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What will Apple do next? It's the very secret sauce that keeps the company interesting, along with some very successful products.

Here are five predictions for the next 12 months as Apple heads into one of its most closely watched years yet.

Editors' note: This is the first in a series of stories looking ahead at what's to come from a handful of major technology companies, and technology categories. In the coming days CNET will do the same for Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and others.

1. Apple TV, take four Has there ever been an Apple product with… Read more

It's been just three days since Apple's iPhone 5 launch in China and already 2 million devices have already been sold. The tech giant announced today that this latest model of its popular smartphone is selling faster than ever in the Far East country.

"Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products.&… Read more

A great-sounding recording will sound its best only when it's properly mastered to LP, SACD, DVD-Audio, or a high-resolution file. Those formats will reveal the full glory of the music in ways that lower-resolution formats like MP3 or analog cassette always miss. But if you didn't have access to the high-resolution file to compare it with, a great recording will still sound pretty terrific as an AAC, M4A, or 320kbps MP3 file, because the recording's innate quality would shine through. On the other hand, a heavily compressed, processed and crude recording will always sound heavily compressed, processed … Read more

This morning, I saw a uniformed cop jaywalking with two lady friends who seemed not to be his next of kin. Well, this is Miami.

He hesitated for a moment and then seemed to think: "Well, why not?"

I found it charming to see an officer of the law bend the rules in such a human way.

I wonder, though, whether the fellow officers of an NYPD Internal Affairs sergeant found it equally charming when he allegedly bought an iPhone from them. For $15.

As the New York Daily News reports it, Sgt. Victor Leandry allegedly paid the $… Read more

Walmart is apparently quite eager to get shoppers in its doors and is now selling the iPhone 5 for $72 less than Apple's retail price.

The retailer today said it would be selling the iPhone 5 for $127 with a new 2-year contract, or to customers who are eligible for an upgrade through their carrier. Walmart also dropped the price of last year's iPhone 4S down to $47 from its previous $87.97 price tag, which also requires a carrier contract.

9to5Mac, which reported on the price changes earlier today, notes that the third-generation iPad (a generation behind … Read more

Despite recent efforts to improve working conditions at Foxconn's factories, a new investigative report claims that there are still numerous issues.

The findings come in a report by French TV program Envoyé Spécial, which yesterday aired hidden-camera footage it captured at Foxconn's facility in Zhengzhou, China, which manufactures Apple's iPhone. It's also the same factory where a worker strike occurred two months ago.

Among the issues found by the group, as relayed by Engadget, were workers living in buildings that were in the process of being built, meaning those living there were without … Read more

Even with Apple's top product arriving in more stores around the world, and its last products of the year shipping out, Wall Street's not so hot on the company today.

Shares of Apple closed at $509.79, down $19.90, or 3.76 percent, on Friday. That's near where the stock was trading in February, ahead of the journey that would take it beyond its high of $702 in September.

Of course everyone's looking for explanations behind the slump, a behavior that's become regular in the nearly three month span since the iPhone 5 went … Read more

Being unable to resist buying a lot of iPhones is uncomfortable enough. It's worse coupled with being unable to avoid being handcuffed.

This can be the only conclusion after a full and thorough police investigation into the tasering of a woman outside the Apple store in the Pheasant Lane Mall of Nashua, N.H.

Should you not have had the opportunity of enjoying this footage, I have embedded it again. It appears to show a woman on the ground being subdued and tasered by more than two police officers. They are bigger than she is.

The Union Leader of New Hampshire now reports … Read more

Google Maps returned to the iOS platform this week, but that was not enough to rescue Apple's map app rep.

Banished from Apple's iOS earlier this fall, Google Maps returned to the mobile platform in the form of a standalone app. The official Google Maps app returned to Apple's App store Thursday evening with turn-by-turn navigation, as well as public transit directions, integrated Street View, and a 3D-like Google Earth view. Google Maps didn't take long to capture the top spot among free iPhone apps.

The release came a few days after Apple again became the … Read more