Verizon Wireless Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo today participated in Citi's Global Entertainment, Media & Communications Conference, and as part of his presentation revealed some iPhone sales numbers for the carrier. As noted by StreetInsider.com , Shammo announced that Verizon sold 4.2 million iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2011, a quarter which saw the launch of the iPhone 4S

Apple early today updated its investor relations page to officially state that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2012 (fourth calendar quarter of 2011) and host a conference call regarding the release on Tuesday, January 24. Apple’s conference call webcast discussing Q1 - 2012 financial results will begin at 2:00pm PT/5:00pm ET on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements

AllThingsD reports that Apple is said to be planning a special event in New York for the end of this month. The event is reported to be for a "media-related announcement" and not for the iPad 3 or an Apple television set. According to sources close to the situation, Apple is planning an important — but not large-scale — event to be held in New York at the end of this month that will focus on a media-related announcement

Just before Christmas, shipping estimates for Apple's 12-core Mac Pro model increased to 1-3 weeks , and while that specific model does tend to occasionally see some extra lead time, the shipping delays were later noticed to have extended to nearly any customized Mac Pro order. Even as simple a customization as increasing the RAM on an "In Stock" standard Mac Pro configuration increases its shipping estimate to 1-3 weeks. Quad-core Mac Pro shipping estimate bumped to 1-3 weeks by upgrading RAM Increases in shipping estimates in Apple's online store can sometimes be indicative of an upcoming product refresh as the company draws down supplies ahead of launching the updated models

Safari running on Apple TV Over the past few days, iOS developers Steven Troughton-Smith and TheMudKip have managed to hack the 2nd generation Apple TV to run iOS apps at full resolution.

BBC reports that Apple's Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, Jonathan Ive, has been awarded a knighthood in the United Kingdom.

comScore released their latest numbers for the relative market shares of the mobile market. Apple continues to inch upward with 11.2% of total U.S.

Japanese blog Macotakara has purchased some of the early iPad 3 parts that have been circulating at online retailers. These parts come from TVC-Mall which also stocked early iPhone 4S parts in the months before its launch

There have been an increasing number of rumors about the next generation iPad which is expected to launch sometime in early 2012. Digitimes is the source for many of these reports, but some of the claims are becoming increasingly questionable

Some apps deliver exactly what they say on the package.