'I was on the Apple board until I couldn't stand it anymore'
Former Google CEO and now Chairman Eric Schmidt offered some insight into his time on Apple's board to attendees of Salesforce.com's Dreamforce 2011 conference on Thursday, saying that while he was proud of his time with the company differences eventually caused him to leave.
Schmidt would not specify the reasons why he left the Apple board in 2009, although many believed it had to do with Google's involvement in Android. That is likely not entirely the reason: the search company purchased the rights to Android in 2005, and Schmidt joined Apple the following year.
Parallels 7 knits Windows 7 more tightly into OS X Lion
OS X virtualization software company Parallels on Wednesday released the latest version of its eponymous desktop virtualization suite for Mac, Parallels 7, which adds support for new Lion-specific features and improves overall performance from the previous generation.
Apple began including iSight webcams in all its laptops in 2006, and since that time, Parallels support for them has been less than perfect. In fact, in some cases it's been downright terrible, requiring the camera to be dismounted from OS X before starting the Windows virtual machine, and remounting it once Windows had booted.
I lost my passion for Apple
Earlier this month I sold my 11.6-inch MacBook Air (using Samsung Series 5 Chromebook now) and iPhone 4 (switched back to Google Nexus S). I don't miss either Apple product. Not the least bit. In reflecting, I realize that the spell is broken. Without Apple Chairman Steve Jobs driving innovation or inspiring passion -- the oft-called "reality distortion field" -- my Apple enthusiasm is gone. Perhaps it's return to sanity.
I should have connected the dots sooner, but often people don't easily apply even basic math to emotional matters, because the nuances move swiftly on the surface with many slower currents and fast-churning eddies below. The ocean is an excellent analogy. Yesterday, in viewing Nate Mook's slideshow of 20 products introduced by Jobs, and resurfacing emotions about the different launches, I had an epiphany. I could see how much Jobs' passion infected mine -- his ability to inspire about what Apple products offered.
Apple scoops up Jailbreakme.com developer as intern
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. 19-year-old Jailbreakme.com creator Nicholas Allegra -- better known by his hacker handle "comex" -- has been hired as an intern by Apple, he disclosed on Thursday night.
Allegra had been searching for an internship while taking some time off from studies at Brown University. Up until recently he had continued to develop the website that thousands have used over the past few years to jailbreak their iOS devices. It appears in the end, however, that he felt like he had to move on.
It was time for Steve Jobs to go
In my six-plus years covering Cupertino here and elsewhere I can tell you I did not expect to write a story like this for quite a few more years yet. Apple is Steve Jobs, and Steve Jobs is Apple.
But let's talk turkey here: Jobs' health has been an issue, almost a morbid fascination among the tech press. Whole stories were devoted to analysis on his appearance as it obviously changed from keynote to keynote.
Investors uneasy after Steve Jobs resigns
Apple shares fell 6 percent in after-hours trading tonight following Steve Jobs' stunning and unexpected resignation. Apple's board named COO Tim Cook, who has been running the company for about eight months, as Jobs' successor.
Apple shares were down more than $20 after-hours. Before the resignation announcement, Apple shares closed up slightly -- $373.60, off the opening of $373.46. The real question: How will investors react tomorrow when markets reopen for trading?
Steve Jobs resigns!
In a stunning and unexpected event, Steve Jobs resigned as Apple's chief executive today. The board has named Jobs Chairman and Tim Cook new CEO.
Apple released this letter from Jobs:
Apple wins preliminary injunction on Galaxy S phones in Netherlands
A Dutch district court in The Hague has ruled in favor of Apple in one of the many patent infringement lawsuits taking place between Apple and Samsung internationally.
The Judge presiding over the case has banned the sale of Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Ace (S5830) smartphones in the Netherlands and "many European countries."
