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Paul Allen's lawsuit against Apple dismissed
The suit filed against Apple (and others) by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was dismissed as being too vague on Friday. According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman has given Allen's company, Interval Licensing LLC (the plaintiff in the case), until December 28 to file an amended complaint. "The allegations in the complaint are spartan," wrote Judge Pechman. Allen called the judge's order a "procedural issue" through a spokesperson. Allen's suit, filed in August of 2010, identifies four specific patents. Each appears to be a huge part of how contemporary e-commerce and internet search tools work. For example, one addresses how websites suggest products based upon customers' recent searches. Another lets those reading a news story quickly find related stores, while the two others let ads and news items, among other things, flash on a computer screen adjacent to what the user is directly looking at. No specific dollar amount was identified. Allen's suit names Apple, Ebay, Facebook, Netflix and Aol among others (Note: TUAW is owned by Aol). Apple joined Facebook, Yahoo! and others in formal opposition to the suit in October. [Via AppleInsider]
Apple looking to hire CDMA-knowledgeable staff
A recent job posting on Apple's corporate job board loosely suggests Apple may be testing a CDMA iPhone. The posting for a Cellular Systems Performance Engineer went live December 9th and requires an individual knowledgeable in cellular technology, including standard GSM protocols (GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA) and CDMA. The successful candidate will be tasked with handling protocol issues that arise from certification, interoperability, and field testing, the job post says, and they should also have experience with different carrier networks and infrastructures. Normally, such a job listing would be overlooked as the requirement for experience with CDMA may be included by default. If you are a Cellular Systems Performance engineer, you most likely have experience with all the cellular technologies, not just one and this job listing reflects that diversity of skills. Given all the rumors surrounding the CDMA iPhone, though, this is not exactly a normal time. In this particular case, the inclusion of CDMA and the job duties that focus on analyzing final stage test results may point to the CDMA iPhone. Admittedly, hiring a Performance Engineer now is a bit late, but it is not that much of a stretch. Rumors suggest the CDMA iPhone may be prepping for an early 2011 launch which is a relatively wide launch window. This would put the handset in the final stages of testing and a quick hire could be done to help iron out all those final details. Update: Commenter fernando notes that Mexican carrier lusacell will have the CDMA iPhone, but we have confirmed that the iPhone is GSM and will run on the carrier's new GSM network, not its CDMA network. [Via Ubergizmo]
Costco to stop selling Apple products
While Apple continues to line up 3rd-party retailers, discount chain Costco is bailing out. The Seattle Times reports that Costco will begin to phase out all Apple products, though a timeline was not given. The retailer has been selling iPods and pre-paid iTunes gift cards for years. However, Apple did not allow Costco to sell its products online. Nor did the store offer a significant discount on either. The Times reports that both partners "agreed to wind down." We can only assume that these issues contributed to the change. If you've got "buy an iPod from Costco" on your holiday to-do list, you best hop to it. When the current stock is gone, it will be gone for good. [Via Benzinga]
U.S. ITC will investigate Apple's patent infringement claims of Motorola
Just about a month after Apple filed patent complaints against Motorola, Bloomberg reports that the U.S. International Trade Commission is set to review the claim. Apple's complaints were filed on October 29, just a few days after Motorola sued Apple over 18 alleged patent infringements on October 6. In this case, it will be the ITC's job to determine if Motorola is indeed infringing on Apple's patents. It must also decide whether to block the import of Motorola phones made overseas running Google's Android OS. Apple was recently awarded patents for the iPhone 4's design and UI as well as the iPad's design. The specifics of each company's claims are unknown, but we'll follow this story as it develops.
