GregJoswiak
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Apple checking out the competition at CES
Just because Apple isn't exhibiting products at CES doesn't mean it's not interested in the event. paidContent.org is reporting that the company does have a presence, with one of their bloggers running into Greg Joswiak (head of iOS product marketing at Apple) at the Sony booth. Joz isn't the only Apple employee at the crowded show. Reuters noted a source who said that Apple has over 250 employees registered for the event. paidContent's Tom Krazit talked with Joswiak, who apparently is interested on how other companies present products at shows like CES. From the layout and design of show booths to the individual products that are highlighted by a company, he's keeping his eyes on the competitors. According to Krazit, Joswiak seemed underwhelmed with the Sony booth. The most humorous part of the encounter was Krazit's observation that "His badge was strategically arranged as to cover over his name and company affiliation, however, a nod to Apple's penchant for keeping a low profile." Only a seasoned Apple-watcher would know that one of Apple's highest-placed executives was in the house.
Apple's Greg Joswiak describes Apple's four principles of success
Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod, iPhone, and iOS product marketing, shared four keys to Apple's success at a recent event titled "Silicon Valley Comes to Cambridge." You can hit the original story at The Wall Street Journal for the full text of each point, but we've pared them down to the basics below. Focus: It means saying no, not saying yes. Simplicity: Make complex things simple. Courage: Don't hang on to ideas from the past even if they have been successful for you. Best: If you can't enter the market and try and be the best in it, don't enter it. Joswiak knows what he's talking about; he's worked at Apple for 20 years, and he's been responsible for marketing some of the most successful electronic products ever -- forget most successful Apple products, we're talking most successful gadgets from anyone, period. What's refreshing about these four points is they sound as though they could have come from Steve Jobs himself; though the man himself is gone, the company he built has clearly internalized the principles that made it successful in the first place.
A look at Apple's "all-star" executives
Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Jony Ive, and Steve Jobs are big names at Apple. These top executives are known around the technology industry and around the world for their operational excellence, marketing know-how, design genius and powerful reality distortion fields. While these four men often get credit for much of Apple's success, the company boasts an enviable collection of talented "chiefs" and senior vice presidents who help carve its skyward path. A new gallery from CNN Money takes a brief look at eleven of Apple's all-stars. For avid fans of Apple, some of the names mentioned in CNN Money's gallery may be familiar. But if you don't recognize names like Craig Federighi, Scott Forstall, Bob Mansfield, Ron Johnson, Peter Oppenheimer, Bruce Sewell, Jeff Williams, Eddy Cue, Katie Cotton, Dr. Guy "Bud" Tribble, or Greg Joswiak, this may be a good opportunity to brush up on the men and women who help shape one of the world's most successful companies.
Apple: "the iPhone is a gaming console"
According to extremely reliable and embarrassingly handsome Engadget sources, at an iPhone event held today, John Geleynse (AKA Director of Technology Evangelism at Apple) made some statements regarding the iPhone platform that should seriously raise a few eyebrows. During an ADC "iPhone Tech Talk" in San Jose, Geleynse apparently waxed excited about the potential for the handheld as a viable threat to the DS (and the PSP by proxy), calling the iPhone a "gaming console" and claiming that "it's not a phone, it's a console experience." Pretty bold talk about a device that has yet to really prove its gaming mettle, but nothing new from the Apple camp as far as we're concerned. Considering these comments alongside those from a recent interview in which Greg Joswiak compared the touch to the DS, it seems clear that the company is making a noticeable effort to push this angle. Adding some fuel to that fire is PR that just went out announcing a series of EA "sneak peek" events at Apple Stores around the US. In their words:Throughout the month of December Apple Stores in New York, LA, San Francisco and Chicago will host special "EA Games Sneak Peek" events where Electronic Arts will discuss why the iPod touch and iPhone are amazing platforms for mobile gaming...While there's no question the iPhone and touch have made inroads when it comes to gaming, it still isn't clear that there's going to be anything beyond a casual interest for these devices. Then again, if the Wii's success has proven anything, it's that there's plenty of cash in casual if you can make it appealing enough. And you know how Apple feels about appealing products and money.
