Microsoft has been pretty noncommittal when it comes to creating business tools for the iPhone and iPad.  The company has dipped its toes in the iOS pool with consumer-oriented release of My Xbox Live and an iOS port of its Kinectimals virtual pet game.  That’s in addition to an app that lets users access files stored in Microsoft’s cloud-based SkyDrive storage and a version of OneNote.

Although we still haven’t seen any firms signs of Office coming to the iPad beyond the handful of reports last fall, Microsoft is taking the iPad and iPhone seriously enough to include mobile apps for the devices for its Dynamics CRM 2012 suite as noted by ZDNet and 9 to 5 Mac.

Google is working on a “secret project” that must need some product integrity as they’ve hired Apple senior director of product integrity Simon Prakash. Simon has worked for Apple for over eight years and is responsible for helping Apple remain top among product quality. This seems to be the first time Google has hired such a senior-level person directly from Apple, and this would certainly put the kibosh on any agreement Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs may have had regarding poaching employees.

As you may have noticed, Cult of Mac brought in a new week with a brand spanking new redesign. Besides updating our old color scheme to be more subtly evocative of OS X Lion’s design instead of Snow Leopard’s, the guiding principle behind the new Cult of Mac design is to make it easier for our readers to know what’s new, what’s hot, what’s being talked about and what’s going on. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s new.

Crash analytics firm Crittercism released a new study this week, claiming that iOS applications crash more often than Android applications. After monitoring over 215 million apps across a wide range of different platforms, the report concluded that iOS 5.0.1 had the highest rate of application crashes. iOS in general also had more app crashes than its top competitor Android. These are interesting numbers that contradict the long held belief that iOS and the apps that run on it, are more stable than that of Android’s. So why such a large number of crashes on iOS?

Jailbreak developer Filippo Bigarella has brought his incredible jailbreak app, Springtomize 2, to the iPad. iPhone jailbreakers have already been using Springtomize 2 on iOS 5, and now iPad owners can get in on the action.

In case you didn’t know, Springtomize 2 offers incredibly thorough customization of iOS. You can change animations, add more apps to your dock and Home screen, customize your lockscreen, resize icons, tweak Notification Center, and more. If you want to tinker with the look and feel of your jailbroken iPad, look no further than Springtomize 2.

Where To?, the popular discovery app for the iPhone, has received its latest update today, introducing support for another five navigation apps, and a number of handy new features including support for multiple images for each place listing, more reviews, and new categories.

If you’re still boasting a grandfathered-in unlimited iPhone data plan, AT&T’s just effectively said they’re going to stop honoring it. If you use more than 2GB of data per month, AT&T will now throttle your data speeds down to completely unusable levels.

Speak to most IT people about supporting Macs and you’ll hear the conventional wisdom that Apple doesn’t care about selling to large businesses or supporting enterprise customers. It’s an argument that has been made for years and it isn’t without some truth.  But, like the conventional wisdom about Apple products always being more expensive than their competition, it’s starting to get a little stale.

MacWindows reiterated the story this morning while covering Forrester’s prediction that enterprise customers will spend $47 billion dollars on Macs and iOS devices within the next two years.

I’ll be one of the first to admit that Apple rarely behaves like other enterprise hardware vendors.  The idea of offering up an 18 month or longer product roadmap, for example, runs completely counter to Apple’s DNA. But that doesn’t mean that Apple completely ignores its business and enterprise customers to the extent that is often portrayed.

When you ask most iPhone 4 owners why they didn’t get Siri in a software update for their devices when the almost-identical iPhone 4S came out, the common answer is extremely cynical: Siri is the arbitrary, software-only feature that Apple decided to limit to the iPhone 4S simply to differentiate it from the iPhone 4 in marketing,

The truth? Apple may not be as cynical as all that. In fact, according to a new report from a chips analyst, it all comes down to special noise-reduction circuitry unique to the iPhone 4S’s A5 chip.

Known for being overly protective of its “i” brand, Apple has taken aim at another iPhone case manufacturer whose name is dangerously close to that of Apple’s most popular products. The company in question is called “driPhone,” and it produces a waterproof case for the iPhone and other mobile devices. But that could be about to change if Apple has its way.

https://www.cultofmac.com/144568/this-amazing-siri-parody-will-leave-you-terrified-of-your-new-iphone-4s/

We’ve seen a number of Siri parodies since the feature made its debut on the iPhone 4S late last year, but this one is most certainly the best one yet. It’s called “Psycho Siri” from AndrewMFilms, and features some terrific special effects. There’s also a great storyline that will leave you terrified of your new iPhone 4S.

A rumored Apple television set has received just as much — if not more — attention than the company’s upcoming iPhone 5 in recent months, but the questions we’ve all been asking about its specifications have been answered… by Best Buy.

The retailer has been issuing surveys to its customers to obtain feedback on potential new products and services, but many were surprised to find details on a 42-inch “Apple HDTV,” which will apparently be available for $1,499.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgfknZidYq0

Samsung’s bashing of iPhone users is becoming a regular occurrence. Its latest swipe came during yesterday’s Super Bowl, when it ran a commercial for its new, super-sized Galaxy Note smartphone, which sports a huge 5.3-inch display and includes a stylus.

