Fatal Explosion at Chinese Apple Plant; The Connection Between Apple and Religion; and the iPhone 5

Every week, makes news with technology developments, business deals and, sometimes, 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
• An explosion Friday at the Foxxconn, the company based in Chengdu, China, that produces iPads, killed two and injured 16 others. Production at the plant, which is infamous for its poor working conditions, has ceased as police further investigate.

• “App Store” is not a generic term. That’s at least according to Apple, which yesterday denied Amazon.com’s claim that the phrase was along the same lines of “book store.” Rather, the Apple folks said, it’s a brand name that Amazon.com should not be able to duplicate. In federal papers filed Thursday, Apple went on to state that the Amazon Appstore for “Android is an App Store.”

New Products
• At first glance, Apple seems ready to launch its cloud music service. It has three deals with major music labels and is working on sealing a deal with Universal Music Group, the largest music company in the world. Yet, before it can officially launch, it still needs to strike deals with music publishers (yes, they are different), who own a completely different set of rights.

• Verizon and AT&T will have a simultaneous launch of the new “iPhone 5” next month, said Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo at a Global Technology Summit on Thursday. Similarly to Apple’s iPhone, Verizon’s iPhone will offer global coverage and competitive family data plans.

Business Deals and Developments
• Happy birthday, Apple Stores! Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the first Apple Store, which opened in Tysons Corner in Virginia in 2001. Some critics were skeptical about whether they’d be successful (or stay open for more than a few years at all), but look who's having the last laugh. Apple has 325 stores in 11 countries, with an average of 13,400 visitors per store per week. In light of the anniversary, some workers—vying for better conditions—are looking to unionize.

• For some, Apple may be the “iMessiah.” Apple imagery stimulates the brain in the same way that religious imagery stimulates the brain, say UK psychologists. Neuroscience may play a role in the success of brands such as as Apple, Twittter and Facebook. As they say, big technology companies harness (or exploit) the parts of the brain that are developed to process religion.

• Apple’s Mac sales shot up by 66 percent in the first quarter, significantly outpacing the rest of the iPhone market, which grew only by 4.5 percent, as measured by its shipment growth rate. Apple also experienced a 155.6 percent growth in Mac sales to governments, versus just 2.3 percent for PCs.