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Former Apple Board of Directors member and current Google CEO Eric Schmidt wasn’t paid for his time at Cupertino. This despite Apple’s habitual practice of offering stock options and a $50,000 retainer to Board members, both of which Schmidt declined during his tenure.

Instead, like other board members, Schmidt settled for some awesome Apple gear in exchange for his contribution to the board. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and BusinessWeek, the Google CEO accepted $8,712 worth of goods, though no specific breakdown of what sort of hardware that number actually represents has been reported.

We do know that board members are entitled to one of each new Apple product released while they’re an active member, and that they receive additional hardware discounts over and above that. Thanks to this sweet deal, Al Gore took home $13,161 and Arthur Levinson $8,923. I’ll bet a hefty portion of those numbers actually accounts for Apple’s ridiculously over-priced customization options.

Apple board members are also allowed up to 30,000 of company stock, with an option to buy up to 10,000 more per year. Schmidt passed up the opportunity, however, choosing instead to buy 10,000 shares on the open market with his own money in 2006.

Schmidt also received a mystery “commemorative gift” valued at $7,580. Many other Apple execs received similar gifts, including COO Tim Cook, but details about what exactly was gifted remain unknown. A MacBook Pro with the Apple logo on the lid replaced with an etched likeness of the giftee’s face, perhaps? Whatever it was, I’m fairly sure I want one.

Turning down the lucrative extras that come along with being a high-ranked tech executive has become Schmidt’s M.O., so it’s not really surprising to find that he was working at Apple for comped hardware. At Google, he famously only receives a $1 per year salary, and in recent years has been turning down stock option perks from the search giant as well.

If nothing else, the FTC’s investigation into the close links between Apple and Google should pull back the curtain and provide more revelatory looks into the inner workings of some of Silicon Valley’s biggest players. Schmidt recently stepped down from the Apple board amid accusations that the two companies were too closely involved with one another, and involved in a relationship that could potentially be construed as a non-competitive arrangement. Google and Apple still share a common board member, however, as Arthur Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, is still a sitting member of both.

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Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes the rumored Apple tablet will be much more than a lifestyle product for the presbyopic generation. Instead, Munster expects as many as two million tablets could be sold in 2010, generating an estimated 1.2 billion in revenue.

Via Apple 2.0, Munster’s latest research also predicts a 2010 release. “Last week we spoke with an Asian component supplier that has received orders from Apple for a touch-screen device to be fulfilled by late CY09.” While this supports earlier reports, the most recent suggested timeframe is 2009.

As for the tablet itself, as the mock-up suggests, Munster apparently believes a giant iPod touch is in the offing. The tablet will be designed for media consumption, web surfing, and text tasks, like simple email. Pricing is expected to be in the $500 to $700 range, considerably less than previous estimates of $800. The tablet will likely have a 3G data plan, possibly subsidized, carriers being AT&T or Verizon. All this makes Munster bullish on the tablet, “While at first glance this may appear to address a niche market, we believe the addressable market is larger than that of the Apple TV, of which Apple sold about 1.2m in its first year.”

And this is where we stop the prediction train and get off. That last bit about 1.2 million Apple TVs being sold is, like much of this research note, speculation. Sales numbers for the Apple TV have never been released (not a good sign). The only official commentary on sales came during the first quarter conference call this year when Tim Cook stated that “unit sales were up over three times versus the year-ago quarter.” Three times what has never been established.

However, a comparison to the Apple TV is relevant to the tablet as a cautionary tale. Sadly, by refusing to add a DVD player or streaming options from services like Netflix and Hulu, the Apple TV languishes as nothing more than extension of the iTunes Store in the living room. If the Apple tablet turns out to be a giant iPod touch — hopefully better looking that that horrid mock-up — it risks being nothing more than extension of the App Store. That’s not as bad as the Apple TV, but the tablet could do better.

One rumor we have not heard anything about is whether the tablet will allow a Bluetooth keyboard. If so, an entire category of functionality would be added, from emails of more than a few sentences to papers and reports pages long. In your hand it’s a tablet, in a stand it’s a word processor. While there could be a risk of cannibalizing MacBook sales, it seems small. Assuming the tablet runs iPhone OS, the current limitations of the operating system would ensure the safety of MacBook sales.

