Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Apple’s stock closed above $700 for the first time on Tuesday, the day after it announced that orders for its iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours. Shares closed at $701.91 Tuesday, up $2.13 from Monday’s close. They rose as high as $702.33 in afternoon trading Tuesday. The rally in Apple’s stock price puts the company’s market value at $658 billion.

The $700 mark is somewhat of an arbitrary milestone for Apple’s stock, representing little more than a nice round number and a record high trading level. The company, after all, already enjoys the distinction as the world’s most valuable public company ever, at least if one ignores inflation. Google Inc., its Silicon Valley neighbor, saw its stock price surpass $700 in 2007. On Tuesday, Google’s stock was trading at $712.28. But the online search leader’s market capitalization is well below Apple’s at $236.4 billion. READ FULL STORY »

The iPhone 5 is no longer just a myth. Beloved utopian super-company Apple has just sent out an invitation beckoning various media professionals to a September 12 event in San Francisco. As reported by CNN, the invitation seems a bit cryptic, featuring only one vague phrase — “It’s almost here” — over a large “12,” to mark the date. But as you can see from the image above, this invitation actually marks a rare non-cryptic moment for the tech giant. The “12″ casts a shadow of a “5,” which seems like a relatively straightforward indication that the iPhone 5 will finally hit stores, thus fulfilling centuries of prophecy. Either that, or Apple just wanted to create an homage to that awesome Phantom Menace poster, which was made back when it was possible to write “awesome” and “Phantom Menace” in the same sentence without laughing and then crying. READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: David Paul Morris/Getty Images

There have been rumors about an impending release date for the iPhone 5 for so long now — basically since Steve Jobs introdcued the iPhone 4 back in June 2010. Last year, everyone was sure that the iPhone 5 was thisclose to hitting stores…until Apple introduced the iPhone 4S instead. (In the tech business, this is referred to as “Pulling a Not Without My Anus.”) So take this with a grain of salt: The enthusiast muckrakers over at iMore claim that Apple is plotting an event on September 12 where it will introduce a next-generation iPhone. That device will, per the rumors, go on sale on September 21. READ FULL STORY »

Confession: I can’t stand the new batch of iPhone advertisements. Apple spent the better part of a decade dropping zeitgeist-grenade TV commercials. But when it came time to show off audio helpmate Siri, the marketing team decided to fall back on random celebrity pitchmen. The result was Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson meandering around identical IKEA households. (Absent from these advertisements: The celebrities’ assistants, a.k.a. “Siri With Limbs.”) I have to admit, though, that I’m a bit tickled by a new pair of advertisements featuring adorable cult weirdo John Malkovich, who speaks to Siri as if she’s the only one who really understands him. Check out the two commercials below: READ FULL STORY »