MacRumors

Late last year, Apple was fined $1.2 million by Italian regulators over its marketing of AppleCare extended warranty services for its products. The regulators ruled that Apple was not adequately disclosing standard two-year consumer protection coverage available under European Union laws. Apple last week lost its appeal of the ruling, although another follow-up hearing is scheduled for early May.

In an effort to inform consumers about the differences between Apple's standard warranty coverage, AppleCare, and EU consumer protection laws, Apple has posted information pages on many of its localized sites for customers in European Union countries. Among the differences between Apple's standard warranty and the EU's statutory warranty requirements:

- Apple's warranty is good for one year, while EU protection lasts for two years.

- Apple's warranty covers defects that arise at any time during the warranty period. EU protection laws generally require consumers to prove that a given defect was present at the time of product delivery.

- Apple's warranty coverage applies only to Apple products. EU protection laws require sellers to support any products they sell, so the EU coverage would apply to both Apple-branded products and third-party products sold by Apple.

Apple's document also provides a number of links and clarifications to help consumers understand exactly what is covered by each warranty layer, enabling them to better determine whether AppleCare extended warranties might be a desirable addition to their purchases.

Last week Overhaul Games announced that Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition would be making its way to the iPad later this summer. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is a recently announced remake of the original 1998 game and Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack. The original game was well received and sold over two million copies worldwide.

The company has now announced that the game will also be available for the Mac in summer 2012 in the Mac App Store.

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition™ runs on an upgraded and improved version of the Infinity Engine. It includes the entire Baldur’s Gate adventure, the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack, and never before seen content including a new adventure and a new party member.

The company reports that there will be a variety of Mac OS X specific features "including widescreen and iCloud support".

Following an audit of Foxconn's facilities where the company assembles Apple products, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Foxconn that will result in stricter controls over working hours and an examination of salaries paid to workers at the facilities.

Foxconn has committed to bring its factories into full compliance with Chinese legal limits and FLA standards on working hours by July 2013, according to its remediation plan in FLA's report. The supplier will bring working hours in line with the legal limit of 49 hours per week, including overtime. This means a reduction in monthly overtime hours from 80 to 36, and would be a significant improvement given that most of the technology sector is struggling to address excessive overtime.

More importantly, while employees will work fewer hours, Foxconn has agreed to develop a compensation package that protects workers from losing income due to reduced overtime. In order to maintain capacity while reducing workers' hours, Foxconn committed to increase its workforce significantly as it builds additional housing and canteen capacity.

During its audits, the Fair Labor Association found numerous violations of both Chinese labor laws and FLA standards when it comes to working hours, with average workload coming in at over 60 hours per week during peak times. Instances of unfair overtime pay were also uncovered, with overtime payments only being made in 30-minute increments. Consequently, workers received no pay for overtime work of up to 29 minutes, while workers putting in 30-59 minutes of work received pay for only 30 minutes' worth of work.

The FLA found several other issues in its audits, ranging from health and safety to lack of worker union representation. Full details on the results of the FLA's audits are available through the organization's website. The FLA will continue to monitor Apple's and Foxconn's efforts at compliance, and will post follow-up reports on its investigations.

Bloomberg Businessweek publishes a cover story on the ongoing patent war between Apple and Android, outlining the history of the disputes between Apple and Android manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola.

The report notes that Apple has actually experienced only limited success in its legal efforts, suggesting that Steve Jobs' vow to wage "thermonuclear war" against Android may be backfiring somewhat with Apple's soaring legal costs and retaliatory actions from its targets subjecting the company to risk while the benefits remain meager.

Corroborating claims from earlier this month regarding Apple's willingness to settle with the Android device manufacturers it has filed suit against, Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Apple and Samsung have "communicated lately" about settlement possibilities. The report suggests that settlement has become a more feasible option now that Apple is led by Tim Cook.

People familiar with the situation, however, note that top-level executives at both Apple and Samsung have communicated lately about potential settlement options. Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to share his predecessor’s passion about laying all foes to waste. Cook appears to view litigation as a necessary evil, not a vehicle of cosmic revenge.

Stanford University law professor Mark Lemley notes that the patent war has cost Apple and its opponents over $400 million over the past few years, and it is unclear just what benefits they have received for that massive sum of money. Lemley predicts that there will eventually be a major cross-licensing deal to bring the majority of the legal disputes to an end, but in the meantime the war continues to escalate as all sides continue to file new suits.

