Wowsers. What a week or two for Apple eh? In case you missed any of it, here’s a recap.

1. Steve Jobs retired. You only don’t know about this if you live in a hole or third world country. The infamous Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, leaving the helm to Tim Cook, former COO and now about 384 million dollars richer thanks to an amazing stock offering from the company. Apple execs are doing a good job satisfying stockholders, but I think the magic will eventually be lost. As inventor first, Steve Jobs was responsible for items such as “the personal computer,” iphone and Ipad and not only co-founded Apple, but also resurrected the company to become the most valuable company in the world. Anyone who thinks Apple can possibly “remain the same” is fooling themselves.

2. Apple stopped .99 TV rentals on Apple TV - In my review of Apple TV, I had already indicated that the TV offering on Apple TV is a little slim anyways, so it isn’t exactly heartbreaking that the prices are gone. You can still buy your favorite shows at a great $1.99 rate in most cases.

3. Iphone 5 coming to Sprint – Rumor has it that Sprint and Apple have made a deal to finally bring the iphone to Sprint. Sprint stocks has steadily declined for years, but I’m betting the the iphone will help resurrect the company. Sprint has a tough road ahead of them as they battle continuous quarterly losses, but I’m thinking they’ll be able to gain more of the mobile phone market. Apple is expected to sell an additional six million phones die to the new relationship.

4. Iphone 5 is expected to arrive in September, probably October - Yes, the iphone 5 is on its way and the three major networks are preparing. We’re expecting a larger screen, more RAM, more Gigs, and lighter weight. I’m still stuck with a pitiful Droid 2 and can’t wait to buy my iphone even if I have to pay full price.

5. Ipad 3 expected first quarter of 2012 – That’s what we’re hearing. There are not many details concerning the specs, but we think the screen resolution (1,536 x 2,048) will be better and the size a tad larger. It’s also expected to also finally utilize the popular Retina Display introduced on the iphone 4.

6. Lion OS - The latest version of Apple’s popular operating system — has been available through the Mac App Store since July. It’s priced at $29.99 and — based on a guesstimate of average download speeds — will probably take most people about an hour to download. Is it worth the money and time? We think so, but some don’t yet. According to Apple, Lion is how the company will challenge “the accepted way of doing things by introducing new features that change the way you use a computer.” What does that even mean though? It means that there are more than 250 new features, tweaks, additions, and changes crammed into Lion.

7. Apple became the most valuable company in the world - Apple was already deemed the most valuable tech company and brand name, but now they’re actually the most valuable company in the world. In the last few weeks stock prices have been plunging which moved Exxon from the #1 spot and crowned Apple. That’s just crazy.

8. Apple’s making progress in China – WSJ.com reports that Apple is getting closer to offering the iPhone through China’s largest mobile carrier, state-owned China Mobile Ltd., giving the company access to hundreds of millions of new customers.
The effort is Apple’s latest move in the risky Chinese market, which could play a central role in the company’s growth plans.

9. Apple’s battling fake Apple Stores – Now Apple has to contend with a new genre of copycats, those who are actually replicating Apple Store retail locations and setting up shop around the world. China has been the latest target of many fake apple stores. The most amazing part of the fake stores in China have to be the employees. According to the blogger, these employees actually believe they work for Apple. They wander the store assisting customers and wear standard Apple T-shirts, which are bright blue with a clean white Apple logo across the chest. Check these pictures out to see just how uncanny the fake stores match up.

10. Apple now owns trademark to “App Store” – Salsesforce chief executive Marc Benioff revealed this week that he handed over his firm’s “App Store” trademark to Apple as a way of thanking co-founder Steve Jobs for personal insight and support over the years.