Jobs gone, ‘uncensored’ Playboy to hit the iPad

Steve Jobs is known as a big prude, banning applications and other iPad content that feature nude or sexual content on the iPad.

No sooner that he announces a leave of absence on medical grounds, Hugh Hefner, announces that Playboy, both old and new, will be available on the iPad in March.

The octogenarian publisher, in a message via his Twitter account, @hughhefner, said current and back issues of Playboy would be available on the Apple device in March.

“Big news! Playboy — both old & new — will be available on iPad beginning in March,” Hefner tweeted.

He did not provide any more details but in response to a question from a Twitter follower Hefner said “Playboy on iPad will be uncensored”.

Vlad Savov at Engadget reports: “From its very first issue in 1953 to its latest incarnation, the full catalog of Playboy Magazine is coming to the iPad this March. And not only that, it’ll be faithful to its original form by arriving to your Apple slate uncensored.”

If Playboy gets away with it there will be plenty of others wanting the same, uncensored treatment. Will Steve Jobs sit quietly? He tends not to…

One approach maybe for Playboy to bypass the Apple store and create an iPad compatible web-based version formatted to the iPad’s dimensions and Safari’s navigation controls.

Playboy also plans to release a “non-nude” version of a Playboy-branded iPad application in the coming months that “adheres to all of Apple’s policies and guidelines”.

Apple has a strict policy of banning nudity in applications for the iPhone and the iPad sold through its App Store.

Playboy already offers an iPhone application for 99 cents that does not feature nudity.