If the patent drawing above is anything to go by, Apple is working on a new social experience for the iPhone that will allow irradiated, cycloptic mutants to find out what they have in common with one another even in the post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Based on the actual wording of the patent, though, it should work for everyone, allowing you to use your iPhone to find the most interesting person in the room, every time.

Google would seemingly be the big winner in the recent announcement that search and maps will bring $3.3 billion in revenue in 2011. Don’t count Apple out, though: the type of video and audio ads iAd excels in is slated to be the fastest-growing area for mobile advertising.

Apple has just erected plywood walls around their iconic Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York City, and some massive renovations are about to go down. Could the iconic glass cube be about to go sphere?

Here’s a bit of sweet timing. Just as the PC Era collapses and everyone moves to the cloud, what is Apple selling? Why, the MacBook Air, a light mobile device that seems perfect for the iCloud generation. Oh, yeah, it’s also a “quasi-tablet.” No wonder analysts predict Apple will make billions off the device.

Apple users are embracing the App Economy with abandon. Indeed, by 2015, income from apps will exceed that of iTunes music downloads, one analyst projects.

If you’re going to school in the fall and were anticipating a free iPod Touch along with your new Mac, prepare to feel ripped.

We’ve all done it. Half-way through a marathon browsing session, with 15 tabs open in this window and another 24 open in the window behind, and you tap Command+Q when you intended to just close one tab with Command+W.

Pow! Your browser quits and you have to wait for it to restart and re-load all those tabs again. So. Annoying.

Customers in UK pizza chain Pizza Express can now pay their bills with a Paypal account via an iPhone.

Here’s the handsome new login screen in the update to OS X Lion Developer Preview 4, that Apple released on Wednesday afternoon.

It’s a dark linen motif, and it’s used in several places in the Lion and iOS 5. We got  sneak peek of this color scheme during Steve Jobs’ presentation at WWDC. Now it has been rolled out to developers, and soon to the public. Who’s excited?

Here’s screenshots of some other new stuff in the update (Build number 11A494A). Lion is shaping up nicely:

Earlier this week Microsoft released updates for the Mac versions of Office 2004, 2008, and 2011 that address some issues with security, stability, and reliability. Users of these versions of Microsoft Office are encouraged to update their software.

We’ve all seen the video of Chloe the cute Corgi dog playing with an iPad, but if you haven’t then you need to check it out. I thought it was cool that a cute cuddly dog could enjoy using the iPad touchscreen just as much as I do.

Now the insects of the world want to join the touchscreen party.

Apple has released an update to OS X Lion Developer Preview 4.

Our friends at Adafruit Industries in New York have just released glowing Mac-inspired cufflinks in time for Father’s Day this weekend.

The $128 iCufflinks pulse with the same “breathing” pattern on Apple’s Macs, MacBooks and iMacs. In fact, Adafruit’s Philip Torrone and his crew reverse engineered Apple’s LED pulse pattern.

Here’s some video:

Horse racing event Royal Ascot is really all about the headgear.

These aren’t for the purists: Italian purveyors of witty tees You Need This Sh*t (subtle, eh?) have launched this new collection inspired by the classic Apple logo along with a scatological play on Apple’s slogan “Think Different.”

Review by Kelly Keltner

Before encountering Altec Lansing’s women-specific Bliss Platinum earphones ($70), I had never considered the idea that my ears might be too feminine and precious to handle having a larger earpiece forcibly shoved into their delicate canals. Now I know that, like many things, most earpieces are made for men and we poor, sweet ladies must go about life making do with too-big things. Altec Lansing hopes to solve that issue by giving ultra-precious lady ears a much-needed rest from all the bigness with the Bliss Platinum.

We think it’s a little odd for a company that only makes Apple—related products to label one of said products with the words “Apple Edition.” But that’s what they’re calling the new, slightly different version of their marquis Juice Pack Air iPhone 4 backpack battery.

Remember the three Foxconn employees arrested back in December for leaking the design of the iPad 2 to third-party case makers? They’ve been found guilty, and they’re going to prison.

Got a spare buck? Literally… just one dollar. Want to use your iPhone 4 guilt free? Why don’t you give it to The Nature Conservancy, and they’ll use it to offset the lifetime CO² emissions of your iPhone 4? That’s a penny for each pound of carbon!

Set to be published in August 2011 by Bluewater Comics, Steve Jobs: the Co-Founder of Apple is a comic book bio by writer C.W. Cooke and artist Chris Schmidt that aims to tell the story of Apple’s inimitable founder in a less wordy and more visual format than Steve Jobs’ official biography.

Although the comic has not been colored or lettered yet, Bluewater Productions was kind enough to give Cult of Mac an exclusive preview of a few of the pages of the still unfinished comic, covering everything from Steve Jobs’ birth and adoption to his time as a tripped-out, LSD-popping Buddhist working for Atari. Check them out!

Reader Adam Moffat sent us this awesome mash-up of Lion’s cool new galaxy wallpaper and the famous opening shot of Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer chasing Princess Leia in the first few minutes of Star Wars.

We love it. Here’s the inspiration. If you think it’d make a fine desktop for your geeky Mac, you can download a high resolution copy from us here. Thanks for sharing your work with us, Adam!

We start off the day with the spotlight focused on deals for the iMac, the iPad 2 and the 3rd-Gen iPod nano. First up is an iMac bundle that includes a Core i3 Dual processor running at 3.2GHz, with a 27-inch screen, 8GB of RAM and three years of AppleCare for just $1,629. Next is a leather case for the iPad 2 which also acts as a built-in stand. Finally, for owners of the 3rd-generation iPod nano is the action jacket clip case from DLO. This case features a clip, armband and more.

Along the way, we look at other hardware, including cases for the iPhone 4 and iPod, as well as sound system and software. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Remember back in April, when Steve Jobs replied to the overblown iPhone LocationGate mini-scandal by saying that it was Google who was tracking users, not Apple? As he often is, looks like Steve is right.

Two weeks ago Sunday, my iPhone 3GS slid from my pocket and nuzzled itself amongst the fossilized bubble gum, mottled receipts and other sticky detritus that lays thick between the seats of the 7:20pm MBTA train to Forest Hill on the Orange Line. Doubtless someone is playing with it even now. I didn’t even notice it go, but unlike the last time I lost my iPhone, my initial reaction was not panic or thundering rage, but a serene sense of acceptance: I just don’t need an iPhone anymore. I barely even tried to recover it. This is my new phone, and god help me, I love it.

The iPad has been widely embraced by publishers who think it will stave off the death of print, but the latest forecast is grim: not even the “magical” iPad can save newspapers from the grave.