Our friends in Croatia are catching on to a concept we've been championing for a while: that Apple and its infamously successful iPod brand are quickly becoming a household word all over the world. Yes, we know that Apple has been able to penetrate the larger nations in the world, but even other countries are catching the Apple bug.

So penetrating is the iPod that Croatia is counted by the company as one of its best nations in overall sales. The iPod there is enjoying especially sweet sales figures. The European nation has been very supportive of Apple's exploits over there.

According to Reporter: "Sale increase of Apple company products in Croatia reported by Apple Computer Croatia reached last year 47 percent and was higher than world-wide company's sale averages, while positive trends have also continued this year, stated company officials at the presentation of the latest models of Apple computers and software packages held at the end of last week, Croatia Today reports."

Most companies release financial information to the public in scripted, easily digestible bits so that they can maintain good spin control and relay the data in a favorable light (even if the news is all bad). Leave it to Apple, a company that rarely fits the corporate mold, to ignore those expectations. When Apple holds its upcoming conference call to announce Q2 2006 financial results, it will not be in a closed door meeting. In fact, anyone with a computer will be able to listen in, live no less. The conference call, which will reveal critical details about Apple's financial health and inner workings, will be webcast. The webcast will begin at 5PM eastern time on Wednesday April 19th, no press pass needed to attend.

Someone by the name of Bhaggs has posted a picture of the forthcoming Apple store on 5th Avenue, New York on Flickr. It shows part of the black covers coming off, and a very clean cut and nicely looking building underneath. Following the recent roll-out of glass staircases and floors, Apple have  gone one further and designed a building entirely from glass, and it looks like it already will go down a hit with tourists, lets just hope the same is said for customers.

We all should be getting familiar with the Apple War, well its almost over. The court case in the UK is coming up to wraps this weeks concerning closing statements, and it seems that Apple Computer had one more trick up their sleeve before it. One of Apple's (computer) defense lawyers made a very memorable and strong point for which Apple (corps) will find it hard to dig out of. According to the lawyer, Apple (computer) sent a demo version of the iTMS (iTunes) to Corps to have a wonder over, and this was done in January 2003, over four months before the software went live. It seems at the time Corps were fine about it, and had plenty of time to voice concerns, which they didn't. Maybe we have found one piece of evidence that will change the outcome of the rulings? Who knows, but the presiding judge, Edward Mann, reserved his judgment for an unnamed date, but added that it was unlikely to be before the Easter break.

Are you like me, whose tried to figure out more than once where Apple is headed? With so many advancement that the company has made at least in the popular realm, it's a hard thing to try to guess where the company will innovate next. This year alone has seen a record-setting year for the company, and more than ever the branding is burned in our minds.

Where else can they go? Apple Matters takes a look at the company in the year 2010. Among other things, the website poses the question of what if Sony bought Apple. That's the negative scenario: The switch to Intel ultimately brought too much competition. Apple could not hold back the tidal wave of hacked versions of its OS X, made to run on generic PCs. Attempting to play catch up, Apple licensed OS X to Dell who didnÂ?t give it the support that Apple wanted. With the failure of that attempted foray into the PC market, Apple began to flounder. 2008 was a bad year for Apple, and 2009 began even worse, with the retirement of Steve JobÂ?s due to ill health. It was unsurprising. The stress of the previous two years would have taken down a man half his age.

The positive scenario? The news just came through that Apple have usurped the Dell as the #1 personal computer maker, reaching 16%. Of course, its overall marketshare is even greater, considering the big three, Dell, HP and Lenovo all sell Mac boxes. In 2010 Apple is at itÂ?s most solid in its history. Despite Steve Jobs having to step down in 2009 due to ill health (replaced by Phil Schiller, a man who could match SteveÂ?s passion for the the end user experience), AppleÂ?s own health continues to get more and more robust, with the sickly years of the Â?90s long forgotten.

So, Steve Jobs gets it in the end, huh?

A little green apple and a little cartoon apple with a bite out of it are the reason for a large battle between Apple Corps Ltd and Apple computer.

A settlement was made 15 years ago when the two companies agreed not to tread on the otherÂ?s area of business. But recently, Apple Corps, a company created by the Beatles in 1968, placed a lawsuit on Apple Computers because they believe the settlement agreement was broken. With the introduction of the iPod and iTunes Music Store the computer company used their logo. Apple Corp believes that the computer company is walking in their territory when they got involved with music. Apple Computers says, Â?Â? that the agreement allows it to use the logo on the products because it does not own the rights to the music, but simply the digital technology to distribute it.Â?

The High Court judge, Edward Mann says that he wonÂ?t have a ruling until after Easter.

Now that Apple has produced a winning product with its iPod, and it continues to see a growing increase in the revenue that the company is enjoying, is has now created an asset management firm to manage some of the funds and continue to build them up.

The firm is based out of Nevada, a state that, according to Business Week, faces less tax restrictions when compared to other states. The move makes sense from a management standpoint.

According to Business Week: According to public documents, Apple has incorporated Braeburn Capital, an asset management company based in Reno, (Nev.) Braeburn -- named for a variety of apple that's uniquely sweet and tart -- will be a vehicle for managing Apple's investment portfolio. By incorporating in Nevada, Apple will be shielded from certain taxes imposed by the state of California, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Apple's release of its now infamous Boot Camp program, which in essence allows users to have both the Mac and Windows operating systems installed on a single machine, begs the question: Was this a good decision for Apple?

While the immediate reaction may be that Apple has possibly opened up the floodgates for former PC enthusiasts to come rushing to embrace their computers, is that really an accurate description of what Steve Jobs and Co. have done? There are swirling theories on the Internet about the larger effect this small, little program may have on Apple, some logically thought out, others coming from the same minds who first conjured a Mac/Intel partnership, and still others that are just plain crazy.

On the one hand, yes, maybe more computer users will go out and buy that sexy, new Macbook Pro and take immediately to installing Windows XP on it. The hardware has been proven perfectly adept at running some Windows programs exceptionally well. But what about the other scenario? In offering this previously unheard of support to users who would like a little choice in their operating system tastes, has Apple laid down the foundation that will see it stuck as simply a hardware manufacturer?

Some people have become suspicious with the iPod, a little device know one knew about before but all of a sudden has widespread support and success. This has some people wondering what would happen with their personal information on these devices, believing that the little chip inside of the iPod may impose on their privacy. The iPod is powered by a small piece of silicon called the Portal Player System-on-chip, the chip handles every piece of information and function for the device. Apple then introduced a clock function into the iPod and encouraged people to enter their personal data into the iPod. However, some people believe entering your personal information into an iPod could be an invasion of your privacy.

So after yesterday's release of Boot Camp, I made various predicitions that prices on Apple's shares would go up, and to anybody, this was an expected bet, including market analyists. What we didn't count on though is on the amount they would go up on. After a bit of research on Bloomberg and Google Markets it is easy to see that in the course of the open markets yesterday, AAPL (Apple) had a rise of over 9%. Not only is this figure alot for one day of trading but it just shows how successful Apple are doing, even when they were reluctant to release Boot Camp. The current share price stands just over half way between their lowest and highest market values.

The highest values recorded were in January between news that Apple were going to offer new Laptops, now the Intel Macs, and also after the iPod gave AAPL over $5 Billion of revenue. If I was an experienced or beginner in markets and shares, I think AAPL would be one of the safest bets you could take at the moment, and seeing as we're receiving news that the new iBook will be released in June/July, well, forcasts would hold another big leap for share prices.