SONY BUILDING A DIFFERENT KIND OF TV, JUST LIKE APPLE SAYS SONY CEO

All eyes have been on Apple to reinvent the television set, but Sony CEO Howard Stringer recently confirmed that Sony, too, is working on re-imagining the TV. “There’s a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set,” Stringer said during a breakfast hosted recently by The Wall Street Journal. “We can’t continue selling TV sets [as we currently do]. Every TV set we all make loses money.” Stringer said that he has “no doubt” that Steve Jobs had intentions of designing a brand-new kind of television but said that “it will take a long time to transition to a new form of television.”

It has been widely reported that Apple will use its Siri voice control engine on its TV, but Stringer wasn’t specific on exactly how Sony would change the entertainment staple in living rooms around the world. Stringer explained to The Wall Street Journal that he’s ready to take on whatever Apple will offer with a “four screen” approach that includes mobile devices such as tablets and phones, as well as computers and televisions, but connected TVs are hardly unique. ”I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete with Steve Jobs,” Stringer boasted. “It’s finished, and it’s launching now.”

RUMOR: iTUNES CREATOR LEADING APPLE TV EFFORTS

Jeff Robbin, who helped create the iPod in addition to the iTunes media store, is now guiding Apple’s internal development of the new TV effort, said the people, who declined to be identified because his role isn’t public. Robbin’s involvement is a sign of Apple’s commitment to extending its leadership in smartphones and tablets into the living room. Before his Oct. 5 death, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson that he had “finally cracked” how to build an integrated TV with a simple user interface that would wirelessly synchronize content with Apple’s other devices.

“It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine,” Jobs told Isaacson in the biography “Steve Jobs,” released yesterday by CBS Corp. (CBS)’s Simon & Schuster. Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment.

SONY PICTURES CLOSE TO ACQUIRING STEVE JOBS BIOGRAPHY RIGHTS FOR FEATURE FILM

Sony Pictures is working on a deal to acquire the rights to Steve Jobs’s biography for a feature film, Deadline reported on Friday. The highly anticipated authorized biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacsson is due for release on October 24th, and Sony Pictures is reportedly making a substantial offer for the motion picture rights. ”I’m hearing the deal is $1 million against $3 million and that Mark Gordon will be the producer,” Mike Fleming wrote on Deadline. Sony Pictures is thought to be a good fit for the project following its work on business book turned feature film Moneyball and the Oscar-nominated The Social Network. If the studio manages to work out a deal, this would be only the second film to chronicle Jobs’s career, the first being Pirates Of Silicon Valley

RIP: STEVE JOBS 1955 - 2011

From MSNBC.com

Steve Jobs saw the future and led the world to it. He moved technology from garages to pockets, took entertainment from discs to bytes and turned gadgets into extensions of the people who use them.
Jobs, who founded and ran Apple, told us what we needed before we wanted it. "To some people, this is like Elvis Presley or John Lennon. It's a change in our times. It's the end of an era," said Scott Robbins, 34, a barber and an Apple fan. "It's like the end of the innovators."

Apple announced his death without giving a specific cause. He died peacefully on Wednesday, according to a statement from family members who were present. He was 56.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," Apple's board said in a statement. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
President Barack Obama — who described the musical contents of his iPod to Rolling Stone in 2008 and famously gave one of the gadgets to Queen Elizabeth II as a gift the following year — said in a statement that Jobs "exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity."

"Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it," he said.

Jobs had battled cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009 after taking a leave of absence for unspecified health problems. He took another leave of absence in January — his third since his health problems began — and resigned in August. Jobs became Apple's chairman and handed the CEO job over to his hand-picked successor, Tim Cook.

STEVE JOBS STEPS DOWN AS CEO OF APPLE, TIM COOK REMOVES INTERIM FROM TITLE

In a letter to the Apple Board of Directors Steve Jobs stepped down from the CEO position. He will still remain as Chairman of the Board. Steve's letter to the board is below.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Art Levinson, speaking on behalf of the board, said "Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Apple has announced Tim Cook will fill the role of CEO, a position he held as interim CEO while Steve was on sabbatical. “The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

EA FOUNDER SAYS APPLE'S REIGN WILL COME TO AN END SOON

It seems like Apple can do no wrong these days, but according to Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, Apple is headed toward a decline. It goes without saying that Apple will not be able to maintain its dominance forever — every company that rises will eventually fall, but Hawkins sees Apple’s decline as beginning relatively soon. “The thing is, it may take another year or two before it starts to decline, but it has to – everything does,” Hawkins told IndustryGamersin an interview. “Everything revolves so much around Steve, and no matter how good his lieutenants are, they’re not Steve. None of us is going to live forever, though I hope he lives for a really long time.”

