Just when you thought that they couldn’t get any more restrictive, it looks like Apple is tightening its iron grip in their iTunes App Store. The company has reportedly rejected Sony’s eBook store app – the Sony Reader Store from the iTunes App Store.

The reason for the rejection was changes in Apple’s App Store policy: All in-app purchases will now have to go through Apple. Apparently apps that sell their own content will not be allowed in the App Store in the future. Apple also may be planning to get into in the eBook business. Apple’s The Daily announcement is happening tomorrow, so we will see if they shed any more light on this.

There is hardly a day that goes by where we don’t have an iPad or iPhone rumor. Here is today’s. Apple’s overseas manufacturing partners will apparently start production of the iPad 2 next month, while they will also be building the fifth-generation iPhone in May.

Take this with the usual grains of salt until we have something more concrete. One thing is for sure, no matter when they start production, it won’t be soon enough for Apple fans.

The other day we told you how close the App Store was to reaching the 10 billion mark and now it has happened. 10 billion individual apps have now been downloaded. The lucky 10 billionth person will get a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. MacPhun is also giving away $5,000 to the same person.

This is a huge milestone for Apple, not to mention a great prize for the lucky winner. I wonder how long it will take for Apple to double this number?

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs has just announced that the Apple Board has granted him a medical leave of absence. This leaves Tim Cook to be responsible for the day to day running of Apple while Jobs is away. We don’t have any details about what the medical leave relates too specifically, or how long he will be gone for.

The email that was sent out by Steve Jobs to Apple employees is below, and it does say that he will continue to be involved in Apple’s major decisions, which is great news for everyone.

If you are a music lover then you have probably dreamed of what you could do with a $10,000 iTunes gift card. Well, Apple is giving away just that to one lucky person who downloads the 10 billionth app from its App Store. It could be you.

The company is on track to hit that milestone. So far around 9.76 billion apps have been downloaded. The counter is going up up up. Users are limited to 25 downloads a day, automated software will disqualify you, and you have to agree to let your name and image be used for Apple.

Apple’s Mac App Store got off to a shaky start since it didn’t take long after the store was launched for people to figure out how to get some apps off without paying. But there’s some better news today. Apple has officially confirmed that over a million apps have been downloaded from the store in its first day in business.

Since the store offers over 1,000 free and paid apps, it wasn’t going to take long to hit that mark. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through a Software Update as part of OS X 10.6.6 if you haven’t checked it out already.

There’s an app for everything, or so it seems. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Apple has a high chance of passing the 500,000 app milestone for the App Store in 2011, based on current data. They have already unofficially passed 325,000 active titles as of December 26, with the App Store seeing about 25,421 apps submitted per month.

That means that if every app were approved, Apple could exceed the half-million point in just seven months or so. Of course what with app rejections, titles voluntarily pulled from the store etc, it might take a bit longer. Whenever it actually hits, it is quite a milestone.

Sales of Apple’s iPad device will certainly grow in 2011 according to a report from DigiTimes. So it will need more screens. LG Display could receive orders for 35 million iPad panels from Apple in 2011, with Samsung and Chimei Innolux (CMI), who are scheduled to join Apple’s iPad supply chain in the first quarter of 2011, each possibly receiving orders for as many as 15 million units.

Apple’s 9.7 inch screen is making it difficult for competitors to match and the iPad’s screen size will likely lower component pricing in a way that only benefits Apple. This forces competitors to design and build 5 and 7 inch screens that don’t benefit from the scale of Apple’s high volume sales.

Apple is a patent filing monster. Let’s face it, they have a patent for everything. The latest patent app to surface from Apple has the name of many of the members of the iPhone team on it and once the app is approved, it will have the Apple name applied to the final patent.

The patent app details a new way that Apple wants to put antennas behind logos on their products. So in the future, your iPhone antenna might be behind the Apple logo. The antennas will be used on notebooks, phones, and other devices. This is one that we will likely see come to pass at some point soon.

Disney’s upcoming Tron Legacy is getting plenty of hype and Sci-Fi fans are waiting anxiously. Apple users also can share the excitement as iAd for iPad is for this very movie. This is the first and only iAd to hit the iPad for 2010 since iAds have been showcased for just iPhones until now.

However, 2011 could see a bunch of iAds hitting the device. Each ad features rich graphics, touch navigation and video native to apps. Disney’s Tron Legacy iAd is a full screener and will run in iPad apps like TV Guide. It’ll also have purchase options for various apps etc. based on the movie. The soundtrack can also be previewed or downloaded right from the ad via iTunes.

We know that the Mac App Store is launching soon. Steve Jobs has said that it would go live “within 90 days” back when it was announced on October 20th. Now AppleTell has an inside source who claims that Apple is trying to launch the Mac App Store before Christmas, specifically on December 13th and telling developers to have their software ready by Monday, December 6th.

The Mac App Store will require an OS update to end users and the new OS X 10.6.6 has already been seeded to developers. If true, they are being pretty aggressive with this timeline.

Bad news for some Apple fans. Apple has discontinued their Compact Wired Keyboard. The part number for the keyboard is MB869LL/A and it has been removed from Apple’s store. However, you can still purchase the Apple Compact Wired Keyboard on Amazon for $49.99 if you really want one.

This keyboard features a compact design of the Apple Wireless Keyboard along with a few USB 2.0 ports. The wired numberpad version is still available.

We’re all looking to avoid the holiday rush and long checkout lines in stores. Well if you find yourself at Old Navy and you have an Apple iPod Touch, you can get in and get out quickly. They’re testing out a new EasyPay point-of-sale type system that Apple’s calling ZipCheck, with iPods, to minimize long check out lines.

Employees of Old Navy will just need your credit card and by using the device via wireless, you can have your bill ready thanks to wireless printers around the store.

Apple is well known for being way too ban-happy, and the recent banning of an Android Magazine App from the App Store shows that they are still at it. This comes after Apple has stated that its application policies have relaxed a little more of late. Not enough apparently.

Unfortunately for publisher Mediaprovider their recent Android magazine App has been banned from the Apple App Store. Below is the conversation Dixon of Mediaprovider had with Richard of the Apple App Store team, after the app was rejected.

There’s something beautiful about a destroyed Apple product. Michael Tompert and photographer Paul Fairchild must think so too since they thought it would be a good idea to destroy a range of Apple products, and they photograph them.

Some of the products used include and iPad and iPhone. I guess it really compliments the product if it is beautiful both intact and destroyed. You can see the rest of the photos of the destroyed Apple products over at Fubiz.

[GG]