apple

Apple can never keep its nose out of anything for too long.

A patent application filed recently describes a laptop hybrid that could be charged wirelessly. Could this be the game changer that nobody's been waiting for?

Windows' next iteration might make things easier for users with the touch of a button. And according to a recent report, Microsoft can't let everyone else have all the smartwatch fun. Unfortunately.

What do you think about an Apple laptop hybrid? Is it something you'd buy? Does wireless charging up the ante? Leave a comment and let us know your … Read more

Comedy site Funny or Die beat out the competition in getting "iSteve," the first Steve Jobs biopic, out for viewing. Take that, Ashton Kutcher. In all that haste, Funny of Die may have cut a few corners as far as accuracy goes. That's left the film open for evisceration by Apple fans on high alert for anachronistic images.

The film is full of tripping Steve Jobs scenes, Bill Gates beating computer components with a hammer, and Steve Wozniak looking like he just wandered off the set of "Lost." It's also full of computer parts that just don't fit the time period. It's the sort of thing that will either make Apple fanboys giggle, or send them up in arms to the Internet to complain.… Read more

Apple's shares finally sagged below the $400 point.

Just before 10 a.m. PT today, the stock dipped below that round number, if only momentarily, crossing a threshold that seemed unlikely when it was high and mighty at more than $700 a share last September. That registered as the day's low of at $398.11, though the stock quickly rebounded to around the $403 mark.

Apple's shares closed the day at $402.80, a drop of 5.5 percent from the previous day's close.

Some Wall Street analysts put the blame on a disappointing quarterly forecast … Read more

Apple is again in the crosshairs of the Chinese government.

The iPhone maker has turned up on a list of companies being investigated in China over allegedly offering pornographic material through their Web sites or app stores, The Wall Street Journal said today.

Apple isn't highlighted in the story from the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's Communist Party. Rather, it's just one of many companies named in the probe. In total, the investigation is looking at 198 Web sites and several app stores beyond Apple's.

Based solely on a rough Google-translated version of the People's Daily piece, … Read more

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has spent plenty of time in the last few months telling the world that Microsoft was morphing from a software company to one that focuses on devices and services.

Turns out, there's one device that Microsoft has no plans to make anytime soon: a smartphone.

At the Dive into Mobile conference yesterday, Terry Myerson, the vice president in charge of Windows Phone, Microsoft's also-ran of a mobile phone operating system, said that Microsoft would only jump into the business of making a smartphone if its partners, such as Nokia, weren't offering compelling devices.… Read more

In this new era of music streaming, many people seem to wonder whether song and album downloading is becoming irrelevant. Apparently, not quite yet.

Music downloading is as strong as ever, according to a new NPD study based on data from 5,400 consumer surveys. In fact, streaming only seems to bolster downloads.

Though streaming services, like Spotify, Pandora, and Rdio, have grown at an extraordinary rate, music fans still want to own albums. According to NPD, 44 million U.S. residents paid for the download of at least one song track or album last year. And this number has … Read more

Purported iPad 5 cases spotted in Hong Kong and on speculative gadget accessory wonderland Alibaba.com suggest again that the next generation of Apple's slate will be slimmer than its forebears.

Engadget claims to have gotten its hands on one of the cases at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. According to the site, the case suggests that the new iPad will have the same screen size, but thinner side bezels.

Dozens of iPad 5 cases already are listed on Alibaba, a direct connection to Chinese suppliers that crank out just about every iDevice accessory imaginable, often way ahead of … Read more

As Samsung, Google, and Microsoft forge ahead with smartphones, smartwatches, and other smart devices, Apple could be experiencing production delays across the board.

According to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek, who recently visited Apple's Asian suppliers, the rumored iPhone 5S will most likely be delayed. It's previously been said that the device would hit stores by July. Misek also said that the possible low-cost iPhone launch could be pushed to this year's fourth quarter and an iPhone 6 probably wouldn't come out until 2014.

"iPhone 5S is having preproduction issues with mass production at least a … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Former 404 guest and Internet Archivist releases Web's largest collection of historical software.

- Judge holds himself in contempt for cell phone going off in court.

- NY Philharmonic phone disruption: A cell-phone etiquette reminder.

- Here's a 90-year-old granny freaking out over Oculus Rift.… Read more