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Limited edition Droid RAZR and RAZR Maxx appear, exclusive to Verizon employees?
It seems that the hard workin' folks at Verizon Wireless may soon have a special phone to call their own. That's the word from Android and Me, which reports that Big Red's staffers are being offered exclusive versions of the Droid RAZR (16GB, $99) and RAZR Maxx (32GB, $199). In addition to a distinctive red and black pattern on the handset's rear, a unique number will be engraved within the camera pod and the words 'Limited Edition' will appear next to Verizon's logo on the front. Employees will also score a free dock with their purchase and can expect the handsets to arrive in April -- which is a good indication of when these things should hit Craigslist.
Report: Google hires Apple exec to work on 'secret project'
Google appears to have scored another coup in its ongoing rivalry with Apple, having reportedly lured one of the company's senior directors to its Mountain View headquarters. Simon Prakash, pictured above, has worked at Apple for more than eight years, most recently serving as the firm's senior director of product integrity. According to VentureBeat, however, that tenure has come to a close, now that Google has hired Prakesh to work on a "secret project." The report speculates that this project could be helmed by co-founder Sergey Brin, and that it may be mobile-related, though declarative statements were few and far between. Prior to arriving at Apple, Prakash served as director of engineering design validation at Cielo Communications, and held managerial positions at 3Com. VentureBeat claims he'll be starting work at Google today, though the company has yet to issue any statement on the matter. Once finalized, though, the hiring could help dispel some of those "no poach" accusations flying around federal courts.
DOJ investigation yields fresh evidence against Google, Apple in antitrust lawsuit
Back in 2009, a small controversy began swirling around Google and Apple, amid allegations that the two companies had struck an informal agreement to not poach each other's employees. The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the matter in 2010, but details of the case were only made public for the first time yesterday. TechCrunch was the first to sift through the documents, and has uncovered some ostensibly incriminating evidence against not only Google and Apple, but Pixar, Lucasfilm, Adobe, Intel, and Intuit, as well. According to filings from the US District Court for the Northern District of California, these companies did indeed enter "no poach" agreements with each other, and agreed to refrain from engaging in bidding wars. The documents also suggest that they collectively sought to limit their employees' power to negotiate for higher salaries. Some of the most apparently damning evidence derives from archived e-mails, including one that Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen penned to Steve Jobs in May 2005. In the message, sent under the subject "Recruitment of Apple Employees," Adobe's SVP of human resources explains that "Bruce and Steve Jobs have an agreement that we are not to solicit ANY Apple employees, and vice versa." Pixar's Lori McAdams expressed similar sentiments in an internal e-mail from 2007, writing: "I just got off the phone with Danielle Lambert [of Apple], and we agreed that effective now, we'll follow a Gentleman's agreement with Apple that is similar to our Lucasfilm agreement." This would suggest, as the DOJ writes, that there's "strong evidence that the companies knew about the other express agreements, patterned their own agreements off of them, and operated them concurrently with the others to accomplish the same objective." The DOJ announced in September that it had reached settlements with the six implicated firms, but a class-action lawsuit is scheduled to get underway next week in San Jose.
Apple corporate matching program raises $2.6M for charities
As first reported by AppleInsider, Apple has announced to its employees that their combined efforts have led to US$2.6 million being donated to charitable companies since the company's "Apple Matching Gifts Program" began. That's not a bad haul considering the program is only seven weeks old. The program was started by Apple's new CEO Tim Cook in September. Through the program Apple will match employee donations dollar-for-dollar -- up to $10,000 per employee, per year -- to any nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Currently the "Apple Matching Gifts Program" is only available to US employees, though Apple is expected to roll it out in other countries in the coming months.
