MacRumors

BusinessWeek reports that Apple has launched an expanded environmental section of its website to offer extensive information on the company's green initiatives and provide a closer look at the environmental impact of its products over their complete life cycles, from raw materials to customer usage to recycling.

Apple, which has received criticism from environmental groups such as Greenpeace over its environmental impact, is hoping to change the way companies are judged on those issues to include actions instead of promises and to look at the full impact of both production and usage.

"A lot of companies publish how green their building is, but it doesn't matter if you're shipping millions of power-hungry products with toxic chemicals in them," says CEO Steve Jobs in an interview. "It's like asking a cigarette company how green their office is."

Apple notes that 53% of the company's greenhouse gas emissions comes from customer usage of its products, placing focus on its efforts to reduce power consumption through a variety of methods. Apple also notes that it is the only company in its industry to have its entire computer product line certified as Energy Star compliant.

The company is also highlighting extensive reports on the environmental impact of each model it sells , noting the reduction and elimination of a number of toxic chemicals from its products.

The company is disclosing new product information, as well as overall carbon emissions. Apple will document on the new Web site data that it ended the use of controversial polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) and bromide flame retardants (BFRs) in its devices last year. HP and Dell had promised to do the same by 2009, but recently pushed that back. Apple is also going further and pushing suppliers to get rid of bromine and chlorine, the harmful ingredients in PVCs and BFRs.

Apple's increased willingness to share environmental information and changes to its practices have started to turn the tide in the eyes of several environmental groups. The Carbon Disclosure Project recently gave Apple a score of 73 out of 100 for the breadth and depth of its public disclosures, whereas the company scored only a rating of 7 in 2008.

AppleInsider claims that Apple has begun production of the next-generation iMac and may be set to introduce the revamped product line sometime between now and mid-October.

The new all-in-one, dual-core desktops were finalized earlier in September and have been rolling off the Mac maker's Taiwanese product lines for roughly two weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In addition to more affordable pricing, the systems are expected to come clad in a thinner industrial design, one of those people added. Though details are admittedly limited, it's likely these new enclosures will also take design cues from the Cupertino-based company's relatively new LED-lit Cinema Display offerings.

The report echoes comments issued last week by research firm Wedge Partners that new iMacs could make an appearance within the next several weeks. Today's report also reiterates claims that the new iMac will sport a redesigned enclosure and several new features, possibly to include a Blu-ray drive option.

The Detroit News reports that lawyers for Apple and Eight Mile Style, rapper Eminem's music publisher, headed to court this morning over a complaint filed by Eight Mile Style in 2007 regarding improper distribution of digital downloads. The complaint claims that Apple improperly offered nearly 100 of Eminem's songs for sale via the company's iTunes Store by making a deal for distribution with record label Aftermath Records, which Eight Mile Style claims did not hold the rights to digital distribution.

In his opening statement, Eight Mile attorney Richard Busch said unique wording in Eminem's contract with Aftermath Records requires the record company to get separate deals before it can sell downloads of Eminem's songs over the Internet.

The record company "knew that they did not have the right to make these songs available for digital download without a separate digital download agreement," Busch told U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor.

Apple's lawyers, on the other hand, contend that the company held a valid agreement with Aftermath Records for digital distribution.

The Detroit Free Press noted earlier today that Apple had been hoping to reach a settlement with Eight Mile Style regarding the issue, but talks between the two parties broke down yesterday evening. Eight Mile Style contends that Apple earned $2.58 million from the improper sales.

Eight Mile Style previously sued Apple for improper use of Eminem's hit single "Lose Yourself" in an iTunes Store television commercial. The dispute was settled out of court with undisclosed terms.

Intel yesterday introduced at its Intel Developer Forum its new line of quad-core Core i7 processors, previously code-named "Clarksfield", for mobile computers. The two processors, manufactured using quad-core dies based on Intel's 45 nm Nehalem microarchitecture, take advantage of Intel's Turbo Boost technology to run at baseline frequencies of 1.6 GHz and 1.73 GHz with the ability ramp to 2.8 GHz and 3.06 GHz respectively when conditions warrant. An "Extreme Edition" processor running at 2.0 GHz and capable of ramping to 3.20 GHz was also released.

Intel Corporation introduced its revolutionary Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor and Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor Extreme Edition today, bringing Intel's award-winning and super-fast Nehalem microarchitecture to the mobile market.

These processors in addition to the new Intel PM55 Express Chipset, provide the best laptop experience for intense gaming, digital media, photos, music, business applications and other multi-threaded software that hungers for faster processing speed. The chips also boost overall performance when using several of these applications simultaneously.

Apple may be more likely, however, to wait until the release of the 32 nm die shrink of the Nehalem microarchitecture, scheduled to appear as the dual-core "Arrandale" processors early next year, to revamp its MacBook Pro line. Arrandale, which was also briefly previewed at the Intel Developer Forum, should offer considerably lower power consumption than Clarksfield processors and better fit into Apple's design constraints for its notebook computers.

Did you notice?

You get both the TomTom navigation app for your iPhone 3GS or 3G and the docking kit to hold your iPhone securely in place on your dashboard or windscreen.

Details on the car kit, including the user guide, were posted to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's site late last month. The kit, which had been expected to be launched this summer, was pushed back to an October release earlier this month.

