Spotify is a relatively new and very comprehensive online music store that is readying it’s launch in the United States.

Apple’s iTunes music store is the largest online music library in the world and has the most users, but with Spotify’s more comprehensive feature list and more affordable pricing, it could just be the first real substitute to contest Apple.

With Spotify, you get more control with your music files compared to iTunes, as the service allows you to copy and listen to your music files on any compatible portable device, including your BlackBerry, iPhone and iPod, Google Android phone, among other portable devices. And it doesn’t stop there; you could also upload music to the cloud and listen to the tracks from any Internet connected computer.

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The California-based computer giant, Apple, today announced new sales figures for it’s latest device, the Apple iPad.

The company says it has now sold more than 1-million units of the device, 28-days after the initial April 3rd product launch that saw 300,000 sold units on launch date.

The sales numbers do not include sales figures from the iPad 3G model, which debuted today in the United States.

The iPad will launch in international markets, including Canada, by the end of this month.

Apple’s iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS both took a mere 3-days each from their debut to reach the 1-million sales milestone, compared to 74-days for the very first iPhone model.

Apple says there are currently more than 5,000 apps designed specifically for the iPad, with more than 12-million apps aggregately being downloaded from all iPad users. The company says more than 1.5-million iBook ebooks have been also been downloaded, but that number isn’t more specific to indicate how many books have been purchased from Apple’s new iBook store.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs says demand remains strong and that the company is working hard to meet demand as it exceeds current supply levels.

The  market has reacted positively to the news as the Apple stock (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trading up 2.25-percent in mid-day trading at $266.97 per share.

Only a couple of days after the leak of the next-generation iPhone that is expected to launch on June 22nd, Adobe, the maker of the popular web development platform Flash, has announced the company will entirely stop development for the iPhone.

The relationship between Apple and Adobe has deteriorated in recent weeks as the companies have failed to reach an agreement to bring Flash support to the iPhone.

Apple recently announced it has banned the use of Flash in its hugely popular app store; today prompting Adobe to cease future development for the iPhone entirely, meaning Adobe has no plans to bring Flash to the iPhone.

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The Cupertino-based computer maker, Apple Inc., today released sales and usage figures for its highly anticipated iPad tablet computer that launched on April 3rd.

The company said it sold 300,000 devices on opening day. The figure includes shipments, including shipments to retailers such as Best Buy, meaning that probably not each of the 300,000 units are in consumers hands as of right now. However, demand seems strong despite consumers arguing the device is fairly aggressively priced and adds little value over an iPhone. The company did not break down the sales figures for each of the iPad versions.

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As the launch date of the Apple iPad inches closer, top tech journalists have published the first reviews (all with praise) of the device.

The New York Times David Pogue and the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg were the first to publish their reviews, along with other journalists including from USA Today.

In summary of the reviews, Mr. Mossberg enjoyed using the on-screen keyboard, while NYT’s David Pogue didn’t favor it very much. None of the reviewers complained about the lack of camera or even no flash support. The reviewers also noted the iPad worked as advertised when it came to its 10-hour battery life.

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Early this morning, Apple filed a lawsuit against the Taiwanese phone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) Corporation, alleging the company in infringing on more than 20 Apple owned patents in its mobile phones.

The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Delaware and with the U.S. International Trade Commission today.

HTC is the maker of about 85-percent of all Windows Mobile powered devices, and also the maker of Google’s latest Android powered phone, the Nexus One.

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The California-based computer maker, Apple Computers, just revealed that the 10-billionth song from its popular music download service, iTunes, has been reached.

Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPod, firstly launched iTunes seven years ago back in 2003. Today, iTunes has grown to become the world’s largest online media store, allowing consumers to purchase TV program episodes, podcasts, movies, and of course, music.

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Figure 9 from U.S. PatentNo US007660749

Apple Inc. today has been awarded a new virtual store patent (Patent No. US007660749) by the U.S. Patent Office, indicating the company could roll out a virtual app store environment where users could customize their own virtual characters.

The patent application also gives hints at the environment, suggesting there would be far more outside of the actual store. The entire virtual world, including the environment outside of the store, would dynamically change according to various factors such as the time of day, weather, and possibly even to yearly seasons such as summer and winter – think Rockstar’s GTA.

We’ve already seen virtual interactive environments such as Sony’s PlayStation Home (wikipedia) realm, and SecondLife.

The Apple patent figures do not provide much insight as to what the end-product would really look like, except minor details that show users could purchase music, books, electronics, and likely an excessive assortment of other goods. So, Apple once again has us guessing as to what Apple CEO Steve Jobs could possibly unveil in the future.

The patent was originally filed back in mid-2006, but was published as approved today.

According to a new U.S. patent application by Apple Computers Inc., the company is preparing new location-aware technologies that would make using an iPhone (and probably the iPad) more efficient and social. According to this specific patent, location sharing will become a seamless process where users could effortlessly share their location directly from the call screen.

Users can already share their current location simply by finding their location in the Maps application, then sharing it via a few more additional taps. However, the current process requires somewhat too many taps and simply wouldn’t be as efficient as choosing to share your location from a single press while concurrently talking with your friend.

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After speaking with a lot of people, I find there is still much ambiguity over the features of Apple’s latest creation, the iPad, and what the device is and is not capable of doing.

The iPad is also missing a camera, multi-tasking support, Flash support in Safari, and unfortunately, it’s limitations don’t stop there.

People that have used the iPad to demo a movies (with the 4:3 viewing ratio) argue the iPad would have been better in widescreen, making watching movies more enjoyable. But Apple wants you to use the device in any orientation as you choose, so making it widescreen might have been prohibitive in that regard.

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