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Tastes of Chinese Customers Influence Apple’s Choice of Colors for New Devices
Apple CEO Tim Cook has recently confirmed that the main reason for the company to manufacture gold iPhones, MacBooks and Apple Watches is a strong demand for such devices in China. As you probably know, Chinese market is one of the most promising for Apple as the number of customers there grows rapidly each month. According to the latest report published by Bloomberg reporters, users from China generated 29% of Apple revenue in the quarter, which ended in March.
Apple CEO Tim Cook Is 'Proud to Be Gay'
In a letter written for Bloomberg Businessweek, Tim Cook declared his support for human equality and for the first time publicly admitted that he's gay. I must say, this was quite a surprising step as earlier Apple CEO was keeping his personal life away from public. According to the letter, Cook decided to tell about his sexuality to "bring comfort to anyone who feels alone" as well as to "inspire people to insist on their equality."
Amazon Working On Competitor To Apple’s TV Set-Top Box
Bloomberg Businessweek that Amazon is working on a set-top box to stream video content over the Internet via its Instant Video and Amazon Prime services.
The box will compete with similar products like the Roku and the Apple TV, as well with a more versatile devices such as Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox that have moved into the streaming video field in recent years. The report notes:
Apple’s Spaceship Campus Is Roughly $2 Billion Over Budget.
Bloomberg Businessweek today a lengthy report about Apple’s forthcoming "spaceship" campus, noting that the project is currently about $2 billion over budget and one year behind schedule.
Scott Forstall Profiled as Apple's 'CEO-in-Waiting'
Fortune's Adam Lashinsky has written a new book entitled Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired -- and Secretive -- Company Really Works. The book is an unauthorized look at the inner workings of Apple.
Fortune offers one tidbit from the book today, profiling Senior Vice President for iOS Software Scott Forstall as Apple's current "CEO-in-waiting". Last October BusinessWeek also suggest that Forstall could be next Apple's CEO, portraying him as an aggressively ambitious "mini-Steve".
TV Industry Preparing for Voice Recognition Interfaces in 2012
Businessweek suggests that in the coming year TV industry will move towards voice-activated TV remotes, because of Apple's plans to enter the TV market in the near future. Many analysts believe that Apple’s TV will have Siri voice recognition system to simplify user interaction with the TV and provide users to control their TVs with voice.
Whether the rumors are true that Apple is planning to release a TV set by 2013, Siri-like voice recognition is headed for the living room. Microsoft (MSFT) is already there, via its Xbox 360 game console, and Comcast (CMCSA), Samsung Electronics (SHCAY), LG, and Sharp are working on voice-enabled features for TV sets, set-top boxes, and related products.
Businessweek believes that simple voice command as "Record the next episode of Modern Family" are much needed to improve user experience. Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group goes on to say "Anything would be better than what we have now."
The remotes for such voice-controlled TV are said to look more like iPhones than traditional remotes, with possibly a single physical button to activate the microphone. Nuance suggests that 5% of TVs could be voice controlled by Christmas 2012.
How Apple Manages Its Supply Chain To Get A Competitive Advantage
gives an interesting view on Apple’s supply chain and how the company managed to streamline operations in it to get a competitive advantage. According to many interviews with executives at suppliers, former employees, management experts who familiar with the Apple’s operations, the company has created a closed ecosystem where it exercises full control over nearly every operation of the supply chain. Apple is known for its management of operations and much of this credit going to company’s CEO Tim Cook.
The Judge Probably Will Deny Apple’s Request To Ban Amazon’s Usage Of App Store Term
According to , the court will probably deny the Apple’s request to ban Amazon from using App Store term. This term is used by Amazon as the header name of its online store that markets and sells applications working on Google’s Android platform. Apple filed a suit in March this year over potential confusion about App Store term.
Some iCloud Music Service Details
Apple’s upcoming iCloud service, rumored to include streaming of iTunes collections to a variety of devices and computers, is said to be formally introduced at the WWDC keynote on June 6. Businessweek says “three people briefed on the talks” (between Apple and music labels) have suggested Apple will provide a scanning tool that quickly mirrors songs to iCloud’s servers, also offering a way to replace those songs with better-quality versions if quality is not deemed “good enough.”
Steve Jobs Feels Fine In a Year After Liver Trasplant
New information received by BusinessWeek from anonymous Apple employee reveals that Steve Jobs began to regularly visit Cupertino's office only in January, 2010, though he returned to work after liver transplant in June 2009.
BusinessWeek sought comments from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and he said that he frequently speaks with his friend Steve Jobs and he looks healthy.
"Every time I hear him, he's doing a lot of work and a lot of thinking that's involved in that work, and those things sort of go away if you're very worried about your health".
Jobs announced about his temporary leaving in June 2009. He explained that the reason was about private matter. In September Jobs appeared at Apple's annual music event to present new iPods. It was his first appearance that year and that time he especially underlined his gratitude to a liver donor, who died in a car crash in his mid-20s.
After that Jobs was focused on iPad, and it is reported that he was personally involved in its development.
At this moment he is back at work and experts from Creative Strategies consulting firm say it is good news:
"Except for the fact that he's lost a lot of weight, he's the Steve Jobs of old. At the visionary level, technology and design level, he seems to be working at the same level he was before he was sick."
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Bing might Replace Google as default iPhone search engine
Businessweek reports that Apple and Microsoft are currently in negotiations to replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone with Microsoft's Bing.com. The talks have reportedly been underway for weeks.
"Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy," says one of the people, who's familiar with Apple's thinking. "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."
With Google's entry into the mobile phone business as well as Apple's recent acquisition of a mobile ad company, the two businesses have encroached on each other's territories. Apple has even been said to be working on distancing itself from Google's Maps data in the iPhone.
If the negotiations are successful, it could also mean that Bing could eventually replace Google as the default search engine for Apple's desktop version of Safari as well.