TomTom's car kit contains an external GPS receiver and other hardware features and has been claimed to be compatible with the iPod touch and other GPS iPhone applications from other vendors, but Apple's product description makes no mention of compatibility with those offerings.

Update: The car kit has been removed from Apple's online stores, and Macworld UK reports that TomTom has issued a statement noting that the price does not include the software.

TomTom has sent out a short press release after our story which confirms the car kit does not include the TomTom for iPhone application.

"TomTom announces today that the TomTom car kit for the iPhone will have a recommended retail price of 99.99.

The TomTom car kit will be available this October and will be sold separately from the TomTom app. It will be compatible with the iPhone 2G, 3G and 3GS."

"Turtle"

Gizmodo today published images of not one, but two phones developed under the "Pink" project, known as "Turtle" and "Pure", and notes that Microsoft's manufacturing partner is to be Sharp.

These phones are going to be made by Sharp, who'll get to share branding with Microsoft. Sharp produced the Sidekick hardware for Danger, who was bought by Microsoft two years ago. Pink will be primarily aimed at the same market as the Sidekick, and the branding and identity for it is highly developed, pointing toward a later stage in the development cycle.

"Pure"

AT&T today announced on its Facebook page that a carrier settings update for MMS on the iPhone will be available in the "late morning" Pacific Time on Friday, the previously-announced launch date for the service.

MMS Update: We know you've been eager for this service so we wanted to offer a quick update on the launch plans for MMS on Friday, Sept. 25. Late morning, Pacific Time, on Friday, the new carrier settings update enabling MMS should be live and ready to download through iTunes. We'll provide the steps and all of the details you need right here at that time.

A rumor from earlier today had claimed that AT&T would begin rolling out MMS for the iPhone around 10:00 AM Eastern Time on Friday and that the company was rushing to complete infrastructure improvements to support the expected crush of data upon initial activation from users testing out the service.

DSLReports claims to have received word from a source noting that AT&T is extremely nervous about the impending launch of MMS for the iPhone scheduled for this Friday. Early testing of the service has apparently already placed a strain on the company's MMS servers, resulting in a test outage yesterday and a last-minute rush to beef up capacity beyond the measures already taken.

AT&T and its MMS partners are already seeing "record traffic during peak hours of the night" with just the users selected for testing.

That early testing has been a little rocky, with AT&T seeing a fairly significant test outage yesterday that has them rushing to beef up their MMSC messaging servers. Estimates among those working on the project are that traffic on AT&T's wireless network will be about 40% higher all day on Friday as iPhone users fire pictures and video at one another.

The source also revealed AT&T's plans for rolling out the service on Friday, with deployments scheduled in groups to begin at 10:00 AM Eastern time and new groups being activated on an hourly basis after that in order to slowly ramp demand and gauge service performance.

"Starting at 10AM Eastern (on the 25), AT&T will send out a mass text to a group of iPhone users telling them that MMS now works on their phone," says one source familiar with AT&T's MMS plans. "They will keep doing groups of phones on the hour throughout the day" assuming all goes well, says the source.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has given final approval to a change in accounting regulations that will allow Apple to recognize more of its iPhone and Apple TV revenue at the time of sale.

The change okayed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board helps companies that sell goods and services in bundles - like smart phones and other high-tech devices combining hardware and software, or home appliances that come with installation and service contracts.

Under current accounting rules, companies must often defer large portions of their revenue from such sales - recognizing them gradually over time, instead of immediately when the sale is made. The rule change would give companies more flexibility in crediting more of that revenue to their results upfront.

Apple has employed subscription-based accounting for its iPhone and Apple TV segments, which allows the company to provide free software updates over the two-year period considered to be the lifespan of the devices for such purposes. Apple does not use subscription-based accounting for its iPod line, a move which has required the company to charge users nominal fees for operating system updates on the iPod touch.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is expected to be one of the major beneficiaries of the change, since it would dramatically change how the company reports revenues from its iPhone. Currently, Apple recognizes iPhone revenue over a two-year period, and said recently that overall revenues and earnings in its latest quarter would have been much higher if it didn't have to defer revenues for the iPhone and its Apple TV product. An Apple spokesman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

While the change does not affect Apple's cash flow, it will allow the company to more accurately reflect its revenue in its quarterly financial statements. Preliminary approval of the accounting rule change had been given by a task force of the FASB early last week.

Adobe today announced the release of Photoshop Elements 8 for both Mac and Windows, bringing significant updates to the company's top-selling consumer photo editing software.

Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac now includes all of the intelligent photo-editing options as the Windows version. In addition to Photomerge Exposure, Recompose and Quick Fix previews, Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac features Scene Cleaner for brushing away unwanted elements, such as tourists or cars, from a series of photos to create the perfect scene. The Smart Brush helps users apply incredible effects to a specific area of a photo with a single stroke and Touch-Up brushes make common editing tasks quick, such as whitening teeth or making bright blue skies. When creations are ready to be shared with family and friends, users can display their photos on the Web with gallery templates or personal Web pages, by e-mail and on CD or DVD.

While the Windows version is available today, the Mac version of Photoshop Elements 8 will begin shipping next month. Pricing is set at $99.99, although Adobe is offering a $20 mail-in rebate for certain purchases made through October 31, 2010 Full rebate details are available in the terms and conditions.

The Mac version is available for pre-order from Adobe.