Layoffs underway at HP's webOS division, hundreds of employees may be in jeopardy
HP's webOS-powered devices are riding off into the sunset and so too, apparently, are hundreds of jobs. Sources close to the company tell All Things Digital that upwards of 525 employees at HP's Palm division are slated to lose their jobs in the near future, as part of a layoff process that began this week. In a statement, an HP spokesperson explained the decision thusly: "As communicated on August 18, HP will discontinue the development of webOs devices within the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ends Oct 31 2011. As part of this decision, the webOS GBU is undergoing a reduction in workforce. Today's actions are part of this initiative. During this time, we stand by our commitment to our webOS customers and will work to ensure that support and service for customers are not adversely affected." The company went on to say that it's still "exploring ways to leverage webOS software," but declined to specify the exact number of hardware-related jobs that would be cut.
360iDev Denver: Matt Drance on the past and future of iOS development
This week's 360iDev conference in Denver, CO kicked off today with a keynote from former Apple employee Matt Drance, who offered a summary of what's changed (and what hasn't) since the last time he spoke to this conference two years ago. He also discussed the attitudes developers need to take this platform on successfully. Drance started out by saying that, quite obviously, "it's been a hell of a couple years" for both Apple and the iOS platform. Back in the early days of the iPhone, Steve Jobs said Apple hoped to sell 10 million devices, and to date, Apple has actually put 220 million devices out there (as of July of this past year). Drance was very enthusiastic about the platform -- he says that back when John Doerr said that the iOS platform was "bigger than the personal computer," even he, as an Apple employee thought, "I don't know, John. I'm paid to pump this stuff, and even I think that's a bit much." But Doerr was right, said Drance. The portability and power of iOS and the devices Apple has made transcends even what the personal computer was able to achieve, and it's only going to get even more influential from here on out. Drance also made the point, however, that some things haven't changed in the past few years. While the app landscape and individual app quality are both very different, the general system of making and releasing apps hasn't changed that much. And that's pretty amazing, said Drance, because not only is Apple supporting developers, it's still putting them front and center in commercials for iOS devices. This is one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world, said Drance, and Apple is using developers' work (by showing third-party apps its TV commercials) to sell their extremely popular devices. "Apple never puts its reputation in other people's hands," said Drance. "But they're still doing it" by showing off developers' apps, a tablet, and a pair of hands in the official commercials. Finally, Drance walked through a series of entreaties for the developers in attendance, which he said were designed to help them get in the right mindset of the conference. He walked through the general needs of an app (appearance, interaction, stability, performance), and then said while designers tend to work on an app's appearance and interaction, and developers tend to deal with stability and performance, in actuality, everyone working on an app or any piece of software should be concerned with quality across the board. Drance encouraged teams to share concerns with each other whenever questions of quality came up. "It's not about winning the argument," he said, "it's about having one." Drance also suggested developers start out with a plan and stick to it, and remain organized to do so. He shared a quick story of a sprinkler system issue in his yard, and showed pictures he took after digging up the pipes and finding a mess of criss-crossing and tangled PVC. "There are no comments here," he joked, nabbing a big laugh from a roomful of developers. But Drance said the lesson was to go for quality in everything, on every level of development. Finally, Drance asked the devs in attendance to keep moving forward, both in terms of the apps they're working on ("Ship" was one of his directives) and in their own skillsets. "Learn the language," he said, pointing out that being well-versed in Objective-C was the same as having a solid grasp on French or even English. Apple's own code doesn't use methods like "ApplicationLaunched" -- iOS uses a method called "ApplicationDidFinishLaunching," which Drance said reflected how even Apple approaches its own language. Drance's talk was an excellent start to the week. TUAW will be here in Denver all week long covering the conference and the developers attending it -- stay tuned for more.
Judge rules in favor of employees fired over Facebook post, orders them back to work
The National Labor Relations Board has weighed in on the role of social networking at the office, determining that employees can't be fired for what they post on Facebook -- as long as they use the platform to talk about improving their workplace. The NLRB's ruling, announced on Wednesday, stems from an incident last year, when an employee at the Hispanics United of Buffalo non-profit organization went on Facebook to complain about a co-worker who accused her of slacking off at the office. Other colleagues soon chimed in on the woman's wall post with a slew of profanity-laced comments, before the targeted employee noticed the thread and reported it to a supervisor. Citing the agency's zero-tolerance policy on cyber harassment, the boss fired the five employees who participated in the online discussion -- including one who went on to file a complaint with the NLRB. Last week, administrative law Judge Arthur Amchan finally issued a verdict in the case, determining that the employees retained the right to talk about "their terms and conditions of employment," as stipulated under the National Labor Relations Act. Because this particular Facebook thread involved discussion of "job performance and staffing levels," Amchan ordered Hispanics United to reinstate the employees. The decision marks the first time that an administrative judge has ruled on a Facebook-related workplace case, though the NLRB says it's received "an increasing number of charges related to social media in the past year" -- so it likely won't be the last. You can read the Board's statement in full, after the break.
