Apple promotes Jeff Williams to Chief Operating Officer, Phil Schiller will oversee all App Stores
Apple today announced a few leadership changes including a new COO and changes to App Store leadership. Jeff Williams, previously Senior Vice President Operations, is officially being promoted to Chief Operating Officer which is CEO Tim Cook’s old title.
Phil Schiller, Apple’s Worldwide Marketing SVP, will add to his responsibilities the task of overseeing all the App Store leadership. The App Store change notably follows discontent from developers that the iPhone App Store has seen more focus than the Mac App Store, which key developers have left in recent months.
Johny Srouji, previously Vice President Hardware Technologies, is being promoted to the executive level as SVP of Hardware Technologies. And Tor Myhren will join the company early next year to become VP of Marketing Communications. Press release below:
From Apple.com:
Apple Names Jeff Williams Chief Operating Officer
Johny Srouji Named to Executive Team; Phil Schiller Adds Ecosystem Responsibilities
Tor Myhren Joins Apple
CUPERTINO, California — December 17, 2015 — Apple® today announced that Jeff Williams has been named chief operating officer and Johny Srouji is joining Apple’s executive team as senior vice president for Hardware Technologies. Phil Schiller, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, will expand his role to include leadership of the revolutionary App Store® across all Apple platforms. Apple also announced that Tor Myhren will join Apple in the first calendar quarter of 2016 as vice president of Marketing Communications, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.
“We are fortunate to have incredible depth and breadth of talent across Apple’s executive team. As we come to the end of the year, we’re recognizing the contributions already being made by two key executives,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with, and Johny’s team delivers world-class silicon designs which enable new innovations in our products year after year.”
Cook continued, “In addition, Phil is taking on new responsibilities for advancing our ecosystem, led by the App Store, which has grown from a single, groundbreaking iOS store into four powerful platforms and an increasingly important part of our business. And I’m incredibly happy to welcome Tor Myhren, who will bring his creative talents to our advertising and marcom functions.”
Jeff joined Apple in 1998 as head of worldwide procurement and in 2004 he was named vice president of Operations. Since 2010 he has overseen Apple’s entire supply chain, service and support, and the social responsibility initiatives which protect more than one million workers worldwide. Jeff played a key role in Apple’s entry into the mobile phone market with the launch of iPhone®, and he continues to supervise development of Apple’s first wearable product, Apple Watch®.
In nearly eight years at Apple as vice president of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji has built one of the world’s strongest and most innovative teams of silicon and technology engineers, overseeing breakthrough custom silicon and hardware technologies including batteries, application processors, storage controllers, sensors silicon, display silicon and other chipsets across Apple’s entire product line. Educated at Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology, Johny joined Apple in 2008 to lead development of the A4, the first Apple-designed system on a chip.
With added responsibility for the App Store, Phil Schiller will focus on strategies to extend the ecosystem Apple customers have come to love when using their iPhone, iPad®, Mac®, Apple Watch and Apple TV®. Phil now leads nearly all developer-related functions at Apple, in addition to his other marketing responsibilities including Worldwide Product Marketing, international marketing, education and business marketing. More than 11 million developers around the world create apps for Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X®, watchOS™ and tvOS™ — as well as compatible hardware and other accessories, and customers have downloaded more than 100 billion apps across those platforms.
Tor Myhren joins Apple from Grey Group, where he has served as chief creative officer and president of Grey New York. Under his leadership, Grey was named Adweek’s Global Agency of the Year for both 2013 and 2015. As vice president of Marketing Communications at Apple, Tor will be responsible for Apple’s advertising efforts and will lead an award-winning team that spans a broad range of creative disciplines from video, motion graphics and interactive web design to packaging and retail store displays.
Tor will succeed Hiroki Asai, who earlier announced plans to retire after 18 years in graphic design and marketing communications roles at Apple.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
Press Contacts:
Kristin Huguet
Apple
khuguet@apple.com
(408) 974-2414
Apple, App Store, iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, OS X , watchOS, tvOS and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Filed under: iOS Devices
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Adobe Post debuts on iPhone, lets anyone create memorable graphics on-the-go
Adobe is out today with its latest iOS-first app for mobile creatives. Adobe Post joins the free suite of other easy-to-use mobile apps for sharing that includes the Slate and Voice iPad apps. Where Voice lets you combine recorded storytelling with visuals and Slate lets anyone create magazine-quality stories from iPad, Adobe Post makes creating good-looking, sharable graphics from the iPhone as easy as picking the right image, font, and words.
