Looks like Apple store employees will be getting at least 3 exclusive and separate applications that will help with several important tasks. One of them will allow employees to swap iPhones or iPods on the store floor, which previously could only be done at the Genius Bar.

Another proprietary app will help employees in the stock room. The apps should make tasks done in all of Apple’s retail locations easier and more efficient.

All of the battery issues that we have seen over the last few years have forced me to reconsider using a laptop actually in my lap. I don’t mind the heat from the computer nearly as much as I would mind a battery exploding on my gonads. Typically, these battery explosions have been mostly limited to Windows computers, but today a new report of a MacBook Pro battery blowing its top has come in.

Engadget reports that the MacBook Pro is a 17-inch non-unibody machine that was being used on a desktop at the time the incident occurred. According to the user, a strange noise began and then got louder.

The mobile phone industry is hurting except for the high-end smartphone and feature phone segments. These more expensive devices are selling and smartphones are actually growing in popularity. The latest numbers for the mobile phone market are in and Apple is tops when it comes to profits.

According to Strategy Analytics Apple has posted $1.6 billion in operating profits for Q3 2009. The second place manufacturer is Nokia with $1.1 billion in operating profits. The impressive part here is that Apple is doing this with one or two models while Nokia has a full line of devices.

Apple only recently announced its new iMac line including the sexy 27-inch iMac with that big beautiful screen. Despite the expense and the fact that the new iMac just came out, iFixit has already torn one up for us to check out.

The big feature is that huge 27-inch LCD with 2560 x 1440 resolution. IFixit reports that the screen is made for Apple by LG. The iMac has an input that will allow you to play your Blu-ray through the iMac, but the machine does not ship with the adapter needed for connection.

Also in Apple news, say hello to the Magic Mouse. It’s a “two button” laser mouse, which has one button and no scroll wheel. Instead it has a multitouch surface across the top that allows you to do similar gestures like with the Mac trackpad: two-finger swipes, single-finger horizontal and vertical scrolling etc.

The wireless mouse has an impressive four-month battery life, and is available today for $69. Apple is marching toward a future devoid of buttons entirely. In case this mouse doesn’t make that clear.

Attorneys for Apple have initiated a legal response against the largest supermarket chain in Australia. At issue is a logo that Apple says is too similar to its own trademark. You can judge for yourself, but I think Apple is way out of line on this one.

It all began when Woolworth’s Supermarkets announced in August 2008 that it would refresh its corporate branding strategy with a new logo. The Australian company hasn’t mentioned apples at all in relation to the new logo. They claim that the stylized ‘W’ has been paired with “an abstract leaf symbol” to represent fresh food. But it didn’t take long for others to note its similarity to an actual apple.

It’s been a long and wild ride with the Apple tablet rumors and it isn’t over yet. iLounge has itself a reliable source that has revealed more information on the upcoming Apple Tablet.

According to the source Apple is all set to reveal the touch-screen tablet on or before January 19, 2010. Some other tidbits are that Apple has created at least three prototypes. Version 1 has a 7” screen, which was too small. The latest version has a 10.7” screen. It runs iPhone OS, and it looks like an iPhone 3G, complete with a curved back.

China Unicom and Apple signed a deal a month or so back, that resulted in the iPhone 3G getting ready to head over to China with the 700 million mobile subscribers in the country. What we didn’t know is when the phone was coming and how much it would cost.

China Unicom announced today that it would be selling the iPhone at a standalone price of 5,000 yuan or about $732.50. Most people will opt to choose a subsidized package that will bring the cost of the phone down significantly.

Apple has announced yet another milestone along with all of the other milestones it has hit. In the iPhone and iPod Touch App store, they have now reached 2 billion iPhone apps downloaded.

This news comes only five months after Apple announced that their app store had reached the 1 Billion mark. One wonders how many fart and booby apps that accounts for.

Many users have switched to AT&T just to get the iPhone, while some of you have been waiting for it to be available on another carrier. Well, if you are one of the ones who have been patiently waiting, there may be good news.

Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray believes that within a year, iPhones will be available on other U.S carriers. In Europe, when Apple switched to multi-carriers, it enjoyed a dramatically higher market share. So it makes sense that when the AT&T exclusivity expires, Apple would do the same in the U.S.

We have almost zero info on this beauty, but it has us drooling like a rabid dog. It’s a little touchscreen device that’s running Android and looks like it’s about 4.5 inches by 4 inches, like a larger version of the iPhone. Looks like it has two buttons on the top of the device and SD storage.

It may be a prototype. We don’t know who makes it or if it will even be for sale. Hopefully we’ll learn more about this device soon. If it’s real and the price is good, this could be a pretty neat open-source tablet. It’s sexy no?

Here’s the latest “leaked” image of Apple’s upcoming tablet. Images hit the net this morning. It’s likely fake, though it comes from a French blog with a decent track record. The image certainly jibes with the iPhone/iPod touch and iMac, and with the rumors we’ve heard. But the thing that jumps out at us is the placement of the home key, which is odd.

You’ll also notice OS X on the display. Analysts have been guessing that the device would run some version of the iPhone OS. What do you think? Fake? Or the real deal?

The Apple tablet saga continues. Here is the latest. Brian Lam of Gizmodo received a mysterious call from someone who claims to be an Apple insider. Their discussion lasted for awhile. Over an hour. The bottom line here is that Brian believes to “a high level of certainty” that the information is the real deal.

Here are some juicy details: The Tablet is basically a 10″ iPod Touch that comes with or without webcam (education version), it can be used as a touchpad for Macs, chances are that it will be launched for the holiday season and the price will be a staggering $700 to $900.

We’ve heard our share of stories involving overheating iPod batteries. Well, there’s an article in today’s Times UK about 11-year-old Ellie Stanborough, whose iPod touch blew up last month. Her father contacted Apple for a refund, got a little bit of a runaround, which is not unusual, and was eventually sent a settlement agreement offering a full refund as long as the family agreed to keep the deal confidential.

That’s pretty standard practice in these situations, but the agreement had a lot of lawyer-speak with a bunch of stuff that could be interpreted as vaguely threatening language about how breaking confidentiality might result in Apple relentlessly going after you. So the media coverage gets all amped up.

According to a report in Barron’s, a “veteran analyst” is claiming to have actually handled Apple’s rumored tablet-device. If you believe the report, the tablet is still on for an announcement in September with availability in November.

The analyst claims the device will cost between $699-$799 and will be aimed at users as a media player and gaming device. Apparently the tablet is just waiting on Steve Jobs to give it the final go. He also claims that other ODMs have put a hold on new products until they see what Apple has up it’s sleeve.