Apple

Auret van Heerden, president of the Fair Labor Association, discusses working conditions at Foxconn's factories and the fixes that Apple and Foxconn are promising.

Apple, after amassing nearly $100 billion in cash, bows to shareholder pressure for a dividend. Investors want Apple to keep growing fast too.

Mike Daisey made up the details of his first-hand account of dismal working conditions at Apple factories in China for his stage play and the radio program This American Life. But for workers in China, the issues are real.

Apple earns only about 1% interest by hoarding its pile of cash reserves. Today, it announced how it would start earning investor love with a stock buyback and dividends.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a conference call today it would start spending down its nearly $100-billion pile of cash with a $10 billion share buyback and a quarterly stock dividend of $2.65 a share.

The monologist Mike Daisey’s account of Chinese factory conditions in “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” made people think differently about their iPhones and iPads. But after an adaptation aired on This American Life, reaching China, an investigation there of his allegations found they were fabricated. Given other news reports on the conditions, will that matter?

Apple is willing to buy older iPads from customers who will upgrade to the latest model. Customers get store credit, and Apple gets part of the resale market.

The somewhat highly anticipated new iPad model goes on sale today in stores around the U.S. But will it sell as quickly as previous editions?

The Department of Justice is reportedly ready to sue over anti-competitive practices in the electronic book business.

A day after Apple announced the latest iPad, the company is just as busy in China, where its lawyers are fighting a court decision that ruled Apple doesn't own the trademarked name 'iPad' there.