Hawkins went on to note that games made by Digital Chocolate, the mobile game lab he left EA to launch, will “always be in the App Store,” though he says it would be great if Apple were more open. “I think it would be an incredibly positive thing for the industry if Apple decided to support all of the web standards, because then Apple could be the best about everything. Right now they make a conscious choice. They want you to be in the App Store rather than the browser, so they cripple the browser,” Hawkins griped, though he noted that the closed model hasn’t had a negative impact on Apple’s iOS business at this point.

APPLE'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS BEGINS SEARCH FOR STEVE JOBS SUCCESSOR

Apple’s board of directors has been in informal talks with executive recruiting firms and has been discussing a successor to CEO Steve Jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. Reportedly, the board has also met and talked with “at least one” head of a “high-profile tech company” as a possible successor, although it’s unclear who that person is. The Wall Street Journal also noted that it wasn’t immediately clear if Steve Jobs had been aware of the search or if Apple has been looking behind his back, though he emailed The Wall Street Journal in response to their questions about the discussions: “I think it’s hogwash.” Steve Jobs has been on medical leave from the Cupertino-based firm since January of this year.

STEVE JOBS SHOWS OFF NEW APPLE SPACESHIP HEADQUARTERS CAMPUS

Shortly after taking the stage at WWDC, Steve Jobs made an appearance before the Cupertino City Council to pitch the local governing body on Apple's ambition to build a new campus. The site for the curvaceous, four-story, "human-scale" building to house 13,000 employees is the original home of HP's computer systems division, land that was recently sold to Apple.

The property is currently covered by a series of big asphalt parking lots. Apple's plan would increase the landscape coverage from 20 to 80 percent with the help of a senior arborist from Stanford who will help restore some of the indigenous plant life to the property, including the apricot orchards. Apple plans to make the campus' energy center the facility's primary power generator using natural gas and other "clean energy" sources, the city would simply provide backup power when needed.

Of course, what would a Jobs presentation be without a few choice superlatives? In this case, Jobs claims that the new curved-glass facility will be the "best office building in the world," luring in students of architecture anxious for a peek. Apple plans to break ground in 2012 with a 2015 move-in date.

To see Jobs at the council meeting click play below.

iOS 5 TO GET IMPROVED VOICE COMMANDS

Citing a source claimed to be reliable, tech blogger Robert Scoble says enhanced voice commands will be included in iOS 5 when it launches this fall. Apple acquired Siri last year, presumably with the intention of enhancing the lackluster voice command support found in iOS. It has been rumored for quite some time that Apple would be making enhanced voice commands a major part of iOS 5, but Steve Jobs’ WWDC keynote came and went with no mention of voice commands.

Scoble claims that his source — one who spoke accurately of the deep Twitter integration Apple showed off on Monday weeks ahead of WWDC — said Apple’s voice command integration wasn’t ready to show off at the show. The feature will be a part of iOS 5, however, and will perhaps be unveiled this fall when Apple is expected to announce its next-generation iPhone.

APPLE TO UNVEIL iOS 5, OS X LION AND iCLOUD MONDAY JUNE 6

Apple has confirmed that it will be announcing iCloud on June 6th, what it's calling an "upcoming cloud services offering." That will be part of the keynote for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, known to the cool kids as WWDC. This is, of course, where everyone has come to expect new iPhones to come to light, but this year we're thinking the focus will be more on software, and indeed Apple's event notice indicates that the big highlights will be Mac OS X Lion and the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5.

This is a decidedly non-Apple way to announce something big like iCloud, making us wonder what other surprises Steve Jobs will have for us at the event.

US SENATOR FRANKEN ASKS APPLE AND GOOGLE TO REQUIRE PRIVACY POLICIES FOR APPS

Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) pinged Apple and Google Wednesday with a letter requesting that the two companies require apps distributed via their online marketplaces have "a clear, understandable privacy policy."

In the letter addressed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Google CEO Larry Page, Franken writes that such a requirement "would not resolve most of the privacy concerns in the mobile market.
"But it would be a simple first step that would provide users, privacy advocates, and federal consumer protection authorities a minimum of information about what information an app will access and how that app will share the information with third parties.

