Apple extends recycling programme

Apple has expanded its recycling programme for computers and iPods. Starting this June, users can return old Macs to Apple when purchasing a new Mac and the company will recycle it in an environmentally-friendly way, according to Info Loop.

US customers who buy a new Mac through the Apple Store or Apple`s retail stores will receive free shipping and environmentally-friendly disposal of their old computer as part of the Apple Recycling programme.

Equipment received by the programme in the US is recycled domestically and no hazardous material is shipped overseas.

A US security researcher today posted code that exploits a number of newly discovered and unpatched bugs in the Mac OS X platform, reports PC World.

The software, posted by independent researcher Tom Ferris, could be used to crash applications or even run unauthorised code on the Mac by taking advantage of bugs in the Safari browser and Mac OS X operating system. Ferris`s "proof of concept" code exploits a total of seven bugs.

Apple Computer has already been made aware of the bugs and plans to fix them in the next security release.

Representatives of Apple Computer were grilled last week by a three-judge panel in relation to a case that could alter journalists` rights to protect confidential sources and allow companies to more easily determine the origin of supposed trade secret leaks, reports CIO.

Apple is attempting to identify individuals who leaked confidential information related to an unreleased product to the online media in 2004. Apple thinks the sources who leaked the diagrams of a music-related product code-named "Asteroid" were company employees. It subpoenaed the e-mail records of three journalists from Internet service providers because it said the leak constitutes a trade secret violation.

Presiding judge Conrad Rushing asked the company: "It`s just a picture of a product. Why is this a trade secret?" Apple attorney George Riley responded by calling the incident "a very serious theft" because the diagram contained sensitive technical details about the unreleased product. The panel has 90 days to issue a ruling.

The number of people using mobile devices to access the Internet is growing, especially in Europe and Asia, according to market research firm Ipsos Insight`s annual report, reports Media Buyer Planner.

Over 90% of South Korean, Japanese and urban Chinese households own at least one mobile phone, while in Western Europe, 80% of all households own a mobile phone. About 75% of US households own a mobile phone.

The data also suggested that mobile phone browsing has reached beyond younger generations, as users over the age of 35 led the mobile usage growth, researchers said.