Apple

For the second straight quarter, Apple has blown away analyst forecasts to post record revenues. Net income in Q4 2009 compared to the same quarter in 2008 jumped 50% to a record $3.4 billion.

Apple's overall sales are up 32% to a record $15.7 billion. Analysts had predicted the company would make $12.1 billion in sales. New accounting laws made it possible for Apple to report iPhone and Apple TV revenues immediately instead of having to spread them out over the length of a consumer's contract.

As pressure mounts before the Apple media event next week, reports are flying around the net about exactly what Apple will announce in San Francisco on Wednesday. Rumors of negotiations between Verizon Wireless and Apple have surfaced before, however they've picked up new steam.

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek is the latest voice to weigh in on a Verizon iPhone deal, and he fully expects a Verizon 4G iPhone to support CDMA this coming June. Misek believes this announcement will come next week along with the launch of Apple's yet to be seen tablet computing device.

All eyes are on the relationship between Apple and Google as the companies continue to encroach on each other's territory. Now Business Week reports that negotiations between Microsoft and Apple have been taking place for weeks. The subject of the conversation: replacing Google with Bing as the default search engine on the iPhone.

This development comes as Google pioneers its own phones and the Android mobile OS to compete with Apple's iPhone. For its part, Apple is working behind the scenes to develop its own mapping and mobile advertising business.

Next Wednesday Apple will announce several new products at its special media event in San Francisco. Pictured is the invitation the company sent out to selected media outlets today.

Sources inside Apple have reportedly confirmed that iPhone OS version 4.0 will be announced along with a new touch screen tablet computing device. In addition, Apple will be announcing iLife 2010 software that will support multi-touch.

The fourth generation iPhone is on its way later this year, and reports have already surfaced indicating vast improvements in hardware and functionality. Apple is taking its iPhone to the next level to insure that competition from rival smartphones are held at bay.

Wireless provider KT introduced the iPhone to South Korea in November of 2009, and sources within the company have given The Korea Times a glimpse of what Apple is planning for iPhone 4.0. Hardware upgrades include dual-core processors, improved graphics and a power-sipping organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen.