Weekly Mobile News Roundup – 19 April 2013

  Once again the week is coming to an end and that means it’s time for a roundup of the past weeks news!

Android’s Growth In The U.S. Has Flatlined While iPhone Continues To Rise [Chart] – A lot has been said lately about the iPhone’s demise, and thanks to global smartphone marketshare numbers, you’d think the Apple-hating Negative Nancys are right. But then if you look at the U.S. marketshare numbers, it’s a completely different story.

Apple tries to patent tech behind iTunes U – According to Patently Apple, which was first to discover the patent application today, the iPhone maker filed for a patent on the technology that powers iTunes U. Interestingly, the technology in the patent application is called Virtual University, but Apple ostensibly decided it wasn’t the right name for its service.

Apple officially renames Mac OS X to OS X, drops the ‘Mac’ – Apple’s making a big deal out of Mountain Lion today, but there’s an equally big change quietly afoot: the “Mac” in “Mac OS X” is no more. Instead, Apple’s desktop operating system is now simply called OS X.

Apple Halting Mac Component Orders Due to Overestimated Demand? –  Apple has essentially halted all component orders for its Mac product lines, apparently working through significant inventories of components delivered during an aggressive ramp-up late last year that may have proven overly aggressive.The suppliers originally expected to finish digesting their Mac inventories in April, but are now stranded waiting for further instructions from Apple.

Apple heads to lows not seen since Steve Jobs died –  The last time Apple ran into serious trouble, its founder Steve Jobs was there to save it. But now, the stock is crashing back to levels not seen since the company’s visionary leader died. Shares of Apple continued their vicious crash Thursday, falling $10.75 to close at $392.05.

Twitter launches stand-alone music streaming app for Apple iOS devices -“Twitter Inc launched a stand-alone music-streaming app on Wednesday, opening another front in the micromessaging service’s ambitious expansion into multimedia content,” Gerry Shih reports for Reuters.

Siri Remembers Your Secrets, But for How Long? – Not everyone realizes this, but whenever you use Siri, Apple’s voice-controlled digital assistant, she remembers what you tell her. How long does she remember? Apple isn’t saying. And the American Civil Liberties Union is concerned.

iPhone, iPad leads in business, profitability, Android leads in smartphone marketshare – Henry McCracken over at Time has done us all a favor by collecting various data sets that illustrate the state of iOS versus Android. The data ranges from device marketshare to revenue from app downloads, which presents some stark differences between the two platforms.

Yahoo! Mail Updated for iPad, New Weather for iPhone App – Amidst rumors that CEO Marissa Meyer is trying to get a little more Yahoo! on iOS devices, the company has released an update to its existing Mail app for iPad support as well as a standalone Weather app.

Apple design chief Jony Ive makes Time’s 100 Most Influential list –  Apple’s Sir Jonathan Ive is the recipient of yet another accolade, having been named to Time Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.