Apple

Steve Jobs has stepped down as Apple CEO and Tim Cook was named as his replacement. His abrupt resignation shocked Apple fans, but there is no reason to start digging Apple's grave yet. Cook has been handling day-to-day operations at Apple since Jobs took medical leave in January, and Jobs will remain with the company as Chairman of the Board and an "employee."

Jobs hasn't retired or dropped dead, and your iPhone or iPad isn't going to self-destruct. I'm not sure what the future has in store for Apple, but as long as Jobs has breath in his lungs, he's not going to allow it to derail. Jobs wrote in his resignation letter, "I look forward to watching and contributing to [Apple's] success in a new role." So don't start writing his obituary yet!

Below is the official press release/announcement, Job's resignation letter and new CEO Tim Cook's letter to Apple employees.

Sometimes the Apple rumor mill spins out of control. Way out of control. The hype surrounding the iPhone 5 is no different, but lately we've seen some stories surface that are complete speculation or absolutely bogus. Separating the wheat from the chaff can be tough, but other times it's so easy we have to laugh.

First of all, for those expecting a September 7th Apple event you can cancel the party planning. Japanese site Kodawarisan first brought up the date after being told by "a source in the know" but we're not buying this. The Loop has confirmed with their Apple sources that the company has no such plans. Given The Loop's track record it would appear that the first Wednesday in September will be boring after all.

You may have heard that past results do not indicate future performance. Well when it comes to leaked iPhone case designs the track record is relatively good. That's why MacRumors decided to hire some professional designers to speculate on what the iPhone 5 might look like.

Pictured above is one of the renderings, based directly on leaked Chinese iPhone 5 case designs. Measurements were taken to reverse-design the Apple device that would fit inside these cases and the result is an iPad-like refinement of the fifth-generation iPhone.

Some registered Apple developers are finding email warnings from Apple in their inboxes as the company cracks down on unauthorized distribution of iOS 5 beta. Reports from users who have paid developers to activate their UDID (unique device identifiers) indicate that Apple could even be deactivating devices running beta versions of the firmware and suspending developer accounts.

The timing of the reports coincide with Apple's routine deactivation of iOS 5 beta 1 and 2, which could explain some of the deactivations. Version 5 was recently seeded to developers and Apple is expected to release a final iOS 5 firmware to consumers this fall. As usually happens, some developers violate their agreement with Apple and sell device slots to users who can't wait to get their hands on the latest iPhone operating system.

Apple was fined 3 million won ($2,830) by the South Korea communications regulator for collecting location data from iPhone users without their knowledge.

In April, U.S. researchers discovered that iPhones stored location files for up to a year. Apple claimed that they weren't tracking users, but that the files were used as part of their GPS system to track Wi-Fi hotspots and cell phone tower locations. The company eventually admitted that a year was too long, and changed it to seven days with the release of iOS 4.3.3.

Ater a four-month investigation, the KCC ordered Apple Korea to pay the small fine for violating their location information laws. The Korea Communications Commission said Apple has been collecting the data from June 22, 2010, through May 4, 2011.