users. Forum poster georgevargas describes the issue:

As of last night I had full access to the iTunes Store. Since this morning I was getting an Itunes Store Not Available message, and after unplugging the AppleTv the iTunes Store access completly disappeared except for movie trailers.

Users have gone through the usual diagnostics, including rebooting and restoring, but have found that nothing has restored connectivity. MacRumors has confirmed the issue on our own 1st generation Apple TV.

The initial timing of the outage corresponds to the FaceTime not working for iOS 6 users, suggesting some internal changes by Apple has affected both services. Some users are speculating that internal communication upgrades related to the Heartbleed security issue could be related. Apple denied that Heartbleed affected any of its "key services" but did not elaborate on what those might be.

Apple has not provided any statement on if and when 1st generation Apple TV functionality will be restored or not. The first generation Apple TV was released in January, 2007 and was sold until September, 2010.

Update 4/22 12:00 PM PT: Apple appears to have resolved the issue preventing first-generation Apple TVs from connecting to iTunes. Many users are reporting that their Apple TVs are once again functional.

Nike plans to cease making wearable hardware and it has fired the majority of the 80-person team responsible for the FuelBand fitness tracker. Instead, the company will focus its efforts on fitness software, according to an unnamed source that spoke to CNET.

The shoemaker isn't throwing in the towel on technology. Rather, it's turning away from hardware and realigning its focus exclusively on fitness and athletic software, a strategic shift that would still benefit the company in the long run, analysts said.

As the competition in the fitness wearable category has increased with entries from Jawbone and Fitbit, Nike has opted to shift its focus to software. Company spokesman Brian Strong told CNET in an email that Nike continually aligns its resources with business priorities and that it has made changes to its team as its Digital Sport priorities have shifted. Nike is also opening an incubator called Fuel Lab in San Francisco to allow developers to create products that incorporate its workout metric NikeFuel and plug into a Nike+ API that'll come this fall.

Nike's move away from wearables also comes as Apple's long-rumored iWatch is expected to come to fruition. Apple CEO Tim Cook is an avid wearer of the FuelBand and has sat on the Nike board for the last nine years, which has helped the two brands foster a strong relationship.

A possible partnership between Apple and Nike wouldn't be out of the question as the athletic company was one of the first to show support for the iPhone 5s' motion coprocessor, debuting the Nike+ Move app alongside the iPhone 5s at Apple's media event. Apple also helped Nike enter the wearable market in 2006 with the Nike+iPod shoe package.

Apple has also hired former members of the Nike's Digital Sport team, picking up former FuelBand consultant Jay Blahnik last August and Nike design director Ben Shaffer last September.

Apple is expected to release the iWatch later this year alongside iOS 8 and the iPhone 6.

Update 9:54 PM: Nike has issued a statement to Re/code indicating that it plans to continue selling and supporting the current Nike FuelBand and that it plans a "small number" of layoffs, but the company did not directly address whether development of any new hardware will continue.

“The Nike+ FuelBand SE remains an important part of our business,” the company said in a statement emailed to Re/code. “We will continue to improve the Nike+ FuelBand App, launch new METALUXE colors, and we will sell and support the Nike+ FuelBand SE for the foreseeable future.”

The language does seem to leave a lot of room, however, for the possibility that the Portland athletic apparel giant won’t produce future products in the FuelBand line. One source with knowledge of the situation said that it could be that Nike wants to be able to run down its inventory of devices, or that it still has not completely decided to shutter the unit.

Sources have told Re/code that Nike has been debating for months what to do with the FuelBand line in the face of issues with financial performance and attracting engineers to work on the project.