Feds may take bite of Apple…
Apple’s growing feud with Google took a fresh twist yesterday, with US anti-trust regulators preparing to investigate Steve Jobs’ firm.
The iPad-maker sparked fury at Google after announcing changes to its advertising platform, iAds, that effectively block rivals.
It means Google will be excluded from the expected deluge of advertising revenue gathered from Apple’s iPad and its new iPhone 4.
Google publicly blasted Apple for ring-fencing its business in a way that harms competition and could drive smaller developers out of business.
The storm between the two tech giants has been brewing for years after their traditionally close relationship broke down over competition for dominance in sectors such as the mobile phone market.
Apple defenders argue Google fired the first shot in the skirmish when it bought the AdMod advertising platform, which Jobs’ firm had been interested in.
Apple further antagonised Google when it introduced rival search engine Bing! – owned by Microsoft – to its new iPhone.
Meanwhile, Apple was left red-faced when US users of its iPad had their personal data accessed after a breach of security at US network provider AT&T. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, army chiefs and chief executives were among those thought to have been affected.
Apple is understood to be privately fuming over the breach, which has not affected UK users.