Those closely eyeing Apple may have been struck by the losses the Cupertino-based company reaped in Wall Street recently, but Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO and creative spark, has called out to Apple employees via email with a message of encouragement, as well as some words of reassurance to investors of the company. More at the full story.

Being just one step away from the top leadership position at Apple Computers, the speculation continues as to whether Jonathan Ive, currently the company's senior vice president for industrial design, could be the next company CEO.

The speculation regarding Ive is related to talk about Apple Computers' need to prepare a successor to current CEO Steve Jobs. Find out more after the jump!

We've seen one too many iPhone analysis articles now. What's with all the hype? It's all needed, though, for the fate of millions of Apple company investors and employees rely on the success of this spotlighted product.

The latest news on the iPhone hype has financial researchers assuring Apple investors that iPhone, iPod and Mac sales would continue pushing the company forward. iPod holds a 24 percent share on the world market for media players, a figure thought to rise by half a percentage point. Mac sales is seen to go up by the upcoming launch of the Mac OS X Leopard.

But all this hype on the iPhone could give rise to a dilemma for the giant electronics company - the iPhone could rival the iPod. It may seem silly knowing as how both products are by the same company, but iPhone could greatly affect iPod sales and thus, the financial health of Apple.

Other factors that would greatly affect Apple money health are negative issues on the iPhone - if they are to come. The analysts warn against negative news, delays, quality or usability issues - these can all easily damage Apple reputation and it's stock.

Truly, we sometimes cannot picture such so-so things as rumor and delays to affect something as tangible as money and stocks. But they are highly correlated. Such is the business of the finance world.

Ever been frustrated over conflicting policies? Well, Meghann Marco from The Consumerist thinks that these problems shouldn't even exist.

There seems to be some confusion with the policy when buying items with gift cards. According to one FAQ sheet, there are no limit to the number of cards you can use to purchase from 1-800-MY-APPLE. On the Apple website, there appears to be two separate FAQs available, though both state basically the same thing. As an answer to the question "Can I use multiple gift cards when making a purchase?"

• Yes. You can use up to six cards when making a purchase at a retail Apple Store and up to four cards at the online Apple Store . There is no limit to the numbers of cards you can use when making a purchase through 1-800-MY-APPLE.
• Yes. You can use up to six cards when making a purchase at a retail Apple Store and up to four cards at the online Apple Store or when making a purchase through 1-800-MY-APPLE.

Some customers are already scratching their heads over the gift card limit, and we've yet to see some response from Apple. Let's hope they eventually get it straight. Nobody wants irate customers.

A small bar in Iowa capital city Des Moines seems to have gotten the attention of Apple. Clint Curtis, owner of the establishment, Lift, just got a cease-and-desist order from the billion-dollar corporation, and he's a little bit confused.

The story goes that Curtis received the email that warned him of his "iPod Mondays" weekly event. The email from Apple representative Pete Alcorn reads: "Please choose a name for your product that is consistent with Apple's guidelines (that does not include iPod or any other Apple trademark or variation thereon)." This is actually in response to the establishment's website called ipodmonday.com, as well as other online broadcasts and podcasts.

Overall though, what Apple wants is for him to stop using "iPod Mondays" for the weekly event of allowing customers to share their their playlists with other patrons over the establishment's sound system. Looking at it from Apple's perspective, that's understandable. Put that way, it's pretty black and white, so why is Curtis confused?

I do this little thing called iPod Monday in a little bar in Des Moines, Iowa, that attracts 45 people at most. Why is this billion-dollar corporation worrying about iPod Monday? I've generated a lot of interest for iPods in Des Moines, but I haven't received any compensation, not even a 'This is a cool thing you are doing,' until two years later, when I get a cease-and-desist order.

Furthermore, Curtis has expressed that he even asked permission from Apple to use the name iPod. In his efforts, he hadn't gotten a negative response. His "iPod Monday" isn't even kept secret from the corporation as his website sends frequent updates to Apple.

As thing stand, Curtis has already responded to Alcorn via email, but has yet to receive a reply.

This one's official guys: Apple (as in Steve Jobs Apple) and Apple Corps (The Beatles' Apple) has finally settled on an agreement regarding the use of the name "Apple" and apple logos.

According to Apple Insider, the new agreement states that Jobs' Apple will own all Apple-related trademarks and will license some of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for continued use. This puts the trademark lawsuit between the two Apples to end but not without legal consequences of course.

Both parties will have to pay certain legal costs, but Apple will be able to continue using its name and logos on iTunes. Steve Jobs says,

We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future.

Further terms of settlement weren't disclosed, but if the two Apples will continue to see each other eye to eye, there's a huge probability that Beatles songs will show up on iTunes. Man, this Apple vs. Apple case has been going on for way too long now, we heard Adam & Eve's apple are throwing hissy fits because the companies' apples are more popular now. Kidding aside, it's nice to know that they've finally settled this long-running matter. So, all together now, "..all you need is love...pamparam papam..."

