Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Files New Patent, Tim Cook Declares the Hybrid Notebook Market is not for them and More

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) has registered for a claim on their new iOS "Passbook" application icon. Colors like black, green, yellow, and blue feature in the icon with a black outside square, a yellow card with an image of an airplane on it, a green card on the left with an image of a teacup on it, and a blue one with the picture of a video camera. The patent belongs to International Class 009 that includes software related to handheld digital devices, computer software for personal information management, and data synchronization software, and electronic and encoded gift cards.

In other news, Samsung is no longer associated with Apple as a supplier of parts, especially for the iPad Mini. LG and ATL are manufacturing batteries for the device, instead of Samsung, which used to supply batteries for its key products such as iPhones and iPads since 2010. The sudden dropping of Samsung by Apple is due to the patent infringement battles being fought by the two in different countries. Apple was a major client of Samsung and this loss will surely affect their revenue to a certain extent.

It will take pages and pages to chronicle the achievements of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, but did you know what his final product was? It was not an iPad or iPhone, it was a 260-foot yacht designed by himself in October 2011. He named it Venus and the vessel is made out of light-weight aluminum and has seven 27-inch iMac computers.

Competition is becoming fierce in all sectors with Microsoft launching Windows 8 and HP's new hybrid notebook, which includes a display that pops off with the press of a single button and reattaches using super strong magnets. Apple does have an approved patent in this sector, but CEO Tim Cook has emphasized that the company will not enter this market due to hybrid notebooks being confusing. Apple has previously made erroneous predictions in case of the 7" tablet market; we have wait and watch to find out if history will repeat itself.