Apple’s executive profile page is updated in no time to reflect the new team at Apple. And new CEO Tim Cook has sent out an email to Apple employees reassuring them that “Apple is not going to change”. The full text of the email:
Team:
I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.
Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.
I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.
I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.
In less than 30 days, we will know all about iPhone 5 or whatever it will be called. The Apple rumor mill is boiling up as is common around this pre-announcement period. Wall Street Journal has reported that Sprint will get iPhone 5 when it is launched in mid-October. This is from a source “familiar with the matter”. And now there is report that T-Mobile will get iPhone 5 too. If these claims are true, then all four major US carriers will offer iPhone 5, which could only be good news for subscribers.
This news is inevitable but still many are surprised. Thank you Steve Jobs for your many and great creations that change the world. Here’s the letter from Steve Jobs:
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 Jobs: A Biography by Walter Isaacson is the first authorized biography which was reported to release March 6, 2012. However Barnes & Noble has updated the release date to Nov 21, 2011, together with an overview and book cover as above.
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues this book chronicles the rollercoaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.
Published by Simon & Schuster, the book will be 448 pages long. Amazon.com has updated the book cover but the available date remains at March 6, 2012.
The City of Cupertino posted on its site details of Apple’s proposed new campus. The post also includes Apple’s proposal documents on site plan, landscaping, floor plans and rendering. The City of Cupertino is quite certain to approve Apple’s proposal, with the spaceship like building expected to complete in 2015.
Apple posts another record-breaking quarterly results: $7.31 billion profit on $28.57 billion revenue. Sales figure wise, Apple shipped 20.34 million iPhones, 9.25 million iPads, 3.95 million Macs and 7.54 million iPods.
Originally titled “iSteve: The Book of Jobs” by publisher Simon & Schuster, the only authorized biography of Steve Jobs is now renamed by its author Walter Issacson to a more elegant title “Steve Jobs: A Biography”.
The title will be released on March 6, 2012 but already its pre-order has pushed the title into top 20 for best selling business titles on Amazon.com.
Apple has just concluded its WWDC 2011 keynote, with Steve Jobs heading the pack of Apple top brass presenting and demoing Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud. Here are the easy-to-digest summary of the event:
Mac OS X Lion
There are now over 54 million Mac users around the world. Year-over-year, PC growth has shrunk 1% while the Mac has grown 28%.
Mac OS X Lion has over 250 new features.
Multi-Touch Gestures: multi-touch gestures is fully baked into Mac OS X Lion and Mac notebooks.
Full screen application: it is now easier for developers to create full screen apps. A number of Apple app will have full-screen mode such as Safari, iMovie, iCal, iPhoto, Preview etc.
Mission Control: unify Expose and Spaces experience. Spaces can be create and destroy on the fly.
Mac App Store is now ahead of Best Buy, Walmart and Office Depot for buying Mac apps.
Mac App Store is build into Lion and will include In-app purchase and push notifications.
Mac App Store will include delta upgrade to make app updates faster.
Launchpad: launching app in iOS style. And you can create folder similar to iOS.
Resume: Lion will brings the app right back to where you left off. It works system wide.
Auto Save: Lion will automatically save the document for you without you having to do anything. Only the delta changes are saved. The control is at a drop down menu of the document title on the menu bar. You can create snapshots and duplicate document as well from the same menu.
Versions: Automatically save versions of your document as you’re working.
AirDrop: it is peer-to-peer sharing to replace using a USB thumb drive for file sharing. Auto discovery with no setup required. There is new option in FInder to see people using AirDrop around you.
Mail: a completely new version of Mail in Lion. Favorites bar, new search suggestions, new conversation view.
Lion Server add-on: server apps you can buy to run on top of Lion.
Safari Reading List: read-later feature build into Safari.
New Windows Migration tool.
There are over 3,000 new API in Mac OS X Lion.