Apple, the leader of providing consumer-designed technology to the industry, might want to rethink their future should co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs decide to step down. The news about Steve Jobs could have been responsible for the recent faked backdated options, which forced a 5.8% percent drop in Apple's stock. Apple director and former U. S. Vice President Al Gore stepped up to clear Steve Jobs of the allegations and brought back a miraculous 4.9% rise in stock.

His creativity, his closeness to the prospects and directions of the company and stockholder confidence in his leadership strengthens Apple's progress. Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company Inc. in New York, believes that Apple's value might fall as much as a third of its current value if Jobs were to just suddenly leave.

The creativity Jobs possesses is unquestionable, as he has turned himself into a fashionista icon of technology over the past five years with the iPod and further solidifying his position with a new Apple mobile phone (no, not an "iPhone", sorry) that plays movies and music. He is also able to transform a conservative product introductions into high-profile media events, with celebrities such as U2's Bono and Kanye West.

Piper Jaffray's Munster said, "The biggest risk to Apple is not competition or markets or products. It's probably the reality that at some point Steve Jobs is going to leave. That's just the wild card that investors have to deal with."

Apple will then have to make a selection among the jeans-wearing executives who also imitate Job's words "cool," "awesome" and "revolutionary." But in our opinion, because the void that would be left behind would be quite vast to fill, the only way Apple could survive is if the one filling it equals or exceeds Jobs' qualities.

Now where can you find someone like that?

Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she changes from day to day
I want to tell her that I love her a lot, but I gotta get a bellyful of wine
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl, someday I'm gonna make her mine...

Now while our admiration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth doesn't go as far as what John Lennon and Paul McCartney had in mind in their song, "Her Majesty," it's still might fancy (or should we say fon-sei *Brit accent*) to get noticed by the Queen for your creativity and achievement.

Such is the honor that Jonathan Ive received when the Queen honored him as a Commander of the British Empire during the Queen's New Year Honours. If you have no idea who Jonathan Ive is, he's the one responsible for that wheel scroll thing on your iPods and the sleek design of your iMacs.

A primer on Jonathan Ive for those who don't know him: born in the UK in February 1967, he studied industrial design at Newcastle Polytechnic and started working for Apple in 1992. However, it wasn't until way back in 1998 when Steve Jobs adopted his iMac design that he reached his famous status.

After this, he has taken on designing various products for Apple but his best known design yet is without a doubt, the iPod. This skyrocketed his career in Apple, with Jobs propelling his career even further to become Senior VP of Industrial Design at the company. Prior to the Queen's CBE, he was also hailed as Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London in 2003 and has been given the title of Royal Designer for Industry by The Royal Society of Arts.

The publicity on the whole Apple's stock option practices fiasco still hasn't died down, and now Apple CEO Steve Jobs is now fast becoming the target for further investigation. Now the question is, will Steve Jobs be graduating from the Apple board and walking down the hall of shame?

In previous interviews with Jobs, he claims that he doesn't know nor understand anything about the accounting implications. But IF the investigation finds that Jobs knew more about the company's practices than he's letting on, particularly about the accounting, recording, and reporting of grants, there's gotta be somebody to take his place right?

So who would be the possible replacements for Jobs? Over at AAPL, they have posted up a list of possible candidates to take the CEO position and they are:

• Phil Schiller - long-time head of global product marketing. He has been with the company since 1997 and has been critical in most product launches.
• Tim Cook - The company's COO, has had a long career at IBM and heads the Mac division.
• Tony Fedell - One of the fathers of the iPod; has an engineering background and is a former executive at Philips Electronics.
• William Campbell - One of Apple's leading directors. He has run a large public software company, Intuit.
• Jerome York - Although he is over 70, York has experience operating troubled companies. He was CFO of IBM and a member of that company's board. He is also on the GM board.
• Jim Allchin - Head of platforms and services at Microsoft, and plans to retire with the the launch of Vista. Also has an engineering background.
• Sue Decker - The highly regarded CFO of Yahoo! She has a Wall St. background and now runs several key divisions at Yahoo!
• John Thompson - The highly-regarded CEO of Symantec, has a background in running a large software company and is well liked on Wall Street.

How about you, who do you think would be the best replacement for Steve Jobs?

Ron Johnson, Senior Vice-President of Retail for Apple Computer, recently gave a talk about the booming success of the Apple stores all around the world. In fact, only just the other day, the millionth customer of the Apple Store at Fifth Avenue walked in (and walked out with a bag of goodies). Johnson had a couple of points about expanding their retail outlets, but the long and short of it is:

• They plan to open 40 new stores this year
• Redesign store layouts
  
• Stores would conduct special events like software tutorial classes
• Average revenue per Apple Store per week is $440,000
• Average of 10,900 visitors per Apple Store per week

These are just some of what he'd mentioned, but all in all, the question is: why are Apple Stores so successful? Johnson states that the key to their retailing success is innovation and the power of enriching the lives of others. And with regards to their plan about redesigning the stores, they are planning to pattern it after the one at Fifth Avenue.

Well, at the rate things are going, especially with regards to the Apple's design philosophy of simplicity and clean white-space, we're bound to experience more of the Apple touch in the new Apple Stores. Let's just all hope that, when these new stores pop up like mushrooms after rain, they have a "millionth customer winner" for each. That'd be fun!