Apple has a long history of taking a technology created by Xerox and transforming it into the heart and soul of computing, such as the mouse or the concept of a graphic user interface. Now comes word Apple owns a Xerox patent for location based services. The patent could prompt Apple to sue a wide array of companies, ranging from Android-backer Google to social networking giant Facebook and any others relying on the ability to check users’ location.

With the Kindle Fire, Amazon has proved that it is possible to compete with the iPad, at least in the budget tablet market. Will they try to take the crown from the iPhone’s head next with a so-called Kindle Phone? Yup, maybe!

For the first time in 15 years, Apple has five percent of the global PC market. The numbers are almost embarrassing: 24.6 percent third-quarter Mac sales growth that beat the pants off a PC industry limping along with just a 5.3 percent increase.

Apple’s iOS devices, especially the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, are famous for their inability to endure even the smallest of drops without their displays shattering into a thousand tiny pieces. However, according to a patent application from the company, future iPhones could employ a fancy airbag system that prevents them from cracking when they hit the ground.

A new study contains more evidence the iPhone is taking hold at work, even displacing the stolid business-centric BlackBerry as the smartphone of choice. Of enterprise workers carrying a smartphone, 45 percent said the handset is an iPhone versus 32 percent for the BlackBerry.

A couple weeks ago, we posted about TwelveSix’s PlugBug, a cute little attachment that plugs into your standard MacBook MagSafe charger and gives it a 10W USB port, perfect for charging your MacBook and iPad simultaneously.

The PlugBug’s an ingenious little idea, and I’m reviewing one now. However, PlugBug’s days might be numbered: a new patent says that Apple is working on a universal power adapter that can charge MacBook Pros, iPhones and iPads, all at the same time.

Apple’s Texas Hold’em game was one of the first titles I purchased from the App Store when it opened for business in 2008, and the only game Apple has developed for iOS devices. And while it was a fantastic purchase at the time, the Cupertino company hasn’t exactly been committed to maintaining its popularity.

Its last update came in September 2008, and today, the game has been removed from the App Store completely.

Retailers have found getting rid of non-iPad tablets can be like selling Halloween candy in November. Retail giant Staples is taking a cue from other failed attempts to rival the Apple device and cutting up to $300 off RIM’s PlayBook,  just in time for Christmas.

aTV Flash (black) from FireCore has now dropped its beta tag and hit version 1.0. The software package is designed to supercharge your second-generation jailbroken Apple TV, introducing a whole host of functionality that isn’t available from Apple. In addition to a media player which supports a huge variety of formats, aTV Flash will also introduce a web browser, weather and RSS feeds, a Last.fm radio, and more to your set-top box.

Could it get any sadder? Ten years late, Microsoft is finally set to open its sad sack retail store later today at Tysons Corner, pretty much directly across from the original Apple Store that started it all way back in 2001. Needless to say, the world’s pretty much yawning at the news, and so Microsoft is trying anything to get people to attend the grand opening. I’m not sure what’s sadder, though: the fact that they hired a Jonas Brother to draw in crowds, or the fact that the Jonas Brother they hired, Joe Jonas, is both a Mac user and a former entertainment act for Apple, famously drawing scores of screaming teens to the SoHo Apple Store in 2008.

Digging through the bowels of iOS 5.0.1, developer John Heaton found something neat: some code strings that strongly hint iChat functionality will be coming to iOS sometime more or less relativistically soon.

It’s here. It’s Minecraft. And now you can play it on your iOS device. Clap your blocky hands together and praise Notch.

If you’ve played Minecraft before, this isn’t quite the game you’re used to. As it stands, Minecraft: Pocket Edition is a stripped-down version that removes what many existing fans of the game will say are the best bits. Don’t pay too much attention to the complaints, though, because there’s still a lot of fun to be had with what remains.

Apple released iTunes Match this week, and along with it a new version of iTunes which includes a lot of new features to support music in the cloud. We’ll look at these features in the Mac OS X tip for today.

