MacRumors

A German court has ruled that eight provisions in Apple's privacy policy are inapplicable because they run afoul of German consumer protection laws, reports Bloomberg.

The lawsuit, between Apple and consumer protection group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV), related to Apple's request of its users for 'global consent' to use customers' data.

The German court appears to have struck down blanket policies that allow Apple to share personal information with other companies or use it for advertising, regardless of what the ultimate purpose is. Instead, to comply with German law, Apple will need to be more explicit about exactly what information is being shared, and what it will be used for.

A Berlin court struck down eight of 15 provisions in Apple’s general data-use terms because they deviate too much from German laws, a consumer group said in a statement on its website today. The court said Apple can’t ask for “global consent” to use customer data or use information on the locations of customers.

Apple had previously agreed to void the other seven provisions that the VZBV had flagged as problematic. Instead, the company will need to let customers know "in detail what data is used for what purpose", instead of a single "global consent".

The full report is available in German from VZBV's website, or via Google Translate. It should be noted that this ruling only applies to Germany, not to the entire European Union.

The New York Times reports on Foxconn's efforts to diversify its business, recognizing that while Apple is and will remain an important customer currently responsible for about 40% of Foxconn's revenue, it needs to tap into other markets in order to improve its own stability.

One major push for Foxconn has been the television market, where it has invested with Sharp in an LCD panel factory in Japan and begun releasing its own televisions in partnerships with RadioShack and Vizio.

Analysts say Foxconn’s strategy satisfies two seemingly contradictory goals. The company does not want to compete with clients directly, because it has TV assembly orders from Sony, Sharp and Toshiba. [...] But it needs to absorb excess LCD panels produced by the Sakai factory to take advantage of the lower manufacturing cost per unit. Therefore, Foxconn negotiates with partners to sell the television at or below its production cost.

Despite the push into televisions, including the partnership with Vizio, which is the top-selling brand in the United States for television over 60 inches, Foxconn is said to need additional large partners with Apple viewed as the primary target.

Analysts say Mr. Gou’s efforts to buy an LCD factory and vertically integrate his television manufacturing represent anticipation that orders for an Apple television product will come his way.

“Their gamble now is if Apple will put out a TV, and they should know better than anyone else in the world,” said [Thompson] Wu, the Credit Suisse analyst. “They’re making a bet that it’ll work.”

Almost exactly one year ago, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou was initially reported to have confirmed that the company was making preparations for an Apple television set, but the company quickly clarified the situation to deny that any specific acknowledgement had been made.

Foxconn noted that Gou had refused to discuss or speculate on any specific product and merely stated generally that Foxconn is "always prepared to meet the manufacturing needs of customers should they determine that they wish to work with Foxconn in the production of any of their products".

Following a somewhat confusing report earlier this week in which NPD DisplaySearch analysts first indicated that a Retina iPad mini would not appear until the first quarter of 2014 before quickly issuing a correction stating that a third quarter refresh would bring the Retina display to the line, the firm has now told CNET that production on those Retina display panels should begin in June or July.

The timing would not be a tremendous surprise given that the firm just said that the device should begin shipping in the July-September quarter, although other sources have indicated that it may not appear until somewhat later in the year. DisplaySearch's Richard Shim also claims that current iPad mini display supplier LG Display will maintain a prominent role in production of the new Retina displays, and that Samsung will remain out of the display supply picture.

"We should see the start of mass production of the panels in June or July," said Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch.

LG Display will be one of the major manufacturers of the display, he said, adding that Samsung is not a supplier for the Mini.

"Samsung is currently not in the iPad Mini and they won't be in the next generation. LGD is becoming a much bigger supplier than before," he said.

LG is reportedly the main supplier for display panels in the current iPad mini, with AU Optronics also responsible for a significant portion of the supply.

Also unsurprising is Shim's claim that the Retina iPad mini will adopt the same 2048 x 1536 resolution seen on the full-size iPad's Retina display, albeit at a higher pixel density to fit the iPad mini's smaller physical size. Maintaining consistent resolution across the iPad lineup allows developers to target a single screen size with their apps, simplifying their work.

