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When people talk about Android’s “fragmentation” problem, what they are referring to is the fact that the majority of Android devices are not running the most current version of Google’s mobile operating system.

The reason this is a big deal is because an ecosystem is only as strong as how many devices are running a current version of the operating system: older versions of Android are not only more vulnerable to malicious exploits that have been patched in more recent versions, but apps running on them can’t make use of newer Android features.

A new chart released by Fidlee shows exactly how bad Google’s fragmentation problem has become. Although iOS 7 runs on almost all Apple iPhones released in the last five years, there are few Android devices that are supported by the most recent version of Android just two years after they are purchased.

Has it really been less than three months since the roll out of iOS 7?

Well, however long it has been that has clearly been enough time for most users — since new data from online ad network Chitika reveals that iOS 7 is currently running on more than 70 percent of North American iOS devices.

Apple stock closed at a new 2013 high on Tuesday — rising 2.7 percent (or $15) over the course of the day to finish at $566.32.

For those keeping score, that’s the best close Apple’s stock has had since December 4, 2012, and means that the company is up by 6 percent so far this year — although still down on the $700 all time high which accompanied the iPhone 5.

Yes, Joshua Young is a doctor. And yes, the strange device he built and now wields is indeed sonic. But no, it’s not a screwdriver.

Instead, Joshua’s intricate alloy AUUG controller is an imaginative musical device that turns the iPhone or iPod into a unique instrument that uses accelerometer magic to bend and blend sound.

What’s this? A review of the Retina iPad mini almost a month after launch? That’s right. And although I haven’t been using my new mini for that long, I’ve been using for more than the two or three hours logged by most of the folks who “reviewed” it on launch.

So if you are wondering if the new mini is noticeably heavier than the old one, or if it takes all night to charge it, or whether an iPad even needs LTE, then read on.

Everything else in our lives has gone wireless, but here we are, still slurping electricity through wires like a bunch of cavemen. When will it end? Soon, soothes Apple. The mad scientists in their lab at Cupertino have just patented a method to supply wireless charging to a number of nearby devices.

Apple has bought Topsy, a San Francisco-based firm that offers Twitter analytics to companies. The deal has closed at over $200 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“It’s unclear how Apple plans to use Topsy,” says the report. “There may be opportunities to link Topsy’s technology with Apple’s iTunes Radio, an online-streaming-music competitor to Pandora Media Inc. and Spotify AB. One possible scenario would use data from Topsy to alert listeners to songs that are trending or artists being discussed on Twitter.”

A report from a few months ago said Apple was beefing up its iAd team prior to the launch of iTunes Radio. Topsy’s expertise in social marketing could certainly come in handy when trying to sell iAds.

Here’s what Topsy is about:

When it comes to Christmas shopping, procrastinating is a long standing American tradition. So to let you know how long you’ve got until you absolutely have to place your Christmas orders, Apple has posted a new guide detailing the estimated shipping times on all of its products.

Apple announced that the Online Apple Store will be offering free shipping on all orders from now until December 22nd, but according to the guide many of Apple’s most popular products need to be ordered a full week before the 25th if you want it to be waiting under the tree on Christmas morning.

Fingerpainting on an iPad isn’t taken too seriously by most the world but iPad artist Kyle Lambert has blown us away with some us his creations, and now he’s back with one of the most detailed iPad finger paintings we’ve ever seen.

Kyle’s incredible painting of Morgan Freeman took over 200 hours of work and an astonishing 285,000 brushstrokes to complete using just his fingers and the app Procreate. To give you a sense of the amount of detail that went into the project Kyle recorded a time lapse of the creation process so you can see each freckle and grey hair sprout up.

Take a look:

Look: We know that not every iOS game is perfect. They all have their little quirks and irregularities, and some are flat-out broken. But among those that are actually playable, some contain a core mechanic that stumbles somewhere along the way. And maybe it’s a cool idea, but it feels like it could just be executed a little better.

That’s where this series comes in. We round up games that are not necessarily bad but just fall short in some area, and we suggest other titles that do it better.

We’ve seen the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros go Retina. When will the iMac get ultra high resolution screens, though?

It’s unknown, but it looks like we’re edging closer. Dell — the company whose founder once laughingly suggested that Cupertino return all of its money to shareholders — has just posted details for a new 24-inch monitor sporting a 3840 x 2160 4K display.

Apple agreed this week to buy Israel-based PrimeSense for $350 million.

PrimeSense is best known for making the 3D motion-tracking technology inside Microsoft’s Kinect.

Does this mean Apple plans to make its own Kinect? Maybe. But I think Apple may be thinking about something far more interesting.

Cult of Mac Magazine wants to get you on the right track for giving good gifts in 2013.

It happens to all of us. There’s a time when “thanks” is as hollow as a fuzzy stocking on December 26. That half-hearted “you shouldn’t have!” that comes out when you have just given (or received) a total dud for a gift. You don’t like it. You certainly don’t need it. Or maybe you aren’t even sure what it’s for, like that InstaSlim compression shirt.   So the item in question gets shoved under a growing mountain of gift paper that the recipient (perhaps) hopes goes into the recycling bin, never to be seen again.