Rumors that Apple’s third-generation will launch early next year have been strengthened by claims from “industry sources” today, who say the Cupertino company has moved to control supplies of its iPad 2 in a bid to reduce excess inventory. It will reportedly reduce the number of displays manufactured by the likes of Samsung, LG Display, and Chimei Innolux during the fourth quarter of 2011, which could lead to a reduction in iPad shipments.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBk_iHJU4tM

Verizon has launched a new ad featuring Apple’s popular iPhone which mocks the network coverage offered by rivals AT&T and Sprint.

In the 30-second clip, a group abandons a sinking ship, escaping with just their lives and their iPhones. Only one of the party gets enough signal to make a call, and that’s the one who’s on Verizon — a carrier which claims to offer “the best wireless service in the world for your iPhone.”

Review by Jordan Trimas

Let’s face it, with the smörgåsbord of gadgets that most of us use these days, having a few different bags to accommodate and protect our cherished portables is paramount. Despite a few minor drawbacks, the Tenba Messenger Large Photo/Laptop Bag ($110), may be good enough to replace a couple of your bags, backpacks or cases — especially if you’re a photography professional/enthusiast or techie with a DSLR and a laptop.

Apple’s newest editing software, Final Cut Pro X, has received an update in the Mac App Store. Version 10.0.2 brings several bug and compatibility fixes.

We all remember the infamous Camera+ fiasco. The popular photography app was updated with the ability to let users take pictures with the iPhone’s physical volume button, but Apple hadn’t approved that kind of hardware integration in the App Store at that time.

Mimicking the iPhone’s virtual shutter button, Camera+ let users type a URL scheme into Mobile Safari that enabled the hidden feature. Apple didn’t like Camera+ after the hack was made available, and the app was promptly pulled from the App Store last year.

After receiving Apple’s message loud and clear, Camera+ 2.0 was re-submitted to the App Store and made available with a host of new features. After the release of iOS 5 and the ability to natively take pictures with the iPhone’s volume button, Camera+ has re-added the feature to its app, too.

Fanhattan is absolutely the required guide for TV/Movie junkies who frequently view titles on the iPhone. Just like on the iPad version, the app acts as a gateway to entertainment — it gathers a heap of information about shows or movies that can be watched on the iPhone, then serves up that information in a super-cool, easy-to-navigate interface (that looks absolutely stunning on the iPhone 4).

https://vimeo.com/31513704

Ticket to Ride began as a hugely successful, massively award-winning board game, then jumped to the iPad and rocked the gaming world all over again as a shining example of what a board game should be on the iPad. Today, it’s set to take the mobile gaming world by storm again as it emerges on the iPhone — and it’s going to go through the roof.

Developer Jean-Christophe Naour has released an app for the iPad called Poly. Inspired by mathematician Boris Delaunay, Poly lets users create intriguing, colorful self-portraits with the iPad 2’s front-facing camera.

Poly creates geometric images that are complied by averaging color data within triangular fields that you trace with your hand. The artistically inclined will undoubtedly find Poly mesmerizing, while the rest of us should be content to just sit there and create shapes out of our faces on the iPad’s screen.

Evernote has announced “Clearly,” a new browser extension that mimics other enhanced reading services, like Instapaper and Readability. Clearly is available for Google Chrome now, with support coming for other browser in the near future.

While Evernote already lets you save webpages, take notes, archive memories and more, Clearly has one simple, clear (pardon the pun) focus: distraction-free reading.

AOL has completely redesigned its popular messaging service, AIM, from the ground up with a beautiful, new look for the iPhone, Mac, Windows, Android, and web.

The new apps look absolutely stunning, and several compelling features have been added. AIM’s free apps integrate with popular social networks, like Facebook and Instagram. There is support for Facebook Chat and Google Talk. Users can video chat and group chat. Conversations are synced across apps, and messages sent offline are saved for sending when connectivity is restored.

The Notification Center that ships with iOS 5 is nice. By default, it displays a stock ticker, weather, mail, and calendar entries. It all looks great, but behind the eye candy are some useful secrets. Today, we’ll take a look at the weather widget.

After a rather thorny relationship with the corporate class, Apple is getting downright chummy with businesses buying thousands of iPhones and iPads. The Cupertino, Calif. company now has access to the boardrooms co-founder Steve Jobs once rejected.