Most octogenarians like their apples in sauce form, their tablets as medicine and their mail on paper. But Queen Elizabeth II is by no means your average grandmother when it comes to technology.

The Queen sent her first email back in 1976, before most of the world had ever used a personal computer. She has her own YouTube channel and enjoys listening to tunes on her silver iPod.

So it should come as no surprise that the Queen has reportedly asked for an iPad of her own. In fact, it's something of a wonder that it took this long.

But even if your gran isn't as hip to technology as the Queen, the iPad may still be a nice piece of technology for her.

The tablet is much more intuitive and easy to use than a normal computer. It's light and can be used with minimal upkeep. If you're going to introduce an older person to computing and the internet, the iPad is an excellent choice.

One of the biggest moments for Apple in the past decade was the switch to Intel's x86 chips to power its Macintosh notebooks and desktops. An even bigger moment was when Apple announced the iPhone, and later the iPad tablet.

It should be no surprise, then, that word of a deal involving Intel, the iPad and the iPhone is raising eyebrows across the industry.

The EE Times quotes industry analyst Gus Richard in reporting that Intel is looking to strike a deal with Apple to make the A4 and A5 processors which Apple uses to power its iOS devices.

Richard goes on to suggest that Apple would benefit from Intel's manufacturing expertise and facitilities, while Intel would get a boost from Apple's market share in the tablet and smartphone spaces.

The idea of a tie up between Apple and Intel is interesting. But what if Intel's mobile business, including its Atom line, starts to come into competition with Apple devices? Will Intel press Apple to switch to its own platforms? Will the deal fall apart and leave Apple looking for a new foundry? Or will the companies simply get along for the sake of business? Intel already makes CPUs for other PC vendors, and Apple is just fine with that.

Perhaps the deal that helped Apple's Macintosh line take off again will be remade into the deal that helped to boost iOS hardware.

After months of anticipation, the white iPhone handset has finally arrived, and fashion-conscious users waiting to get their hands on the white model can finally do so. ut there is one caveat. It seems the white iPhone is thicker than the black model.

It's not much of a difference, in fact you pretty much have to place the two handsets side by side and then look very closely to notice. But Apple has confirmed that the white iPhone is .2 millimetres thicker than the black model.

Now, if you're the type who bases your choice in mobile handsets on one fifth of a millimetre you have bigger problems than the colour of your iPhone. But there is one situation where the larger iPhone could pose an issue.

Customers with snugly-fitting cases for their black iPhone 4 may find that the white models are a difficult fit. So if you're really attached to your case, you may want to be wary of the new models or consider buying another one.

It wasn't so long ago that Microsoft was the biggest name in the business world and Apple was a struggling company just trying to stay afloat. What a difference a decade or so makes.

Microsoft posted its quarterly financial report today, showing revenues of $16.43bn and profits of $5.23bn. Compare that to last week's Apple quarterly figures in which revenues were $24.67bn with profits of $5.99bn.

Yes, Apple has surpassed Microsoft in revenues and profits. What was the difference? Well, the first word that springs to mind is 'innovation'.

Microsoft has relied on its position in the PC, server and search markets, but Apple has taken a leading position in booming markets such as smartphones and tablets. And it has paid off for Apple, as the iPhone and iPad lines have logged up tens of millions of units in sales.

Microsoft, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future. The company is looking to take a dominant spot in the smartphone market with Windows Phone 7, but it will be an uphill battle with iOS and Android on the market. Windows won't even get into the tablet space until the end of 2012 at the very earliest.

For the time being, it seems, Apple has regained a dominant position in the decades-old battle.

Rumours over the past few months have swirled around the possibility of a streaming media service from Apple.

The speculation has picked up recently amid reports that the company is racing with Google to be the first with a streaming music and video service. But what will the service be called?

Silicon Valley blogger Om Malik may have an answer. He cites an unnamed source in reporting that Apple just purchased the rights to iCloud.com. The deal is not believed to have been cheap either, estimates pegging the domain's cost as high as $4.5m.

As Malik notes, the purchase doesn't necessarilly mean an imminent launch of iCloud, and Apple may have bought the domain for a future launch of a entirely different service.

Still, $4.5m is a lot of money for any company to spend on a domain name if they don't have very big plans for it.

Apple's ongoing battle to take sole posession of the term 'app store' took another turn this week when Amazon filed its response to Apple's suit.

Amazon claims in the filing (PDF) that Apple should not get control of the term as a trademark for the online application service associated with its iOS platform because 'app store' is generic.

Microsoft has made a similar claim in its opposition to Apple's suit, but Amazon has some rather compelling evidence on its side, including several instances of Apple itself using the term 'app store' in a generic way.

Amazon quotes Apple chief executive Steve Jobs in the filing referring to the iTunes App Store as "the easiest to use, largest app store in the world".

This is important because it indicates that even Apple views its service as an app store rather than the App Store, possibly lending further support to claims that the term is too generic to be copyrighted for one specific service.

Those who were hoping that the fuss over the iPhone location logging report would be short lived got some bad news on Monday.

First, there was word that Apple's head honcho is officially speaking out on the matter. In response to an email inquiry from an iPhone owner, Steve Jobs not only denied that the company tracks its users, but accused Google of tracking users with the Android platform.

"Oh yes they do," Jobs said of Google. "We don't track anyone. The info circulating around is false."

Perhaps Jobs was just saying that Google records the same location data that Apple does, and that neither company actually tracks users. Or perhaps he was accusing Google of using data in a way that Apple does not. It's a safe bet that Jobs left the message vague on purpose so that people would wonder just that.

Either way, this is unlikely to be the last we have heard on the matter. US Senator Al Franken (yes, the former comedian) is seeking to call executives from Apple and Google in front of a government committee to testify on the matter of mobile phone security and privacy.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 May at 10am (1500 GMT) and should be mandatory viewing for those interested in mobile security, privacy and user rights.

There has long been talk of a secret project in Cupertino to offer a cloud-based version of iTunes. The system would reportedly allow users to remotely connect with a server and listen to their iTunes libraries without the need for an approved device or PC.

And it seems that Apple is not alone. Google is also believed to be working on a streaming music service of its own, and the rivals are working to get their service to the market first.

But according to Reuters, Apple is preparing to launch its music service, while Google's efforts are said to be stalling.

The launch of a cloud music service could only help Apple. The company currently dominates the downloaded music market and, even if a cloud platform was only marginally successful, at least the company is preserving its presence on the new platforms.