Home automation is a fledgling market, though with the rise of mobile products and wireless connectivity, it seems as if it could be on the verge of explosion. All it takes, one might say, is the right execution – Apple just so happens to be an expert in execution.

R2 Studios has been working for the past few years under a curtain of misinformation. Started by the founder of Slingbox, a popular living room set-top box used for sharing television, the studio then released the Crestron remote control app for Android.

Apple has actually filed various patents that could be viewed as pertaining to home automation over the years, though nothing concrete has yet been established. According to The Wall Street Journal, such a buyout could place Apple firmly in the lead of the young industry:

A secretive startup founded by the man who popularized the Slingbox has been in talks with companies considering buying it, people close to the company say, with Microsoft Corp. cited as participants.

The startup, id8 Group R2 Studios Inc., was created in May 2011 by entrepreneur Blake Krikorian. He founded Sling Media Inc., maker of the Slingbox for watching TV on computers, and sold it to EchoStarSATS +0.53% in 2007.

R2 Studios, which is developing home-media and automation technology, has remained largely mum about its plans but last year released an app that turns Android phones into touch panels for controlling heating and lighting systems wirelessly. R2 Studios also holds some patents related to controlling electronic devices and interfaces.

While a consumer play is the more exciting idea to think about, it is also possible that this would be an “aqhirement,” where Apple would simply gain the workforce of R2 Studios and any talent that entails. Or, it could also be for patents; we all know how much Apple enjoys those.

[The WSJ]

Time Magazine‘s finalists for their prestigious Person of the Year award, and Tim Cook is amongst the finalists. Apple’s CEO is named for his contributions towards making Apple’s manufacturing processes more transparent, as well as by helping to shift jobs away from supposed sweatshops over seas and improving working conditions across the board.

Cook replaced Steve Jobs during the summer of last year after Jobs resigned, and has since made several changes to the Cupertino company. These changes actually have turned Apple from what many considered a machine responsible for some of the best products made in to a slightly more human corporation. Cook, after being named CEO, quickly instituted a policy in which Apple will match the donation of any employee to any charity.

Similar changes have been made, though many are quick to point to the recent debacles that Apple has experienced. Such issues as iCloud outages and iOS 6′s maps.app being underwhelming have marred Apple’s track record under Tim Cook. In his defense, he has made sweeping changes to Apple’s executive ranks in order to cope with the issue.

Yahoo’s new CEO, Marissa Mayer, was also named as a finalist. Cook and Mayer round out the list of tech CEOs, and finish up a list filled with celebrities, dignitaries, and politicians.

[MSN]

As the year of 2012 is finishing up, Apple’s stock price has seen some difficult times. While Apple has remained the world’s largest publicly-held corporation, the stock price has been falling since September. Today, for the first time since February of this year, it fell below $500. However, the price had crossed the $500 mark by closing.

Apple’s stock price has been sliding since September, though there isn’t a particular reason that this is happening. Analysts first thought that Apple’s iPhone 5 would underwhelm in sales, though that has proven not to be the case with the device being the best-selling smartphone in nearly every market that it has entered.

Analysts, in their infinite wisdom, then pointed to the iPad mini, believing it to be underwhelming and unable to compete in the market. The iPad mini has since been one of the hottest Holiday gift items available. While other tablets of similar form factors are worth looking in to, none offer the software library that the iPad mini does.

At this point, it’s unclear why Apple’s stock price is falling. They are on track to post their best results for a quarter ever, with strong sales across all product lines. Comparing their P/E (price to earnings) ratio with other companies, Apple is actually undervalued. This mystery fall does offer a good time to purchase Apple’s stock at a lower price, and turn a profit when/if it goes back up. Given Apple’s track record, it seems likely that the stock price will make a triumphant return to the $700 range.

Apple has cut its parts orders, according to one analyst. Typically, such a move would denote a decrease in expected demand for a product over a certain timeframe, and that could possibly be true: whether they are true or not, there are rumors swirling around that Apple is moving to a six-month update cycle, as opposed to the yearly cycle that has been used for roughly a decade.

Rumors of an impending update have historically hurt Apple’s bottom line, as anticipation for a new device cuts down on demand for the generation currently selling. There have been rumors that Apple will be unveiling new devices in the spring of 2013, though such rumors have so far only come from incredibly sketchy and unreliable sources. They do, for better or worse, have an impact on the market.

It should be stressed that this analyst doesn’t know that Apple has cut its parts order is a fact. There are various potential explanations: Apple could cut a parts order from one specific supplier in order to get the part from another supplier who is offering either a superior deal, or superior quality.

In other financial news, Apple’s stock has continued to fall. Again, largely due to the word of analysts who are often completely incorrect, Apple’s stock is at a ten-month low. While that sounds bad, Apple is still up year-over-year and continues to be the largest corporation on earth. It’s unclear when the slide will stop, but it seems as if Apple’s latest hardware releases weren’t enough to please the fat cats on Wall Street.

Perhaps some nice, amazing software will please them.

[Forbes]

Chalk this up to another analyst pointing out the (rather) obvious, but it is posisble that the lack of any discount for the new iPad mini could be due to the sheer demand of the device. Following that line of logic, as Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um did, leads to the conclusion that Apple isn’t offering any sort of discount because it doesn’t need to. People are likely buying every iPad mini Apple can make, and lowering the cost would increase demand beyond what Apple can currently cope with.

Of course, it has already been widely reported that Apple’s margin on the iPad mini is less than the level that they historically have preferred to maintain. With these lower profit margins, it would make less business sense to slash the price down just to achieve higher demand. Apple would be leaving a certain percentage of money on the table, and that simply isn’t necessary at this time.

[Barron's]