Just as newspapers were looking to attract new mobile readers, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has rejected the first version of Newspaper(s), an iPhone app that let users read the content of over 50 newspapers around the world, including the New York Times (NYSE: NYT), France’s Le Monde, and the UK’s tabloid the Sun. Apple rejected the app on the grounds that The Sun, with its topless Page 3 Girls, was “obscene”.

The Register reports that The Sun is sure to take the accusation of being a porn peddler seriously - when a UK operator categorised the Page 3 girls as “adult” content, Sun publisher News International calls the topless girls “fun family, content”.

Newspaper(s) developer Makayama Media was told it could wait for the iPhone’s 3.0 upgrade, by which time the app could be properly labeled. The firm decided instead to remove access to The Sun, after which it has now been approved and is selling for £0.59.

Also in iPhone Apps news…

—Nine Inch Nails app blocked: It’s not just The Sun that’s “obscene”, it’s the rock band, Apple says. But frontman Trent Reznor has got mighty angry at his NIN:Access app’s latest version being blocked by Apple, presumably because a song in a linked podcast contains a profanity. More at mocoNews.net...

—Developer payments withheld: According to a number of posts on an iPhone developers forum, some app makers haven’t yet received their cut of sales from February. It’s obvious from Apple’s replies to developers that the company is struggling to keep the payments flowing, especially to those developers outside of the US.

• Nine Inch Nails Angry As Apple Blocks iPhone App Update
• News Int. Cutting 65 Jobs, ‘Fully Merging Print And Online’
• Mobile Content Bits: Telegraph On Android, BBC On Nokia, The Sun Relaunch