Apple's latest LTE iPad mini and the 4th generation iPad are now in stock at Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. While Apple has remained tight-lipped about the exact release date of the iPad mini with cellular data, now there is no need to guess anymore.

Prices also vary depending on how you buy the device. If you pick the option to pay on a month-to-month basis for say the LTE iPad mini, prices start from $459, while AT&T offers 2-year contracts with a subsidy bringing down the starting price to $359.99.

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When the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) got a look at the clock design on the world time application in iOS 6, it looked quite familiar. To borrow a phrase from Apple, the clock had the "look and feel" of the SBB's train station clocks. The clock was designed by SBB employee Hans Hilfiker in 1944 and has been recognized as an "iconic example of 20th century design" by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the London Design Museum.

When iOS 6 launched in September, SBB says it did not demand any payment from Apple and in fact, was honored that the Cupertino based company would decide to copy its clock design. SBB spokeswoman Patricia Claivaz said back in September that, "We're rather proud that a brand as important as Apple is using our design." Despite being so honored, Claivaz said in September that SBB would meet with Apple to discuss why the tech giant had used the clock design without authorization.

In the middle of last month, both sides agreed on a deal that would allow Apple to license the design of SBB's train station clock for its mobile OS. While the amount of money Apple paid to the railway was not disclosed at the time, on Friday global news agency AFB cited a Swiss newspaper in saying that Apple paid $21 million for the right to use the design! We don't know if this story is true or not, but it sounds hard to believe 

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Apple and HTC have settled their patent disputes. The two companies have reached a "global settlement" with confidential terms, which dismisses all their current lawsuits. The agreement includes all current and future patents held by the two giants and will extend over the next ten years.

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC issued this Statement :

In Other Hands Apple CEO, Tim Cook, issued this Statement :

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Well FaceTime is not Apple's idea after all. Today, Apple has lost a patent related case to VirnetX in the US, for infringing on four of patents related to to the video chat technology FaceTime.

Apple argued that it did not infringe upon any patents, that FaceTime was a free service with no revenue and that VirnetX does not have any products that use those patents but apparently it was not enough to please the judge and now Apple has been ordered to pay $368 million fine.

Apple doesn't have to pay the amount just yet. The company has now filed a motion asking whether VirnetX has sufficient evidence to support its case and to reexamine each of the four patents in question with the US Patent Office.

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The Apple iPad mini might just have landed in stores, but Apple's manufacturers are already gearing up for a Retina-display second generation of the iPad mini 2, according to sources from China.

AU Optronics in particular is said to expect to kick off mass production of 2048 x 1536 resolution 7.9-inch screens by the 2nd half of 2013. While on the 9.7-inch iPad that meant a high pixel density of 264 ppi, on the iPad mini, this would work out to be a mind-blowing display, a candy for your eyes with a pixel density of 324 ppi.

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