Ultrabook can't beat MacBook Air pricing
Intel has a big problem, and senior executives know it. Ultrabooks running its processors and Windows cannot compete with MacBook Air on price. There's a strange offing coming, when Macs, which for so long cost more than Windows PCs, will be the value choice -- that's assuming Apple chooses to pass savings on to customers rather than be extra greedy about margins.
Wintel OEMs can't compete on price because Apple realizes cost advantages inherent to its end-to-end development, manufacturing and distribution model. These smaller powerhouse laptops aren't cheap to produce, but it's two secret ingredients in Apple's recipe that will prove decisive.
2017: When PCs go the way of the dinosaur?
Today, In-Stat predicted that the global tablet market will reach 250 million shipments by 2017. It's a seemingly big number, but its real significance is bigger: How much will tablets displace PC sales?
Right now the global install base of PCs is about 1 billion units. Shipments have been above 300 million PCs per year, but they're way down in mature markets, still strong in some emerging markets and losing sales to tablets, according to both Gartner and IDC. Is there market sustainable enough for 300 million PCs and 250 million tablets? I'm the wrong person to answer, having already proclaimed -- to the chagrin of many Betanews commenters -- that the "PC era is over."
Apple is a patent bully
"Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it", David Drummond, Google chief legal officer, writes in a blog post late yesterday afternoon. He's absolutely right.
For weeks I've been thinking about writing a commentary about how Apple has become a patent bully -- that its behavior answers an ongoing question of discussion going on for years. Drummond's blog post tipped me to doing it.
Apple, Samsung battle for smartphone supremacy
In a near photo finish, two upstarts simultaneously dethroned smartphone king Nokia as they scrambled for top spot during second quarter, globally. Apple and Samsung shipped 20.3 million and 19.2 million smartphones, respectively, according to Strategy Analytics. Nokia fell from first to third place, with 16.7 million units.
Samsung's ascension is nothing short of phenomenal, and that's remarkable considering how exceptionally Apple performed. Apple smartphone shipments rose from 8.4 million a year earlier, but Samsung even more -- from 3.1 million.
Who are these people watching Hulu on Apple or Google TV boxes?
Nielsen has a new study out looking at how Americans use Hulu and Netflix. What I found surprising -- 1 percent of the 12,000 respondents say they use Apple TV or Google TV to watch Hulu. The service isn't supported on either device, last time I checked. So who are these people?
Well, they could be bleeding edge consumers who have hacked the boxes. But I expect for the most part it's erroneous reporting. People don't always know what to answer or what they've got.
Forget iPhone 5, Samsung sells 3 million Galaxy S IIs in just 55 days
You want to know why Apple is so hellbent on stopping Samsung selling smartphones in the United Sates? Reread this post's headline.
Samsung's sales milestone comes as competition increases with Apple here and abroad. Galaxy S II sales success also partly explains the ongoing patent claims and counter-claims spat going on between the companies. In its boldest move yet, Apple on July 1 requested a preliminary injunction barring Samsung from selling Droid Charge, Galaxy S 4G, Infuse 4G and Galaxy Tab 10.1 here. (Justia.com has consolidated case history.)
It's time Apple came clean about Steve Jobs' health
Apple can no longer remain silent about its CEO's health. This is no longer a debate about corporate responsibility or fair disclosure to shareholders. Now that Paparazzi are following Jobs and taking photos or videos of him outside the cancer treatment facility, Apple must respond. Silence is bad for Apple, bad for its shareholders and quite possibly damaging to Jobs' recovery. How would you feel about seeing your photos in the National Enquirer? How would it affect your cancer recovery?
Jobs announced indefinite medical leave from Apple on January 17. "My family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy," Jobs requested. That clearly isn't happening. Yesterday, Radar Online posted a video of Jobs leaving the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto, Calif. The video was shot 13 days earlier. Last week, the Enquirer published photos of Jobs outside the same facility. Out of respect to Jobs' recovery and privacy, I won't link to either the photos or video. If you want to see them, Bing or Google.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.