Google has successfully wooed Apple’s Simon Prakash come work for it, marking the highest level Apple employee to leave to work for Google yet. Prakash was Apple senior director for project integrity and at this point, it’s not clear exactly what he will be doing for Google.

If you ever wondered what hard-core Android geek would think if he had to switch from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to the iPhone 4S SlashGear/Android Community’s Chris Burns is doing just that. Check out what he thinks about the move here.

Samsung landed a sales injunction in Germany against Apple products having to do with patents for 3G tech Samsung holds. The result is Apple has been forced to pull its products using 3G technology from its German online store.

Rumors are swirling that the iPhone 5 may be revealed in June. If true, the phone will surface for the first time at WWDC.

Apple has landed a new retail chief who came over to Cupertino from European retail chain Dixons. The new retail chief is John Browett.

A new rumor has surfaced claiming the iPhone 5 will have strong NFC support. NFC is required use contactless payments and many other phones already support NFC.

The good news for iPhone users on T-Mobile is that the carrier is planning to improve the support for iPhones starting on January 30, which is today. The carrier is adding a special iPhone support page, which will help iPhone users that need assistance. Alas, the phones was still be only 2G capable. Last week Samsung saw its second 3G patent suit against Apple rejected by the courts.

The suit in question was in German courts, the judge Andreas Voss rejected Samsung claims without a clear explanation of why. I would imagine Apple doesn’t really care why, it’s just glad the claims are rejected. I doubt this is the last time we hear of lawsuits between Samsung and Apple.

The NYT recently issued a report that talked to current and previous execs at Apple and at Chinese factories. The claims allege that Apple and others knowingly work with Foxconn even though workers often complain about conditions.

Cook wrote:

“As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately, some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.
For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.
Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people” Tim Cook, CEO Apple

[via SlashGear]

T-Mobile documents have surfaced that claim unlocked iPhones have poor network performance. The document says that only 2G speeds are possible with the iPhone on its network thanks to the lack of WCDMA 1700/2100 bands.

If you are hoping for a Lytro iPhone using light filed technology to come soon, you are out of luck. You can read why this is a long ways off here.

Apple’s CEO has admitted that it planned poorly for the iPhone 4S launch in China. The demand and short supply is said to be what sparked near riots in China. There have been shortages in other countries that haven’t led to egg throwing and abused Apple workers so I hardly think this is at Apple’s feet alone.

Apple offered up its Q1 2012 financial figures yesterday and sales for the company were gigantic. The company posted $24 billion in revenue for the iPhone and related products and services.

A new survey of recent iPhone 4S buyers has found that 21% are opting for the 64GB version. The survey also found a significant percentage of them are coming from other operating systems.

So far, a half million iPhone 4S users have taken advantage of the new 4S jailbreak. The jailbreak was a long time coming since the A5 processor was so hard to crack.

The delay in launching a jailbreak for the device was in cracking the A5 processor and that bit was apparently not at all easy to accomplish. The jailbreak is called GreenPois0n Absinthe. There are a few catches, notably the untethered break is for Mac only.

The other caveat is that it will only work on devices running iOS 5.0.1 and any update to iOS will lose your jailbreak. I bet the jailbreaks to support the new updates would come much faster now that the processor has been cracked.

[via SlashGear]

Samsung’s first patent suit over 3G tech against Apple has been shot down in Germany. The suit centered on alleged Apple infringement on 3G/UMTS patents that Samsung owns.

A new jailbreak tool for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is incoming. The tool is called the Coronal A5 tool and it will let the user hack their device with the A5 processor inside.

That $50 monthly plan also includes tethering for the cost. Thankfully, if you don’t want more data and need the $5 monthly savings you can stay on your existing plan. Those not asking to stay will be rolled to the new plan. If you have an iPhone 4S and an iPod touch you can get Siri on your touch.

In fact, getting Siri on the touch is very simple to do according to a geek going by AppleGordon. All you have to do is run a restore of the 4S backup to your touch and Siri comes along for the ride. We are talking the claim with some sodium though. If you try it out and your device survives, let us know.

Apple has its iWork chief handling the digital textbook project that could well change the way people in college use textbooks. I can’t wait to see what they have in store. It would be great to have digital school books on the iPad and iPhone.

The Thursday Apple event is tipped to be for product like “GarageBand for eBooks.” Sounds like a self-publishing system is on the way to me.

That creepy Steve Jobs action figure has been canceled. The company set to build the toy has caved to legal threats and the feelings of the Jobs family.

The new Renew SleepClock for the iPhone will be coming this March for $199. The clock has sensors for monitoring user breathing and movement to log your sleep cycle.

The Navy is thinking about using iOS devices to allow control of its drone RoboCopters. Having flown toy helicopters that use iOS devices fro control, I hope the Navy has better apps.

After the Chinese launch issues that went on at the iPhone 4S launch with eggs thrown and violence one analyst said the violence was in part Apples fault. Canalys’ Nicole Peng said that Chinese fans don’t want to have to wait for new gadgets.

NASA has launched a cool new app for the iPhone. The app is called Mars Images and shares photos from the Opportunity rover as soon as NASA gets them.