I know the developer of Alien Splat, which is also in the same New & Noteworthy section this week. He didn't receive a call, and wasn't otherwise notified by Apple that the app was featured. He was surprised when I brought it to his attention.

So - the call was just to get the change in description, not to notify of the placement. Which makes me all the more grateful Apple was persistent, and that they didn't just write it off even though they wanted the change.

I've also heard other accounts of Apple calling to request "special builds" for TV spots, etc. but don't have any first-hand direct knowledge of that.

No. When our app, BillMinder recently featured under "What's Hot", we were not contacted. It just sort of happened (no complaints :D).

They do _call_ over any issues with the App Store. For example, I got a friendly call having in my description: "free version will be up as soon as it's approved."

Any maybe. Not every. I haven't never gotten a call and I have problems with every other update.

They almost certainly contact the developers of featured apps that are accompanied by custom artwork (artwork that's not the thumbnail, images, etc).