Apple has released a developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion, the next version of OS X after Snow Leopard, which will include features from the iPad.

Progenitor of the jesus-phone Steve Jobs returned from his health purgatory to Apple’s Cupertino headquarters today, according to employees on the campus.

Reuters and CNBC have both carried accounts of the messiah-like figure returning to work following his pancreatic-cancer related medical leave begun in January.

Palm has just announced that Jon Rubenstein, who previously worked at Apple as head of the Mac and (then nascent) iPod divisions, is its new CEO and chairman as of today.

After 16 years at the helm CEO Ed Colligan is moving to major Palm investor Elevation Partners (who own 25%), joining founding partner Roger McNamee and U2 frontman Bono.

There’s no recession in Apple land. The company's surging super phone, and ever-expanding iPod sales, helped offset a modest decline in Macs in quarterly results announced this morning.

iPhone sales double
The company announced a 15% lift in net income and 8.7% rise in revenue, driven by iPhone sales that doubled to 3.79 million during the period - making it the best non-holiday quarter in Apple's history.

A second Microsoft “laptop hunter” ad has gone to air in the US (see video below).

It follows essentially the same script as the first, featuring the now-infamous Lauren, but this time with a guy, Giampaulo, in the lead role.

Like his "cute-but-seemingly-obtainable" predecessor, he goes shopping for a new laptop, and finds a Windows model (again from HP) half the price of Apple alternatives.

Forget rumours that Apple would slash prices on its new Macs. In the US, the price has stayed the same. Here, Kiwis will actually have to pay $450-600 more for the new Mini than its predecessor. PLUS: full details of the new Mini, 20-inch + 24-inch iMacs, and the AirPort Extreme with Time Capsule.

In the US, the new Mac Mini was announced today priced from $US599, on a par with the previous model in Apple’s case-only minimalist desktop line.