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Schiller testifies, says Apple considered car and a camera, and Samsung's phone's a 'rip off'
Apple's Phil Schiller took the stand this afternoon, wearing a sharp suit, in Apple's ongoing case with Samsung in a California court. He revealed a few hints at Apple's iPhone development and took some solid shots at Samsung. In terms of Apple history, Schiller revealed that, before Apple began exploring the world of smartphones, it considered making a camera or a car. I'd love to see Apple make either one of those things, but of course they went with a cellphone, and the iPhone is that product. Schiller also had strong words for Samsung, reportedly saying "copy," "steal" and "rip off" to describe Samsung's work. Objections to his testimony were reportedly overridden. During Schiller's cross-examination, it sounds like Samsung tried to get him to agree that the iPhone's design wasn't entirely original, in that many of the designs included are simply functional, defined by common sense rather than Apple's design prowess. But according to the reports, Schiller didn't give much ground (and he still found room, at least, to correct the cross-examiner's pronunciation of designer Sir Jonathan Ive's last name -- it's NOT pronounced "Ivy," in case you were wondering). All in all, it sounds like Schiller is doing plenty for Apple's case in the ongoing litigation. He's starting out from a biased point, obviously, but if Apple can convince the judge in the case that Samsung did infringe on copyright, Apple's ownership of the modern smartphone design will be locked down once and for all. The AllThingsD running commentary notes that Scott Forstall followed Schiller as a witness, but didn't get a chance to say much before the lunch recess. He did recount the story of Steve Jobs barging in on his job interview with NeXT in 1992. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
BW: Apple's Schiller sees opportunity for Mac with Windows 7 launch
One week from today, Microsoft will try to shake the stink of Vista. BusinessWeek reminds the world that Microsoft is set to launch Windows 7 on October 22nd. I've got the day free, since all of my invitations to Windows 7 launch parties seem to have been lost in the mail. As the spotlight shifts toward Redmond, WA, Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller says that Apple sees "a very good opportunity" in the Windows 7 noise, in an interview with Business Week's Peter Burrows. While no one expects Windows 7 to be as poorly received as Vista, the new operating system will mark the first time in a long while that millions of PC owners will start looking seriously at replacing existing machines, especially with so many PC-people having skipped the purchase cycle when Vista came around. And there's where Apple gets them. Or tries to, anyway. Apple is likely to aim new ads at PC users, trying to pull them to the Mac side in the coming days. The ads will probably hit familiar points, such as the susceptibility to malware worn by Windows, and extra programs buyers get with a Mac out of the box, like iMovie and GarageBand.
Schiller and team to deliver WWDC keynote, Snow Leopard developer preview June 8
Apple issued a press release this morning, saying that Worldwide Marketing VP Phil Schiller would lead a "team of Apple executives" to deliver the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote June 8 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern). According to the press release, attendees will receive a developer preview of Snow Leopard, the next major version of Mac OS X. The developer preview is designed to show off a new version of QuickTime, QuickTime X, multi-core and GPU processor support, and accessibility enhancements. "At WWDC, we will be giving our developers a final Developer Preview release so they can see the incredible progress we've made on Snow Leopard and work with us as we move toward its final release," said Bertrand Serlet, senior VP of Software Engineering. During the conference, iPhone developers can also attend over 100 technical sessions and meet with more than a thousand Apple engineers about iPhone OS 3.0, the release says. WWDC runs from June 8 to June 12 at Moscone West in San Francisco. The conference is sold out.
Apple confirms WWDC keynote time, Phil Schiller leading the way
The anticipation is palpable, sure, but those hoping for a Steve Jobs comeback at this year's WWDC should be prepared for disappointment. Apple just affirmed that this year's Worldwide Developers Conference will indeed kick off on Monday, June 8th, and the keynote address will be given at 10:00AM PT (so 1:00PM here on the right coast, and 7:00AM on the gorgeous isle of Maui). The big news, however, isn't that we'll be there live for every last word ('cause you already knew that, yes?) -- it's that Philip Schiller and company, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will be manning the address, offering devs an "in-depth" look at iPhone OS 3.0 and OS X Snow Leopard. In fact, attendees can expect a "final Developer Preview release" of the forthcoming OS, but you'll have to wait a few weeks yet to get details beyond that.
Continuity: Executive succession plans in history
We all know that Steve Jobs will eventually leave Apple, and Apple's executive team has a responsibility to draft a succession plan to help minimize the turmoil when that day comes. To figure out what Apple might do, we can look to the past for other examples. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford. In 1918, at the age of 55, Henry handed the presidency of the company to his son Edsel. When Edsel died in 1943, Henry came back to Ford Motor Company ill, "mentally inconsistent, suspicious, and generally no longer fit" for the job. Most of the board didn't want him to be president. Even with no official title, he'd been in de facto control of the company since Edsel took over. Nevertheless, the board elected him (rather than cross him), and he served until the end of the second World War. Gravely ill, he turned control of the company over to his grandson, Henry Ford II, in 1945. Henry Ford died two years later. Steve Jobs has four children, the oldest of whom is Lisa Brennan-Jobs, a 30-year-old journalist. None have publicly expressed any desire to run Apple.
Schiller on unlocked iPhones
The Associated Press managed to talk to Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, about Apple's recent announcement that hacked or unlocked iPhones might become expensive paperweights after an upcoming software update is applied to them. (The AP also quoted our very own Erica Sadun on the topic.)Phil says that this isn't about punishing people for unlocking their iPhones, but rather that the various iPhone unlocking apps have 'caused damage to the iPhone software' and that Apple can't be help responsible for what happens to a hacked iPhone.I'm willing to believe that Apple isn't maliciously trying to brick iPhones that have been unlocked. It is far more probable that the update might, under certain circumstances, break your hacked iPhone and Apple doesn't want to spend the time fixing the update to play nice, and they don't want to have to pay for all the broken iPhones that may result.That's my thought, but what say you, dear TUAW readers?
Engadget interviews Apple's Phil Schiller
Ryan scored an interview with one of the Men Behind The Machine, and we'll give you a little sneak preview: he answers questions (sorta) about iPhone unlocking and third-party apps. Need we say more? Check it out!
