With the dust having yet to even begin settling following Apple’s iPhone 4S curveball, the talk of the town is once again the elusive iPhone 5 release date in all its mystical glory. The fabled device has been pegged by many as likely to be the final masterpiece of late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, inherently raising expectations to truly unprecedented levels.

Indeed, some have even gone so far as to speculate pre-recorded introductions to the iPhone 5 from the man himself to be aired upon release, which would fuel assumptions that the epic Smartphone is for the most part already complete.

However, those who look a little deeper into the issue will in fact discover that the next and arguable most impressive creation from Apple and Steve Jobs to hit the world will be the iPad 3. Contrary to popular believe, it was always the iPad that was Steve Jobs’ baby and he had actually conceived the notion well before the iPhone was even it its embryonic stages. His vision had long been one of a time when tablet PCs all but replaced laptops and notebooks alike, which given the current way of things is looking like he really was onto something.

So, with the annual product refresh cycle for the iPad 3 arriving in March 2012 and a less than blistering lineup having arrived from Apple since the iPad 2 this year, it can be pretty much taken for certain the Steve Jobs impact on the world is not quite through yet and something truly stunning is on the horizon.

The markets have today been provided with a rather unusual combination of enormous corporate news and economic data. Following the initial and instant reaction to the news that none other than Steve Jobs would be retiring, the biggest moves will most likely be in relation to Warren Buffet’s decision of investing $5 billion in Bank of America. Unfortunately for those looking to take out new home purchase loans and seek refinancing agreements, the news looks set to lead to a rise in mortgage rates.

So, the question on the lips of many is now that as to how Apple will perform without Steve Jobs? Apple shares have since seen a minor fall, though nothing particularly significant. It is expected that Apple may never be the same company again following his departure, but the foundation he has laid will likely prove strong enough to survive the test of time indefinitely.

The Weekly Jobless claims report also spike to a higher level this week, though much of the increase has been attributed to the large-scale strike among workers of Verizon Wireless. As a result, although the rise could only be seen as a negative event for the market and economy across the board, its effects were pretty much muted because of the reason behind it.

All in all, the news of the day is significant across the board, though is likely to have little impact on mortgage rates. While changes and spike in prices across various plateaus have indeed occurred, various factors have counteracted each-other and will likely keep mortgage rates flat for today at least.

Jerome York – Jerry to the folks at Apple – joined the Apple board in 1997, the board that voted Steve Jobs back into the CEO position after a decade in the wilderness. York died of an aneurysm. Apple dedicated their entire front page to his memory: Jerry joined Apple’s Board in 1997 when most doubted the company’s future. He has been a pillar of financial and business expertise and insight on our Board for over a dozen years. It’s been a privilege to know and work with Jerry, and I’m going to miss him a lot. The business community called York a “turnaround artist” and he brought Chrysler and General Motors back into stability in the 1980s. He also worked as CFO of IBM and ran Micro Warhouse, Inc.

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Tech world mourns the loss of Jerome York

Exciting news about Apple’s iTunes LP : apparently it’s a bit of a bust! The fine folks at GigaOM had the foresight to talk to people in the music industry to ask them, six months on, how’s iTunes LP doing? Not so great, is the answer . What went wrong? The first shocking revelation: iTunes LP wasn’t really Apple’s idea in the first place. Makes sense: why would Apple, which all but created the idea of a legal, digital music store, based on selling individual songs (read: not albums) all of a sudden be all, “Hey, albums are cool again. Buy them, and at a huge premium, too. Rather, iTunes LP was pushed by the same record labels that complained enough to get Apple to change from an all-99 cents pricing policy to a flexible pricing policy in exchange for DRM-free music. What happened? A couple things, maybe. One, maybe, after years of getting used to cherry picking what songs they wanted to buy, people are just done with the concept of the album. Not everyone who buys music from iTunes is so into music that they’ll make 1,000-word blog posts defending the album—they just want the latest Lady Gaga song. These people have no interest in full-length albums anymore. Another reason: iTunes LP albums are expensive, both to buy and to create. One source told GigaOM that an iTunes LP album cost something like $50,000-$60,000 to create, and $20ish to buy. And what are you getting, a couple of photos and videos that you may well have found on the band’s Web site? And then there’s not too many iTunes LP albums to begin with! Apple’s probably not too concerned. Again, this whole iTunes LP adventure wasn’t its idea to begin with, so Steve Jobs is probably like, “Whatever, dude, it’s all about the iPad. Don’t talk to me, jerk.” There’s a larger issue, and that’s if the album is dead or not. There was a digital music thing here in New York a few weeks ago, but I was busy playing soccer with the guy from Univision . Questions like “Is the album dead?” were probably debated there. C’est la vie.

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The rise and fall of iTunes LP (cue dramatic music)

Apple is using its strong patent portfolio to fight iPhone competitors in court. Its latest target is HTC. Apple has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the cell phone manufacturer. The suit involves “20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.” Steve Jobs is quoted in a press release saying: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

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Apple Goes After HTC In Lawsuit Over 20 iPhone Patents