Apple has reversed itself and will now sell the Eucalyptus e-book reader through the iPhone App Store, less than a week after rejecting the Eucalyptus application because Apple said it contained "inappropriate sexual content."
The dustup over Eucalyptus is the latest of several questionable calls Apple has made in deciding what iPhone applications to carry and which ones to reject.
Eucalyptus lets users find and download e-books from Project Gutenberg, a Web site that offers some 20,000 public domain books. Apple's rejection was due to the fact users could use Eucalyptus to download a text-only version of the Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana, the ancient Indian book on sexuality. Eucalyptus itself doesn't contain any material from the book: Users have to search for it.
Last week Eucalyptus developer Jamie Montgomery posted a blog that included Apple's rejection note. He also noted that the Kama Sutra could be accessed online through any number of applications sold through the iPhone App Store.
On Sunday Montgomery posted a blog saying he received a call from an Apple representative earlier that day and they resolved "the confusion surrounding [Apple's] App Store rejections."
Montgomery said he was invited to submit a version of the software "with no filters" and the Eucalyptus application was made available for sale starting later that day with a $9.99 price tag.
Apple has appeared inconsistent in deciding which applications it will sell through the iPhone App Store, rejecting seemingly benign apps for being too objectionable while approving other questionable products. In the most visible case of the latter, Apple came under fire last month for approving the Babyshaker app, which showed a crying baby that would quiet down only after the user violently shook the phone, in effect shaking the baby to death. Apple pulled that application from its iPhone App Store offerings two days after putting it up for sale.
Apple launched the iPhone App Store in March 2008, and last month it sold its one-billionth application.
