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New iPhone, iPad? What's up at Apple?

(CBS News) This month, Apple became the most valuable company in history, with a stock value of $623 billion. In addition, Apple recently won a $1 billion patent victory over Samsung.

Apple vs. Samsung legal battles summarized

And if that wasn't enough, rumors are twirling that the latest iPhone is coming out in the next few weeks.

CNET editor-at-large Brian Cooley spoke to Charlie Rose and Norah O'Donnell about all the news from Apple.

Apple's lawsuit victory: What is it really about?

Cooley said the lawsuit sounds like it's Apple vs. Samsung, but it's really Apple vs. Google, and specifically the Android operating system, which Google offers to other manufacturers. And according to the Steve Jobs biography that came out around the time of his death, this was an issue that really bothered the Apple founder.

"Steve Jobs went to the grave saying it was a big ripoff of their technology," he said. "But it's not just Samsung they're going after. They want to spook the herd of all the companies that use it, have that reverberate up to Google, and either get it changed dramatically, or just gum it up."

A new iPhone?

The next generation of the iPhone is expected to be announced in mid-September and Cooley said there are two things it has to have if Apple wants to stay on top of the competition.

"One, it must have a four-inch, or a larger screen," he said. "The iPhone is the little dinky phone of smartphones right now. It's really lost step. And then it has to have 4G networking, which is a much faster way for the phone to get on the internet. Any time you're in cellular coverage, it will feel as fast as home broadband."

Semi-wow: New iPad mini?

Cooley puts the rumors of a smaller iPad in the "semi-wow" category - not so much an innovation, as it is a convenience and money saver.

"If they can bring the size down by a third, and the cost down by a half, like other tablet makers are doing, that opens up a big bottom of the market to them," he said.

For "wow" products, Cooley is waiting for an Apple television late this year, or early next. Even more important than that would be a new kind of cable box that merges streaming video and cable television.

"That could have economic consequences we don't even imagine."

For the full interview and all the Apple news, click on the video above.

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