Apple’s top lobbyist nominated for State Department post

President Obama announced today his intent to nominate four new people to key Administration posts. Among them is Catherine Ann Novelli, Apple's Vice President of Worldwide Government Affairs.

Her title is a fancy combination of words which in clear English means she's Apple's chief lobbyist, a job she's held since 2007. Catherine Ann Novelli is nominated for Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Department of State...

Expert says ‘average consumers’ shouldn’t worry about Touch ID hack

Over the weekend, a group of hackers called the Chaos Computer Club announced that it had managed to bypass Apple's Touch ID system using the popular 'fake finger' method involving a hi-res photograph, and pink latex milk.

As you'd expect, the announcement has caused quite a commotion, and has a lot of folks concerned. But according to security expert Marc Rogers, they shouldn't be. He says the average consumer has nothing to worry about...

Nissan becomes exclusive iTunes Radio ad partner

With Apple's Pandora killer now out of the gate, Tim Cook & Co. are looking for monetization opportunities and have reportedly signed up high-profile advertisers. Several big name brands are said to have agreed to paying big bucks in exchange for rich media ad slots on iTunes Radio.

According to a report yesterday by The Wall Street Journal, Nissan has become an exclusive automotive partner on iTunes Radio through 2013. Also, Nissan's Versa Note and Leaf vehicles will gain custom iTunes Radio content, with unique content available across Apple TV, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC devices.

But wait, there's more...

Over 200 workers involved in brawl at Foxconn plant

Foxconn has confirmed that a large fight broke out last week at one of its Chinese campuses, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal. The brawl attracted between 300 and 400 workers, and injured at least 11.

The outlet says that the fight between two different groups initially broke out last Thursday after workers gathered to celebrate China's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and saw workers wielding steel bars, batons and machetes...

How to hide unwanted Apple TV app icons

I'm loving my Apple TV a lot, even more so after the past few updates have made the set-top box way more useful by bringing out a host of cool features and new content sources such as Disney, Vevo, iTunes Music Festival, HBO Go and more.

On the downside, each new channel brings with it a brand new icon. And just like that - before you know it, your Apple TV becomes littered with a bunch of icons. Wouldn't it be great if you could somehow declutter the interface? While Apple makes it easy to re-arrange the icons by holding down the Select button on the remote until they start wiggling, there's no straightforward option to remove unwanted ones from the Home screen.

Assuming you're willing to dive into the Apple TV's Settings menu and flip a few switches, you can do just that. Jump past the fold and I'll tell you all about it...

‘Bastion’ and ‘Walking Dead’ games updated with iOS 7 controller support

It seems like the gaming scene on iOS is about to explode—even more than it already has. As most of you know, iOS 7 brings about controller support for games, and a few high-profile names have already signed on.

Last week, both Logitech and ClamCase began teasing their respective upcoming controllers for iOS 7. And yesterday, two big-named games from Telltale and Warner Bros studios were updated with support for them...

80 percent of iPhone purchasers in China are picking the iPhone 5s

It seems Apple's release of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is chock full of surprises aside from the humungous 9 million units sold during the first weekend. Remember the iPhone 5c, first expected to be Apple's cheap iPhone, then forecast to win over emerging markets, such as China? Neither is true.

New analytics show more than 90 percent of the new iPhones sold in China this past weekend were the iPhone 5s. That's even higher than the 78 percent of global sales average the iPhone 5s enjoys on average...

Boeing rolls out iPad app suite for airplane maintenance crews

Up until now, airlines mostly tapped iPads to either shrink the size of flight bags carried by pilots and other flight crews or relax restriction on how passengers can use tablets. Tuesday, aircraft maker Boeing announced a suite of iPad apps designed to help maintenance crews find, fix and get airplanes back in service with the least delays. Yes, there are now iPad apps to service those huge jumbo jets.

How cool is that?

Want: Marshall’s Stanmore wireless speaker

British music gear company Marshall Amplification needs no introduction: the brand is practically synonymous with pro-grade music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, drums (via their Natal Drums acquisition) and more. Fittingly, Marshall's personal headphones and earphones arm today launched a new personal wireless speaker.

I immediately fast-tracked it to the top of my shopping list. The stylish Stanmore speaker not only looks business dressed up in Marshall's trademark design, it comes packed to the gills with useful connection options, including Bluetooth wireless, RCA input and the standard 3.5mm auxiliary input...

iPhone 5s/5c estimated to cost $199/$173 to build

Following iFixIt's ritual teardown of Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and a detailed chip analysis of the former by Chipworks, research firm IHS Suppli ran their spreadsheets to guesstimate just how much Apple may be paying for the parts.

According to a research note, the pricier top-of-the-line iPhone 5s commands a bill of material of $199.

Its polycarbonate plastic brother costs less to build, with part costs pegged at $173. The full breakdown is right after the break...

Apple pulls Personal Pickup for new iPhones

Yesterday, iDB told you that Apple extended its Personal Pickup service to include the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and explained that shoppers can avoid crowds by ordering their handset online with same day in-store delivery. It would now appear that the company may have prematurely enhanced the service.

On Tuesday, the in-store pickup option disappeared from the online Apple Store for both new iPhone models. We've received more than a dozen tips and have since confirmed that Apple in fact did inexplicably pull Personal Pickup for both new handsets...

Apple refreshes iMacs with Haswell chips, faster GPU, Gigabit Wi-Fi, PCIe flash storage and more

Apple during June's WWDC updated its MacBook Air lineup with the latest-generation Intel chips and related hardware bumps, leaving the rest of the Mac lineup intact. Today, the company has refreshed its iMac all-in-one lineup via a simple press release, clearing the stage for October iPads.

The upgraded internals include faster fourth-generation Intel Haswell platform sporting power-efficient quad-core CPU. Also new: better graphics, next generation Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage options.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...