Apple’s negotiator-in-chief, Eddy Cue is out to clear the air surrounding the price-fixing conspiracy Apple was found guilty of by U.S. federal court in 2013, before the case hits an appeals court later this month.

In a rare interview, Cue sat down with Fortune to talk about the ebook controversythat has embroiled Apple and the six top book publishers ever since the iPad launched with the iBookstore in 2011.

Apple was found guilty of conspiring to raise ebook prices in 2011, after the launch of the iBookstore saw price of ebook new releases spike 17% overnight. Apple has maintained its innocence through the entire ordeal, and though the company has been criticized for its litigious nature, Cue says the company has to “fight for the truth,” no matter what.

Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has a better way to talk now, thanks to a new custom predictive text software upgrade from SwiftKey and Intel Labs. The technology that Professor Hawking was currently using was going on 20 years old, and needed a fix to help him communicate and work faster and more efficiently.

His life-long motor neurone disease of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has necessitated his use of communications technology, and this new system will allow him to choose words rather than individual letters, which lets him type less than 20 percent of all needed characters in his messages. It also makes him 10 times more efficient with other computing tasks like browsing the web, working with files, and switching between tasks on the computer.

Well, that didn’t take long.

It’s only been four days since The Force Awakens trailer appeared on all of our computer and iPhone screens, and here we have the entire thing recreated with the ubiquitous plastic building toy.

Why did this YouTuber build his stop-motion homage?

“Made this out of boredom,” he says, “… enjoy!”

It’s been over two and a half years since Apple TV was updated, and while Apple’s been happy resting on its laurels, its biggest competitors are passing it by.

Google’s Chromecast is now more popular than Apple TV, reports Parks Associates, which says streaming media players become more popular than ever in the first three quarters of 2014, as 10 percent of U.S. households bought at least one new streaming device.

HP just announced its newest business laptops today – the HP EliteBook Folio 1020 – and even though the company is touting them as the thinnest and lightest ‘business-class’ notebooks ever made, they certainly look a hell of lot like the MacBook Air.

This isn’t the first time HP’s design team ripped off Apple’s work, but the copycats have fine-tuned the design of their previous MacBook Air rip-off, the 1040, by removing the unsightly ventilation fan on the side, so it looks even more Apple-esque.

Here’s another look:

When the final Space Shuttle flight landed in July 2011, there was a sadness that America’s future involvement in space exploration would be nothing more than one of our astronauts occasionally hitching a lift on a rickety Russian rocket.

But NASA, partnered with various aerospace companies, has been quietly designing and building a new program that could eventually take humans into deep space.

An incredibly sketchy report, citing supply chain sources, claims the iPhone 6s could arrive as early as spring next year, to coincide with the eagerly-anticipated launch of Apple Watch.

“[O]ur source says that Apple is hesitant about launching the iWatch in the spring of 2015 without a new iPhone to go along with it, as it could give hesitant consumers an excuse to wait on buying both until the fall,” notes Jerry Miller of Stabley Times.

The report goes on to suggest that Apple is looking to narrow the time between iPhone releases down to six-monthly intervals to match the more rapid release cycle of other companies, such as Samsung and Sony — the latter of which upgrades its Xperia Z handsets every six months.

We’re months away from being able to shackle our wrists to the Apple Watch, but the UI designers at Impekable have been busy dreaming up new app experiences that will delight wearers once the timepiece is finally available.

“Our concept was to re-envision how Apple Watch could enhance the Starbucks customer experience by providing an even better way to order rather than standing in a long line,” Impekable’s founder Pek Pongpaet told Cult of Mac. “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could just go grab a table, order one of my usual drinks, pay for it using Apple Pay or my Starbucks card and get notified when my drink is ready – all from my phone without leaving the comfort of my seat?”

Check out the slick concept below:

There have been rumors of a possible 12.2-inch “iPad Pro” for ages now, and a new video from YouTube user Canoopsy offers a glimpse of what that might look like — comparing the giant-sized tablet the current iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, and recent iPhones.

While Apple isn’t the first company that would “go big” with its tablet (Samsung has its GALAXY NotePRO 12.2, for instance), the idea of a larger iPad frankly has us salivating. And given the success Apple has had with its “phablet” iPhone 6 Plus, it would be surprising if Apple was feeling any different.

Check out the video after the jump:

Despite never having laid their hands upon an Apple Watch, developers are feverishly crafting apps for the long-awaited wearable.

To do this, they face considerable challenges: The size of the device is unlike anything most of them have ever contemplated, and they must design for an entirely different kind of user experience. To make matters worse, the Apple Watch’s functionality will be severely limited, at least at first.

Still, the independent developers that Cult of Mac spoke with are unabashedly delighted to take on the design challenge as they seek to colonize the next frontier of computing: your wrist.

The abandoned Steve Jobs monument previously erected in St. Petersburg, Russia is to be auctioned off, according to a new report.

The 6-foot-tall iPhone-looking slab was designed by local Russian sculptor Gleb Tarasov and named “Sunny QR Code.” It was assembled in the wake of Steve Jobs’ 2011 death, but removed earlier this year — reportedly as a result of Russia’s anti-gay laws after Tim Cook outed himself in an open letter.

The statue is being sold off by owners the Russian Holdings Company, with a starting price of 5 million rubles (around $95,000). Money from the sale will go to Russian tech developers.

It’s pretty clear that Samsung’s mobile business is faltering at the moment, and members of its executive team are paying the price. Not only has Samsung recently posted dismal quarter profits, but it also wildly overestimated the appeal of the Galaxy S5, with the result that unsold units are now piling up in warehouses.