Samsung study finds no link between cancer and work conditions, might not be released in full
Samsung has finally wrapped up that investigation into alleged cancer risks at its chip facilities, but it might not share the details with the rest of the world. In the study, which the company commissioned last year, researchers from US-based Environ International Corp. found that cancers affecting six semiconductor employees were unrelated to any chemicals they may have been exposed to on the job. Of those six workers, four have already died and five of the families are currently pressing charges. Last month, a South Korea court determined that two of the cases could be linked to toxic chemical exposure -- a ruling that Environ's report clearly contradicts. Samsung, however, is reluctant to disclose the results in full, for fear that doing so may reveal some proprietary information. Environ's Paul Harper declined to say how much Samsung paid for the investigation, due to client confidentiality, while confirming that the research was carried out in consultation with a panel of independent experts. Semiconductor exec Kwon Oh-hyun, meanwhile, denied that the company commissioned the study in order to use it as evidence in the ongoing court case, in which Samsung isn't even listed as a defendant.
Google+ iOS app already submitted for Apple's approval, employee says
Whereas Android users were able to get their hands on a Google+ app as soon as the social network launched, iOS users have thus far been left out in the cold, with nary a soul to "hang out" with. Fortunately for them, though, their arduous, week-long wait may be coming to an end, now that Google+ has applied for App Store citizenship. The confirmation came yesterday from Erica Joy, a Mountain View employee who shared the news on her Google+ profile. According to Joy, the app has already been submitted for approval, leaving it up to Apple's council of elders to give the yea or nay. Joy didn't specify the exact date on which Google applied for iOS entry (saying only that it happened prior to yesterday's post), nor did she speculate as to when the app may be ratified. But unless it's laced with political rhetoric or packing a dictionary, Google+ should sail through the approval process... maybe.
RIM gets handed open letter from disgruntled employee, quickly responds in kind
One of the blessings -- and curses -- of this World Wide Web is that it creates a forum for open discussion, where we can communicate anything that our heart desires and feel like someone is listening to us. BGR published an open letter reportedly written by a senior executive at Research in Motion, chastising upper management for its inability to make bold business decisions as it continues to consistently lose market share. The anonymous author listed out several suggestions on how their company could improve its status and work its way back up to the top of the smartphone totem pole. As it turns out, the disgruntled employee was successful in that RIM published a response to the anonymous communication. What exactly were this employee's suggestions, and how did the folks in Waterloo respond? We'll break down the letters after the break.
Senior iCloud product manager John Herbold leaves Apple
John Herbold, a senior product manager for Apple's iCloud service, has updated his LinkedIn profile to show that he's no longer with the company in Cupertino. Herbold's LinkedIn now shows that he works for a company called HealthTeacher, and his work at Apple is in the past. He also says that working with Apple "was a great privilege. Now I get to take that experience and apply it to the enormous challenge of materially improving youth health." Herbold is only the latest in a growing line of big Apple executive exits, including Bertrand Serlet a little while ago, and Ron Johnson from the company's retail division. Still, for a company as big as Apple, all of these exits are likely just more indicative of usual turnover rather than a motivated mass exodus.