Noting that Apple's App Store and Google's Android Marketplace are by far the two largest online app distribution outlets in the world, Franken contended that the two companies were "in a unique position to influence the market for apps and protect users' privacy within the market."

At a minimum, Franken asked that Apple and Google require privacy policies for apps that use location tracking, technology that came under fire from privacy advocates when researchers publicized the existence of an unencrypted file storing location data on Apple's iPhones.
"Although I believe there is a greater need for transparency and disclosure for the collection and sharing of all personal information, at a minimum, I ask that you require all location-aware applications in your app stores to provide privacy policies that clearly specify what kind of location information is gathered from users, how that information is used, and how it is shared with third parties," the first-term Senator wrote.

FORTUNE'S "INSIDE APPLE" SHOWS THE INNER WORKINGS OF APPLE

Fortune's Adam Lashinsky, after months of dogged reporting and research, recently put together a story called "Inside Apple." Appropriate, seeing as he goes at length to reveal Apple's cultural core; This is a company for whom failure isn't an option.

Apple enjoys hit product (iPod) after hit product (iPhone) after hit product (iPad). So what happens when something fails? Well, to give you an idea, this is what happened to the MobileMe team after the spectacular failure that was MobileMe's launch in 2008:

According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together and asked a simple question: "Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?" Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, "So why the fuck doesn't it do that?"

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. "You've tarnished Apple's reputation," he told them. "You should hate each other for having let each other down."

In a sense, Jobs is hoping to place the weight of Apple and Apple's success and reputation on each employee's shoulder. The whole company is basically built on that sort of clear accountability. They even have a term so everyone knows who's responsible for what: 'DRI' which stands for "Directly Responsible Individual". Furthering Jobs desire to hold people accountable is a story Jobs always tells newly minted VPs about the difference between a janitor and a VP:

The janitor gets to explain why something went wrong. Senior people do not. "When you're the janitor," Jobs has repeatedly told incoming VPs, "reasons matter." He continues: "Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering." That "Rubicon," he has said, "is crossed when you become a VP."

It's a really great read to see how Apple runs their company—like how its still so startup-like, how there's a top 100 'clique', how it remains nimble, how its documenting case studies about big decisions Apple has made to teach future employees and so, so much more. The whole report is in the May 23, 2011 issue of Fortune.

APPLE DOESN'T TRACK ANYONE ACCORDING TO STEVE JOBS

In what is purported to be an email exchange with Apple CEO Steve Jobs, a MacRumors reader sent in the following:

Q: Steve,
Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.

A: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.

Sent from my iPhone

What’s not clear is whether or not Jobs was indicating that stored location data isn’t actually being sent back to Apple, and is instead only stored locally on the device and in iOS backup files created by iTunes. What is clear according to Jobs, however, is that Android is tracking customer’s location (and more) right out of the box. There are reports that the location recording issue in iOS 4 will be fixed in a software update and was a bug as opposed to a deliberate attempt to collect data.

APPLE HIRES MICROSOFT DATA CENTER GURU; iTUNES IN THE CLOUD?

Apple has hired Kevin Timmons away from Microsoft, where he was general manager of Microsoft’s data centers. Not only that, but Timmons apparently was directly responsible for rolling out Microsoft’s cloud and data presence at 50% of the cost estimated by other managers, while maintaining peak efficiency.

Last year, Apple’s Steve Jobs dismissed Cupertino’s ambitions to bring iTunes to the cloud, saying that they still thought that downloads and not streaming were the cornerstone of digital media.

Even at the time, everyone knew he was being disingenuous: Apple had recently built a massive North Carolina data center for unknown purposes, and services like Netflix and Spotify have amply proven that a la carte streaming is what consumers actually want.

Still, Apple’s total hegemony over the music industry is based off the concept of downloads; take away the idea that users need to pay a buck to download an MP3, and Apple’s iTunes empire falls.

What Jobs was doing was attempting to buy some more time. Apple will bring iTunes to the cloud, but it needs to do so while retaining the core iTunes business, which is downloads. This means cloud locker storage, such as Amazon just introduced with Cloud Locker… and if rumors are anything to go by, we’ll see Apple roll out just that sort of product in the next few months.

But maybe Apple has something even bigger up its sleeve? The evidence is certainly mounting that Apple intends to make a massive cloud-based push that is far, far bigger than just a cloud-based music locker.

