Apple and Facebook haven’t had the most loving relationship ever. There was that time that Facbeook wouldn’t let them integrate Facebook Connect into Ping. And then Apple got them back by integrating Twitter into iOS before even talking to Facebook about it.

Things might have gotten a little bit better between the two companies though after Apple put Facebook into the core of iOS 6. Now delicious little fruits are springing out of their relationship, the latest of which, let’s Facebook users give their friends iTunes credits as a “gift.”

When you just look at the money Apple made in 2012 it’s pretty incredible. But when you provide some context to those earnings and put Apple’s profits next to the competition’s profits, Apple’s performance is absolutely mindboggling.

From October 2011 to September 2012 Apple made more money than Microsoft, Ebay, Google, Yahoo! Facebook and Amazon combined. In that same period, Dell, Asus, Intel, Acer, IBM, Lenovo, and HP (basically the entire PC industry) only made $19.3 billion in profit, which is less than half of Apple’s profit.

Source: Statista

Apple has released their first beta of OS X 10.8.3 to developers today. The download is live and functional, so if you have a developer account and want to see the new changes coming to OS X Mountain Lion you can log in to the developer center and download it right now.

Even though Android leads in terms of marketshare, iPhone and iPad owners use more data than Android users. It also appears that iOS users are also more comfortable with shopping online via their mobile device than Android users.

IBM released their Holiday Benchmark Report and found that among U.S. consumers shopping for Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals from their mobile device, a strong majority were using iPhones or iPads and about 77% of all mobile purchases originated from an iOS device.

Minecraft fans might be interested in Minecraft Reality, a two-dollar app that popped up in the Store last week. It lets you insert Minecraft-created 3D models into the real world, which sounds pretty cool. But it has some limitations.

It’s pretty much a proven fact that for Christmas this year kids want an iPad or something else made by Apple. Everyone knows it. Even Best Buy. So Best Buy’s newest commercial shows off all the phenomenal cosmic powers of Apple devices as a kid uses all of Apple’s products at the Best Buy Apple Store on his search to find Santa.

Source: Best Buy

Via: TUAW

Apple’s new Lightning connector is the perfect accompaniment to the Thunderbolt port, but the trademark hasn’t always been owned by the Cupertino company. In fact, it had to “partially” acquire it from motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, which uses it to cover motorcycle parts, protective helmets, and turn signals.

The ClearView is a simple alternative to pricey add-on camera viewfinders, both optical and electronic. The idea is that – instead of adding a new viewfinder – you can just repurpose the screen you already have. And this means that, with a bit of tweaking, it’ll work with an iPhone too.

Just last week, we learned that Samsung had requested to add the iPad mini, the fourth-generation iPad, and the sixth-generation iPod touch to its ongoing patent-infringement complaint against Apple. Now the Cupertino company is hoping to extend its own case by bringing Samsung’s latest Android devices into the mix.

Apple has targeted six Samsung devices in total, including its flagship Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy S III Mini, the Galaxy Tab 8.9, and the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1.

Mall of America happens to have both an Apple Store and a Microsoft Store under one roof. In fact, they’re right across the hall from each other, so it’s a great place to gauge how enthusiastic people are for both brands.

On Black Friday, Gene Munster and his team of analyst from Piper Jaffray spend eight hours counting heads at the Apple Store. They also spend two hours monitoring the Microsoft Store and found that Microsoft didn’t sell a single Microsoft Surface tablet.

Here are some other facts that Munster observed:

Were you crazy enough to brave the murderous masses of people looking for deals on Black Friday this year? If you stopped by the Apple Store to get a cheaper MacBook or something, you probably noticed that the Apple Stores were even more crowded than usual. But then if you went over to a Microsoft Store it looked like just a normal day.

Here’s a video that compares the amount of people visiting the Microsoft Store and the Apple Store. Surprise, Apple won on Black Friday.

Use Simplenote to take and search notes on your iPhone or iPad? Love Evernote? Then you’re going to be totally stoked about Simple-For-Ever, a service which syncs the two accounts.

The shipping delay for Apple iPhone 5 has been steadily dropping over the past few weeks, and today it reached an all-time low of just one week. At least, that’s the case if you live in Australia. Estimates for other regions — including the United States — are still at two weeks, but we’re expecting those to drop soon, too.