Here’s where we come in. Our stellar reviews editor, Charlie Sorrel, has momentarily put aside his bah-humbugging to trawl through all the best items that he has attached, stuffed or otherwise prodded his iGadgets with this year to get down to the essentials. He’s got the goods on what you need to buy for all of your devices – and, yeah, while you’re at it, your loved ones’ devices, too.

You’ll also read about how publisher Leander Kahney earned the reputation for being the worst gift giver in his entire family and get the real deal on how to get better deals on Apple products with our exclusive “Ask A Genius” column.

Cult of Mac Magazine

Apple surprised us with its Black Friday deals for Australia, which include free Apple Store gift cards with new Macs and iOS devices, but no discounts. And as you may have suspected, it’s the same story in the U.S., where customers can now get credit worth $150 with a new Mac, up to $75 with a new iPad, and up to $50 with a new iPod.

Apple is also offering gift cards worth up to $25 with other accessories and gadgets, including the Apple TV, the Nike+ FuelBand SE, and Logitech’s Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad mini.

Hoping to get a nice discount on your next Mac or iOS device this Black Friday? Then you’d better buy it from a third-party retailer. Apple has taken a new approach to its Black Friday deals this year and decided to give away gift cards rather than discount its goods.

It’s a day for giving thanks, here in the US, and a ton of iOS developers have decided to thank us all by putting their fantastic games on sale for the iOS platform. We’ve slogged through the sales out there for this weekend and put together a list of the best deals and sales on games we could find.

We’ll keep updating this post as we get more great gaming deals to send your way.

To mark the release of Fred Vogelstein’s new book “Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went To War And Started A Revolution”, Cult of Mac chatted to the author to gets his thoughts on the iOS vs. Android smartphone wars, writing a book without Apple’s approval, and why both sides could stand to learn a thing or two from their rival.

Today Honda announced that it is offering Siri Eyes Free integration with certain 2013-2014 Honda Accord and 2013 Acura vehicles. Honda said that it would be implementing Eyes Free as a dealer installed accessory back in January, and now customers can visit a dealership and have the technology installed.

Back in 2010, Apple was seemingly randomly sued by an eccentric 70-year-old crank who claimed to have “come up with the idea” of the smartphone. That lawsuit has now come to trial, and the crank has lost, but what’s confusing is how torn the jury seems to have been by the decision, even going so far as to call the alleged smartphone creator a “little guy” crushed by big business.

Apple’s Industrial Design studio is one of the most secretive corporate locations in the world, where even some of the company’s own high ranking execs can’t get in unless Jony Ive wants them to. So with the ID group barred tighter than a nuclear lockdown, how does one go about getting secrets about the design processes at Apple for a book?

Bloomberg TV’s Emily Chang sat down with Leander on her show this afternoon to talk about some of the secrets he discovered about Jony Ive and the design team at Apple for his new book. Not only did The Gov dive into how hard it is to cover Apple, but he also dished on rumors he’s heard about Ive butting heads with top execs who have left Apple – and not just The Felt King, aka Scott Forstall – as well as how Tim Cook has become the ultimate peace keeper at Apple in contrast to Jobs diabolical ways of pitting execs against each other.

You can hear all the secrets in the video below:

Apple has yet to announce a successor to its three-year-old Thunderbolt Display, despite the fact that the company is releasing a new Mac Pro by the end of the year with the ability to power up to three 4K displays at once.

A Redditor did some digging and found that a display supplier overseas with ties to Apple is currently making 4K desktop-sized panels that are designed for Thunderbolt and could very easily be put in future Apple monitors.

Thanksgiving is almost here, which means its time for the sacred American tradition of Black Friday sales madness. Apple hates to hand out big discounts on its premium products, but even Cupertino can’t resist offering a few Black Friday sales, and its already starting to promote this years deal with a new promo page.

Apple has posted a teaser image on its Australian site for its upcoming sale on Friday, November 29th that promises free shipping to anyone who buys something from Apple.com on Friday.

Black Friday started as a major shopping day in the U.S. the day after Thanksgiving, but more international retailers have started to embrace the sales day as well. We’re still waiting to see what kind of modest deals Apple will offer, but if last year is any indication, don’t expect to be blown away. Here are the price cuts Apple had last year:

When you look at iOS, you’re looking at a user interface more than an operating system. Beneath the animations, transparencies and rounded-corner icons is the core of the operating system… basically, a bunch of ASCII text, similar to a Terminal window, that is what iOS looks like before it puts its face on.

In a rather interesting twitch, Winocm — one of the hackers behind the iH8Snow iOS 6.1.3/6.1.4 jailbreak — has managed to get iOS’s core running on a Nokia n900 smartphone.

Now here’s one for the record books – a special one-of-a-kind Product (RED) Mac Pro, created jointly by Jony Ive and Marc Newson, sold at Sotheby’s on Saturday for $977,000! The upper six figure bid makes the (RED) Mac Pro the most expensive desktop computer ever built or sold.

Yes, Apple maintains a press “blacklist,” a list of people in the media who are shunned and ignored — “punished,” as it were, for “disloyalty.”

“Blacklisted” reporters, editorialists and media personalities are denied access to information, products and events.

Once you’re on the list, it’s almost impossible to get off. (I’ve been on it for more than a decade.)

Here’s what everyone needs to know about Apple’s press “blacklist.”