Another 22 Fake Apple Stores Uncovered; Man Camps Out for the iPhone 5's Release

Every week, makes news with technology developments, business deals and, more often than not, controversies.

That’s where our weekly "Core Bytes" column on Apple comes in. We’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our favorite backyard tech giant.

Controversies
When two men found an iPhone prototype at a Redwood City bar last year, they didn’t hesitate to sell it to the wide-eyed Gizmodo. The tech blog dished out $5,000 so that they could disassemble the phone and publish a look at its inner workings. Yet now both Brian Hogan, 22, of Redwood City, and Sage Wallower, 28, of Emeryville, with one count of misappropriation of lost property. Gizmodo was let off the hook.

You can’t hide any longer, counterfeit Apple stores. Authorities in the southwest Chinese city of Kunming sniffed out another 22 of the fake Apple shops, which have gained international notoriety. Chinese law prohibits companies from copying the “look and feel” of other companies’ stores, but some are unsure whether or not this will actually be enforced.

New Products
Three new Apple patents have surfaced. Numero uno is an antenna in the iPad nano chip, allowing for an improved signal. The second is a portable allowing for solar charging to all Apple devices. Lastly, there is "oleophobic display machining process", which prevents finger prints on the phones—something, of course, to keep in mind the next time you use an iPhone to map out your latest crime spot.

Business Deals and Developments
Many London residents are preoccupied with rioting that has plagued their city for the past week. But one resident has his attention turned elsewhere: the release of the iPhone 5. Londoner Rob Shoesmith, 29, has camped out in front of the Covent Garden Apple in anticipation of The Big Day. Dubbing his tent trial run as a “marketing and PR experiment,” Shoesmith has already garnered sponsors by the likes of Skype, Mountain Dew and Cadberry.

What global recession? Apparently it’s not affecting Cupertino's Big Apple, which briefly this week as the world’s most profitable company. At noon on Tuesday, Apple was trading at roughly $362, compared to Exxon Mobile’s $68. Both companies are still valued at around $341 million, and the battle is close: according to the latest report, Exxon has again surpassed Apple.