Michigan officials have quashed suggestions they were on the take from Apple. Simultaneously, one of the iPod maker's instrumental suppliers has landed in hot water with police, and another partnership sees Apple shaking up its retail store designs.

Politicians make amends over iPod row

Democratic Party members in Michigan were eager on Friday to match words with deeds by compensating Apple for the money it spent on flying them to California for a technology demo.

The gesture was an attempt to quickly squelch the controversy generated by the trip, whose partial Apple funding implied that the computer company had tried to buy influence and win an educational contract that would have reportedly seen $36 million in iPods delivered to every Michigan child.

Representative Tim Melton was adamant that the proposal had never been meaningful, and that repaying Apple the $1,702 it had cost each of the three Democrats who made the trip was simply a way of proving the party's honesty.

"The only reason we're paying for it is to end this public perception that something is misguided," Melton said. "There was never a plan to provide an iPod for every child in the state of Michigan."

Taiwan iPod supplier caught up in police raid

Meanwhile, one of Apple's core providers for the iPod felt heat from local authorities after a high-profile raid caught out Inventec's Taipei-based offices.

Agents from the island territory's Ministry of Justice made a surprise visit to the company on Thursday that saw 22 employees grilled by investigators over concerns about insider trading and stock manipulation by executives, claims which have also affected BenQ and several other major companies in the region.

Inventec said its legal woes were unlikely affect its day-to-day business.

Apple draws on consultants for fresh store ideas

After years of using a largely stable design, Apple this week began considering new concepts for its retail shops.

The consultant group Fitch was said to be helping Apple explore fresh ideas for its overall store philosophy, and was not committing to remaking any particular stores at this early stage.

Neither Apple nor Fitch was willing to comment on the development.

Developers claim to work on third-party iPhone apps

Multiple software teams have jumped the gun on the iPhone as a platform byclaiming early compatibility with the Apple handset.

Though the mention has since been removed, Scenario Software's official page for its Scenario Poker Dashboard widget claimed it was "designed for the size of iPhone's touch screen." Similarly, a dating service utility titled iPhone flirt was shown that programmer Miguel Sciaudone insisted would be a full-fledged software package for the device -- though running through advanced web technologies.

"The app is optimized and designed specifically and only for the iPhone," he said. "Due to the restrictions Apple is placing on 3rd party applications for the iPhone, the only current solution is to use the capabilities of the Safari web browser."

Apple has generally held a "walled garden" approach to allowing programs on to the iPhone, which the California firm has said would only be extended to third parties in tightly controlled circumstances.[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ] (http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2661)