The eighth annual Millward Brown Optimor BrandZ Top 100 ranking of the most valuable global brands still has Apple at the top, despite a slight drop in the total value of technology brands.

Apple’s brand value was calculated at $185 billion, just 1% up from 2012. Google retained second place but closed the gap slightly.

Worldwide shipments of tablet devices grew by 142.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2013, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation.

49.2 million devices were shipped during the first three months of the year; more than total tablet sales in the first half of 2012.

Mark Bridge writes:

This week there was only one set of financial results that attracted the mainstream tech media. Apple reported the first drop in quarterly profit for several years as figures fell by 18% to around £6.1 billion. On the positive side, it made around £6.1 billion profit. It also announced dates for its developer conference in June and promised a new version of iOS.

Microsoft says mobile phone manufacturer ZTE has agreed a licensing deal that provides coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for smartphones and tablets using the Android and Chrome operating systems

Last week Microsoft announced that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai had signed a similar license agreement covering Hon Hai and its Foxconn subsidiary.

There's a diverse collection of mobile-related news in this week's 30-minute podcast.

We start with the new Twitter music service before moving on to discuss quarterly results, patent licensing, wireless charging, advertising and mobile payments... before ending with a curious report about app-controlled underwear.