Dave Smith

Five months after its unveiling in early February, Apple is finally ready to release its next-gen operating system for the Mac. On Monday, the company released the golden master of OS 10.8 Mountain Lion to developers so they can begin submitting their Mountain Lion apps before the platform launches on the Mac App Store later this month for $19.99.

Now that its legal dispute with Proview Technology over the iPad trademark is done and settled, Apple is free to sell the world's most popular tablet in the world's biggest market: China. And that's exactly what the company plans to do. Apple's new iPad, or the iPad 3, will finally be released to Apple Stores in China on Friday, July 20.

If you own an iPad 2 or a third-generation new iPad, you need to buy Logitech's Ultrathin Keyboard Cover. Right now. Logitech accomplished something rare with the Smarter Stand for iPad. It's not very often that companies outside of Apple can build a hardware accessory that actually integrates Apple's hardware and software perfectly.

Back in December, Twitter completely redesigned its site to make it more aesthetically-pleasing for users and advertisers. Seven months later, Twitter added a few more important tweaks to its microblogging platform on Friday to improve the way users search and discover content.

Whether it's a phone, or a tablet, or a music player, each and every new product released by Apple is thinner, lighter, faster and more powerful than its predecessor. With this in mind, the latest report about Apple's next iPhone, presumably dubbed the iPhone 5, should come as no real surprise: According to DigiTimes, Apple has chosen the powerful Exynos 4 quad-core processor built by Samsung to power its next-gen iPhone.

Amazon got into the hardware game in 2007 with its popular e-book reader, the Kindle. Five years, three Kindle generations and a tablet later, the world's largest online retailer is reportedly building its first-ever smartphone to compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform.

Google Glasses are incredibly ambitious, but it appears that Google is no longer alone in exploring the avenue of wearable tech solutions. Apple was reportedly granted a patent on Tuesday in relation to peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays. Of all the companies to build a Project Glass rival, Google should worry most about Apple.

Take the iPad, the world's most popular tablet, and hit it with a shrink gun. Shoot down its $499 price tag, too, and that's exactly what officials, experts and analysts believe will be released later this year, likely around October. But Apple needs to nail the price on this. If the iPad Mini costs any more than $250, the company will have failed.

Guessing the names of next-gen gaming consoles is always fun. Fans really thought the Gamecube would be called the Nintendo 128 (since it followed up the Nintendo 64), and using that same logic, gamers still think Microsoft will name its Xbox 360 sequel the Xbox 720. It's all been conjecture, until now. Among a list of domain names seized in a legal battle, the name Xbox 8 sticks out like a sore thumb.

Tom Cruise has been having some kind of rollercoaster week. After the shocking news of his divorce with wife Katie Holmes -- just before his birthday, no less -- Paramount Pictures chose to release a new trailer for Cruise's new action film entitled Jack Reacher on the actor's 50th birthday. The trailer is currenly available on Yahoo Trailers, and it is also embedded at the bottom of this page.

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.

Research In Motion is in trouble. The BlackBerry maker has been suffering from an identity crisis for the last six months, which has resulted in mass layoffs, lots of job shuffling, dramatic drop-offs in market share and a quickly decaying portfolio for investors. But not according to newly-appointed CEO Thorsten Heins; in his eyes, RIM is all roses and rainbows and puppy kisses right now!

Apple has released the film Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview, which features nearly 70 minutes of unedited, never-before-seen footage of a conversation between the iconic Apple founder and technology expert Robert X. Cringely, is now available on the iTunes Music Store for $3.99.

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.

Facebook already knows what you Like. Soon, it may ask you what you Want. Web developer Tom Waddington discovered on June 28 that Facebook had included code for a disabled Want button within the Javascript of its list of social plug-ins.

Apple's two-year-long trademark battle with Proview Technology over the use of the name iPad has finally come to a close. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant has reportedly agreed to pay the Chinese electronics maker $60 million to settle the dispute of ownership, which will removes any further obstacles to selling its popular line of tablets in China.

It's finally happened. After several years of dominance, Microsoft's Web-based email service, Hotmail, has officially been unseated by Google's significantly younger webmail service, Gmail.

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.

After announcing a slew of new Android-optimized hardware and software products on Wednesday, Google announced on Thursday it will finally port Google Chrome, the second most popular Web browser in the world, to the iPhone and iPad operating system (iOS). In addition, Google will also release an iOS-optimized version of Google Drive, which is the company's cloud service for syncing and sharing information from your Google accounts to all your devices. Google Chrome Coming To Apple iPhone, iPa...

Project Glass stole the show at Google's I/O developer conference on Wednesday: Just as the Vic Gundotra was wrapping up the presentation, founder Sergey Brin interrupted to introduce a demonstration of Glass that could go wrong in 500 different ways. The demo went off without a hitch, and thanks to a YouTube hook-up, worldwide audiences got to experience its first intimate moments with Glass, watching first-person perspectives of live skydiving, biking, and rapelling down the side of...

At its I/O Conference for developers in San Francisco, Google unveiled a new Android operating system called Jelly Bean, a brand-new tablet from Google called the Nexus 7, and even gave a demonstration and pre-order information for its highly-anticipated, high-tech headgear, also known as Project Glass. But one of the strange unveilings at I/O was the orb-shaped hub known as the Nexus Q, which was Google's response to the Apple TV.

If you hoped pre-ordering a new MacBook Pro with Retina Display would make you the first one on your block with Apple's latest, greatest laptop, think again. Many customers that placed orders for Apple's 15-inch Retina Display-powered MacBook Pro were originally quoted a 7-10 day waiting period. Those same customers are now receiving e-mails from Apple, stating their beautiful new laptops won't ship until or after July 25.

Several tech sites claim that Apple has built smaller dock connectors for its new phone, dubbed the iPhone '5,' by some. Three independent manufacturers have agreed the 19-pin port is in the works, but one extremely interesting fact mentioned was the size of the 19-pin port: Apparently, the new mini dock connector is very similar to the size of the Thunderbolt port available on many current MacBook laptops. That got me thinking: What if that is a Thunderbolt port?

Passbook will be formally introduced with iOS 6, but Apple may also announce an expansion of that software, specifically for an NFC-capable iPhone. With the recent discovery of iPhone prototypes embedded with code that specifically mentioned near-field communication components, there's an excellent chance the company's next iPhone, which many have already crowned the iPhone 5, will feature Apple's patented iWallet technology.

Apple wants to protect us from Big Brother, and it has invented a useful clone making technology to do so. The patent, which is designed to throw government agencies and businesses off the scent of individual, private citizens, describes a unique method to help users keep their personal information hidden in cyberspace by creating false clones of personal information, which are stored and executed via your iCloud ID.

Apple quietly lifted part of Steve Jobs' famous reality distortion field on Sunday, switching out a statement that claimed its Mac computers were completely immune to viruses with a less-forward statement: It's built to be safe. Apple can no longer say its Macs are perfect, but the company is making great strides to improve the honesty of its PR while making users and developers feel safe all the same.

People used to call him a saint; now, Jerry Sandusky faces a maximum sentence of 442 years in prison after a jury of seven women and five men found the former defensive coordinator of Penn State's storied football program guilty of 45 out of 48 counts of sexual assault, molesting 10 boys over the span of 15 years. But is a life-sentence enough punishment for Sandusky?

Who said computer guys don't enjoy sports? On Thursday night, Apple's senior VP of Internet software was spotted celebrating with the Miami Heat organization after winning its second NBA Championship, and Twitter user Mike Cragg (@mcragg726) uploaded a photo as proof.

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.