The question whether the Apple tablet will truly be an alternative to the netbook or a giant iPod touch will likely be answered soon. One can only hope the reply can be typed.

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In an attempt to salvage what little good will is left in the App Store developer community, Apple’s senior vice president, Phil Schiller, has fought back against burgeoning anti-App Store sentiment.

In recent weeks an increasing number of apps submitted to Apple for App Store release have been unceremoniously rejected. Apple’s App Store approval process has proven to be a costly and inconsistent barrier to the App Store. The most recent rejection, Ninjawords, a fast dictionary app powered by Wiktionary.org, has sparked growing unrest in the Apple developer community. Ninjawords was initially rejected on the basis that it included several words that Apple found objectionable. Apple eventually approved the app but only after several words had been censored and the app was certified with a 17+ parental control rating.

Apple is usually known for its closed-door policy when it comes to commenting on any speculation surrounding the company, however in an entirely unexpected move, Phil Schiller has publicly responded to the growing disapproval of the development community. In a letter written to Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, Schiller responded directly to the accusations Apple was facing:

“… Apple did not censor the content in this developer’s application and Apple did not reject this developer’s application for including references to common swear words. You accused Apple of both in your story and the fact is that we did neither.”

Schiller continued by explaining that the developers of Ninjawords, Matchstick Software, and Gruber’s version of events wasn’t entirely accurate:

“The Ninjawords application was not rejected in the App Store review process for including common “swear” words… The issue that the App Store reviewers did find with the Ninjawords application is that it provided access to other more vulgar terms than those found in traditional and common dictionaries, words that many reasonable people might find upsetting or objectionable.”

Schiller’s differing version of events illustrates that there’s a clear breakdown in communication between developers and Apple when it comes to App Store approvals. This situation only goes to highlight the issues that developers encounter when attempting to enter into a dialogue with Apple’s App Store reviewers. However Schiller’s closing remarks hinted that Apple may be prepared to admit that they too can get it wrong:

“Apple’s goals remain aligned with customers and developers… While we may not always be perfect in our execution of that goal, our efforts are always made with the best intentions, and if we err we intend to learn and quickly improve.”

While Gruber seemed somewhat sated by Schiller’s response, I’m not so convinced. The folks at Matchstick Software may have a different perspective than that of Schiller on the whole debacle, but it doesn’t fix the uncomfortable and costly situation that many developers still find themselves in. Having to make changes to apps and re-submit is a timely process, almost certainly incurring additional development costs.

Furthermore, the email from Schiller certainly doesn’t excuse Apple for the blatant inconsistencies present in the app approval process. In his post discussing the email, Gruber says that, “[Schiller's response] is the first proof I’ve seen that Apple’s leadership is trying to make the course correction that many of us see as necessary for the long-term success of the platform.”

Apple may have admitted they can be wrong, but it seems that many developers are looking for dramatic and immediate changes. It looks like both Apple and the developer community are in agreement that a serious shake-up to get the App Store working effectively.

With talk of developers and pundits alike abandoning the iPhone, the coming weeks will prove important for Apple in resolving the app review process and bringing the App Store back on track.

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With support for emerging web standards in HTML 5 and CSS3, topflight built in developer tools, fast performance, and the other 150 new features packed into its Snow Leopard release, Safari is now the only browser left on my dock.

After reading through David’s great tips for supercharging Safari, I was inspired to pimp out my own install and came across two tweaks I thought I’d share. They aren’t plugins, but instead involve some “under the hood” changes to enable full screen browsing and to force new window links to open up as tabs instead.

Changing Preference Files and PlistEditPro

Both of these tweaks involve editing Safari’s preference files. There are a couple of different ways you could go about doing this, but the best approach, in my opinion, is to use this handy little free PlistEdit Pro application. There are a ton of hidden gems in preference files and this little app makes exploring them dead simple.

Setting Up Full Screen Browsing

When I’m on my laptop, screen real estate matters, so my brother tipped me to this little trick he uses on his Hackintosh Dell Mini 9 to force the menu bar and dock to slide off the screen and fully zoom the window.