Apple’s decision to give Samsung Display the boot over the iPad mini may be one that comes back to haunt the Cupertino company. Its tiny tablet is expected to be a smash hit this Christmas, but Apple is said to be battling with supply constraints as one of its two display manufacturers struggles to meet the demand.

Imagine an iPhone case which can hold not only the iPhone 5, but your keys, your cash, and your credit cards. Imagine that this case also comes with a built-in mirror and a telescopic pen. Finally, picture this case as a svelte beauty, a case worthy of the iPhone 5 it contains.

Sound impossible? That’s because it is. The case does hold everything in the list, but it’s as ugly as sin. If you were to take the branches of an ugly tree, fashion them into a giant tumble-dryer barrel and spin an iPhone case inside it – forever – then you’d end up with something a lot like the Cavity Case.

Ah, Reminders. They’re boring, but essential. Keeping track of the crazy number of things I have to do on a daily, weekly, even hourly basis relies on my remembering them, first of all, and a reminder now and then is essential.

One of the cool things about Apple’s Reminders app is that it allows you to set due dates and times with each task you enter. You can set these times and dates manually, or you can use natural language expressions with the app to set up your time-sensitive tasks a lot more quickly.

Here’s how to do it.

Sonic Jump, Sega’s latest iOS game, has received a great new update that’s now available to download from the App Store. In addition to 12 brand new levels, this release brings new characters and new enemies.

C’mon, who among us hasn’t snapped a photo on Instagram and thought “wow, that’d look great on my wall” — I know I have. So Art.com came up with Photos to Art, a slick app that painlessly, almost magically transform your digital snapshot into a piece of art — all you need to provide is some money and a bit of imagination (and they’ll even help you with that last one).

We’re a few weeks away from the start of a new year, which means the time to adopt new habits is fast approaching. Rather than adopt a new habit, some people learn a new skill – and building apps for the iPhone and iPad is very much in fashion these days. This soon-to-end Cult of Mac Deals offer aims to help you build those apps with the most in-depth and comprehensive Xcode course for complete beginners.

And you can get this course for just $79 — but do it before it’s gone for good!

Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is Nokia’s great new mapping app called HERE Maps. It’s accompanied by an awesome App.net client called Stream, a great new app that tracks who stopped following you on Twitter, and more.

The iPad has become one of the premier video consumption devices on the planet. having access to videos in the palm of your hands anytime, anywhere is a huge bonus. But getting some videos to your iPad isn’t a slam dunk. You have to change formats for some of them – and that can be a pain.

But this freebie that we’re delivering today at Cult of Mac Deals will change all that.

For a limited time you can get MacX iPad Video Converter, the best iPad video converter on the market free of charge!

I hope you have some cash left after Black Friday, because we have some awesome iOS games for you in this week’s roundup. Kicking us off is Vengeance: Woz With A Coz, the first video game to feature Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. We also have Meganoid 2, and awesome new platform game; the best boxing game you’ll find on iOS, and more.

Apple is saying that the new iMac is having production problems overseas, and it’s looking like the new computer will barely be ready for Christmas. Demand for Apple’s latest desktop has spawned a Chinese knockoff called the “lavi.” Powered by Windows 8, the 21.5-inch model costs 3,350 yuan (about $540) with a 500GB hard drive.

Created by “Mr. Hong,” this knockoff has a 1920×1080 display, 4GB of RAM, and an Intel i3 dual-core or i5 quad-core CPU. A 128GB SSD can be installed for an additional fee.

Hip startup Studio Neat announced the original Glif on Kickstarter back in 2010, and the innovative iPhone tripod/mount hybrid became a huge success. Today Studio Neat announced that the iPhone 5 version of the Glif will start arriving to customers next week.

The regular Glif sells for $20, while the Glif+ with tripod lock and keyring loop costs $30.

There’s something about good food that inspires people to whip out their iPhones, snap a pic, apply a retro filter, and share it with the world on Instagram. Turkey Day was a massive successful for the Facebook-owned social network. Today Instagram revealed that a record-setting 10 million photos were shared yesterday, with an upwards of 200+ uploads per second. That’s insane for an app that’s only a couple of years old.