The easiest way to describe Adobe Post is as a more professional meme generator app that you can take seriously. Meme generator apps let you stack text over images to send a message over social media, and Post does the same thing but with Adobe’s expertise in creativity behind it.
The app lets you use your own imagery or pick from Adobe’s offerings, apply customizable text with rich fonts over images, and even use designs created by others for inspiration.
Projects can be saved after they’re created and reused or tweaked for future use. Sharing supports Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, saving to the Camera Roll, email, messaging, and more. And iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users can take advantage of 3D Touch in the app from day one.
You don’t need to know Photoshop or Lightroom to enhance photos and layouts either, but because Adobe makes it all the same editing quality is available. Adobe says this is what people have been creating during Post’s testing:
• Social media posts
• Inspirational quotes
• Event invites
• Album covers
• Email newsletter graphics
• Announcement posters
• Blog banners
• Business graphics
• Photo captions
• Text on photos
Adobe Post for iPhone is available completely free on the App Store.
Filed under: Apps Tagged: Adobe, Adobe Post, creatives, generator, Graphics, Meme, Post, social, storytelling
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Blackberry CEO attacks Apple’s stance on privacy, says ‘putting reputation above the greater good’
Blackberry CEO John Chen has written a blog post criticizing Apple’s strong stance on the privacy of customer data, suggesting that BlackBerry’s own privacy commitment “does not extend to criminals.” Although he does not name Apple directly, Chen links to an arsTechnica piece in which a NY federal judge expressed displeasure at Apple’s position in a case involving an iPhone belonging to a suspected drug dealer.
For years, government officials have pleaded to the technology industry for help yet have been met with disdain. In fact, one of the world’s most powerful tech companies recently refused a lawful access request in an investigation of a known drug dealer because doing so would “substantially tarnish the brand” of the company. We are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good.
Apple uses end-to-end encryption for both iMessages and FaceTime, making it impossible for the company to decrypt these communications, and also introduced strong encryption of iOS devices in iOS 8, again leaving the company unable to access locked devices.
Opposition to Apple’s approach has included the United States Attorney General, the FBI, the DOJ and other law-enforcement agencies – with the Homeland Security Committee and CIA joining in following the Paris attacks.
Chen seems unaware of both the irony of his stance – as head of a company built on secure communications – and the potential damage to the company’s reputation by implicitly suggesting that its own devices can have their privacy compromised. As I argued in a recent opinion piece, if you build in a hole designed to be used by law enforcement agencies, it’s only a matter of time before criminals gain access.
Via Business Insider. Photo Bidness Etc.
Filed under: iOS Devices
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Music industry analyst estimates Apple Music will hit 8M paid subscribers this year, 20M next year
A well-known music industry analyst is estimating that Apple Music will hit 8M paid subscribers by the end of the year, and will reach 20M by the end of 2016, reports Music Business Worldwide. The prediction was made by Mark Mulligan, co-founder of digital content specialists Midia Consulting, who previously held senior research positions with Forrester and Jupiter.
In raw numbers terms, that would put it just behind market leader Spotify by the end of next year, but that may not quite present the true picture …
Spotify’s ‘paid subscribers’ currently include those on its three-month trial of Spotify Premium, which costs just $1/month. Its true numbers are thus likely to be significantly lower.
“The wildcards in the equation are whether Apple can do a better job of pushing users from iTunes Radio to Apple Music and what happens when Spotify restates its subscriber number to reflect the impact of $1 a month 3 month trials,” writes Mulligan.
Apple revealed in October that it had 6.5M paying subscribers, a take-up rate Mulligan described as ‘astounding.’ As I mentioned at the time, however, there is also an unknown in Apple’s numbers: how many of those are free trialists who simply forgot to cancel before the first payment was taken? Apple may also have further muddied the waters by gifting paid subscriptions to retail employees.
Apple reportedly tried hard to negotiate deals with labels that would have allowed it to charge less than $10/month for the service, but labels resisted. Mulligan believes that Apple hasn’t necessarily given up on this aim.
