Following a German court ruling earlier this month that deemed Apple's email sync services were in breach of a Motorola patent, the Cupertino company has decided to disable the offending functionality on iOS devices in the country. Push email to iCloud and MobileMe accounts will no longer work within German borders, although your Contacts and Calendar will continue to sync as normal. Similarly, Microsoft Exchange email sync (popularly used with Gmail accounts) and push services to desktop or web clients will also persist as usual. Apple describes Motorola's patent as "invalid" and is appealing the decision, but seems to be taking this precautionary step nonetheless.

Importantly for MobileMe users, if you access your account in Germany, you'll be losing push email functionality permanently. For people on iCloud, push email will automatically be restored once you leave Deutschland. Apple advises that you can still set your iOS device to check for email periodically, and manual inbox updates are of course still an option.