• Right click on the Safari application and choose show contents to expose the Info.plist file.
• Add an entry for the key “Application UI Presentation Mode” and set its value as “All Suppressed.”

This will force the dock and menu bar to slide off the screen whenever Safari is the selected application. Mousing up to the edges of the screen will slide them back on so you can still access menu items or the dock as needed.

Now create a bookmark to fully zoom the window to take advantage of all this newly available space on the screen.

• Add a new bookmark called TrueZoom and in the address field put this handy little javascript: javascript:self.resizeTo(screen.availWidth,screen.availHeight);.
• Then create another called UnZoom and use this bit of javascript in the address: javascript:self.resizeTo(900,600);window.moveTo(200,200).

If these two are the first two bookmarks then you can use ?1 and ?2 respectively to go big and return to normal.

Force Tabs

As I tend to use the Spaces feature in Leopard to separate out my work (markup stuff in one space, email and IM in another, twitter and news reader in another, etc.), I like to have a separate browser window to go along with each space. This helps me keep my browsing organized, but when links start making additional windows, things get messy. So, forcing those links to open up as tabs instead is an easy fix.

• Open up the com.apple.safari.plist file, you’ll find that in ~/Library/Preferences.
• Check the box for the “TargetedClicksCreateTabs” key.

Now everything stays in its own window and my spaces stay nice and tidy.

With these final tweaks, plus a couple of the plugins mentioned by David in his post I’ve got my Safari almost exactly how I want it. If you have your own favorite “under the hood” tweak for Safari, share it in the comments. I’d love to hear it.

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Normally, Apple removes apps from the App Store at a rate we can digest and analyze, but it looks like it’s now adopting a different tactic, maybe to frustrate criticism with sheer volume. This time around, it has given the boot to a stunning 900 apps in one fell swoop. The apps aggregated various web content, and charged $4.99 for the service, despite not being copyright holders of any of it.

The app’s developer, a company called Perfect Acumen owned by one Khalid Shalik, employed 26 Indian and Pakistani programmers who churned out 943 apps last year alone. The purpose of all of the apps was to grab content tailored to a specific target audience and just display it on the iPhone. Even this simple task it didn’t handle very well, according to user reviews, which mainly criticized the app, and worse still, Perfect Acumen held no copyrights for any of the content they republished, including photos of hot celebrities, which tend to catch the attention of fair-use publication enforcers.

According to The iPhone Blog, Apple says it revoked Perfect Acumen’s developer account and removed the apps when Shalik or any company representative failed to respond to any of the 100+ complaints Apple received as a result of the applications. Other developers also criticized Acumen’s shady marketing tactics. All in all, it seems like for once, Apple’s review process actually got something right, albeit belatedly.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. Perhaps as a direct result of the kinds of complaints received against Perfect Acumen, Apple seems to be clamping down on all content source provider apps, according to Erica Sadun at TUAW. First to go are e-book applications, which, according to TUAW’s sources, are now being met with a blanket rejection policy because of third-party rights infringement. Like its stance on charitable applications, it just doesn’t want the onus of having to vet each app for the accuracy of its claims.

The policy appears to be a blanket one, though, and covers even apps where the developer is the owner of the content, or has the right to reproduce it and can prove it. It’s bound to be a major door-closing for app store developers, and one that will only continue to sour developer sentiment towards Apple and the way it does business. Finally, the icing on the cake, all e-book readers apparently also now run afoul of Apple’s policies (which might explain the lack of a Stanza update in recent memory).

It’s one thing to make sure you’re covered when it comes to legitimate accusations of enabling copyright infringement, but it’s another altogether to wage war on an entire subcategory (literally, since “Books” is one of the App Store’s categories of apps) of software. I suspect this has something to do with the rumored launch of a tablet-type device in the fall, which is said in some circles to have e-reader capabilities.

If so, this preemptive thinning of competition borders on the sinister, and I’m seriously considering a permanent switch to RIM just to protest these shady business practices. That said, there’s still plenty of opportunity to prove me wrong Apple. Let’s hope you do.

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