Former Googler Mayer wants iPhones for Yahoo

Ironies are everywhere in Silicon Valley. Take new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, for instance. Mayer spent 13 years at Google -- Ground Zero for Android -- yet now is considering buying every Yahoo employee an iPhone. Seems workers at the search company are a polyglot bunch when it comes to phones with many using BlackBerries, Android handsets and iPhones, of course.

It's not clear why Mayer settled on the iPhone instead of Android, but one unnamed source "familiar with Mayer's thinking" told BusinessInsider that the goal is to "get consistency across the company." However, early on Mayer professed interest in the iPhone, showing up at a press meet-and-greet with an Apple handset. She later went on to explain: "I use lots of phones."

Skype app updated with new photo sharing feature

Skype users rejoice! The video calling service just updated its iPhone and iPad apps, bringing the mobile client to version 4.1. The update includes a handful of bug fixes and a new photo sharing feature.

That's right, users with the latest version of the app will now be able to send and receive photos...

Report: Apple to open Moscow ‘Apple Rus’ in 2013

First came the U.S. Apple Store, then London and Paris. Now the iPhone maker is preparing to open stores in Moscow, according to a Russian newspaper. The move would allow Apple to sell directly to Moscovites, rather than using local distributors.

As part of the effort, the company has registered "Apple Rus" to directly sell iPads and iPhones in stores near Moscow and St. Petersburg...

UK carrier authorized to offer first LTE service ahead of iPhone launch

This is pretty interesting: Ofcom, the regulator for UK communications, announced today that it has given permission to the carrier Everything Everywhere to begin using its existing 1800 MHz to offer LTE services beginning on September 11.

If that date sounds familiar, that's because it's the day before the all-but-confirmed media event where Apple is said to be unveiling it's next smartphone. The handset is widely expected to be LTE-capable, but will it work outside of the US?

Samsung to invest $4 billion in iPad, iPhone chip plant

Imagine a symbiotic relationship where each party depends on the other, but they are continually fighting and you'll have a good picture of Apple and Samsung. The latest episode in the ultimate case of frenemies happened Tuesday as the South Korean chip giant pledged nearly $4 billion to upgrade a plant producing chips for Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Samsung said it will plunk down around $4 billion to renovate the Austin, Texas plant in order to boost production of ARM-based chips, many used in Apple's iPhone, iPad and other consumer technology, Reuters reports today. This after Samsung  just unveiled plans to build in South Korea a new $1.98 billion logic chip plant for Apple and other smartphone makers...

Watch this hilarious iPhone 5 parody spot

Though we are fairly confident that we know what the next iPhone will look like, there's no way to know all of its features and what it's capable of until Apple announces it next month.

But that didn't stop Adam Sacks from speculating. The artist has produced a familiar-looking parody of what he thinks the big feature of the iPhone 5 will be. And it's quite funny...

German carrier announces new iPhone coming in September

While the September unveil and launch date for the new iPhone has been all-but-confirmed by a number of news outlets, Apple has still yet to officially make the call. And it may not for another two weeks.

But that didn't stop German wireless carrier Mobilecom Debitel from sending out an announcement to its subscribers today, claiming that Apple's latest smartphone will indeed go on sale next month...

Concept shows what Apple’s 30-pin adapter could look like

Of all the things we think we know about Apple's next smartphone, a smaller dock connector seems to be one of the most certain. After several years, it appears Apple is finally prepared to ditch its trusty 30-pin design in favor of a smaller solution.

And this has a lot of folks nervous. The aftermarket for 30-pin-style accessories has to be one of the largest in the business. And we've all got loads of iPhone chargers and docks that could become useless as of next month. Or will they?

Report calls for iPad mini production to ramp up in September

We've opined, in the past, that the reason we haven't seen many leaked iPad mini parts may be because the tablet is simply not as far along in production as the next-gen iPhone — a device for which part leaks have been ample.

And according to a new report, that might just be the case. Citing sources from Apple's upstream supply chain, the note says that Apple isn't expected to begin volume production of the smaller iPad until September...

AT&T’s FaceTime limits could violate FCC rules

AT&T sent shockwaves through the tech community last week when it announced its future plans for iOS 6's new FaceTime over Cellular feature. The good news is that it won't be charging separately for the service, but the bad news is only customers on its new Mobile Share data plans will be able to use it.

As you can imagine, this has folks upset — particularly AT&T customers who are still on unlimited, or other legacy, data plans. Why should they have to switch to a [likely] more expensive data plan to use the feature? Well, according to Public Knowledge's senior lawyer John Bergmayer, they shouldn't have to... 

Final settlement talks fail between Apple and Samsung CEOs

With the witness testimony stage over with, and the trial set to be handed over to the jury this week, Judge Lucy Koh pleaded with CEOs from both companies to meet one last time today to try and resolve their differences.

Well according to Samsung attorney Kevin Johnson, the two CEOs did speak today. But, as you might have guessed, the last-minute settlement talks failed. It looks like the high-stakes trial is going to be left up to the jury...

New photos of next-gen iPhone dock assembly fitted in rear shell

Despite the fact that we've seen a number of matching next-gen iPhone parts, from several different sources, some folks still maintain their skepticism on their legitimacy.

If you happen to be one of those people, check this out. The photo above is of one of the previously leaked dock connector/headphone jack assemblies, fitted into the frame and rear shell of what is believed to be the new iPhone...