On last month's earnings conference call, Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared to specifically temper new product expectations for the next several months, mentioning that Apple had a number of great products coming "in the fall and across all of 2014."

Apple has been cracking down on app discovery resources in recent months, removing high profile apps like AppGratis for violating guideline 2.25, which states the following: "Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected."

A report from AllThingsD in early April indicated that AppGratis' rejection from the App Store was just the first phase of a much wider crackdown, which was today confirmed by PocketGamer.biz after Apple began rejecting apps that feature tools for "filtering, bookmarking, searching, or sharing recommendations."

We've been contacted by one developer whose app discovery tool has recently been blocked by Apple because it includes such features, with App Store regulation 2.25 - which restricts apps that could be confused by consumers as app stores in their own right – cited within the reasoning.

The developer, who opted to remain anonymous, said that the rejected app focused primarily on sharing app recommendations to friends.

"I have not seen this rejection notice before and believe that it is a new one. We thought that basing our recommendations on sharing was suitable for Apple, as it had previously stated that if you bake in social or local into your app discovery, you would be fine.

"However, either we are not social enough, or Apple is going back on its position. Either way, it appears the scope of 2.25 continues to grow and I think they aim to be the only provider of recommendations for apps, along with being the distributor."

As noted above, guideline 2.25 has non-specific, generalized wording that does not include specifics on the filtering, bookmarking, searching, and sharing violations, which means the company could use the rule to reject and penalize a number of apps that incorporate similar features.

Apple is missing the opportunity to reach 2.8 billion wireless customers because of their stringent requirements around minimum purchases of iPhones and price subsidies, according to a report from Bloomberg.

In order to carry the iPhone, Apple has strict requirements for carriers. One such requirement relates to minimum purchase agreements, which regional U.S. postpaid carrier Cricket has had some trouble meeting this year.

Some smaller carriers, especially those in emerging markets, have difficulties paying the pricey subsidies that Apple's $600 iPhones require. The rumors about a cheaper, plastic iPhone could address some of these issues, especially for those countries where subsidies are nearly unheard of and customers routinely pay for their phones up front.

For smaller wireless-service providers, teaming up with Apple can be a double-edged sword. U.S. Cellular signed on last week to offer the phone after agreeing to sell $1.2 billion worth of handsets over three years. The company had long said that the handset costs too much; yet, not having the iPhone was costing it customers. Telefonica Czech Republic dropped the iPhone because it couldn’t afford the subsidy.

Adobe has decided to focus its resources on Creative Cloud and will not continue development on its Creative Suite software, reports The Next Web. While Creative Suite 6 will continue to be supported in regards to bug fixes, there will be no further updates and no Creative Suite 7.

Instead, the company has today announced several Creative Cloud apps at its Adobe MAX conference, including Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC, and Premiere Pro CC.

Each of the apps has seen notable upgrades, as detailed by The Next Web. For example, Photoshop CC offers new features like Camera Shake reduction and Behance integration, which can be seen in the Adobe promo video below.

For creatives that rely on the company's upgrade paths, some will be pleased to find that anyone with a CS 3 or later serial number will get their first Creative Cloud year for $29.99 per month. For everyone else, the complete version of Creative Cloud will set you back $49.99 per month, or you can purchase a single app license subscription for $19.99 per month.

For teams, the same applies, but you'll pay $69.99 per month per user or $39.99 if you've purchased CS 3 or later — added perks include significantly more cloud storage. For students, CC will set you back $19.99 per month for the complete version, and there is also now a "Teams for Education" offering at $39.99 per month per user.

With a standard Creative Cloud subscription, users can access the full library of Adobe apps, making it an attractive choice for subscribers that plan to access multiple Adobe products.

According to Scott Morris (via TechCrunch), head of Adobe's Creative Cloud and Creative Suite teams, the shift will allow Adobe's engineers the "ability to focus," providing quicker updates and more innovative features in the future.

