Jan 27
Tim Cook addresses employees about labour abuse in China
Take a look at the following from Apple CEO, Tim Cook on knowledge of labour abuse in China:
Team,
As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.
For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.
Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.
At the same time, no one has been more up front about the challenges we face. We are attacking problems aggressively with the help of the world’s foremost authorities on safety, the environment, and fair labor. It would be easy to look for problems in fewer places and report prettier results, but those would not be the actions of a leader.
Earlier this month we opened our supply chain for independent evaluations by the Fair Labor Association. Apple was in a unique position to lead the industry by taking this step, and we did it without hesitation. This will lead to more frequent and more transparent reporting on our supply chain, which we welcome. These are the kinds of actions our customers expect from Apple, and we will take more of them in the future.
We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program.
We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do – and never have done – is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.
To those within Apple who are tackling these issues every day, you have our thanks and admiration. Your work is significant and it is changing people’s lives. We are all proud to work alongside you.
Tim
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Jan 27
“It’s bullshit to the recent iPhone 5 rumors.” – John Gruber
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has declared that the iPhone 5 is not gearing up for production, contradicting a recent report that was published yesterday.
The original posting was based on information from a Foxconn employee who claims to have seen numerous sample of the next generation device.
Here’s what Gruber had to say:
We received word from a reliable source at Foxconn in China that the iPhone 5, as it is currently being called, is now gearing for production.
>> No it’s not.
No teardrop-shaped devices, as rumored in the lead up to the iPhone 4S. Samples so far have been symmetrical in thickness (also longer/wider).
>> Longer and wider? Sounds like bullshit. I can see Apple putting a bigger display on a device of the same size. I can’t see them making a bigger device.
Gruber is generally considered one of the most accurate sources when it comes to inside Apple information.
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Jan 27
Jailbreaking is not a crime. 14 days left for online petition!
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has started a petition at jailbreakingisnotacrime.org to ensure jailbreaking is kept legal at all cost.
To recap, last year the Copyright Office added an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which made jailbreaking your smartphone legal. The exemption is set to expire after three years and the EFF is trying to make sure that doesn’t happen.
The petition at jailbreakingisnotacrime.org will let you add your support to a letter written by Bunnie Huang, author of Hacking the Xbox. The EFF would also like those who can write their own letter to submit their defense of jailbreaking to the Copyright Office. You can find more information about that here.
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Jan 26
Foxconn employee revealed that 4-inch iPhone 5 is being geared for production, ETA June 2012
This just in!
A Foxconn employee has reportedly told an online news source that the iPhone 5 is being geared up for production.
Sources revealed that various prototype devices are floating around with slight differences between them.
What They Have in Common
● 4+ inch display (made by LG on at least one of them)
● No teardrop-shaped devices as were rumored in the lead up to the iPhone 4S. Samples so far have been symmetrical in thickness. Also longer/wider.
● None of the sample devices have the iPhone 4/4S form factor
● None of the devices are final versions
Given that the iPhone 4S production didn’t start until late Spring last year, if production is starting now it’s likely that the iPhone 5 would be released by summer.
The online news site also stated that this same source correctly indicated that the iPhone 4S would not launch last summer.
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Jan 26
Apple employees to get $500 off Macs, $250 off iPads starting this June
At Apple’s Town Hall Meeting yesterday, CEO Tim Cook announced that employees will get $500 off Macs and $250 off iPads starting this June.
The new discount program will officially kickoff at some point during the month of June.
A major caveat is that Apple employees may only utilize this opportunity every three years, and employees must have been working for Apple for at least 90 days. The Mac discount side of the program excludes the Mac mini, which is already close to that $500 of credit. Apple employees currently have a 25% discount on Macs, so in many cases the $500 is a big deal.
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Jan 25
Apple has a secret room where designers test product packaging designs?
Apple has a secret room at its headquarters where designers test product packaging designs, according to the Inside Apple book by Adam Lashinsky.
Relaying info from the book, NetworldWorld reports that the at one point the room was filled with hundreds of iPod box prototypes as Apple worked to determine which box lent itself towards evoking the emotional response they wanted upon opening up a product for the first time.
One after another, the designer created and tested an endless series of arrows, colors, and tapes for a tiny tab designed to show the consumer where to pull back the invisible, full-bleed sticker adhered to the top of the clear iPod box. Getting it just right was this particular designer’s obsession.
What’s more, it wasn’t just about one box. The tabs were placed so that when Apple’s factory packed multiple boxes for shipping to retail stores, there was a natural negative space between the boxes that protected and preserved the tab.
It’s this amazing attention to detail that has set Apple products apart from the competition. The Inside Apple book is available from Amazon for $17.19 and all good online and other brick & mortar shops.
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Jan 25
53% of Apple’s revenue is from the sale of iPhones
Following Apple’s financial results for last quarter, Silicon Valley Insider reported that 53% of Apple’s present revenue is from the sale of the iPhone.
Take a look at the chart (above) showing the breakdown of Apple’s Revenue By Product.
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Jan 25
Steve Jobs met with Lytro CEO Ren Ng pertaining to camera
According to the Inside Apple book by Adam Lashinsky, in his final months, Steve Jobs met with Lytro CEO Ren Ng to discuss the company’s camera technology.
Here is a quote from the book that recounts what happened after Ng heard Jobs was interested in meeting him.
The company’s CEO, Ren Ng, a brilliant computer scientist with a PhD from Stanford, immediately called Jobs, who picked up the phone and quickly said, “if you’re free this afternoon maybe we would could get together.” Ng, who is thirty-two, hurried to Palo Alto, showed Jobs a demo of Lytro’s technology, discussed cameras and product design with him, and, at Jobs’s request, agreed to send him an email outlining three things he’d like Lytro to do with Apple.
Lytro’s camera is able to capture the Light Field, the amount of light traveling in every direction through every point in space. This allows both the picture taker and the viewer to focus pictures after they’re snapped, shift their perspective of the scene, and even switch seamlessly between 2D and 3D views.
We shall wait and see if this revolutionary camera makes its way to the iPhone 5.
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Jan 24
Siri has company. Introducing Evi, now available in the App Store!
Siri has company. Introducing Evi.
Evi is a new alternative to Siri for iOS and Android devices that uses artificial intelligence to provide assistance.
Unlike a search engine, which simply looks for matching words and shows you a list of websites, Evi understands what you want to know and gives back exactly what you’re after.
Need to know where the nearest bank is? Not a problem. Going out for dinner but can’t decide where? She can help with that too. The more you ask, the more she will learn, and thus she is improving all the time.
Features:
• Voice or text input – Chat to Evi in plain English and she will understand
• Local information for UK and USA – Shopping, news, dining and more. Evi knows where you are and gives answers based on your location
• One tap words – Allowing you to build your question super-fast
• Built in browser – No need to swap to a different browser, view web links within Evi’s app
• A learning and adapting intelligence – Rate Evi’s answers to help her learn more about the world
• More than a search engine – Evi takes the searching out of search, able to review and compare nearly a billion facts from her database to give you exactly what you need
Availability
You can purchase Evi from the App Store for $0.99.
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