According to a new report coming out of Korea, to get things back on the right track Samsung has just sacked three top executives in its mobile business as part of large-scale reshuffling/downsizing effort.

The three heads on the chopping block include Lee Don-joo, head of the mobile business unit’s strategic marketing office, Kim Jae-kwon, chief of the global operations office, and Lee Chul-hwan, who was previously in charge of the mobile R&D office.

Cult of Mac Deals has tons of deals for Cyber Monday. In fact, every single thing in the store is offered with huge savings.

Use the promotional code HAPPYCM10 at check out to get 10% off your purchase.  Read on to see featured items such as the Limefuel LP200X, a package of 100 AA & 52 AAA Duracell Batteries, and The MiP Smartphone-Controlled Robot.

Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised shoppers at the Georgetown Apple Store on Monday by making an appearance to support the company’s commitment to World AIDS Day.

Cook tweeted photos of his visit to the store in Washington, D.C. He was surrounded by Apple employees wearing red T-shirts to mark the day, which is aimed at raising awareness about the spread of AIDS, showing support for people living with HIV and honoring those who have died from the disease.

In George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, anyone can play the Game of Thrones, including little-known House Forrester.

Telltale Games, the house behind video gaming hits like The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead, have brought this more obscure Westeros family to the forefront of a brand-new game set in Martin’s Game of Thrones universe, and it looks delightfully dramatic.

Check out the trailer below, which includes some fine voicework from Natalie Dormer and Peter Dinklage as their respective characters from the show, wily Margaery Tyrell and diminutive Tyrion Lannister.

Apple and Google are very interested in taking over the U.S. education market from Microsoft, but when it comes to capturing marketshare, the Chromebook is teaching Apple an important lesson: Price matters.

For the first time ever, Google has passed Apple in the U.S. education market, according to IDC data obtained by The Financial Times, which shows Google’s Chromebook laptops are more popular now in the K-12 classrooms than the iPad.

Steve Wozniak has played a lot of roles over the last three decades – engineer, Apple co-founder, Segway polo champion, and university professor – but Steve is about to jump into an all new realm: Realty TV show host.

The Apple co-founder is reportedly tag-teaming with Mythbusters’ co-host Kari Byron for a new reality TV show about all-things tech called The Woz.

Honey Boo Boo was clearly ahead of her time when she got busted selling Girl Scout Cookies online last year.

Internet sales of the coveted cookies were prohibited at the time, but now the organization has taken its Digital Cookie program out of the oven. The new effort is designed to make cookies available to customers online (obviously) while also giving Girl Scouts new e-commerce skills, like online marketing and using apps.

No one has had a chance to try the Apple Watch on for size yet, but according to a report from UBS, that’s not stopping Apple fanboys from planning to scoop up the Apple timepiece once its available, and all those eager buyers could lead to a staggering 24 million sales in the first year.

According to a recent survey of iPhone owners, at least one in ten users say they’re ‘very likely’ to buy the Apple Watch once it hits stores, and while that figure doesn’t sound like a lot, the investment firm estimates it could lead to $3.4 billion in gross profit in the first few months alone.

Apple shares took an inexplicable beating from investors on Monday morning, leading to the stock’s single biggest fall since January 28th, 2014. And no one really know why.

An unusual spike in trading volume this morning sent the price of AAPL shares falling as much as 6.4 percent to $111.27 in early trading this morning, leading to a loss of more than $40 billion in market value in just a few minutes.

Microsoft is digging its roots deeper into iOS and Android this week with the announcement that it has acquired the popular cross-platform email app Acompli.

News of the Acompli acquisition was posted today on Microsoft’s company blog, with VP of Office, Rajesh Jha, saying the company plans to integrate the app into the Outlook redesign his team is currently working on.

Black Friday is a shopper’s dream and worst nightmare. The blitz of fliers advertising post-Thanksgiving sales has already begun, with retailers large and small offering deals on just about everything imaginable.

How do you know what’s actually a bargain and what’s a cheap marketing ploy? Never fear! We’re keeping our eyes peeled for the very best Black Friday deals, and we’ll be adding them to this roundup. This isn’t a roundup for all of the millions of discounted TVs and kitchen appliances out there, just the stuff we think is really worth your attention. Keep this page locked for sweet savings on tech, entertainment and other cool gear.

Still waiting for a good excuse to upgrade to the iPhone 6? If you didn’t take advantage of any of the Black Friday deals, T-Mobile announced this morning that it’ll give you a 64GB iPhone 6 for the price of the 16GB version.

The Cyber Monday deal only last for the next 24 hours, but will save you $100 on the price of the 64GB iPhone 6 which normally sells for $749.99 unlocked on T-Mobile.

Similar deals are also available for the 64GB iPhone 5s, which is now on sale for the price of a 32GB unit. You can also pick up a 32GB iPhone 5c for the price of an 8GB iPhone 5c, saving you $50 on each. The deal is web-only, so you can’t go into a T-Mobile store to pick one up, but you can still use the carrier’s $350 termination fee bonus to switch carriers.

Source: T-Mobile

Previously unseen emails and a videotaped deposition of Steve Jobs is set to play a key part in a long-running class action antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which goes to trial this week.

First filed back in 2005, the lawsuit argues that Apple put itself in a monopolistic position by refusing to allow iPod customers to use non-iTunes music on their iPods, thanks to software upgrades issued by Apple. The case saw little action for its first seven years, but picked up steam with a judge’s ruling in May 2012, and is now finally arriving in the court room.

“We will present evidence that Apple took action to block its competitors and in the process harmed competition and harmed consumers,” the lead plaintiffs’ lawyer was quoted as saying in an article for the New York Times.