Following Apple's adoption of sapphire crystal as a strong and durable covering for the rear cameras on the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch late last year, rumors of expanded uses for the material have gained some traction. Back in March, we covered a report suggesting that sapphire could see wider adoption as coverings for displays on mobile devices, and just last week a sketchy rumor claimed that Apple is planning to use a sapphire-covered capacitive home button with integrated fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S. Amid these discussions of the potential of sapphire, Corning has published a feature outlining why its latest Gorilla Glass 3 is in fact already a better option than sapphire for mobile device displays, citing greater strength, lower weight, less energy cost in production, and significantly lower pricing.

Three Apple executives, CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer, and head of tax operations Phillip A. Bullock, appeared in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation earlier today, testifying about Apple's tax policies.

Following this morning's acquisition of Tumblr, Yahoo today hosted an event in New York City to detail changes to its popular photo sharing site Flickr . Flickr on the web has been given a major design overhaul, with a focus on full resolution pictures. In addition to eliminating much of the white space on the site, Flickr is now displaying in-line photo streams that encompass the majority of the screen and detailed photo-centric profile pages

A Senate subcommittee has released a 40-page memo accusing Apple of not paying billions of dollars in federal taxes through "extensive tax-avoidance strategies". Apple CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer, and Apple's head of tax operations Phillip A.

Earlier today a report suggested that the launch of Apple's upcoming streaming music service deemed "iRadio" may be delayed due to difficult negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. CNET is offering some additional information on Apple's trouble with Sony Music, explaining that the fees to be paid for skipped songs have become a point of contention between the companies. Apple and Sony Music, the world's second largest music label, are still trying to hammer out details over how much Apple would pay for songs that people listen to a fraction of and then skip, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

As noted by AppleInsider , MacBook Air supplies are beginning to dry up as Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference approaches. Currently, the 13.3-inch 256GB 1.8Ghz MacBook Air is out of stock at Amazon.com, with a listed one to two month waiting period.

Following a report from earlier this month indicating that the U.S. Department of Defense was preparing to approve Apple devices running iOS 6 for use on military networks, Bloomberg now reports that the department has officially issued the authorization, opening the door for greater use of Apple's products

The CW has struck a deal that will bring the network's content to the Apple TV, reports Deadline . At the company's annual Upfront Presentation in New York today, CW president Mark Pedowitz announced that the CW's TV Now applications, which are currently available on Xbox 360 and Windows 8, will be coming to the Apple TV as well.

In his interview with Politico earlier today, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some additional details about the new Mac model that will be manufactured in the United States when it is announced later this year. Cook said that not only will the machine be assembled in the U.S., many of the components will be sourced from suppliers in the country as well. And Cook is also promoting a $100 million investment in domestic manufacturing, where the company will begin producing a new version of a current Mac product later this year.

BGR shares several new relatively high-resolution photos of parts claimed to be from the iPhone 5S. These parts have been leaking to repair firms over the past several months, and a number of photos have already been seen, but the new photos do represent the highest-quality look at these parts so far