Smug alert: Google says it has largest corporate EV charging network in the US (video)
Things are just getting greener and greener over at Google. Yesterday, the company triumphantly declared that its Mountain View campus now boasts the largest corporate EV charging network in the US, with some 200 chargers currently in place, plus an extra 250 that are on the way. It's all part of El Goog's RechargeIt sustainability initiative, launched in 2007, which has also given rise to the Gfleet -- a set of company-owned plug-ins made available for employees. Now that Google has purchased some extra Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs, this Gfleet will eventually expand to include a total of 30 EVs, which explains the expansion of its ChargePoint Network. The ultimate goal is to have charging stations at five percent of Mountain View's parking spaces, all of which will be searchable on Google Maps, and available for employees to use for free. The company hopes this initiative will encourage more people to purchase EVs, and estimates that it'll eventually save a total of 5,400 tonnes of CO2 per year -- the equivalent to removing about 2,000 cars from the road. Head past the break for a video on the program, or hit up the source link if you'd like to help Google pat itself on the back.
Former Apple employee admits he sold confidential info, cost the company in excess of $2 million
Paul Devine, the man who last August collected a pretty lengthy list of charges against his name from the FBI and IRS -- which collectively amounted to an accusation of "screwing Apple" -- has now admitted his guilt. Specifically, Devine has fessed up to wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, in which he engaged while exchanging confidential information about upcoming Apple products for cold hard cash from interested parts suppliers. He's now having to forfeit $2.28 million in money and property that resulted from his nefarious exploits, with sentencing scheduled for June 6th. Devine's lawyer is quoted as saying he's a "good man who made a mistake, and now he's trying to make amends." Indeed, the mistake of getting caught and the amends of trying not to go to prison. Jump past the break for a full statement on the matter from the US Department of Justice.
Former Apple Store employee sues for discrimination, claims bizarre ordeal
The Apple Store in the SoHo section of New York City has reportedly been sued for discrimination by a former employee, who claims that she was unlawfully fired after taking a medical leave. Nicole Sullivan started working for Apple in 2008, and then took a leave in 2009 because of a nervous disorder. Despite being told that Apple wouldn't learn of her diagnosis, she claims that when she returned to the store, her coworkers clearly knew what had happened. What happened next sounds even more bizarre -- she was given a desk in the store's basement, and when she tried to apply for positions on the store floor, was told that "there were questions about her mental stability." She's now suing the company for back pay, benefits and $300,000 in damages for the alleged discrimination. Interesting story if true. I haven't worked at an Apple Store, but I have worked in retail, and I saw enough bizarre interactions between employees and managers that I can believe something like this may have happened. Then again, I am not a lawyer, so I won't make any predictions on how this will all turn out in court. Of course, this is likely all the result of some specific manager's decision, not actual Apple policy. Hopefully the matter will be settled justly and as quickly as possible.
What is it like to work at Apple?
Ever wondered what it's like to work at Apple? AOL Jobs spoke to Joe Moreno, a software engineer who worked at Apple from 1998 to 2007. Joe touched numerous products and projects, notably WebObjects and the Apple Online Store (No, he wasn't the guy who puts the yellow sticky note up when new products arrive). His accounts of Apple make it sound like working there is almost as innovative as their products. From HR to communications, there's a lot other companies could learn from. As TUAW is a blog about Apple, I found the following quite interesting: "As an Apple employee, you definitely get the feeling that blogging about the company is frowned upon. It goes to the extent that, if you have a personal blog about an unrelated topic, you don't even want to mention that you work for Apple." There are very few company blogs, even with notable exceptions such as Surfin' Safari, their WebKit blog. Still, this is in contrast to Microsoft, where there are numerous blogs by product divisions and personnel. Then again, it's been a long time since Microsoft routinely surprised and delighted their customers and fans, so perhaps Apple is on to something.
HTC 7 Pro going on preorder for Microsoft employees November 8th
Sprint will apparently be offering preorders of its HTC 7 Pro -- the only CDMA Windows Phone 7 device to be announced so far -- in just a few days' time on November 8th, but there's a fairly big catch: you've got to be a Microsoft employee to get in on the action. Redmond has been great about seeding WP7 models to its staff so far, so it's definitely possible that Sprint is working with Microsoft in some capacity to get 7 Pros to its folks a little early in an effort to smooth out last-minute bugs and get feedback... either that, or it's just doing them a solid by letting 'em preorder a few days before everyone else. Last we'd heard, the 7 Pro won't be coming until 2011 (despite the fact that there's already an FCC certification ready to roll), so if we were to see a few of the things floating around campus before January, we certainly wouldn't be surprised. Pricing is yet to be announced.
