Tim Cook - page 57

New Macs! Mountain Lion! iOS 6! The second part of our WWDC special edition CultCast is now on iTunes, and in this brand new episode, no fruity pebble is left unturned.

Join us as we discuss the pros and cons of Apple’s new Macbook Pro with Retina display, the mysteriously missing iMac and Mac Pro updates, and the best and worst new features of Mountain Lion and iOS 6. Yes sir, we cover it all on this special WWDC edition MEGASODE of the CultCast.

Subscribe now on iTunes, and find out why 2012 is going to be a great year to be an Apple fan.

Full show notes ahead!

Apple is renowned for its obsession with detail and making even the slightest things — such as internal components — just as beautiful as the devices that house them. That’s why, during his recent WWDC keynote, Tim Cook said Apple’s new MacBook Pro was more beautiful on the inside than rival machines are on the outside.

This attention to detail is evident in iOS 6, where the slider reflections change as you tilt your device.

Don’t have time to watch the full WWDC keynote? No problem; we’ve taken the whole thing and mashed it down into just 90 seconds for your viewing pleasure. Check out the video after the break.

In a hysterical change of pace, instead of Apple CEO Tim Cook taking the stage to start the WWDC keynote at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Siri came on the big screen to warm up the crowd instead.

“Hello and welcome to WWDC. I’m Siri, your virtual assistant and today I was asked to warm up the crowd, which should be easy since the high will be 75 degrees,” said Siri.

Here were some more jokes Siri told:

“How many developers does it take to change a lightbulb? None, that’s a hardware problem.”

“Hey, any of you guys been working with ICS or Jelly Bean. Who’s working up these codenames? Ben & Jerry?”

“Seriously, I am excited about the new Samsung. Not the phone, the refrigerator.”

“I love you guys, but it’s hard for me to get emotional. Because my emotions haven’t been coded yet.”

And now Siri is introducing Tim Cook! Awesome!

Image: Engadget

Today at 10AM Pacific, Tim Cook will take the stage at the Moscone Center in San Francisco for Apple’s annual WWDC keynote, and if the rumor mill is to be believed, he’ll be hard pressed to fit everything Cupertino is ready to announce into its 90 minute presentation. We’re looking at massive upgrades to the entire Mac line, the official unveiling of iOS 6, loads of new apps, and maybe possibly even our first glimpse of the iPhone 5 and Apple HDTV.

Here’s what we think Apple will (and won’t) announce today, ranked in order of likelihood.

Apple’s unveiling of its next major operating system, iOS 6, is right around the corner. Scott Forstall and Co. are expected to announce the new OS to developers at WWDC next week. Very little is actually known about iOS 6, but there have been some rumors that made headlines over the last few months.

iOS 6 looks to be an evolutionary upgrade from iOS 5, rather than a revolutionary jump forward. Here’s what we expect to see.

As we patiently wait for Tim Cook to kick off Apple’s WWDC keynote in just under five hours time, the last of the WWDC rumors and reports are spilling in. One of the more questionable pieces comes from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who believes the new MacBook Pro won’t get that thinner, lighter, MacBook Air-like form factor we’ve all been hearing about. But that a resurrected MacBook will instead.

When Apple pulled Airfoil Speakers Touch from the App Store last week, many believed that the Cupertino company was gearing up to introduce the same functionality to iOS 6 later this year. It seems, however, that this was just wishful thinking. In letter to one customer obtained by Cult of Mac, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, explains the real reason why Airfoil Speakers Touch was pulled.

Apple’s tower of power, the Mac Pro, hasn’t been updated in almost two years, but on our latest CultCast, we’ll tell you why that could soon change.

And, did you catch Tim Cook at last week’s All Things D conference? We’ll get you up-to-date quick as we analyze and scrutinize every little thing he said (and didn’t!).

All that and our answers to your questions on our brand new CultCast. Subscribe now in iTunes and read on through for our show notes.

The flaws and future of Siri, his thoughts on Steve Jobs, the long rumored Apple television – Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at the 10th annual All Things D conference, and boy, did he have a lot to say.

Join us in our brand new CultCast episode as we pick apart Tim’s D10 interview and tell you why he possibly confirmed the existence of Apple’s long-rumored, top-secret television.

And is the Mac Pro about to get the axe? We’ll tell you what we think.

All that and our answers to your questions on our brand new CultCast. Subscribe now in iTunes and read on through for our show notes.

At every public appearance by Tim Cook — say, Wednesday’s on-stage interview at AllThingsD’s annual D10 conference, or at the next WWDC keynote — there is always a certain type of commentator who, with hushed voice, will see the spectre of Steve Jobs looming behind Apple’s new CEO.

It’s no wonder. Steve Jobs was a personality larger than life, so it’s no surprise that the force of that personality can still be felt nine months after his death. Likewise, it’s undeniable that the soft-spoken but forceful Cook is less charismatic than his predecessor. But the idea that Tim Cook is a haunted man, trying to live up to the legacy of Jobs, is absurd. He’s his own man, his own CEO, and Apple today is doing better than it ever was under Jobs’s leadership.

Read more at ReadWriteWeb.