The latest data from Nielsen suggests that between the two of them, Android and Apple's iOS have relegated other smartphone operating systems to sub-single digit market share. The closest competitor -- RIM's Blackberry -- counted only 5% of U.S. smartphone purchases in the past three months. Other operating systems, including Windows Phone, Symbian, HP/Palm's WebOS and others, added up to only 4% share combined.

Overall, Android continues to lead the smartphone market in the U.S., with 48 percent of smartphone owners saying they owned an Android OS device. Nearly a third (32.1%) of smartphone users have an Apple iPhone, and Blackberry owners represented another 11.6 percent of the smartphone market. Among recent acquirers who got their smartphone within the last three months, 48 percent of those surveyed in February said they chose an Android and 43 percent bought an iPhone.

Android's performance is pretty constant, with 48% of existing smartphone owners and 48% of new smartphone purchasers choosing Android phones.

Apple's iPhone has been more popular of late, with the recent release of the iPhone 4S. The iPhone is the device of choice for 32% of current smartphone owners, but has made up 43% of recent smartphone purchases -- entirely at the expense of BlackBerry and the other small-share operating systems.

Apple appears to be working on plans to open its largest retail store yet, advertising a forthcoming store in the main Century City shopping district of Dalian, China. M.I.C. gadget posts a photo showing promotional signage in a shopping center there calling the forthcoming store the "world's biggest".

Interestingly, the article also reports on an incident that has brought Apple some additional attention, with other stores in the area complaining about new barricades for construction of the Apple retail store encroaching too far onto a public plaza.

The dispute quickly escalated just minutes after the barricades were erected yesterday, with security officers working on behalf of a neighboring business facing off with Apple-hired security guards and ultimately forcibly dismantling the barricades. A portion of the glass curtain wall on the Parkland shopping center was also smashed in the process, and police were called to the scene to address the situation.

M.I.C. gadget's report suggests that the dispute stemmed from jealously between shopping centers over Apple's choice of venue for its store, but our reading of the source article from We54.com [Google translation] indicates that the controversy is more about encroachment upon public spaces that other retailers fear will impact their business during the construction process.

Dailan, a city of 3.5 million people with a total of over 6 million people in the region, is located on the Liaodong Peninsula separating the Bohai Sea from Korea Bay in northeastern China. It is a major seaport, financial center, and tourist magnet for the region, drawing significant numbers of visitors from China, Japan, and Korea.

Following his appearance at the Xidan Joy City retail store in Beijing and meetings with Chinese government officials earlier this week, Bloomberg now reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook has also toured a new iPhone production facility in Zhengzhou, China.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited Foxconn Technology Group’s newly built manufacturing facility for the iPhone in Zhengzhou, China, as the U.S. company seeks to improve working conditions.

The iPhone production line is at the new Foxconn Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs 120,000 people, Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman, said in an e-mail today. She didn’t provide other details on Cook’s visit or say how much longer he’ll be in China after having held high-level talks in Beijing earlier this week.

China is a key location for Apple for a number of reasons, including its role in manufacturing and assembly, a desire to focus on expansion in the market there, and intellectual property issues. Cook's trip appears to be addressing most of these aspects, demonstrating continued concern over working conditions in its manufacturing partners' plants while also working to build relationships with key political and business figures in the country.

In line with the settlement announced last month over antenna issues on the iPhone 4, certain owners are now receiving notices instructing them how to claim their $15 settlement payment from Apple. The settlement is limited to those customers who experienced issues but who were unable to return their devices and who opted not to receive a free bumper case from Apple.

Apple will provide a $15 cash payment to Class Members who send in a valid claim form. The claim form will require you to declare that you: (a) experienced antenna or reception issues with your iPhone 4; (b) were unable to return your iPhone 4 without incurring any costs; (c) were unwilling to use a case or free bumper for your iPhone 4; and (d) completed certain troubleshooting steps or are unable to complete the troubleshooting steps because you no longer own your iPhone 4.

Apple is still offering free bumpers to those who specifically request them, but the cash settlement provides an alternative method of compensation for those who do not wish to utilize an Apple bumper or who no longer own the affected device and did not originally receive a free bumper.

Users eligible for the $15 settlement payment have until August 28 to file their claim forms, and must file any objections to the settlement by June 15. A court hearing on July 13 will consider the settlement for final approval. Any parties wishing to exclude themselves from the class action settlement and pursue their own remedies also have until June 15 to register their removal from the class action group. Additional details are available at the official settlement site.

