TIM COOK

Apple had the last laugh in its epic Apple v. Samsung patent-infringement lawsuit and was awarded $1.051 billion in damages by a California jury. Take a look at the list of the patents involved in the lawsuit and the devices that were found to infringe on those patents.

While Apple has yet to make any official announcements about its upcoming products the iPhone 5 and the iPad mini, leaked details show that both devices are as good as confirmed at this point. But while many expect that both products will be launched simultaneously in September, the iPad mini may in fact be officially announced in October.

After the Apple TV failed to capture much market attention, the California tech giant may be looking for a new way to enter the television market. Reports suggest that the new Apple TV could be a set-top box designed to give viewers access to cable programs at any time.

Shares of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, have recovered lost ground and are trading not much below their record high of $644 set on April 10. Despite a setback when third-quarter earnings fell shy of estimates last month, they could set another record again this week.

Apple has pulled its much-derided "Genius Bar" television commercials, which had been running during the 2012 London Olympics.

Even before news of Apple's acquisition of fingerprint scanning company AuthenTec could take effect among technology enthusiasts, news of Apple considering another company, The Fancy, a growing e-commerce related Social Network is gathering pace.

Even when Apple didn't create "insanely great" products, the one thing Apple could always do was create compelling and clever advertisements. No longer.

After considering formation of a strategic relationship for over a year now, Apple and Twitter are reportedly back in talks about Apple investing in the short-messaging service, Twitter, to gain a toehold in the social-media world. According to the New York Times, Apple is reportedly considering an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Twitter, which would raise Twitter's value to $10 billion -- more than $1.5 billion more than its valuation last year.

Apple will be rolling out Mountain Lion, the latest iteration of its Mac OS platform, tomorrow following its Q3 earnings report.

Two months after CEO Tim Cook promised Apple would do better at plugging its leaks, Apple's product pipeline couldn't be more transparent. We have a pretty good idea of what the next iPhone will feature, and when it will launch. We also know details about the not-so-obvious products in the Apple pipeline; we know the general size of the heavily-rumored iPad Mini, and we know Apple likely has a TV in the works. What happened to the tradition of secrecy?

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, may introduce a smaller version of the iPad to compete with products from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), the No. 1 search engine, and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), the No. 1 e-retailer and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), reports said.

Apple introduced some incredible new products and software at this year's WWDC -- the new Retina-powered MacBook Pro and iOS 6 were particular show-stealers -- but pro users felt specifically neglected at the event, where many were expecting Apple to refresh its entire Mac line-up. Unfortunately, despite a few spec bumps, the iMac and Mac Pro were largely untouched.

Slowly but surely, Apple's operating systems are converging, but bonding these two separate systems together would be impossible without iCloud. On Monday, Apple introduced two new additions to the iCloud Beta portal for iOS 6 developers, including the Notes and Reminders apps, before it releases Mountain Lion this month and iOS 6 this fall.

Apple will begin transitioning the leadership role within its hardware engineering department, now that Bob Mansfield has announced his retirement. Apple was quick to name Dan Riccio as Mansfield's successor, mentioning that Riccio will learn the new role over several months. During that time, the hardware engineering team will continue to report to Mansfield.

Applesauce might be on the menu if Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) doesn't take swift actions to ameliorate members of a coalition representing Iranian-Americans and speakers of Farsi who were allegedly denied sale of iPads and other merchandise by Apple store employees in recent weeks.

Apple introduced some stunning new products and software at WWDC 2012, but pro users felt particularly neglected at the June event in San Francisco. Despite a few bumps in the specs, the iMac and Mac Pro were largely untouched this year, but Apple CEO Tim Cook promises something really great later next year. We're hearing a new desktop may come even sooner, but sans Retina Display.

As expected, the App Store has officially launched in 32 new countries as of Friday, including Albania, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, and Ukraine. This means that app developers can now sell or distribute their applications for gaming, productivity, news, business, education and entertainment in a total of 155 countries around the globe.

Microsoft has always been known as a software company, but that perception changed on Monday when the company unveiled its first-ever tablet in Los Angeles. Even though Apple popularized the tablet genre with the iPad, Microsoft's Surface tablet will directly compete with the bestselling tablet, as it is slightly thinner, features a bigger screen, and it can also do several things the iPad can't do, such as type well or sit up straight.

Foxconn, Apple?s major manufacturing partner, has expressed interest in buying more shares in Sharp, according to Slash Gear. This is fueling rumors that the companies are working towards Apple?s rumored ?iTV,? although there has been no official word on the device?s development.

Apple was expected to update nearly every computer for the 2012 WWDC, including every iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. But while fans were generally pleased by what was announced, the iMac got no love from Apple. According to MacRumors, however, new iMacs may be hitting shelves sooner rather than later.

Apple has confirmed that new models and new designs of the Mac Pro are in the works and might be released in 2013.