Apple's Greg Joswiak touts iPod touch as the future of handheld gaming
We speculated in our review of the new iPod touch that Apple had designs on more than just consumption of music and video, and now an interview with company VP of iPod and iPhone product marketing Greg Joswiak all but confirms that sights are set on the gaming market. In a conversation with T3, Joswiak boasts that the devices are breaking through as a viable alternative to established handhelds (such as the PSP or DS) due mostly in part to competitive software pricing and the company's content delivery system. While much of the interview focuses on iPod sales figures, it does delve into more detailed comparisons of platforms, with Joswiak stating, "The 3D graphic power here [iPod touch] is significantly greater than what you have here [picks up Nintendo DS]. So this allows people to do significantly higher quality games." While it's not unusual to hear Apple's honchos hyping their products like they just skipped across some water to heal a few lepers, it is a new trend to see the company aggressively going after gaming platform mainstays so directly. With Sony and Nintendo just getting up to speed on non-traditional content delivery, Apple may find an edge come holiday season with casual gamers -- the real question is whether the hardcore will bite.[Via Eurogamer; Thanks, Zach M.]
Greg Joswiak explains iPhone missing features
ExtremeTech managed to score an interview with Apple's vice president of Hardware Product Marketing Greg Joswiak where he discusses some of the tradeoffs of the 3G iPhone. He explains that cut and paste didn't make it into iPhone 2.0 just because they didn't get to it, judging "other things to be more important." He also corrects David Pogue who had previously claimed that the iPhone was not technically capable of turn-by-turn GPS, leading us to believe that the limitations aren't technical so much as legal.Personally, I find it rather strange that Apple considers cut and paste such a low priority feature. I often find myself really missing it, and you'd think it would be worth implementing just to shut up all the people who complain about it. Nonetheless, I suppose this is hopeful in that it suggests that Apple will probably get around to it at some point.[via Engadget]
Apple says turn-by-turn GPS coming to iPhone, copy / paste not a high priority
There's been a lot of random misinformation about the iPhone 3G floating around out there, like David Pogue's baffling comment that the device's GPS antenna is "too small" to support turn-by-turn directions, and Apple's iPod and iPhone marketing head Greg Joswiak recently sat down with AppScout to clear up some of the confusion. Greg says that Apple has an internal priority list of features for the iPhone, and that the company went as far down the list with the 3G as it could -- and that copy / paste support simply didn't make the cut. Similarly, there are no technical issues preventing turn-by-turn directions, just other "complicated issues" (read: legal agreements) that need to be sorted out, and Josiwak expects developers to "amaze us." as things "evolve." Hopefully that means that nav app TomTom's got in the labs will evolve its way into the wild sometime soon. Finally, Joswiak said that he's not aware of any technical reasons an office suite isn't already in the App Store, but that the lack of a cross-application file structure could impede development. Yeah, and maybe the lack of copy / paste, you think?
Gearlog interview clears up iPhone and Touch details
Gearlog scored an interview with Apple's Greg Joswiak that shines a light on some outstanding questions about the iPhone and iTouch. In a nutshell, the key points are: No Bluetooth on Touch. Internet pictures implying otherwise are errors. Touch will run iPhone software. Same hardware as the iPhone, same OS. Software should port without problem. Apple makes no accommodations for hacking. Software updates will continue to "reset" iPhones and Touches. Apple does not actively oppose 3rd party hacks but they will not support them either. No SDK. I'm reading between the lines here, but Joswiak's "not hate" and not "support" indicates that Apple has no plans for open 3rd party development.
Don't worry, iPhone hackers: Apple doesn't hate you
It's really an ethical dilemma for the ages. On one hand, you love your shiny new Apple toy so much, you just have to hack in new functionality, on the other hand you can't bear to think that the mighty Steve Jobs thinks ill of you and your hacker ways. Well now you can finally put those fears to rest, because Apple's Greg Joswiak has officially confirmed a "neutral" stance on the iPhone hacking issue. That is to say, Apple doesn't plan to maliciously attempt to break native, third-party applications in forthcoming firmware updates, but at the same time Apple won't go out of its way to ensure those updates don't break third-party applications accidentally, and certainly isn't offering support to the hackers of any kind. We'd say it's a step above "frenemy," but not quite to the point where Steve'll be demoing Jailbreak at his next keynote.
iPhone video and Greg Joswiak interview from WSJ
Rex Crumb from MarketWatch and the Wall Street Journal snagged an interview with Apple's Vice President of iPod marketing, Greg Joswiak. Greg talked about the iPhone and its awesomeness, of course, and Rex gets some rare hands-on video, too!Although some of the footage is stock from the Keynote, there's also some real-live, hot hand-on-iPhone action. It's hard not to notice that while they are talking, Greg never lets the iPhone out of his own hands, whereas you'd normally expect to see the interviewer at least get to hold the thing. Clearly there are some pretty strict rules in place about who gets to touch one of the few demo units. Even Uncle Walt only got to handle it for a few minutes - but there's no video proof of that, so we'll have to take his word for it.Thanks, Steve!
