Apple removes pro-Palestinian programme "Third Intifada" app !

Technology giant Apple has removed a pro-Palestinian mobile application from its roster of hosted programmes after Israel complained it incited users to violence.

The "Third Intifada" application essentially reproduced the content from a website of the same name - 3rdIntifada.com - which posts news and opinion articles about Israeli aggression and the Palestinian cause.

"We removed this app from the App Store because it violates the developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people," an Apple spokesman said on Wednesday, according to the New York Times Bits blog.

The Third Intifada app, meant to be used on Apple mobile products such as the iPad and iPhone, was approved by the company on June 15.

Yuli Edelstein, the Israeli minister of public affairs and the diaspora, quickly sent a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs requesting he remove the programme and "thus continue the tradition of Apple applications dedicated to purely entertainment and informative purposes and note serve as an instrument for incitement to violence."

Edelstein's complaint was followed by another from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which aims to combat anti-Semitism.

'Offending programmes'

The complaints against Third Intifada were based on allegations that the programme incited violence and hatred of Israel. Apple's broadly worded app guidelines state that the company will reject apps that contain "references or commentary about a a religious, cultural or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence".

Typical stories on 3rdIntifada.com describe demolitions of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces, the reported unearthing of a Muslim cemetery, and exhortations for Arabs in the Middle East to liberate Palestinians from "Zionist occupation".

The website noted Apple's ban in a short entry, referring to Israel as the "Zionist entity" and saying it "continues to put pressure on the whole world and all who would sympathise with the Palestinian cause".

Apple launched its app store in July 2008 and has previously removed offending programmes after complaints. This year, it removed an app that alerted users to nearby police drunk-driving checkpoints after US politicians complained and another that sought to "cure" gay people after Change.org collected more than 140,000 signatures against the religiously-inspired app.

In 2010, Apple removed an app that allowed users to track releases by the online whistleblower group WikiLeaks, saying programmes "may not put an individual or target group in harm's way".

Nokia wins legal battle against Apple - The iPhone maker agrees to pay royalties for the use of Nokia technology, ending all of their ongoing patent disputes !

The world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia has notched up a rare victory against arch-rival Apple as the iPhone maker agreed to settle a long-running dispute over patents.

Nokia said on Tuesday that Apple had agreed to pay royalties for the use of Nokia technology in its devices, ending all of their 46 ongoing patent disputes.

Apple and Nokia have been locked in a legal tussle since October 2009, when Nokia sued Apple in the US, arguing the iPhone-maker was getting a "free ride" on technologies patented by Nokia.

"The financial structure of the agreement consists of a one-time payment payable by Apple and on-going royalties to be paid by Apple to Nokia for the term of the agreement," Nokia said in a statement, adding that the details of the contract were confidential.

The deal constitutes a massive victory for Nokia and ends years of tit-for-tat suits filed by the two companies, with both agreeing to withdraw all complaints they had filed with the US International Trade Commission.

"We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees... This settlement demonstrates Nokia's industry leading patent portfolio," Stephen Elop, the Nokia chief executive, said in the statement.

'Positive news'

"This is the first positive news from Nokia for a long time. They can both focus on their businesses now, and the dispute was settled for Nokia's advantage," Mikael Rautanen, an analyst with Inderes, said.

Nokia, a Finnish company that has been struggling to maintain its position as global market leader, also said the deal should have "a positive financial impact" on its second-quarter performance.

An Apple spokesman confirmed the deal on Tuesday. "We're glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses," he said.

Just two weeks ago, Nokia warned that its sales for the quarter would be far worse than previously expected and that it could no longer give a full-year forecast, sending its share price to its lowest level since early 1998.

Legal battles have become increasingly common in the mobile phone industry since Apple and Google carved out a large chunk of the lucrative and quickly expanding smartphone market at the expense of older players.

Nokia, which has said it will be more aggressive in licensing its patents, indicated that further legal battles were ahead.

"This settlement .... enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market," CEO Elop said in a statement.

Analysts said makers of Google Android phones were the next likely target.

"Emerging victorious from such a war, Nokia is in a strong position to collect royalties from other industry players, particularly from makers of Android-based devices," Mueller said.

However, analysts warned the company still had a long way to go towards any recovery.

"This (the Apple deal) could cause the stock to have a bit of a relief rally today, but does very little to address the stark reality that the company is facing," Richard Windsor, an analyst at Nomura, said.

"Hence we see no reason to remain anything other than negative on the stock."

Technical analysts said Nokia shares had been in oversold territory since late May and momentum indicators had been signalling that it was ripe for at least a short-term, technical rebound.

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