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For anyone who has ever owned an Apple iPhone or iPod, it is common knowledge that screen and body scratches are a common “feature” of these devices. Regardless if the iPhone 3GS features a fingerprint resistant coating, the phone chassis is still easily scratched.

Fortunately there are third party accessory manufacturers who come with good tidings of saving your device’s screen from looking like grated cheese. But due to Apple’s decision, these same accessory makers are going to be banned from both Apple’s online and walk-in stores. The main focus of the ban are scratch-resistant screens but the extent of this decision reaches even up to cases that use any sort of protective film screens.

iLounge has spoken with and has confirmed the ban with several accessory vendors who have commented anonymously. A publication has commented on Apple’s move, saying:

“It is believed that Apple’s move will have ramifications for the accessory industry outside of its own stores, as the Apple Store constitutes a significant fraction of total sales for many developers, even though accessory manufacturers also sell their products through other channels.”

Since the protective film and casing business is highly lucrative, either these accessory makers unite to form individual (possibly online) stores or they head off to make accessories for other mobile phones. Some may just make two versions of their casing products, one with film to sell in other channels and one without for the Apple stores. The bottom line is that it is the consumers who will suffer most of the effects. As of this time, Apple has no statement to provide any sort of reasoning behind the move.

The iPhone maker sure is doing a lot of clearing out both online and offline. Between app purging and case rejecting, it is a wonder what brought this chain of events on. A lot of vendors and fans are surely unhappy and harsh complaints are to be expected. Considering the amount of money it costs to own an iPhone as well as the number of people who depend on the device to sustain their lifestyles, Apple better have a good reason to strip away their choices.

Geek has more about Apple’s protective film ban.

According to recent reports, Apple is now considering adding a new “explicit category” to its apps store. This is perhaps a reaction to the severe backlash that the company received from having purged over 5000 applications due to inappropriate content.

For those who missed the details, Apple removed over 5000 apps from the online store. These apps were those that Apple deemed inappropriate due to adult related content. There were no nude apps (mostly –or so reports say), most of the apps featured scantily clad women. While this may seem logical, it also pay to keep in mind that Apple almost purged every single app that had a woman in a bikini. One can just imagine how many apps were affected –even those without adult or suggestive themes.

The move was further worsened by the fact that the Playboy and the Sports Illustrated applications still remained available on the app store –which established the fact that Apple was setting double standards on what they would accept or reject for the app store. The final nail on the coffin had to be the weak defense that parents were complaining about the content. Seriously, Apple needs to grow a pair and use their collective brains –these very same parents are fully responsible for letting their children use their credit cards for accessing the app store.

Anyway, the big news now is that Apple is considering adding a new category labeled “explicit” which means that in the future, the company may start creating methods adding apps with questionable content without causing many problems for the company or their customers.

The question now is whether Apple will be putting back up all the apps they removed.

Read more about the big Apple app purge and the new explicit category on the App store at Know Your Mobile.