Apple will open two new stores in Asia by the end of the week, signalling the company’s push into the Chinese market and determination to ensure the launch of the next-generation iPhone gets off to an encouraging start. The Cupertino-based company has been working hard to open two new stores before the rumoured mid-October launch of the iPhone 5, confirming yesterday that it would open its new store in the IFC Mall in Hong Kong on September 24....

Apple is on track to ship 100 million iPhones over the next 12-month span, bringing the total installed base of iOS devices up to 415 million by the end of 2012, according to Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley. The report,summarizedby Appleinsider, details several impressive statistics as well as Walkley’s predictions for Apple in the coming year. According to the report, Apple accounts for 50% of the mobile handset industries profits during the first quarter of 2011....

If you’ve used an iPhone to snap shots in anything but ideal conditions you know how easy it is to get slightly blurry pictures with it. My camera roll is full of duplicate shots that are a result of me trying to get just one clear photo. A newly published patent reveals that Apple knows that blur due to camera shake is a major problem with the iPhone and is taking steps to fix it by using multiple pulses of the iPhone’s flash....

According to Richard Doherty, Director of consulting company Envisioneering Group, Apple will introduce Near Field Communication (NFC) technology into its next-generation iPhone and iPad, who cites sources who manufacture hardware for Apple. Apple is expected to announce a new iPad (which many are calling theiPad 2) within the next month, and a new iPhone handset to be released by the summer. Bloombergsuggests that Apple would be an advantage if it was to introduce the wireless technology, it would be able to reference customer information that was already on file, data that was inputted if a user had previously registered an Apple device or used an iTunes account to purchase a music track or smartphone application....

Applehas confirmedthat it will sell its 3G-equipped models of its iPad 2 tablet in China on Wednesday, making it available in Apple retail stores, via its online stores and will also see the device sold at authorized resellers across the country. The announcement goes at a good time for those living in Shanghai, who will now be able to buy the iPad 2 3G when Apple opens open its newfive-story Nanjing East store in Shanghaion Friday, a day before it opens a new Hong Kong store....