Apple’s ability to turn over its inventory incredibly quickly is seen as one of the Cupertino company’s greatest strengths. But just how quickly does it sell its products? According to Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25 league table, Apple clears its entire inventory every 4.9 days. That’s faster than Amazon, Coca-Cola, Dell, and Samsung. In fact, the only company that turns over its inventory quicker is McDonald’s.

Following the Fair Labor Association’s audit into Foxconn working conditions earlier this year, which unearthed several labor violations, including unlawful working hours, poor pay, and a total disregard for health and safety, Apple and Foxconn promised to make some major improvements.

However, two months on, activists say violations “remain the norm,” and that there is no evidence of any significant changes in Foxconn’s Chinese factories.

Mike Daisey, the author behind The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, who was forced to admit that he fabricated some of his claims about worker mistreatment in Apple’s supply chain, has criticized Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher for being too soft on Tim Cook during their interview at All Things D’s D10 conference earlier this week.

After offensively branding Swisher as lazy for her use of the word “fictional,” in a post on his blog, Daisey continues to blast the pair’s “weak” interview questions and suggests how they can “do [their] job better.”

We have yet to see a full video of Tim Cook’s interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at last night’s D10, but this 17-minute video contains most of the highlights, including Tim Cook talking about how Apple names products, what Apple has planned for Siri in the coming months, Tim Cook talking about possible future Facebook integration, what’s coming up for the Apple TV, and why Apple thinks patents are a huge pain in the ass.

During the Q&A session at D10 today Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked an interesting question about how his company names its products. While many have speculated as to why Apple called the fifth-generation iPhone the “4S” back in October, Cook confirmed that the smartphone was named after its flagship feature, Siri.

Apple names its products each generation by either a flagship feature or design change. When a certain product establishes itself, naming conventions are usually dropped altogether, like the iMac and iPod Shuffle.

Speaking at an interview at D: All Things Digital today with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted at some new directions for Siri.

“I think you’re going to be pleased with where we’re taking Siri.” Cook alluded to more breadth from the voice-enabled assistant, as well as admitting that there is more the technology could do.

Apple and Facebook have had a rocky relationship since the two failed to reach an agreement on Ping integration and implementing Facebook in iOS 5 last summer. Things are starting to look up for the two Silicon Valley giants under the new direction of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

At the D10 conference today Cook hinted that his company is working with Facebook to provide direct integration with iOS devices in the near future.

During his interview at the D10 conference today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked point blank by Kara Swisher about how Apple plans to change television.

He replied by praising the current set-top box Apple sells for $100. The Apple TV sold 2.8 million units last year and 2.7 million this year. “It’s an area of intense interest for us,” said Cook, “It’s not a fifth leg of the stool. It’s not the same size as the phone or Mac or tablet business.”

Walt Mossberg, co-interviewer, asked directly if Apple could just make a box and continue leaving the panel to others. Cook replied, “Can we control the key technology? Can we make a significant contribution far beyond what others have done in this area?” That’s the question Apple asks, and Cook seemed to be very interested in what the future may hold for his company’s future contributions.

At the D10 conference today Apple CEO Tim Cook talked about the many patent wars his company is involved in. Declaring that patents are a “pain in the ass,” Cook echoed Steve Jobs when he said, “We just want people to develop their own stuff and not rip us off.”

Cook compared patents to an artist drawing a painting. “We can’t take all of our energy, and all of our care, and finish the painting and have someone else put their name on it.” Apple doesn’t want to be the “developer for the world.”

Tim Cook took a moment at the D10 conference today to defend Apple’s reliance on supply chains and its willingness to micromanage them when they fall short of expectations.

Cook said that no one else is measuring working hours in China, nor reporting on it. “We took a position to say we want to bring this down,” he said. “We’re measuring working hours for 700,000 people.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook shared some thoughts on the late Steve Jobs and his influence on Apple tonight at the D10 conference. When asked how the loss of Jobs has affected Apple, Cook admitted that the death of Jobs was “one of the saddest days of my life,” but that his company is still intensely driven to strive for the very best.

Cook said Jobs taught him that “focus was key,” and to “not accept good,” but only the very best.

Talking with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher today at the D: All Things Digital conference, Tim Cook explained why the iPad wasn’t the same as the Mac.

“The tablet is different,” said Cook. “It can do things that aren’t encumbered by what the PC was. We didn’t invent the tablet market, we invented the modern tablet.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage tonight to sit opposite veteran journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg at the tenth D: All Things Digital (D10) conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. It is Cook’s first major interview since he became the official CEO of Apple last year.

Steve Jobs was known for the interviews he gave at D conferences throughout the years, including his famous face-off with Microsoft’s Bill Gates in 2007. Cook took the stage to talk about the state of Apple under his leadership.

Tim Cook and Choi Gee-sung sat down for nine hours on Monday and seven hours yesterday in an attempt to come to some sort of solution to the litigation mess between Apple and Samsung. Many were hopeful after Tim Cook admitted he’s not a fan of litigation and prefers to “settle versus battle.” Things showed even more promise after Samsung mentioned the possibility of cross-licensing, but after two days and 16 hours, they still couldn’t come to any “clear agreement.”