Rumor has it that Apple’s North Carolina data center isn’t the only data center Apple is setting up. In fact, rumors are circulating that Apple is setting up data centers both nationally and abroad. If these are true, Timmons’ hire likely represents a huge push into the cloud on Apple’s part… and if history is anything to go by, the repercussions of that will likely be market shaking.

JESSE JACKSON JR. BLAMES iPAD FOR HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT

You know how ebooks are gradually taking over paper books as the most popular format for the consumption of the written word? Well, that's bad, mmkay? Publishers, librarians, and booksellers are losing their jobs and It's all entirely the iPad's fault. Forget the Kindle's millions of sales, the iPad did it. In a technophobic rant to rival all technophobic rants that have come before it, Illinois Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. accuses the iPad's popularity for the current level of unemployment in his nation, before proceeding to sculpt a rickety argument about how the First Amendment to the US Constitution is being exploited for the benefit of China. Check out the spectacle for yourself:

AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE JOBS COMING IN 2012

Simon & Schuster announced Sunday that Walter Isaacson's "iSteve: The Book of Jobs" will be published in early 2012. Isaacson has been working on the long-rumored biography since 2009 and has interviewed Jobs, members of his family, colleagues at Apple and competitors.

While there have been many biographies written about Steve Jobs, this is the first authorized by the tech legend.

"This is the perfect match of subject and author, and it is certain to be a landmark book about one of the world's greatest innovators," Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster, said in a statement. "Just as he did with Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson is telling a unique story of revolutionary genius."

JUDGE ORDERS STEVE JOBS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IN iTUNES ANTI-TRUST CASE

A federal judge has ordered Apple CEO Steve Jobs to court where he will have to answer questions pertaining to an antitrust case. Filed in 2005, the antitrust suit alleges that Apple’s iTunes service had a monopoly on the digital music downloading market.

According to a Bloomberg report, the deposition of Jobs will be no longer than two hours and questions must relate only to changes Apple made to its software in 2004 that prevented RealNetworks’ music files from being played on Apple’s iPod line of devices. “The court finds that Jobs has unique, non-repetitive, firsthand knowledge about the issues at the center of the dispute over RealNetworks software,” the judge wrote in the order.

Steve Jobs is currently on medical leave from Apple for an undisclosed period of time. Unlike his last leave of absence in 2009, however, Jobs is still acting as CEO during his leave and is involved with major strategic decisions.

RUMOR: STEVE JOBS TO APPEAR AT iPAD EVENT TOMORROW

According to several sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs–who is on a health-related leave from the company–is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.

But the possibility–which would be a big sensation at the San Francisco gathering and has been subject to great speculation–is also just as definitely not confirmed as yet, stressed sources.

If he did appear, sources said, Jobs would make at least a brief appearance on stage along with other top company execs in showing off Apple’s latest version of it hugely popular tablet.

The new device reportedly has a sleeker look, as well as a camera and other improvements, changes that tech’s top showman would certainly love to tout and that his legions of fans would like to see him introduce.

GORDON BROWN BLOCKED STEVE JOBS KNIGHTHOOD

The then-Prime Minister refused to knight Mr Jobs in 2009 because he turned down an invitation to speak at the Labour Party conference, a former senior Labour MP said.

Mr Jobs was put forward for the honour by the MP for services to technology. Apple is credited with revolutionising the industry in recent years with its iPhone and iPad devices, which have unleashed a boom in mobile internet usage.

The former MP, who left Parliament at the last election, said: “Apple has been the only major global company to create stunning consumer products because it has always taken design as the key component of everything it has produced.

“No other CEO has consistently shown such a commitment.”

Apple was aware of the proposal, he said, and it reached the final stages of approval, but was rejected by Downing Street.

RUMOR: JONATHAN IVE LEAVING APPLE, CASHING IN STOCK

There were reports late last week that Jonathan Ive, the man behind the design of all recent Apple products, may be about to quit his job and move back to the UK.

It is being suggested that Ive wants to go home so his two children can have an education in the UK. But the Apple board has said if he does then he won’t be able to continue working for Apple in his current capacity. Ive would be Apple’s design go-to guy no more.

Ive has another option to consider too. An option grant issued in 2008 is now worth $30 million and restrictions on claiming it have ended this year. If he used the option, along with his other Apple stock, he’d walk away from the company with around $128 million, along with whatever personal fortune he has already managed to accrue over his years there.

If true, this is another blow for Apple. It’s unclear how ill Steve Jobs is and if he’ll ever return to Apple full-time. The board refuses to discuss a succession plan for Jobs, and now the company’s number one designer may be about to quit.