Appletell

On the recently released 2008 Time 100, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has gotten hold of a spot.  This is a list that is considered by many to be a list of the world’s most influential people, and the fact that Mr. Jobs has a spot on the list is only a testament to how well he has led Apple throughout the last few years. 

“Jobs may be a celebrity CEO, but he doesn’t jump out of airplanes or traipse around Africa with bundles of cash. He is always in character and always on message, so much so that when late-night TV parodies him, he’s invariably rolling out some new iProduct . Jobs gets called mercurial, egomaniacal, a micromanager. If that sounds a little like a CEO doing his job, maybe that’s because he is - and a mighty fine one.” says Barbara Kiviat, author of Times’ report on Jobs

Other members of the list include Microsoft’s Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook, and tech blogger Michael Arrington.

Via [MacWorld UK]

After the recent news of Apple acquiring PA Semi, there was a frenzy of thoughts that Apple may ditch Intel, and maybe their new mobile platform chip, Atom, and use a PA Semi chip in the next iPods and iPhones.  According to Jobs, this is not the case.  He goes on to add that the reason for the purchase was mainly for the company’s intelligence, not for their current products.  With this added expertise, Apple, who has been known to get involved in custom designing their iPod chips, could improve development of those devices.

As for Intel, Jobs says, “We have a great partnership with Intel.  We expect that to continue forever.” He continued by adding that there are no plans to introduce another PowerPC Mac and that, “I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over that.” So there you have it everyone, the real reason behind the purchase of PA Semi according to the man himself.  Now I can finally go get some sleep.

The Superior Court of California in Santa Clara is summoning your favorite CEO, Steve Jobs, as well as other Apple officials back to court for a new lawsuit from the Boston Retirement Board.  This group is claiming over $105 million was lost on backdated stock options granted to Mr. Jobs.  Technically speaking, backdating is legal, but can harm other shareholders involved with the company.  Also, it must be declared Securities and Exchange Commission beforehand, which is the part these officials are accused of disregarding.

The BRB also claims that is has specifics to back up the charges, but they have not released the details yet because the court has yet to figure out how to handle the confidential information.  These types of cases have been coming to various Apple officials for about two years now, but have been stalled or dismissed due to a lack of evidence and rulings that the backdating did not clearly affect Apple’s stock price.  What are all your thoughts on this?

“Apple might as well put out a press release”, says Forbes’ writer Brian Caulfield. 

With the iPhones sales only at 1.7 million so far, and Apple standing fast with their 10 million iPhones sold by 2009, that can only mean one thing.  There will be a fairly major overhaul of the iPhone, and soon.  The sales announcement was included in a conference call hosted by Steve Jobs, talking about Q2 profits, which, by the way, increase 37% from the previous year.  One thing that was also noted in the call were the soaring Mac sales and the slumping iPhone and iPod sales.  Another interesting little tidbit about the call was the responses from Apple COO Tim Cook and Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer when asked about details of the possibility of a new iPhone.  Cross Research’s analyst Sharon Cross was the most bold in prodding the two men for information, asking if “Apple will still sell the current-model iPhone once it rolls out an iPhone able to work on high-speed so-called “3G” networks.” Nice try, Sharon.  When shot down by Cook, she replied “We’ve got to try sometimes”. 

It seems pretty apparent that a new iPhone is in the works, and it is only a matter of time.  Leave a message in the comments about whether or not you think the iPhone will get a redesign in the next few months.

Via [Forbes]

Late Tuesday night, in an interview with Forbes.com, an Apple spokesman shed some light on their recent acquisition of PA Semi, a small PowerPC computer chip manufacturer.  This buy out is a very interesting one indeed, as Apple ditched PA Semi’s PWRficient processors for Intel’s x86 design back in 2005.  Steve Jobs’ reasoning behind the move was although PWRficient was, you guessed it, very energy efficient, it had no where near the processing power Apple was looking for.  This purchase is also a huge blow to Intel, as Apple was one of their biggest customers.  With the recent acquisition, Intel’s recently released Atom chip, which was targeted at the iPhone, may take a back seat to the versatile PWRficient chips.  The adapted PWRficient chips could be used in every from a MacBook Pro to an iPod Nano, and Apple prefers to get everything from the inside- no third parties are best.