Yes, “it’s got a pen!” 

As of this point, the current version of iWork for Mac has absolutely no iCloud functionality, while the iOS version fully supports it. This tends to be frustrating when moving files around, as it makes what should be a straightforward process into a disaster. In this video, I’ll show you how you can upload your documents directly to iCloud, to make file sharing much easier.

Please don’t look at the following images on a full stomach:

Apple’s recent quarterly earnings demonstrated insane success. As a result, failing companies like Sony and JC Penney have suddenly reorganized their missions to copy Apple.

Unfortunately, they will fail, because they don’t understand why Apple succeeds. 

Avid has been making professional video editing software for decades, and with the introduction of the “pro-sumer” Final Cut Pro X, many industry leaders have turned back to Avid for their editing needs.

Interestingly, Avid has launched an official app called Avid Studio for the iPad. With more features than the iMovie iPad app, Avid Studio is the first semi-professional editing tool to hit Apple’s tablet.

Apple has released a software update for the Apple TV that brings Genius recommendations for movies and TV shows to the set-top box. The service works like Netflix’s recommendations to give you suggested titles based on your previous purchases.

Adam Lashinsky is a veteran Silicon Valley journalist and Senior Editor at Large for Fortune. Lashinsky wrote a riveting feature last year on the inner workings of Apple’s secretive culture that prompted him to publish Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired–and Secretive–Company Really Works in January of 2012.

Inside Apple is a short read (about 180 pages) that provides several peeks behind the thick veil of secrecy Apple keeps between itself and the outside world. After reading Lashinsky’s portrayal of the company, you should have a better understanding of how Apple works and what makes it tick. Your perception of the world’s most valuable technology company should be challenged with fascinating stories from inside the walls of Cupertino.

Laaaaaaaaaaadies and Gentlemen, welcome to Friday Night Fights, a new series of weekly deathmatches between two no-mercy brawlers who will fight to the death — or at least agree to disagree — about which is better: Apple or Google, iOS or Android?

After this week’s topic, someone’s going to be spitting teeth. Our question: Is Siri Really A Revolutionary Feature? Android’s had voice actions and voice recognition for years, so what does Siri really bring to the table that’s new? Is it all just hype?

In one corner, we have the 900 pound gorilla, Cult of Mac; in the opposite corner, wearing the green trunks, we have the plucky upstart, Cult of Android!

Place your bets, gentlemen! This is going be a bloody one.

Labor activist Qiang Li says Apple is doing a much better job of monitoring factory conditions than Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia and many others.

“I compared Apple with other cell phone companies, such as Nokia. And the conditions in those factories are worse than the ones of Apple,” he said.

However, Li says that conditions in the supply chain are not the responsibility of the suppliers themselves or the Chinese government. Apple ultimately bears responsibility, and the company should spend some of its record profits in improving conditions.

Update: To spice things up a bit – we’re now going to select TWO winners for this Mac Super Bundle featuring Parallels 7 – ONE for you and ONE for a friend. Check below to see how you and your bestie can WIN!

Note: if you previously entered in the giveaway you will still be eligible to win, but if you want to give your friends a chance to win, be sure to check out the new rules below!
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CHECK OUT THE PRIZE HERE!

Ready to Supercharge your Mac? How about doing it for FREE?!? Then you may want to check out our latest giveaway below.

Packed full of goodies our Mac SuperBundle is here to take your Mac to the next level. With the Mac Superbundle you can: Run Windows in OS X with Parallels 7, Take Pixel-Perfect Screenshots with Little Snapper, Monitor your Mac at a Glance with iStat Menus 3, Create Powerful HTML5 Designs Easily with Flux 3, Plus Six Other Amazing Apps for Pennies on the Dollar!

We’ve stuffed this package full of awesome-sauce and the savings are oozing out. You’ll get $471 dollars worth of software for only $49! That would be an amazing deal for Parallels 7 alone, but you’ll get so much more.

Want to know about everything you’ll get in the Mac SuperBundle? Head over to Deals.CultofMac for the full scoop and to make your purchase.

Touchable design and tablet computers like Apple’s iPad are revolutionizing the way companies brand. This new platform demands a new way of thinking and designing and a radical shift in customer experience and understanding.

Cult of Mac got these exclusive excerpts from iPhone photography and design guru Dan Marcolina, also the author of iPhone Obsessed. His thoughts about where the world of iPad design is headed are part of the forthcoming fourth edition of  “Designing Brand Identity”  by Alina Wheeler. The book will be published in March, 2012.

In Apple’s iconic “1984” commercial, it wasn’t a stretch to realize that the big brother figure was meant to represent IBM. That makes it very ironic that IBM now has more Macs, iPads, and iPhones deployed than any company except Apple.

The extent to which Apple devices are being used at IBM became clear during a presentation at MacWorld|iWorld last week by Chris Peppin that detailed the initiatives of Big Blue related to Apple. Those initiatives are pretty shocking considering the fact that IBM was once Apple’s number one adversary in the business technology market.