There have been few updates in the "iPad" trademark dispute between Apple and Proview over the past couple of months, but IDG News now reports that the two companies are engaged in settlement talks with an eye toward resolving the issue. Ma Dongxiao, a lawyer representing the Chinese company Proview, said on Friday the talks were happening, but declined to offer details.

As part of today's Apple online store downtime , the company appears to have rolled out an enhancement of its sales chat support services for those looking to purchase an Apple product. While sales chat has been available for quite some time through individual product pages, the changes include a revamped chat window with a more modern appearance. As has long been the case, sales chat support is available only during certain times of the day and dependent on availability of chat agents

Apple has started sending out emails to Australian customers who may have been misled about the advertised "4G" capabilities of the new iPad. Apple explains in the email that the new iPad is not compatible with Australian LTE or WiMAX networks, but does support "fast cellular networks" such as HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA The offer for returns is a response to complaints by Australian regulators that Apple's use of the term "4G" in its Australian marketing may have misled some customers into thinking that the new iPad would work on Australian LTE/WiMAX networks. Apple is allowing Australians who purchased the new iPad before March 28th to return it for a full refund

In a new interview with Bloomberg Businessweek , Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page claims that Steve Jobs' war on Android was "for show", a move that served as a rallying point for Apple and its employees. I think the Android differences were actually for show

Apple subsidiary FileMaker today announced the launch of its new lineup of FileMaker 12 database applications, launching new themes and "Starter Solutions" to help users get up and running, as well as significantly enhancing integration with iOS devices.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster today issued a report on his firm's latest semi-annual survey of U.S. teenagers, the 23rd such survey in the firm's history. The results of the extensive survey of 5,600 U.S.

Apple today updated its investor relations page to note that it will announce its earnings for the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2012 on Tuesday, April 24. The earnings release typically occurs just after 4:30 PM Eastern Time following the close of regular stock trading, and the conference call is scheduled to follow at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific

Macotakara points to a news report [ Google translation ] from TV Tokyo's World Business Satellite in which a Foxconn recruiter claims that the company is hiring 18,000 new workers to support production of the iPhone 5. According to the recruiter, the device is planned to launch in June.

In Anandtech's lengthy iPad review , they reveal knowledge of an internal Apple project for a game controller for iOS: I know of an internal Apple project to bring a physical controller to market, but whether or not it will ever see the light of day remains to be seen.

While Steve Jobs' official biographer Walter Isaacson created a stir last October with his disclosure of Jobs having "finally cracked" how to develop a revolutionary television set product, it now appears that Jobs shared even more about the product that Isaacson has so far declined to make public. The revelation came in an interview with Brazilian television yesterday, and The Next Web highlights Isaacson's comments about holding back the information because it would have been "unfair to Apple" to share it before the company's plans were publicly known.