DigiTimes claims that Apple will begin volume production of the 5th generation iPad in July-August 2013.

WhatsApp business development head Neeraj Arora has told AllThingsD that an earlier report claiming Google was on the verge of acquiring the company for $1 billion is not true. WhatsApp is the company behind the popular iOS app WhatsApp Messenger .

Apple has won the number one slot in Fortune 's annual "World's Most Admired Companies" list for the sixth year in a row. The ranking is based on a large-scale poll of corporate executives, directors, and industry analysts who were asked to rank companies by nine key attributes: Innovation, People management, Use of corporate assets, Social responsibility, Quality of management, Financial soundness, Long-term investment, Quality of products/services and Global competitiveness. Apple scored #1 in all nine categories

Apple has added movie support to its iTunes in the Cloud service in 11 new European countries today, enabling customers in those countries to re-download content previously purchased from the iTunes store.

GigaOM reports that Major League Baseball is expanding support for Apple's Passbook app, announcing that the digital tickets will be accepted at 13 stadiums this season, up from just four last season. MLB was one of Apple's launch partners for Passbook in September, with mobile tickets accepted by the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals. They are being joined this season by the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A’s, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs

DigiTimes reports that Apple has signaled Taiwan-based suppliers that both the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air series will see revisions in June 2013. As noted by our buyers guide , this would put the updates in line within the expected timeframes. DigiTimes' sources also reveal that the new MacBook Airs won't have any major external design changes, but will feature a "new processor platform": The sources pointed out that the MacBook Air for 2013 will feature a new processor platform, but its industrial design will not see any major changes.

Back in June, we noted that BlueStacks had introduced an alpha version of its Android app player software for Mac. The app, which is also available for Windows, allows users to run Android apps on their desktop machines. With the alpha launch, however, BlueStacks supported only about 15 Android titles on the Mac.

Despite claims from Apple CEO Tim Cook that the company was going to "double down on secrecy on products", 2012 may have been one of Apple's leakiest years so far. The leaks seem to stem primarily from Apple's supply chain in China

Apple this week released a preliminary proxy statement in a filing to the SEC. The filing is an announcement of the 2013 annual stockholders meeting, as well as questions that will be voted on at the meeting and details of executive compensation arrangements. Among other things, the filing details CEO Tim Cook's total compensation for 2012

Chinese site TGBus reports [ Google translation , via Mobilegeeks.de ] that Apple and Intel are currently working together on a Bluetooth-enabled smart watch. According to the report, the watch will include a 1.5-inch OLED display from RITEK subsidiary RiTdisplay and will launch in the first half of next year. Sony SmartWatch (left) and Pebble e-paper watch (right) Full details on Apple's smart watch are unknown, but the report compares Apple's project to Sony's SmartWatch , although it notes that Apple's Siri voice assistant will provide for greater integration with the iPhone in allowing users to take phone calls directly through the watch.