Now that Google has itself a handset maker and a passel of patents, the Android creator is likely to come gunnin’ for Apple, right? Wrong, say a number of Wall Street analysts, who expect little negative fall-out for the iPhone maker. If anything, the acquisition threatens the chances of any mobile success story outside of the Apple-Android duopoly.

Everyone’s favorite Twitter client from Tapbots just got an awesome update that introduces t.co URL shortening, support for international hashtags, the ability to email direct messages, and some bug fixes. But Tweetbot’s best new feature by far is mute filters, which allow you to ignore the people you don’t want to hear to for a while.

UK wireless carrier O2 has just seemingly confirmed an early September reveal of the iPhone 5.

Despite Steve Jobs’ crank call to one Seattle-based store for 4,000 lattes during the 2007 MacWorld Expo, Starbucks remains an Apple friend — holding a number of promotions that offer free iTunes downloads. The latest will give you a free iPhone app every time you get your caffeine fix.

Somewhat overshadowed by the recent launch of Lion was Bare Bones Software’s release of version 10 of venerable text editor BBEdit.

That awesome MacBook Pro prototype with built-in 3G that we reported on yesterday was removed from eBay at the request of Apple last night, after bidding reached a whopping $70,000. However, its seller has been posting further details of the device on the MacRumors forums, revealing its magnetic MagSafe-like antenna setup.

A fight is brewing among tablet makers, but Apple is sitting this one out, their fists stuffed with cash. Rivals, stuck with too many units and too few buyers are likely to start a price war, competing to see how long can they go, according to a Tuesday report.

Here is a great tip that will let you convert any text that you can drag select into a spoken track delivered right into iTunes. You can then sync that track and take it with you on the go. Listen to what you might have been reading later or share it with friends and family.

The release of Apple’s iPad 3 has reportedly been delayed until 2012 due to a shortage of high-resolution Retina displays. A third-generation device with a much improved display was rumored to launch later this year, but as many of us had predicted a long time ago, that’s not going to happen.

For those of you who aren’t able to download your OS X Lion upgrade for any reason, Apple is now selling its $69 Lion USB thumb drives.

Another set of iPhone 5 components have surfaced online, and while these things never really give away a lot of information about Apple’s upcoming device, they do indicate that it could be available in both black and white.

Mac OS X Lion has killed off a number of things including, but not limited to Rosetta, visible scrolls bars, Quicken (see Rosetta), and unnatural scrolling. Now another casualty is the venerable analog modem.

Yesterday, we reviewed Canopy’s Kapok camera system for iPhone 4; the free, feature-packed Canopy Camera Tools app is an excellent camera app and an integral part of that system — but it also works just fine by itself, without any extra hardware.

Amazon has released a new iPhone app for college-bound students that offers online price comparisons for textbooks. As the school year beings, finding a good deal on class textbooks can be tricky.

The new Amazon Student app lets users scan the barcode of a textbook and determine its trade-in value. Users can also buy new and used textbooks from Amazon.com and have them shipped from within the app.

Apple has allegedly begun work on its upcoming retail store in Grand Central Station. The world-renowned terminal in New York City’s Manhattan area serves 700,000 commuters daily.

According to MacRumors, Apple is expected to operate under a “very tight construction timetable” in order to get the new store ready for Black Friday.

There will soon be a day when a driver is not required for printing. Wireless printing has become more of a household standard as new printers roll out with cloud technology, and Apple is looking to make the printing experience as painless and seamless as possible.

Two interesting patents applications were recently filed by Apple that detail printing protocols and APIs that don’t require drivers, with more of a focus also being placed on printing from the cloud.

Remember those fake Apple stores in China that were uncovered last month? It turns out that faux Apple stores abound in other continents, like Europe, and unauthorized resellers have even been popping up in the US.

After an investigation by the Chinese authorities, 22 fake Apple stores were shut down. One of the main stores in Kunming, China has been rebranded with a clever new name: the “Smart Store.”

At least the store owner didn’t have the nerve to call it the “Genius Store.”

Flex Benefits

Way back in 1996, when Safari wasn’t even a glimmer in Apple’s eye, Apple sent out this email to document explaining how to use the Netscape browser.

It’s pretty interesting reading a document in which what I would consider to be core modern computer concepts like hyperlinks and back and forth arrows are explained to a technical-minded audience for the first time.

It just goes to show that everyone’s been a noob one time or another.

Do you remember the first time you used a browser? My first browser was Lynx on a dial-in Unix ISP. Which browser was your first, and what platform was it on?

Apple’s chalked up some big victories against Samsung in recent weeks, culminating in a preliminary injunction that got the Galaxy Tab 10.1 banned throughout the EU. But did Apple do so based upon false evidence? That’s what one Dutch website is alleging, and we’ve got to admit, their argument’s pretty good.

This morning, Google made a bold move and purchased Motorola’s mobile business for $12.5 billion. In doing so, Google brought the hardware design and manufacturing of Android devices in-house, just as Apple has always done with its products, starting with the original Macintosh and continuing all the way to the iPhones and iPads of today.

This is nothing short of a capitulation. By purchasing a smartphone maker, Google has all but admitted that it needs more than just a free operating system and loads of partners to compete with Apple: they need to duplicate Apple’s successes by totally controlling both the hardware and software of their devices.

The iPad, more accustom to flinging angry birds than multi-ton slabs of rock, turns out to be the perfect tool for the modern quarry. Indeed, designed for the road warrior, Apple’s tablet seems at home with the rock warrior.

News that high-end TVs are nearing the sub $1,000 range may be the impetus for Apple to enter the market, a new report suggests. For some time, talk has swirled around the tech giant moving beyond the world of 10-inch screens. Might 32-inches and above be the next step for Cupertino?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ official biography by Walter Isaacson has just had its release date bumped to November 21st, 2011 from the original date of March 6th, 2012. It also has a new cover and a new title!

Orangutans at the Milwaukee County Zoo could be some of the luckiest orangutans on Earth. Why? Because just like millions of humans, they enjoy using apps, playing games, and watching videos on the iPad.

Now that Google owns a handset maker, will the $12.5 billion deal end Motorola’s patent-infringement complaints against Apple? Not likely, says the Android creator.