News - page 2006

Here’s a great idea, executed with typical Far East crapgadget mediocrity by Brando: what if your iPad 2’s Smart Cover was actually a battery pack?

Not a shabby idea in the abstract, but Brando hopelessly mucks it up with their Anytone Smart Cover. While it can extend the iPad 2’s 10-hour battery by another four or five hours, the proper way to do this is to make a Smart Cover with the battery packs inside the Cover, not slapped as a sticker to the outside.

What do you expect for the price, though? It’s just thirty eight bucks.

The most valuable tech company on Earth has a new boss, and it’s Tim Cook, an intensely private and soft-spoken man who is taking over the role of CEO from one of the most iconic personalities on the planet. But who is Tim Cook? What’s he like? What’s he done to deserve the job? And can Apple really succeed without Steve Jobs at the helm?

To the latter question, the answer is a resounding yes. In fact, Tim Cook has arguably been running Apple’s day-to-day operations for years. He has been more integral than anyone else in the company short of Steve himself in turning Apple around from a dying and moribund PC maker into the unstoppable juggernaut the company is today. Here’s what you need to know.

Although stepping down as CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs will continue as a controversial member of Disney’s board, reports say. Jobs is Disney’s largest shareholder, owning 7.4 percent of the company. Wednesday, Jobs announced he would also stay on as chairman of Apple, the tech giant he co-founded.

Let’s just take a few minutes away from the stories surrounding Steve Jobs and Tim Cook and talk about the iPad 3. We know it’s not going to launch this year — I’d have put money on that from day one — but according to one report it could go into production as early as October… without Samsung on-board.

The man who is perhaps the best salesman of the modern era has rarely been at a loss for words. Whether talking product design, the direction of technology, thoughts on Apple or life in general, Steve Jobs gives us lots of food for thought about what keeps him going. Here are some of his memorable quotes over the years.

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” [Speaking to John Scully, 1983]

Even before Apple founder Steve Jobs cleaned out his CEO desk, rival companies are commenting on his legacy and bravery in the face of illness. Although Jobs’ departure may be his rivals’ only chance to compete with Apple, the glowing words should be for a dead leader, not one of the most ferocious competitors in Silicon Valley.

Things at Apple are going to be a little different without Steve Jobs at the helm. I have no doubt that Tim Cook will step up to do a fantastic job, but there are many reasons why we’ll never forget Steve’s time at Apple. Here we take a look at some of Apple’s greatest achievements while Steve was at the company, and the products that have made it the world’s largest company.

After Steve Jobs’ resignation, Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook sent out a gracious letter to staff in which he spells out the future of Apple and what it was like to be mentored by Steve for so many years. We’ve got the full text below.

Cult of Mac readers are reacting to the news that Steve Jobs has resigned his place as CEO of Apple, Inc. and although he’ll still be around as the Chairman of Apple’s board many of you were just as shocked and surprised about the news just as much as we were at Cult of Mac.

If you haven’t read the comments on the posts about Steve Jobs you should since some of them are very interesting. I’d like to call your attention to a few of them written by readers after they read my post about  Jobs resigning as Apple’s CEO and COO Tim Cook named as his replacement.

So now I’ll step away from the podium and let you see what some of Cult of Mac’s readers had to say about yesterday’s announcement.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs has always had a love-hate relationship with the media. Those feelings were evident Wednesday, when the tech giant founder reportedly worked a full day before resigning, sticking it in the eye of headlines suggesting he was near death.

Steve Jobs may have technically resigned as CEO, but according to Walt Mossberg, Jobs is still in charge at Apple, and his position at Cupertino will largely remain “unchanged.”

Stock markets appear to recover from Wednesday’s news of Apple CEO Steve Jobs resignation. Early Wall Street trading showed the tech giant off just 2 percent as analysts assured investors the future is in good hands with Tim Cook.

