During its CES keynote, Yahoo announced a new iOS app that it hopes will help people stay informed on the big news of the day. Dubbed News Digest, the app will send out updates twice a day with the big news. The information comes from several different sources and Yahoo calls each individual story an “atom.” The app focuses on all news categories, not just technology.

Each story is created from multiple sources to present the essential bits and pieces of information, known as “Atoms”. Atoms are key quotes, images, videos, stock tickers, maps, infographs, and Wikipedia excerpts among others. These atomic units provide a unique context to the news. Our stories are both algorithmically and hand curated to ensure high quality, and come with a textual summary.

The New York Times’ technology columnist David Pogue said last week that even Google thought its iOS Maps app is better than the Android version, mostly because that version just piled on feature after feature without a rethink.

Walt Mossberg agrees:

However, the biggest news here is that the new iPhone version of Google Maps isn’t just better than Apple Maps. For now, at least, Google Maps is better in most respects on the iPhone than it is on Android phones. It has been redesigned with a cleaner, simpler user interface that makes it easier to use. Google officials say they took the sudden need to build a new iPhone version as an opportunity to rethink the popular app from the ground up.

Google is supposedly looking to rebuild its Android version based on what it did for the iPhone app.

[ooyala code=”swdnR4NTpMV8KaMiokPGILW5aTNJAkpk”]

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber and The New York Times’ David Pogue went on the “Charlie Rose” TV show last night to discuss and share their thoughts on the iPhone 5. While both technology bloggers adore Apple’s latest smartphone, Gruber longed for two-day battery life and Pogue seemed annoyed by the new Lightning connector.

Watch the clip above for more insights.

Are there any readers in Maryland that want to help? It could be fun/interesting (and probably dangerous, so do not blame us if you get shot)! Map center is here.

[tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231047069647904768] [tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231053778411991040]

Update: With help of Gizmodo, Pogue got his phone back

[tweet https://twitter.com/PGPDJulie/statuses/231128575150002176]

[tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231133334200270848]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PGPDJulie/status/231132656505593857/]

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/212275242318561281]

Update: MacRumors received a tip from a reader who claimed Apple’s CEO Tim Cook responded to his email to confirm new Mac Pros are coming next year. We received a tip last year detailing a similar email exchange between a Pro customer and the late chief Steve Jobs. Cook’s response to the reader is below:

Our pro customers are really important to us…don’t worry as we’re working on something really great for later next year.

We were not too shocked when Apple quietly updated its Mac Pro lineup following its WWDC keynote yesterday. We had previously revealed the spec-bumped Mac Pros, but many were skeptical Apple would release such a minor refresh for the product that otherwise had not received an update in two years.

Was it really an upgrade, or did Intel simply run out of the older CPUs? USB 2 and no Thunderbolt seem like a bad joke to high-end Mac Pro users.

Not surprisingly, many are calling out Apple for its decision to not release a major refresh to the Mac Pros. Perhaps most notably is former Apple engineer and current Google employee Andy Hertzfeld. In a Google+ post, Hertzfeld congratulated Apple on its new Retina MacBook, while expressing disappointment in the new Mac Pros:

The next generation MacBook Pro announced today at WWDC looks fantastic. I ordered one immediately and can’t wait to start using it. Unfortunately, the euphoria was negated by my deep disappointment with the meagre, lame update that was silently bequeathed to the Mac Pro today… The specs for the “new” Mac Pro had hardly changed, except for a tiny, inconsequential processor clock bump. Still no Thunderbolt, still no USB 3.0, no SATA III or RAM speed improvements – it seems like it’s stuck in time in 2010. The only thing that’s still high-end about it is the bloated price… Even though I’m well aware that Apple’s future lies increasingly with mobile iOS-based devices, it still makes no sense to drop the ball on your high end desktop Mac so thoroughly, and to utterly disappoint your most loyal customers like yours truly.

As for complete refreshes for the iMac and Mac Pro lineups, David Pogue for the New York Times claimed an Apple executive confirmed they are in development and likely set for a 2013 release:

Many Apple observers also wonder if Apple thinks that desktop computers are dead, since not a word was said about the iMac and Mac Pro. An executive did assure me, however, that new models and new designs are under way, probably for release in 2013