Apple Yanks Another Controversial App; Will Destroy Fake Apple Products

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
•Apple has yanked another controversial app from its store. Giving into pressure from French social activists, Apple removed the “Jew or Not Jew” app, which reveals whether politicians or celebrities are Jewish. The activists argued that the app violates French laws, which ban revealing one’s religious affiliation without their consent. The app still remains available in many countries, though, including the U.S.

•On Thursday, the International Trade Commission announced it will review a court decision that smartphone manufacturer HTC is in violation of two Apple patents. If the ruling is upheld, HTC will be out of luck: the products found in violation would be banned.

•Two faux Apple stores in New York City must now hand over their products to Apple within five days of an agreement between Apple and the offending stores. The New York District Court said that the stores need to give up the contentious products so that (like electric cars in California in the early 2000s) they can be destroyed.

New Products
•iPhone fans, mark your calendars for October 15. That’s when the iPhone 5 release is rumored to hit shelves across the U.S. The phone is expected to be wider and thinner than the previous model, with a screen size increase from 3.5 to 4 inches. It will also be speedier, with an A5 dual-core processor.

Business Deals and Developers
•With its competitors lagging, Apple is in no rush to release the iPad 3. Now insiders are saying that it won’t be available until sometime in 2012, even though the model is already circulating around the supply chain. "In our view, Apple should be in no rush," said J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz to Apple Insider. "The other tablet entrants have stumbled so far, and that trend-line could persist deep into 2012."

•Annoyed that you have to log in multiple times to different Apple sites? Apple has taken note, and is in the process of merging multiple Apple IDs into only one login.