News

Apple stock hit new territory today as the share price closed at an all-time high of $636.34. This news comes as Apple was scheduled to pay a dividend of $2.65 per share to AAPL shareholders today. The dividend is Apple's first since December 1995.

The graph above from Yahoo Finance shows an over 6,200 percent increase in price since 1995. Apple stock is up almost 60 percent this year. Trading action on AAPL today hit an intraday high of $644 before coming back down before the close. At the peak, total market capitalization topped $600 billion.

If you're one of the 80 million Instagram users who haven't freaked out and closed their Instagram accounts since the acquisition by Facebook, the iPhone app has been updated to 3.0. The latest version of the photo sharing software has several redesigned components and adds new features.

Although many alternatives to Instagram exist, the service remains highly popular for those with mobile phones. Visual tweaks and improved performance are just the beginning of what's been incorporated into Instagram 3.0. Infinite scrolling on photo feeds is now possible, and spam comments can be reported.

Even though the next-generation iPhone will be the sixth smartphone released by Apple, it's still being called the "iPhone 5" by most Apple fans. It's almost like Apple users have already forgotten about the disappointing iPhone 4S and its even bigger disappointment Siri. This is probably why the iPhone 5 is expected to enjoy record sales this holiday season. Many longtime Apple users skipped the iPhone 4S in anticipation of a 2012 iPhone 5 release. This means a lot of iPhone owners will be coming off two-year carrier contracts when the iPhone 5 becomes available in the fall. And there are also the iPhone 4S owners who have already dumped their devices for the iPhone 5. That adds up to a lot of people waiting for a new iPhone.

The hoopla surrounding the iPhone 5 is carryover from last year's next generation rumors. Dreams of a tear-dropped shaped iPhone may be gone, but the new iPhone is still expected to receive a complete body makeover. Part leaks have shown that the new iPhone could feature a chrome-plated metal frame and 8-pin dock connector. The iPhone 5 is also rumored to be 2mm thinner than the iPhone 4S, and to feature a 4-inch, 16:9 screen. The current models feature a 3.5-inch display.

Now you can protect the privacy of your phone number with the iPhone app Burner. Not only can you create a temporary alias phone number that will appear as your caller ID with outgoing calls, the number will kick incoming calls to your line and/or an anonymous voicemail automatically. The numbers work with text messaging as well.

When you're finished using the number it can be deleted forever. The developer Ad Hoc Labs explains that Burner numbers are great for "dating, job searches, short-term projects, craigslist transactions, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media" or for any other time you don't want to distribute your real phone number.

The 2012 fantasy football apps are finally hitting the App Store in anticipation of the upcoming NFL season. Here is a list of five apps that can help your draft and manage your fantasy football team. All of the apps listed support both the iPhone and iPad.

RotoWire Fantasy Football Draft Kit 2012 ($4.99 - iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) - You can't have a fantasy football league without a draft, and no decent fantasy football owner would be caught dead without a cheat sheet on draft day. The RotoWire Fantasy Football Draft Kit replaces the old pen and paper technique by automatically adjusting to fit your league settings. This is great app for keeping track of your draft and managing your picks on the fly. It's also cheaper than those old fantasy football magazines we used to buy.

Features include: A cheat sheet that ranks players based on projected stats for 2012 using your league's settings, the ability to manually rank players to your preference, a Watchlist for sleeper picks, easily keep track of who has been drafted, quick player search and more.