Apple Denies E-Book Wrongdoing; 'Revolutionary' New Product

Every week,  makes news with technology developments, business deals and, more often than not, controversies.

That’s where our weekly "Core Bytes" column on Apple comes in. We’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our favorite backyard tech giant.

Controversies
Last week, the U.S. government accused Apple and other major book publishers of conspiring to raise the price of e-books. Yet the Big Apple has denied all allegations, stating that the company naturally sparked competition through introducing its iBookstore in 2010. While the federal government has reached a settlement with three of the publishers, it will proceed with its lawsuit in a New York City court with Apple and another publisher, the Penguin Group.

The international patent war between Apple and Motorola continues. A German regional court upheld a ban against Apple’s use of quick transmission, or “push” technologies, in the country, stating that Apple must pay an unspecified amount of damages to Motorola. In February, Apple disabled push technologies in its iCloud and MobileMe internet services.

New Products
Apple is working to take the ‘mal’ out of ‘Malware’. It is currently developing a tool that will detect and remove a Flashback virus from infected Macs. Approximately 60,000 Macs, or “the market equivalent of 8.5 million PCs”, have been infected with the virus deemed as Flashback Trojan botnet, which was first discovered last year. The troll virus can install even without user interaction or passwords.

In a statement shrouded in secrecy, French designer Philippe Starck stated he is designing a “revolutionary” product for the company that will be announced by the year’s close. Some speculated that this will be the much-hyped Apple TV, while others say it is simple the remote control used to power it.

Business Deals and Developments
Apple’s market value this week spiked above the $600 mark, with a high of $644 on Tuesday. Investors are optimistic that it’s all uphill from here, predicting that the company’s shares will reach $1,000 by 2014. Now Apple’s market value contributes 1.72 percent to global markets and about 24 percent to information technology.

The Brazilian city of Jundiai has to pay homage to Steve Jobs: name a street after him. The city is located close to where a Foxconn factory recently opened. This begs the question: if there is a street in South America named after Jobs, should there be one here in the South Bay?