If Apple finds growth tough going, expect it to throw everything it has got at getting the labels to agree to lower price point products so it can open up large chunks of the iTunes music customer base.
If the 8M figure turns out to be correct, Apple will have acquired twice as many subscribers in six months as Spotify achieved in its first four years.
The service got a new group of potential subscribers this week when Sonos rolled out support for the service, albeit in beta form for now.
Filed under: Apple Music, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Inc, Apple Music, Music, Spotify, Streaming media, Streaming Music
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A deep dive into the insane market of absurd counterfeit Apple products [Video]
Ever wonder where most of the world’s knock-off Apple products and electronics come from? Recently, I took a trip to Shenzhen in China and got to check out the madness first hand. In Shenzhen, they’ll slap an Apple logo on just about anything and try to pass it off as legitimate. Needless to say, it makes for a very comical experience…
Ever heard of the iPhone 7 Bluetooth Headset? No? Where have you been? It’s all the craze in Shenzhen. How about an external battery pack that looks exactly like an iPhone 6s? There are a ton of crazy Apple-branded gadgets in China that definitely aren’t certified, but some of them sure do look legit, while others not so much.
I had a chance to visit the famous Shenzhen electronics market and pick up a handful of goofy gadgets, some of which are very sad and funny attempts at making anything an Apple product. The cool part, however, is each of the items I picked up was only around ¥200, which comes out to be about $30.
As an interesting note, Apple’s contract manufacturer in China is Foxconn, which has of course been the subject of a lot of scrutiny over the years. Foxconn is located in Shenzhen, the same city in which I saw the huge market for counterfeit Apple products, so it’s interesting to speculate that a lot of the fake goods originate from the same source as the real deal.
I put together a video of all the crazy electronics and obviously fake Apple products in the below video. It’s pretty funny stuff and really opens your eyes as to the insanely huge market for counterfeit Apple products there is. Check out the video below:
Filed under: Tech Industry Tagged: Apple, china, random, Shenzhen, tech
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Apple redesigns Mac in Business webpage, says it’s a ‘brand new day for business’
Apple today has given its Mac in Business website a major design overhaul, introducing a new tagline that says it’s “a brand new day for business.” The design refresh comes on the heels of Apple and IBM’s enterprise agreement hitting more than 100 apps across 14 industries and 65 professions earlier today.
“Organizations everywhere are realizing the potential that Mac brings to their employees by giving them the freedom to use the tools they already know and love,” Apple touts on the new webpage. The refreshed Mac in Business site replaces one that was seriously outdated, still referencing Yosemite and advertising the features from that release as brand new.
Regarding Apple’s partnership with IBM, the new Mac in Business webpage mentions specifically how successful the agreement has been. Apple brags that the Mac has surged within IBM, leading to reduced support costs within the company.
Furthermore, the webpage advertises the combination of performance and portability that Apple’s MacBook lineup offers compared to competing products on the market. The site also makes mention of features like Handoff, Continuity, and Personal Hotspot that allow seamless combinations of Macs, iPhones, and iPads.
Last week, Apple gave the Apple ID web portal and much-needed modern makeover, replacing the old and stale design that had blessed the page for so long. You can view the new Mac in Business site here. The redesign highlights Apple’s increased focus on the enterprise market this year. Tim Cook has conducted a variety of enterprise-focused interviews over the course of the year, appearing at BoxWorks with Aaron Levie, a Cisco product unveil, and at the WSJ.D live conference. Eddy Cue also appeared at the Dropbox Open conference.
Filed under: Mac Tagged: Apple, enterprise, Mac in Business, redesign
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OS X 10.11.3 developer beta 1 hits the Mac App Store
In addition to iOS 9.2.1 beta 1, Apple has released OS X 10.11.3 developer beta 1 through the Mac App Store. The pre-release software doesn’t contain any release notes or focus areas, but likely includes further performance improvements and bug fixes. The first OS X 10.11.3 developer beta follows last week’s public release of OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 which had its own list of small fixes for the Mac operating system.
