Apple design chief, Jonathan Ive, has been called a lot of things. Brilliant, reclusive, secretive, and so on. But we're guess he didn't get a lot of "Sir Ive"s all that often (or maybe -- we don't know how they do things over there at Apple). All that changed come late Friday, as Ive was knighted with a Commander of the British Empire medal for his work creating the iPod and the iMac. Here's from MacWorld's coverage:

It's the latest in a string of plaudits for the influential designer. In 2003 he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum London and he also holds the title of Royal Designer for Industry from The Royal Society of Arts.The award was announced in December 2005. In a statement at the time, Apple said: "We are as proud as could be that Jony is receiving such a prestigious commendation."

The motto of the Order of the British Empire is 'For God and the Empire'. The order was instituted by George V in 1917 to recognise all levels of service to the country during the First World War. It has evolved to embrace service and achievement in all fields. The Order has a military division and a civil division. The chapel of the order is in St Paul’s Cathedral.