Here are your daily Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) news items and rumors for Friday:
Daily Delayed: A Forbes report on Monday seemed to confirm that the much-discussed iPad newspaper joint venture with News Corp. (NYSE:NWS), The Daily, would finally be announced at a press conference next week. You know what they say about the best-laid plans of corporate moguls, however. A Media Memo report from Peter Kafka on Thursday now says the announcement has been pushed back “for weeks.” It seems that the problem isn’t with the paper itself but the rumored new subscription-based payment method Apple will introduce to it App Store for digital magazines and newspapers.
Content Crackdown: A Friday report from German website deVolkskrant says Apple is halting a number of European newspapers from offering print subscribers free access to their respective iPad editions. Newspapers were previously allowed to offer subscribers free iPad edition access, but Apple instituted “stricter rules” this week to prevent them. A separate report by nrc.nl says Apple will stop any newspapers that currently offer free editions that do so after April 1. The reason for the alleged changes is that free iPad editions by papers cuts Apple out of a 30% cut of each issue’s sale through its digital storefront. It’s unknown if these changes are in any way related to the upcoming subscription-based payment model Apple will introduce alongside The Daily later this year.
Solar Search: A new patent application suggests Apple is planning to harness the sun to extend battery life in its mobile devices. The patent describes an auxiliary solar cell that would supplement the battery in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Those devices would then add a feature to the existing energy management tool that would allow users to draw from stored solar energy to provide a battery charge. The patent is specifically for “a solar power package for use with an electronic device, the package comprising: at least one solar cell operable for use with an electronic device; and a power charger operable to provide the derived solar power to the portable electronic device.”
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