The decision to center the iPhone design around a chip that Apple could own marks a significant strategic choice by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, and is aimed at ensuring Apple can continue to differentiate its flagship phone as a raft of competitors flood the market. According to a source affiliated with the chip company, Jobs and Senior Vice President Tony Fadell led the tiny group of executives who spearheaded the acquisition, which included negotiations that took place in Jobs’ home.

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The co-founder of your favorite company, Apple, will be on the Starz movie channel tonight along with other famous people such as Tom Hanks and George Lucas.  This show is a interview called “The Pixar Story” and will air at 10 PM local time.  Here’s an intro from the website:

Here’s the problem with this doc, which charts the birth, near-death, and explosion of the multiple-Oscar-winning animation studio: It will make you realize that your job sucks.

If you don’t remember, Mr. Jobs founded Pixar Animation Studios and was at one point its CEO.  However, he stepped down from that position when the company was acquired by the Walt Disney Company.  It should be a pretty interesting interview given how Steve actually got a hold of the company in the first place and how he also founded another hugely successful company, Apple.  Check it out and let us know how it is!

For you not brushed up on you Latin, carpe diem is a popular literary expression meaning, “Seize the day.” What do I mean by this?  If Apple wants to take control of the computer world that Microsoft has dominated for so long, now is the perfect time.  All the planets are aligned, so to speak, and Apple just needs to take advantage of the situation.  If they do it right, the tables could start to turn on Microsoft, leaving them wondering what happened.  Here are three reasons the time is perfect for Apple to take control.

1) Vista. I think it’s safe to say that the majority of the population is fairly disappointed with Vista.  After years of development and delays, it didn’t deliver.  For that reason, the time is right for Apple to really push the idea of switching to Mac OS X and learning how to use an easier, more responsive operating system.  The company needs to take advantage of the fact that Microsoft has been playing catch up with itself after Vista and really start hitting some nails into the coffin.  For example, one area that Apple is really doing a great job of pushing users to switch is in their Get a Mac ads.  Another strong point in this argument is the fact that Macs can run Vista and, in some cases, even better than a PC can.

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We’ve all known Jobs has been slipping lately and the time has finally come. Steve Jobs was fired from Apple after being quite abusive to the Lisa team and his own team after focussing his energy towards the Macintosh. Jobs was let go and has no plans to move anywhere else and is currently taking time to evaluate his life.

Jobs is a very public failure. I mean, who wouldn’t be after being fired from a company you started. But in the end, we think it is all for the greater good, even though Jobs was best known for his design elements which may be lacking in the next Apple Computer product release. We’ll have to see how things turn out for Steve, but it is fairly obvious that he won’t be working in the computer industry again, and definitely not for Apple.

This is not the first time Steve Jobs has been commented on his CEO position at Apple. Steve Jobs has made Barron’s fourth annual list of the 30 best corporate leaders worldwide. The magazine attributes him to being a “consummate innovator”, and ““arguably is the world’s most valuable CEO.”

”[His] whose unexpected departure could cut 30 or 40 points from the price of Apple shares, now around 130. That makes him a $25 billion man. From the iPod to the iPhone, Jobs continues to innovate and to defy doubters awaiting a major failure. And with Apple depending on the success of new products in the fiercely competitive market for consumer electronics, Jobs is the ultimate high-wire act in American business.”

Steve Jobs has done an incredible job of innovating technology and the way we use it at Apple. From the Mac, to the iPod, to the iPhone. Steve Jobs has an incredible ambition to change technology, and make the impossible possible. Since he returned to Apple 1996, the company has evolved from Apple Computer, Inc to Apple, Inc - emphasizing that they are no longer just pioneers in the computer industry, but technlogy in general.

Right after the Swiss Apple Store leaks information regarding the 802.11n AirPort Express, the Dutch iTunes Store leaks information regarding a possible iPod touch price drop. A graphic, shown on the store, shows an iPod touch and says “from €199”. That’s about €80 less than the current price, equalling out to about a $100 price drop. The drop would bring the 8GB model down to about $200, which is pretty reasonable, and cheaper than the low-end iPod classic. Although some may classify this as an accident, most call it a leak, especially so soon after the Swiss leak. Along with the leak, some speculate that Apple may drop the 8GB model altogether, making the iPod touch really cheap, though I suppose we’ll have to wait it out and see.

Via [Ars Technica]