Apple looking to hire iBookstore marketing manager
Apple has posted a new job listing looking for a marketing manager specifically for the iBookstore. The listing seeks an experienced business marketer "to drive awareness and sales of iBooks through co-marketing programs with publishers and authors, strategic partnerships, and via online and direct marketing tactics." It seems like a lot of the position will be self-driven, as whoever's chosen will be asked to come up with some interesting schemes to push iBook sales, both with publishers, and even across the other divisions of iTunes (buy an iBook, get an iTunes download free?). But the bottom line is of course sales -- Apple wants someone to push iBooks, specifically in the US. More power to them, we say. Apple has some staunch competitors in terms of book sales -- while I'd consider the iPad a much better e-reader than Amazon's Kindle, I've actually purchased more books from the Kindle store just because I feel it's a better experience. Maybe with someone in charge of getting readers into the iBookstore, we'll see more reasons to stick with Apple's digital editions rather than going elsewhere. [via Macsimum News]
Apple's Shanghai shirt: "Made for China"
We've heard great things already about the brand new Apple Store in Shanghai, but this one's interesting: on the back of employees' t-shirts there (which are red, apparently, rather than the usual black found in North America), Apple has printed "Designed in California, Made for China" in Chinese. That's obviously a play on the "Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China" that you'll find on the back of your iPhone and many of Apple's other products. Cult of Mac checked in with Chinese gadget blogger Chris Chang, and he says that the reference does play in Shanghai. He was at the store when it opened, and says that Apple is definitely pushing to do better in China, and create more of a presence there. That's really interesting -- Apple's not only trying to simply sell its products over there, but it's actually localizing the brand a bit to do so.
Sprint fires employee who leaked weak EVO 4G sales numbers
You know the backstory by now: Sprint boasted that the EVO 4G was its fastest selling phone ever a couple of days after hitting the American market, before abruptly correcting itself and admitting that the EVO's sales were in fact in line with those achieved by the Pre last summer. What you, and we, didn't know till now, however, is that Sprint's self-correction was sparked off by an employee with a curious mind and posting privileges over on the xda-developers forum. On June 6, according to MobileCrunch, this unnamed hero of truthiness browsed Sprint's internal inventory system and nailed down a figure of 65,500 sold units from Sprint's own stores -- a stat far south from what Sprint would announce a day later. That number ultimately found its way onto the message board, and though it obviously shouldn't be taken as authoritative (or exhaustive), it was enough to get Sprint to hit the auto-correct button and part ways with the activist member of staff. Harsh. [Thanks, Carol]
More concerns over suicides at Foxconn
There was more bad news out of China this week -- manufacturer Foxconn (who makes quite a few parts for Apple devices) has been dealing with a rash of employee suicides, as low pay and long hours on the workers seems to be taking their toll. Yesterday, another worker reportedly tried to take his own life [Ed. note: original 9to5Mac link broken], and there are reports of more than 15 other attempts within the plant. Apple has responded, saying that they're working closely with the company to try and solve the issue. In order to do that, the company claims it's going to raise wages by 20%, although it's not clear yet when or how that plan will be implemented. It also says that some employees will be relocated closer to their homes -- about a fifth of the workforce will be moved to plants closer to their families. Apple isn't alone in helping Foxconn deal with the problem, either -- Sony, Nokia, Nintendo, Dell, and HP all get parts from these factories and are pressuring the company to do better. Finally, John Gruber points out that as bad as this Foxconn story is, it might not be all that remarkable, unfortunately. Even with the reported 13 suicides, Foxconn has over 800,000 workers, which means the company's suicide rate is below the national average in China, and China is number 26 on the worldwide list. But numbers and averages aside, a death is a death, and everything Foxconn can do to help their employees lead better lives should be worth it.