Following Steve Jobs’ decision to step down from the position of Apple CEO yesterday, the internet is awash with reaction pieces and opinions from some of the industry’s biggest names. MacRumors points to a rather humorous anecdote from Google’s Vic Gundotra, in which he pays tribute to Steve’s meticulous attention to detail — which Gundotra believes every CEO should have.

Gina Smith editor-in-chief of BYTE.com and co-author of  iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way (available at the iBook Store) spoke to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak yesterday and according to BYTE the announcement that Jobs was stepping down as Apple CEO made him “happy for Jobs. ”

When I heard about Steve Jobs’ resignation as Apple’s CEO on Wednesday afternoon I mentioned casually to a friend my assessment that “he’s probably the most influential human being of the past one hundred years.”

My friend laughed and said, “no way, you really think so?”

If you’re a regular visitor to Cult of Mac, you’ll already have some appreciation of how terrific Steve Jobs is. But do his employees share the same opinion of him as us fans?  Well, according to the employment reviews and rating site Glassdoor, 97% of them approved of him as CEO — making Steve one of the most successful CEOs among those rated on the site.

Apple’s website already has a new executive profiles page emphasizing Tim Cook as CEO . I guess it should come as no surprise. Steve Jobs has always been disciplined and unsentimental.

Below, Jobs is listed as Chairman of the board. Let’s hope it stays that way for some time.

We all knew this day would come — but not so soon. My reaction was a sudden exclamation of “holy crap” after seeing the USA Today headline pop up on my iPad while on a conference call.

Thank You, Steve Jobs.

We all reacted with surprise and disbelief today as we heard the news you were resigning as CEO of Apple. Anyone who follows Apple in even a cursory fashion knows that you have not been well, so the news was not entirely unexpected. But still quite sudden, and reaction has been swift around the world.

Here are some quick thoughts about Steve Jobs’ resignation…

Steve’s stepping down has been some time coming, but it’s still a shock. We all knew he would be standing down eventually, but that was at some point in the future. Maybe next year, or the year after. It was a shock to hear he’s stepping down. And obviously, it doesn’t bode well for his health.

Steve Jobs has suddenly surprised everyone and resigned as Apple’s CEO. It is really difficult to imagine Apple without Steve Jobs, but here we are so now nothing is left to the imagination. So what will happen now under the leadership of Tim Cook?

Apple stock plummeted during after-hours trading today after Steve Jobs announced his resignation.

Trading was frozen at $376.18 a share for Apple, before the Steve Jobs announced his resignation after the closing bell struck on Wall Street today. Shares tumbled after news of Jobs’s resignation, and had already fallen over five percent, or $19, by 5 P.M. PDT.

Apple shares were up a half percent from opening before the news. How far they fall before morning should give some indication of how much the public believes Steve=Apple. Follow the shares here.

Steve Jobs and Apple may not have an official presence on Twitter but within minutes of his resignation as CEO, the Cupertino company is a trending topic.

Four out of the five trending topics were Apple-related at this writing: CEO of Apple, Tim Cook and STEVE JOBS RESIGNS (caps not ours).

While it’s not surprising that a shift at the helm of the one of the world’s most powerful companies trends on the microblogging service, it’s still surprising to see how fast it happened.

We’re going to skip over all the iQuit jokes; a few of our favorites so far:

“Steve Jobs sets all-time high-score on second attempt, retires undefeated.” Matthew Vosburgh

“Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO of Apple should be no surprise to anyone. It’s been listed on page 46 of iTunes terms & conditions for weeks.” Bill Walton

“Steve Jobs has done more to change our world, the flow of information, technology, the economy and perception of what is possible…” Mark Davidson

Surprising news today from Cupertino that Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, Inc. Jobs has stepped down and the board is naming Tim Cook as his replacement. The company said, “Steve extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company, ” and Jobs stated:

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

Steve Jobs will remain as the Chairman on Apple’s board. Check out the complete press release after the break.