Fortune today released its annual "Fortune 500" list, a high-profile ranking of the largest companies in the United States ranked by revenue. In the new rankings, Apple has risen to #6 from its #17 spot in last year's rankings.

Apple is bigger than ever -- the company cracked the Fortune 10 this year. But it’s a high-pressure job, being king of the hill. At Apple's press event this past October, it maintained more than disrupted with its software upgrades and iPad mini announcement. Also, this past year has seen a lot of CEO Tim Cook having to apologize -- once in September for the failure of Apple’s maps app, and then to Chinese consumers this April for slow repair services -- this in a market that Cook said this past January would be Apple's largest. Still, when every executive wants to invent the iPod of ___, Apple remains an innovation icon.

Wal-Mart edged out ExxonMobil for the top spot in this year's rankings, with Chevron, Phillips 66, and Berkshire Hathaway also ranking ahead of Apple and its $156.2 billion in revenue. In looking at profits, Apple ranked second among Fortune 500 companies at $41.7 billion, trailing only ExxonMobil at $44.9 billion.

In a bit of a confusing sequence of events, CNET reports on claims from NPD DisplaySearch analysts who see Apple having two Retina iPad mini devices in the pipeline, including an initial launch in the third quarter of this year followed by a second update in the first quarter of next year.

"We see two refreshes coming. One in the second half of this year, then one in Q1 [first quarter] of 2014," analyst Richard Shim told CNET late Sunday night.

"The Q1 [2014] device will have a Retina display plus an updated processor," Shim added.

CNET's report had initially cited Shim as saying that the Retina display would not appear until the early 2014 model, but less than two hours later the report was revised to state that the 2013 model will also have a Retina display. The new quotes from Shim do not actually refute the original claim, but based on CNET's reporting it appears that additional information he provided does indicate that a Retina display will be included in the next iPad mini.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo last month reported that technical challenges related to production of a Retina iPad mini will likely see the device debut somewhat later than many have expected. While he declined to offer a specific prediction for the iPad mini launch, he did outline three scenarios showing launches in the September-November timeframe.

Rumors of Apple looking to accelerate its upgrade cycles have persisted for several years, and they did come to fruition late last year with the introduction of an updated iPad just seven and a half months after the previous model. That launch did, however, coincide with the debut of Apple's new Lightning connector, so it is unclear if the short cycle for the full-size iPad is indicative of a larger trend or if it was simply a one-time effort to adjust Apple's launch timing and roll out the new connector across all of its latest-generation mobile devices.

The New York Times reports that Google and its Motorola Mobility unit have been found to be abusing their patent dominance in 3G wireless networking technology by the European Commission. The ruling, which comes in the form of a preliminary finding that could lead to formal antitrust charges but has yet to do so, addresses Motorola's efforts to bar European sales of Apple's 3G mobile devices over infringement of "standards essential" patents that Motorola is required to license under reasonable terms.

Apple did briefly pull a number of devices from its German online store in February 2012, but they quickly returned after an injunction was lifted and Apple later won long-term protection from sales bans while its appeal in the case is heard.

The European Commission's report today calls Motorola's efforts to enforce a sales ban based on these standards essential patents "an abuse of a dominant position prohibited by E.U. antitrust rules."

“I think that companies should spend their time innovating and competing on the merits of the products they offer — not misusing their intellectual property rights to hold up competitors to the detriment of innovation and consumer choice,” said Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s competition commissioner, in a statement Monday, before a news briefing on the topic.

Apple has of course also targeted its competitors with lawsuits seeking sales bans over patent infringement, but Apple's efforts do not involve standards essential patents that are required to be licensed.

The technology covered by these standards essential patents has been judged to be integral for any device supporting a given functionality, with rights holders being required to license the patents under fair and reasonable terms in order to promote competition. In this case, Apple and Google/Motorola differ on what the reasonable licensing rates should be and thus do not have a licensing agreement in place.