MacRumors

Bloomberg notes that Apple has posted the 2012 update of its environmental policy pages, noting that the company has now achieved 100% renewable energy usage at all of its data centers. On a worldwide basis, the company's corporate facilities are now running on 75% renewable energy, up from 35% just two years ago.

Our goal is to power every facility at Apple entirely with energy from renewable sources — solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. So we’re investing in our own onsite energy production, establishing relationships with suppliers to procure renewable energy off the grid, and reducing our energy needs even as our employee base grows.

Our investments are paying off. We’ve already achieved 100 percent renewable energy at all of our data centers, at our facilities in Austin, Elk Grove, Cork, and Munich, and at our Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino. And for all of Apple’s corporate facilities worldwide, we’re at 75 percent, and we expect that number to grow as the amount of renewable energy available to us increases. We won’t stop working until we achieve 100 percent throughout Apple.

The move to 100% renewable energy for its data centers represents the completion of a commitment the company made last May to address criticism from Greenpeace over its energy usage. While Greenpeace's ratings were based on erroneous calculations and assumptions, Apple took the opportunity to make more public statements about its energy usage and plans.

Apple estimates that its carbon footprint for 2012 included 30.9 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, with 98% of that total directly related to the life cycles of its products. The total represents a 34% increase over the company's 2011 estimates, but Apple notes that recent increases have been driven primarily by growth in its sales, with emissions per dollar of revenue decreasing by 21.5% from 2008 to 2012.

Last week, Google apparently accidentally leaked a promotional video revealing that its Google Now app will be coming to iOS. Google Now is currently an Android-only app designed to automatically integrate relevant bits of information such as weather, traffic, appointments, and more into users' lives. The video was quickly removed, but Google had not issued a statement on its appearance.

iPhone Hacks now points to a Tweet from Techmeme editor Mahendra Palsule noting that Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was asked about Google Now coming to iOS at the company's Big Tent event in India today. According to the report, Schmidt suggested that whether or not Google Now comes to the App Store is currently up to Apple's reviewers. The exchange between Schmidt and The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger appears nearly 18 minutes into the interview (via TechCrunch):

Q: When can I get Google Now on my iPhone?

A: On your iPhone? You'll need to discuss that with Apple. Apple has a policy of approving or disapproving apps that are submitted into its store, and some of the apps we make they approve and some of them they don't. They recently did approve Google Maps, thank goodness. [laughter] And without being too obnoxious, you have excellent vendors of Android choices for you in London, from many different suppliers.

Q: So, has Apple got a problem with Google Now?

A: That was an ambiguous statement. Does Apple have a problem with Google, or Google Now? [laughter]

Q: Sorry...Google Now. Capital letter.

A: Let me not talk about the specifics. I don't think they're particularly worried about Google Now.

Apple and Google obviously have had a contentious relationship as competition between iOS and Android has intensified in recent years. While Apple has generally approved Google's apps submitted to the App Store, there have in some cases been significant delays, as seen with Google Voice remaining in limbo for over a year before finally receiving approval.

Update 11:27 AM: Apple has informed CNET that Google has not submitted an iOS version of Google Now to the App Store for review.

Update 3:00 PM: Google has admitted to CNET that it has "not submitted Google Now to Apple’s App Store."

While Apple has received much praise for the aesthetics of its iPhone designs, it has also received criticism over durability issues, with many users unfortunately experiencing the problems with glass displays after dropping their devices onto hard surfaces. The iPhone 4 and 4S in particular have received criticism for their use of glass rear panels in addition to the front panel needed to accommodate the devices' displays.

On the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch, Apple began using sapphire crystal to cover the rear camera, providing superior durability and scratch resistance.

Although the surface of the iSight camera is as clear as glass, it’s not made of glass. It’s actually sapphire crystal, whose hardness is second only to diamond on the scale of transparent materials. That means the surface of the lens is far less likely to scratch.

As MIT Technology Review reports, however, smartphone users may find their entire screens covered by sapphire instead of glass in the relatively near future.

Sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, probably won’t ever be as cheap as Gorilla Glass, the durable material from Corning that’s used to make screens on iPhones and other smartphones. A Gorilla Glass display costs less than $3, while a sapphire display would cost about $30. But that could fall below $20 in a couple of years thanks to increased competition and improving technology, says Eric Virey, an analyst for the market research firm Yole Développement. And since sapphire performs better than glass, that price could make it cheap enough to compete, he says.

Virey says that all major mobile phone makers are considering using sapphire instead of glass, with some high-end smartphones perhaps moving to sapphire as soon as late this year. The report does not, however, address whether Apple is seriously looking at expanding its use of sapphire beyond the camera cover glass.

The report also outlines how cheaper options involving laminating a thin layer of sapphire onto a cheaper material are also under development, moves that could bring the price premium over Gorilla Glass to only three or four times with the potential to come down even further.

Corning is of course not standing still with its Gorilla Glass products either, having announced Gorilla Glass 3 earlier this year. The new glass offers significantly greater strength and scratch resistance than its predecessors and could also be used to make thinner displays.

Russian security firm Doctor Web this week highlighted a new trojan (via The Next Web) affecting OS X systems and which installs an adware plug-in capable of injecting ads into users' browsing experience.

As with other trojans, this new Yontoo malware relies on tricking users into installing the package, which in this case masquerades as a movie trailer video plug-in, download accelerator, or other software a user might believe they want or need on their system.

When launched, Trojan.Yontoo.1 displays a dialogue window that asks the user if they want to install Free Twit Tube.