Mac OS X Lion will only be available in the Mac App Store. No more disc. It’s a 4GB download with no reboots. You can use it on all your authorized Macs. Upgrade is $29.99. Available in July.
iOS 5
There are over 1,500 new APIs. 200 new user features. 10 key features.
Notification Center: access by swiping down from the top. Notifications no more interrupting. If you are playing game or using an app, notification appear on top and goes away after a moment. Missed notifications also appear on the lock screen.
Newsstand: integrates all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Appear on home screen as newsstand. New issues are automatically downloaded in the background and available offline.
Twitter: integrated Twitter. Configure Twitter account via Settings. Contacts integration. Many build-in apps such as Camera and Photos integrate with Twitter, Tweet articles from Safari, locations from Maps.
Safari: Safari Reader for clean reading similar to Safari on Mac. Email web content, not just the link. Reading List for read later. Tabbed browsing.
Reminders: store list of todos and setup location for reminders. Integrate with Calendar.
Camera: camera icon on lock screen. Tap to launch camera app. Can use volume-up button to take picture. AE/AF Lock. Pinch to zoom. Edit photo: crop, rotate, reduce red-eye.
iPad split keyboard: You can split the keyboard into half by swiping the keyboard up.
PC Free. No more cable and PC needed to start using iOS devices. Software updates are OTA (Over The Air). You can create and delete calendars and mailboxes from within iOS.
Game Center: Achievement points. Friend discovery. Friends of friends. Game discovery. Turn-based games.
iMessage: new messaging service between all iOS users, regardless of device. Supports iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Send text messages, photos, videos, contacts, and even group messaging. Works over WiFi or 3G.
AirPlay mirroring. Mirror entire iPad to your TV wirelessly.
iOS devices can sync with iTunes on your Mac/PC wireless over WiFi.
New multi-tasking gestures to flick between apps.
Others: Emoji, new iPad music app, hourly weather forecasts, personal dictionary, typing shortcuts.
Developers get a beta today. iOS 5 to be available this fall. Supports iPhone 3GS and above, iPad and iPad 2, and third and fourth generation of iPod touch.
iCloud
iCLoud stores your content, and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices. Integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically.
MobileMe Contacts, Calendar and Mail rewrites from ground up for iCloud.
Calendar Sharing is new.
Get an @me.com account and all new messages pushed to all your devices. No ads.
iCloud will be free.
App Store will be integrated with iCloud. Can see all purchases on all your devices. New download from cloud button on App Store app.
iBookstore will be integrated with iCloud.
Automatic daily backups to iCloud over WiFi: purchased music, apps, books, photos, videos, device settings, app data.
Documents in the Cloud: Pages, Numbers and Keynote will integrated with iCloud.
There will be iCloud Storage APIs for developers to tie in their own apps. Full documents or just key value pairs data. Available for Mac, iOS and PC.
Photo Stream: any photos taken on any devices are pushed to the cloud and then sent to the other devices automatically. Within Photos app as a separate album. Available on PC and AppleTV as well. Photo Stream will hold 1,000 photos for 30 days.
iTunes in the Cloud: anything you purchased can be downloaded to any of your devices (up to 10) at no additional charges. Music is 256kbps AAC. Automatic download new purchases. New Purchased tab in iTunes app.
Each user get 5GB storage free. This 5GB excludes Photo Stream, purchased music, apps and books.
iCloud will ship together with iOS 5 this fall. It will be available for iOS 4.3 as well.
iCloud is available today in iOS 4.3 beta for developers.
iTunes Match: for songs you ripped and you want it in iCloud. Software will scan your iTunes and match it up with songs in iTunes store. Take minutes. There is no upload.
iTunes Match costs $24.99 per year. Anything that is matched is upgraded to 256kbps AAC without DRM. Songs that can’t match will be uploaded.
The Steve Jobs sanctioned biography iSteve: The Book of Jobs by Walter Isaacson is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The book is set to be released on March 6, 2012 by Simon & Schuster. At 448 pages, iSteve is priced at US$18 for hardcover and $14.99 for the Kindle edition.
