A Wall Street Journal investigation finds that Google was tricking Apple’s Safari browsers into dropping their ad-tracking protections in order to promote Google+. What does this say about Google’s attempts to promote its services? And about Apple’s proprietorship over its users?

Apple has once again cut prices on its iAd system for rich in-app advertising on iOS applications, as ad buyers continue to balk at the up-front cost of participating in Apple’s vision of how mobile advertising should work.

Apple’s huge iPhone sales numbers from its latest quarterly results helped it grow its mobile phone business by 128.4 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a new report. That makes it the third-largest mobile phone maker by volume.

IOS development is not for the faint of heart, and a new blog post by developer Kent Nguyen does a good job of pointing out exactly why. Nguyen targets those who would be footing the bill for app development, in the hopes of lessening sticker shock.

If you bought a Mac last year, you probably have a Thunderbolt port on your computer doing nothing right now. As of Wednesday, however, Seagate’s GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter is available to order, which means you could soon be transferring data to GoFlex drives at lightning speeds.

Apple is the king of the PC heap, so long as you consider the iPad among those devices. Research firm Canalys does, and its most recent look at PC sales, focusing on the fourth quarter of 2011, shows the PC market growing with the iPad included.

Macworld | iWorld had some fantastic products. Ignoring anything that wasn’t actually shipping, since so many products never actually make it to market , here are my top picks from the show. They include most iDevice companions, but also one product any Mac user wil love.

We’ve already talked about some key highlights from the Macworld | iWorld 2012 show, particularly from the prosumer and developer angles. But my focus here is on those products average Apple users might be interested in, for both Mac and iOS devices.

One of the trends I saw on the floor at Macworld | iWorld 2012 is an increasing number of companies producing high-end audio and home theater equipment to use with your Mac and/or iOS devices. Here are some standouts from the show floor.

While the target audience for Macworld | iWorld is your typical consumer, there are a few vendors in attendance that are focused on reaching developers. If you’re a developer yourself, or work with developers, you might want to stop by the following vendors during the show.