Filed under: iOS Devices
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Facebook Messenger now lets you call an Uber w/ friends, adds 3D Touch, more
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
Today, we’re expanding the services available to you with our launch of transportation on Messenger. With this new feature, you can request a ride from a car service without ever needing to download an extra app or leave a conversation. It’s super easy and doesn’t take you away from the plans that you’re making with your friends or family.
Here’s how it works. In the latest version of the Messenger mobile app, you’ll find a “Transportation” option under the menu in conversations. Alternatively, you can search for Uber, the company’s first and for now only partner for the feature, and tap the icon to request a car. You’ll be able to complete the entire process without using the Uber app.
For a limited time, Uber is giving $20 free ride credits if you link your Uber account in Messenger.
The service is rolling out now but the company notes that it’s still in testing and available in select locations in the US only. But it plans to expand the service with more locations and car services in the near future.
And the Messenger app also gets an update today to version 52.0 with the addition of 3D Touch for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users (pictured above), the ability to invite anyone with a phone number to chat, and, for the holidays, snowflakes “when you send or receive winter related emojis and stickers.”
Filed under: Apps Tagged: 3D Touch, App Store, chat, Facebook, iOS, transportation, Uber, update, version 52.0
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Apple, Google among streaming providers NFL is expecting to bid on Thursday Night Football
The NFL is said to be looking at Apple, Google, Amazon and Yahoo as platform partners for streaming its Thursday night football games according to SportsBusinessDaily:
The league also sent RFPs to several digital companies, like Google, Yahoo, Apple and Amazon, to stream the entire Thursday night schedule on a non-exclusive basis, sources said. The league’s initial plan would have the digital streams serve as a simulcast of the television production — with the same ads and in-game production features. The league expects bidding to start in the low $300M for the television package, with a nominal escalator in year two, sources said.
Yahoo, who is expected to bid, paid $15M to exclusively stream one game this season according to the report so the deal would be a big one. Because the streaming deal would be non-exclusive, the prices would be much lower on a per-game basis. More importantly, the deal would hopefully be the first step into the much larger goal of streaming the whole NFL Season.
Apple TV got the Game Pass service featuring live preseason football games on updated NFL app just four months ago, and now has tvOS as a platform to expand on that.
We know Tim Cook likes his Auburn football and SVP Eddy Cue is a big sports fan so…
Filed under: Apple TV Tagged: Amazon, Apple, Apple TV, Football, Google, NFL, Sports, Thursday Night Football, Yahoo
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Happy Hour Podcast 045 | Apple Watch 2 Details
This week, we discuss some new details on the Apple Watch 2, an upcoming Apple TV Siri Remote app, and all the new stuff released between now and the last episode! The Happy Hour podcast is available for download on iTunes and through our dedicated RSS feed.
New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. As mentioned, you can download this podcast via iTunes or plug in our RSS feed link into your favorite podcasting app. Send an email to listenermail@9to5mac.com (or click here) and your question/comment may be featured in an upcoming episode of Happy Hour.
Note: iTunes (web interface and app) may still be propagating the new episode which could take up to 24 hours. Subscribing to the podcast feed will guarantee the latest episode is downloaded.
Hosts:
Here’s what we discussed in this episode:
- Apple releases $99 iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case, Apple’s first official battery pack iPhone case
- Apple plans March Apple Watch 2 event, 4-inch ‘iPhone 6c’ possible
- Opinion: How soon is too soon for an Apple Watch 2?
- tvOS 9.1 is now available on the new Apple TV, Siri now plays Apple Music + Remote app works
- Apple plans to bring Siri Remote features to the iOS Remote app in 2016
- Apple’s Tim Cook comments on iPhone 6/s battery case: It’s for overnight trips, not daily charging
- Official BBC iPlayer app launches on Apple TV for UK users
- Apple almost halves price of iPhone 5s in India as it seeks to accelerate growth
- How-To: Find and create Christmas stations + playlists with Apple Music
- Sonos rolling out Apple Music support in beta from today
If you missed our 44th episode last week, you can subscribe and find every episode or start off from the previous episode here.
Remember: Subscribe on iTunes to catch all of the episodes as they go live and send in your questions/comments to listenermail@9to5mac.com.
Filed under: Happy Hour Tagged: Apple, Apple TV, Apple Watch 2, Happy Hour, Podcast
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