Apple may have just thrown a big bucket of cold water all over the Palm Pre love fest, courtesy of the U.S. Patent Office. The company has officially secured the rights to the technology behind the distinctive multifunction touchscreen found on the iPhone and the iPod touch -- it's what gives you the ability to pinch and spread your fingers to zoom in and out of a photo or a Web page.

Apple's Saber-Rattling, Capitol Hill's Ruckus, Big Blue's Silence