Apple has launched a new section of Newsstand called Read Them Here First, where 20 Hearst magazines are offered to iPad owners "before they appear in print or any other digital edition" if they subscribe. The magazines include O, Cosmopolitan, Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, and more.

Russian Railways has filed a lawsuit against Apple in Moscow after finding its logo in a third-party app icon. Apparently the makers of the Railway Tariff app rolled the company's logo into its icon without permission.

Apple and Amazon have been ordered by the court overseeing their trademark lawsuit to attempt settlement negotiations before the trial begins in August. Apple claims Amazon improperly used its "App Store" trademark to mislead customers, while Amazon argues that the term is far too generic to warrant trademark protection.

There are more ways to get your media out in the public eye and in this week's Free on iTunes, Vern Seward points out 3 that are sure to please. Whip, Tumblr, and Showyou.

Making some changes in your life? In this installment of Free on iTunes, Vern Seward points out three iOS tools that may help. Pinterest, Snapguide, and Realtor.

The last week of 2012 set several records for mobile devices and apps. Over 50 million iOS and Android devices were activated and 1.76 billion apps were downloaded in the final seven days of the year, with analysts expecting those numbers to reach 2 billion downloads per week by the fourth quarter of 2013.

Apple's iBookstore may soon be available in Japan. Apple is reportedly negotiating with several Japanese book publishers to bring its iOS-based eBook platform to The Land of the Rising Sun with some sources suggesting a deal could arrive in the next month or two.

In This last article of the year Vern Seward offers his top ten iOS freebies. Check it out!

Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod touch were popular gifts this year if App Store sales are any indication. Sales for Christmas day jumped 87 percent compared to the rest of the month, according to data from Distmo, and iPad and iPad mini app sales saw the biggest jump.

A Chinese court has ordered Apple to pay a group of local writers for copyright infringement. China Daily reported that the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court agreed with the writers that their works were being sold on Apple's App Store without a license.