Briefs: Steve Jobs' folly, Apple's ads

A round-up of the week's Apple news

Photo: Jonathan Haeber. Click for more.

Jackling Mansion coming down: Preservationists who had fought for six years to prevent Steve Jobs from razing a 14-bedroom Spanish colonial mansion he bought in 1984 but never really liked have finally thrown in the towel. Under a plan approved by the city council of Woodside, Calif., last summer, a wealthy Silicon Valley investor -- Gordon Smythe, founder of Propel Partners -- will take possession of the pieces. The town of Woodside and the county museum have first dibs on anything Smythe doesn't want. See here.

New iPad ad: After a brief hiatus, Apple (AAPL) has started promoting the iPad on TV again with a new ad that ten of the device's most impressive apps. ("The iPad is ... delicious ... artful ... social ... magical.") Apple's decision to start promoting the iPad could be linked to the back-to-school buying season or to the fact that supplies are finally starting to catch up to demand. The easiest place to see the new ad is on YouTube.

Quattro bites the dust: Speaking of advertising, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Apple has informed customers of Quattro Wireless, the mobile ad network it bought in January, will be shuttered by Sept. 30. The move was expected, since Quattro's employees were immediately put to work building Apple's iAd network, which launched July 1. How well you think that project is going depends on which reports you read. See here.

See also:

• Time Inc. breaks the iPad logjam
• First casualty in Apple kickback case
• Foxconn stages anti-suicide rallies
• The iPad is coming to China
• Melting iPod snarls Tokyo rush hour