Apple today officially welcomed Beats Music and Beats Electronics to its family, along with Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, following its $3 billion takeover back in May.

“Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do,” reads an announcement on Apple.com, while those buying products from the Beats website will now be routed through the Apple Store.

The creators of the incredibly popular Pebble smartwatch, which came alive in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign last year, said yesterday that they will be bringing “something special” to this year’s International CES in Las Vegas.

A new case mould showing of the fifth-generation iPad’s new design has surfaced today, alongside a date on which Apple will announce the device. As expected, the mould points to an all-new thinner form factor for the device, with narrow bezels down either side of the display, much like the iPad mini.

The source of the mould claims the iPad 5 will be announced on June 18, which could see its unveiling during WWDC.

Stock of the Apple TV has been quickly dwindling across Apple retail stores in the U.S. in recent months, fueling speculation that the device will soon be replaced by a new model with the “J33” codename that recently popped up in the company’s iOS 5.1 beta software.

One report claims that 98% of Apple retail stores in the U.S. now have no Apple TV stock at all.

Dreams of an iPad 3 announcement this month have been shattered by the same publication that initially claimed when the device would get its grand unveiling. It is now reporting the much-anticipated third-generation device won’t be uncovered until March — as we had always expected — but that Apple still has plans for an “unusual” event this month.

We’re already expecting this year’s iPhone event to be a little different to those that we’re familiar with. Not only will it take place in October, rather than June, but Tim Cook will take Steve Jobs’ place on stage, and the event won’t take place at the Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. Instead, it will be held on Apple’s campus in Cupertino.

Having missed its traditional annual refresh date back in June, we’ve been anticipating Apple’s iPhone 5 ever since. It has been widely rumored that the device will finally be unveiled at some point this month, but according to one report, we’ll hear nothing from the Cupertino company until early October.

AT&T’s Vice President has reportedly confirmed to a number of the carrier’s employees that the iPhone 5 is “slated to launch in October,” and that it’s time to get ready for Apple’s fifth-generation device.