Digitimes claims that Apple will be ramping up production of the new 15" MacBook Pro in April, but with the new 13.3" model not ramping up until June:

As Apple will start mass producing its 15-inch MacBook Pro in April, sources from the upstream supply chain have pointed out that the company's orders for the 13.3-inch model are far higher than those of the 15-inch, indicating that Apple is more focused on the 13.3-inch notebook segment. However, the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro will not start mass production until June.

Digitimes also notes that the orders for the 13.3" MacBook Pro is "far higher" than those of the 15" model, though without a frame of reference for the typical mix of Apple notebook sales, it's hard to gauge the significance of this observation.

The April timing falls nicely with reports of new Intel Ivy Bridge chips that would be suitable for use in the new MacBook Pros.

Digitimes, however, doesn't provide any explanation for the discrepancy in the production dates between the 13" and 15" models. It's seems possible that Intel CPU availability may have something to do with the timetable as it was reported the very low power Ivy Bridge CPUs also won't be ready until June. Apple has typically only used these low power CPUs in the MacBook Air line, but the MacBook Pro has been rumored to be adopting a thinner and more Air-like appearance.

Previous reports claimed that the new MacBook Pros will feature a thinner design without an optical drive. We've been hearing whispers about this kind of Macbook Air inspired design since April of last year.

Apple has issued a version update for iTunes which addresses a number of bugs:

iTunes 10.6.1 provides a number of improvements, including:

- Fixes several issues that may cause iTunes to unexpectedly quit while playing videos, changing artwork size in Grid view, and syncing photos to devices.
- Addresses an issue where some iTunes interface elements are incorrectly described by VoiceOver and WindowEyes.
- Fixes a problem where iTunes may become unresponsive while syncing iPod nano or iPod shuffle.
- Resolves an ordering problem while browsing TV episodes in your iTunes library on Apple TV.

The update is available through OS X's Software Update.

A new survey commissioned by CNBC is as good a reason as any of why Apple's stock price has been on such a tear in recent years. More than half of all US homes own an Apple product, according to CNBC's All-America Economic survey -- and 1 in 10 homes that don't own any Apple products plan to purchase one in the next year.

“It's a fantastic business model — the more of our products you own, the more likely you are to buy more,” says Jay Campbell, a vice president of Hart Research Associates, which conducts the CNBC survey along with Bill McInturff. “Planned obsolescence has always been a part of the technology industries sales model, but Apple has taken it to a whole new level.”

Among other findings in the survey:

- Income level is a strong indicator of Apple product ownership: 28% of those making under $30k/year own one, while 77% of those making more than $75k/year do.

- 63% of those aged 18-34 and 35-49 own Apple products, while only 50% of the 50-64 group do, and 26% among those 65 and older.

- 61% of households with children own an Apple product, versus 48% in those without kids.

- The average home in the South owns 1.2 Apple products, the smallest in any region. The average household in the country owns 1.6 devices.

CNBC noted that "the poll of 836 Americans was conducted by landline and cellphone from March 19 to 22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent."

Business Insider reports on a new research note from Hong Kong-based research firm CLSA claiming that Apple's much-rumored television set is likely to debut in 2013 rather than the late 2012 timeframe that has been suggested by several other reports. CLSA is also one of a number of analyst firms that believe Foxconn's investment in Sharp is likely tied to potential for an Apple television.

We continue to view Apple TV hardware as a 2013 event.

The timing of Hon Hai/Foxconn's equity stake and partnership with Sharp along with Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou's separate 46.5% investment in Sharp's Sakai City plant lends further credibility that Apple TV is in the works. This also follows reports that Apple is investing ~$1.3bn in equipment destined for Sharp facilities.

CLSA does not offer a specific rationale for its belief that the Apple television won't debut until next year, but a number of rumors from last year suggested that it could appear in either late 2012 or early 2013. More recent reports have claimed that component suppliers have already begun moving parts for the Apple television, with a launch potentially coming in the fourth quarter of this year.

CLSA does not have a particularly prolific track record, but the only previous report we have on record from the firm is an incorrect one from June 2011 claiming that an LTE-equipped iPad would launch ahead of the 2011 holiday season. The new iPad with LTE support of course didn't launch until earlier this month.