However, after the user presses ‘Continue’, instead of the promised program, the Trojan downloads (from the Internet) and installs the plugin Yontoo for Safari, Chrome and Firefox. These browsers are most popular among Mac OS X users. While a user surfs the web, the plugin transmits information about the loaded pages to a remote server.

In return, it gets a file that enables the Trojan to embed third-party code into pages visited by the user.

As an example of Yontoo's capabilities, Doctor Web shows how ads can be injected into apple.com once the plug-in has been unwittingly installed by the user.

Compared to Windows, OS X has long been a relatively unpopular target for malware authors, but attacks targeting Apple customers have been on the rise. Many of the most highly publicized attacks come via trojans that rely on tricking users into granting installation privileges, while third-party platforms such as Java have also frequently been used to inject code into Mac systems.

Apple has been increasing its efforts to fight malware, introducing a rudimentary anti-malware functionality in OS X Snow Leopard and an enhanced Gatekeeper system in OS X Mountain Lion. Apple has also increasingly been blocking vulnerable versions of Java until Oracle is able to release patched versions of its plug-ins.

DigiTimes is reporting that next-generation iPhone components will begin shipping at the end of May, and Apple's new smartphone could show up sometime in the third quarter, matching with other reports that an iPhone 5S would be released in June or July.

Components for the next-generation iPhone will start shipping at the end of May with the new smartphone to have a chance of showing up in the third quarter, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

The new iPhone will not receive a major upgrade and may just be a slightly enhanced version of iPhone 5 (iPhone 5S), the sources said citing their latest specification data.

DigiTimes' sources claim the iPhone 5S would have a higher-end processor and a higher-megapixel camera, which match with other rumors about the phone.

Other recent reports say Foxconn is currently preparing to ramp production on the iPhone 5S and that it may come equipped with a fingerprint sensor.

The United States Department of Defense is reportedly ordering more than 650,000 iOS devices according to Electronista, which cites unnamed sources.

The report says the DoD will purchase 120,000 iPads, 120,000 iPad minis, 200,000 iPod touches and 210,000 iPhones. The devices will be used in a variety of situations, with more than 50% "headed to the battlefield, afloat, and to associated support commands." The rest will be used in office situations like the Pentagon.

Another source familiar with the situation told us that the iOS devices were intended to replace nearly all the older BlackBerry devices incompatible with the new BlackBerry 10 software release. Statistics gathered from devices deployed by the DoD show 470,000 BlackBerry devices in daily use, none of which use the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. Testing of the new operating system has been gravely impacted by the sequester, and the outright elimination of funds earmarked for the BlackBerry 10 platform may never be restored.

The site suggests that the actual order of the devices is being delayed due to the sequester, and the purchase will move forward once that is resolved by Congress.

Update: The Department of Defense has denied the claims made in Electronista's article, saying that it has no plans to end support for BlackBerry phones. Additionally, the spokesperson said DoD "mobility experts are looking into what has been reported and are not familiar with the figures quoted in that report/article."

The DoD says it supports more than 600,000 mobile devices currently, including 470,000 BlackBerry, 41,000 iOS, and 8,700 Android.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that patent holding company Intertrust Technologies Corp. has filed suit against Apple, accusing the Cupertino-based company of infringing on 15 of Intertrust's patents related to "security and distributed trusted computing."

Intertrust invents and licenses technologies for digital rights management, currently holding more than 150 patents.

As posted on the company's website, the lawsuit involves multiple Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac computers and laptops, Apple TV and Apple services like iTunes, iCloud, and the App Store.

"Apple makes many great products that use Intertrust's inventions," said Talal Shamoon, Intertrust's chief executive officer. "Our patents are foundational to modern Internet security and trusted computing, and result from years of internal research and development. We are proud of our record of peaceful and constructive licensing with industry leaders. We find it regrettable that we are forced to seek Court assistance to resolve this matter."

Intertrust, which is backed by Sony Corp. and Royal Philips Electronics NV, successfully collected $440 million from Microsoft in 2004 after winning a patent infringement case against the company. On its licensees page, Intertrust lists major tech companies like Adobe, Samsung, Panasonic, LG, HTC, Nokia, and Motorola.

Reuters reports that Walmart is expanding its iPhone-based Scan & Go self-checkout system to over 200 of its stores, up from 70 currently. The company began pilot testing on the project, which allows users to scan items into an iPhone app as they shop and then easily pay for their items at a checkout station as they leave the store, last August.

For now, "Scan & Go" only works on Apple Inc devices. An Android version should be out soon, Walmart said.

With more than half of its shoppers using smartphones, Walmart is trying to make shopping more convenient for shoppers who embrace mobile technology. More than half of the customers who have tried the "Scan & Go" feature have used it more than once, [Walmart senior vice president Gibu] Thomas said.

The Scan & Go program is currently in place at a number of Walmart stores in Georgia and Arkansas, with individual stores in Vancouver, Washington and San Jose, California also participating. The current expansion will bring the program to a number of new areas in the central and western part of the United States.

Walmart is bringing "Scan & Go" into a dozen more markets: Denver, Colorado; Phoenix, Arizona; Omaha, Nebraska; Dallas and Austin, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; Wyoming; Bozeman, Montana; Seattle, Washington; San Jose, California; and Portland, Oregon.

The report notes that while customers are able to record their purchases on their iPhones, they still must pay using traditional methods at self-checkout stations, and the company declined to comment on whether it has plans to offer more integrated mobile payment methods such as directly through the app itself.

Scan & Go is offered through the standard Walmart iOS app, with users able to access a special mode of the app when they visit Walmart locations supporting Scan & Go.