Earlier this evening, Apple announced some major changes to its executive team. John Browett, the head of Apple Retail, will be leaving the company. And more importantly, so will Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall.
Browett's departure comes as no surprise, as he's had several missteps in his short time at Apple. But Forstall's exit caught some folks off guard, begging the question: was it his decision? And according to a new report, the answer is no...
Earlier today, Apple announced some major changes to its management team. The company's SVP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, will be leaving next year, as will SVP of Retail John Browett. Other executives, particularly Jony Ive, will be picking up Forstall's responsibilities, and a search is underway for Browett's replacement.
This afternoon, Tim Cook sent an internal email to Apple employees regarding the management changes, and thanked Scott for his many years of service. We've got that email after the break...
This is huge: Apple just announced that some major executive changes will be taking place in 2013, one of which involves Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall leaving the company. Forstall, as most of you know, has been largely responsible for the success of iOS and its devices. In his absence, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield and other executives will take on more responsibilities.
Additionally, Apple's newly-appointed head of retail John Browett will also be leaving the company. A new search for his position is already underway, and in the mean time, all Apple retail will be reporting directly to Tim Cook.
More details after the break...
It doesn't hurt to keep tabs on what competition is doing. Hurricane Sandy may have spoiled Google's media event planned for today, but that didn't stop the search giant from launching two new Nexus devices today along an Android software update. The company announced a new four-inch Nexus smartphone, made by LG, that provides pure Android experience free of carrier junkware and user interface skins.
In addition, Google also launched a rumored ten-inch iPad contender with the world's highest-resolution mobile display. Both devices run Android version 4.2, which still carries the Jelly Bean code-name. Here's a full breakdown of Nexus news from today...
Psst. I've got a tip for ya: Apple's going down. Yep, the iPhone maker is set to become a tech dinosaur about a year from now, according to one analyst. I'd blame the whole thing on Hurricane Sandy, but the analyst opinion was released last week, just after Apple announced lower-than-expected profit margins. "Apple's time to turn from tech titan into a dinosaur will come, but we still think that we are at least a year away", Berenberg Bank analyst Adnaan Ahmad recently told investors, according to Daring Fireball and cited by Fortune...
Echoing an earlier prediction by BGR India, The Economic Times has it on good authority that Apple is ready to launch the iPhone 5 in the 1.24 billion people market of India this coming Friday, November 2. The App Store now accepts local currency and everything is seemingly ready for the launch as Apple works to achieve its self-imposed goal of bringing the iPhone 5 to a hundred countries across 240 carriers by year's end. According to web reports, come November 2 the iPhone 5 will also land on store shelves in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Malta, Romania and Thailand and is also expected to hit the Dominican Republic and Mexico...
Stop your worrying. That's the message from one Wall Street analyst trying to calm investors' concerns over Apple announcing smaller margins. A wave of worrying erupted last week when company executives announced the iPad mini comes with an unwanted add-on: tighter profit margins. Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore called such concern "overblown," saying the lower-than-expected margins are "nearly entirely cyclical and not structural" as Apple ramps up production and perfects the manufacturing process. After all, we've seen this before...
In a new report from The Washington Post based on a document by the Defense Department, the Pentagon is reported as tapping contractors as it preps to deploy at least 162,500 iOS and Android devices, potentially expanding to up to eight million devices. It's another blow to Canada-based Research In Motion, which despite its single-digit smartphone share in the United States still enjoys a relatively large, albeit diminishing following amongst governmental agencies. This would mark the first time the Pentagon opened its network to iPhones and Android devices...
Hurricane Sandy is piling up the water as it's on track for a historic hit on the East Coast of the United States. President Obama has declared state of emergency in New York, suspending subway and bus service, closing schools on Monday and scheduling the Holland and Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to also close at 2pm today.
When it became clear that Sandy would make landfall on the East Coast, Google cancelled its previously scheduled October 29 press conference, postponing the launch of promising new Nexus smartphones and tablets. Dozens of Apple Stores along the East Coast will likely be affected, with many outlets taking precautionary measures in order to protect the products, store space itself and staffers. Several Apple Stores have also been spotted using sandbags as a precaution to protect their storefront from damage...
The repair experts over at iFixit pried open Microsoft's Surface RT tablet (model number 1516) and awarded the device a repairability score of four out of ten (ten is the easiest to repair), thanks to several components being modular and replaceable without requiring desoldering. Plus, the battery can be removed "pretty easily", iFixit notes.
This is better than a score of two out of ten for the third-generation iPad with Retina display, but lower than Amazon's Kindle Fire, which has an impressive eight out of ten repairability score. Google's seven-inch Nexus tablet is the easiest to repair among these tablets with a nice seven out of ten score. More tidbits and teardown analysis right below...
If you want a Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini, you'll need to wait two weeks. That's the word this morning as both the black and white iPad mini report a two-week delay for Apple Store customers. The white model quickly went on the waiting list soon after Apple began accepting pre-orders Friday. The Wi-Fi versions of the iPad mini were set to ship Friday, November 2 with the LTE model expected in late November...
Apple has taken some heavy criticism over the past few days regarding the iPad mini's price tag. Starting at $329, a lot of folks feel that it has priced itself out of the 7-8-inch tablet market, which is dominated by $200 slates.
Well if that's the case, then someone forgot to tell consumers. Because according to Apple's website, the company has sold out of its initial pre-order stock of all Wi-Fi iPad minis during the tablet's first 72 hours of availability...