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Barclays bank, which already intertwines NFC chips and antennas into its banking cards in the U.K., has just taken a page out of Apple's book and released a new mobile app that should shake up the U.K. financial game.

Over much of the last decade or two, the subject of work-life balance has been a hot topic in the business world.

When Apple first released its Messages overhaul for the way iPhones handle test messages, and enabled it on iPads too, it was a sign that the company could see ways to innovate the pretty-much stagnant instant messaging market. It also let users of its iCloud service send short messages to each other without necessarily having to pay phone networks for the privilege. Now Apple's said it's expanding Messages to the OS X desktop, and that's big news

When it comes to branding, the larger danger is spending too much, rather than spending too little. It's a myth that having lots of brands and plenty of branding is good for business. After a certain point, both brands and branding cease to be useful–and, in fact, can be positively toxic.

Tim Cook is a very different chap to his predecessor, in many ways from his business know-how to his education and manner of speech . We got more insight into all of these during his address at Goldman Sachs yesterday--including a long spiel and a Q&A session that gave us many more public Cook words to analyze.

Managing the care of an aging parent or child with a chronic illness is getting increasingly complicated. CareZone makes it simple.

Apple is in full-court press mode in response to flack the company has taken about poor working conditions at its supplier factories. On Monday, Apple issued a press release saying it will allow the Fair Labor Association to begin inspections at Foxconn , letting the FLA conduct audits of its its workplace environments and interview thousands of its employees on topics including safety, compensation, and labor hours. Today, at Goldman Sachs' technology and internet conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook stressed the company's commitment to safe workplaces and fair employee treatment.

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a rare appearance today at Goldman Sachs' technology and Internet conference. During the presentation, Cook spoke on everything from supplier working conditions to the demise of the PC industry

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. Inkling Tackles Apple's iBooks Author App. Inkling, a startup centered on e-publishing, has just launched Inkling Habitat as a direct rival to Apple's own free (and slightly controversial ) e-book publishing app for the iPad.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is working with its Eastern suppliers to design and test a smaller version of the iPad hardware.

Technology disasters happen.

A pint-sized version of the iPad is coming, says one analyst.

Photo by Benjamin Lowy What do you get when you cross Walmart with Mother Teresa? Who would be the Square Deal candidate in 2012? And how in the world do you compare--and rank--such dynamic, eclectic businesses as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

Apple's foray into retail was supposed to be a disaster. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," one critic infamously said in 2001, a comment that would prove slightly prescient considering the number of brick-and-mortar stores that would shutter in the years to come--Gateway, Circuit City, CompUSA

Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. Fair Labor Association Inspects Foxconn Factories . Apple has asked the Fair Labor Association to conduct a round of audits on several suppliers including Foxconn in China.