Next-generation iPad parts suppliers supposedly named
While we wait for iOS 4.2 to drop, Apple is supposedly busy lining up parts suppliers for the next-generation iPad. DigiTimes reports that Ibiden, Tripod Technology and TTM Technologies will be the initial Printed Circuit Board (PCB) suppliers. Their sources say that these companies have received "certification from Apple" and will begin shipping parts in December. They also expect additional suppliers to be added in February. DigiTimes' track record is hit-and-miss, so keep that in mind. Here's what you can bank on: Apple will update the iPad's hardware. It will include parts, and those parts will be made by someone. The current iPad models will be a year old as of April 3rd, 2011, so it's reasonable that Apple will release an update near the beginning of next year. How's that for a rumor? [Via AppleInsider]
Apple's board gains a new director: Ronald D. Sugar
Apple's board of directors has been running pretty lean since the departure of Google's Eric Schmidt and the death of Jerry York, so a new director is welcome news. Today the company announced the addition of Dr. Ronald D. Sugar to the board; Sugar is the retired CEO of Northrop Grumman and previously worked at Litton Industries and TRW, Inc. Sugar has a bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree in engineering from UCLA, and considering his aerospace background there's only one possible conclusion to draw from this appointment: Apple is making a flying car. No, no, just kidding. Congratulations to Dr. Sugar; we wish him a long and pleasant term as an Apple director. [via TechCrunch] Show full PR text Ronald D. Sugar Joins Apple's Board of Directors CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apple® today announced that Dr. Ronald D. Sugar, former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Northrop Grumman Corporation, was appointed to Apple's Board of Directors. Dr. Sugar will serve as the Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. "Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader. We are very excited to welcome him to Apple's Board" "Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader. We are very excited to welcome him to Apple's Board," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a Ph.D. in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology." "I have always had enormous admiration for the people of Apple," said Sugar. "It is a special privilege to serve on the board of such an amazing company." Dr. Sugar served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Northrop Grumman Corporation from 2003 until his retirement in 2010. Previous to Northrop, he held executive positions at Litton Industries and TRW Inc., where he served as chief financial officer. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of both the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Royal Aeronautical Society. He is a director of Chevron Corporation, Amgen Inc. and Air Lease Corporation, and serves as a senior advisor to the private investment firm Ares Management LLC. He is a trustee of the University of Southern California, where he also holds the Judge Widney Chair as Professor of Management and Technology. He is a member of the boards of UCLA Anderson School of Management, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and several other philanthropic organizations focused on children and education. He graduated summa cum laude in engineering in 1968 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also received master's and doctorate degrees in the same field. He subsequently completed executive programs at Stanford, Wharton and Harvard. Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices. NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple's PR website (www.apple.com/pr), or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042. © 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Apple's exclusive digital rights to The Beatles extend into 2011
As you probably know, Apple has secured exclusive digital rights to The Beatles' catalog. But for how long? According to All Things Digital, the deal extends into 2011. EMI Music spokesman Dylan Jones told All Things D that Apple's deal reaches into 2011 and beyond January 1st. He did confirm that the exclusivity will eventually end, but he didn't say when. For the time being, distributors like Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody and the Zune will just have to wait. Writing for All Things D, Peter Kafka wonders if the band will renew the exclusivity deal or even walk away from digital entirely when it expires. The latter seems crazy to us. Paul, Ringo et al apparently got serious about digital when Rock Band: The Beatles came out. We're betting the group has joined the digital revolution for good.
Accused Apple manager could be forced to return $1M in kickbacks
Back in August we learned of the arrest of Paul Shin Devine on charges of taking over $1 million in kickbacks from Apple suppliers. Since that time, prosecutors have been following the money trail and have now asked U.S. District Judge James Ware in San Jose, California to order the forfeiture of US$1 million in cash and assets. The government has frozen $950,000 in cash from six different bank accounts belonging to Devine. Devine was a global supply manager for Apple until his arrest and was accused of providing confidential information to suppliers before they negotiated contracts with the company. Prosecutors are still hanging on to Devine's computers as part of the investigation of the case. The indictment of Devine included 23 charges of wire fraud, wire-fraud conspiracy, and money laundering, each of which carries a potential 20 year prison sentence with a conviction. Devine has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and is currently out on bail.
iAds helping all mobile advertising take off?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting on an interesting effect of Apple's iAd platform -- it seems to be helping the competition. Just a few months after being announced, iAds began appearing in the U.S., and a global launch began earlier this month. Meanwhile, Apple and the Denstu Group signed a deal to bring iAds to Japan. All of this activity has garnered a lot of attention for the mobile advertising space in general, and several providers are seeing greater sales. "...ad executives say Apple's entry into the market is giving them a boost," the Journal reports. "That's because iAds has gotten big marketers to pay attention to mobile advertising in the first place." Of course, the only evidence of a correlation is anecdotal. It's quite likely that Apple's high-profile entry into the space has generated interest, but we haven't seen empirical data to support that theory. Still, Apple does bring a bit of cachet and sexy to mobile marketing. The true test will be to see who's still standing in 5 years. [Via AppleInsider]
Dentsu Group and Apple bring iAd to Japan
Apple has inked a deal with the Dentsu Group that will bring iAd to Japan. Dentsu subsidiary cyber communications, inc. (cci) will take over the selling and "creative execution" of iAds in Japan, with a premiere date set for "early 2011." Under this arrangement, Apple will be limited to hosting and delivery. That's a huge change, as Apple has maintained tight control on U.S. iAd spots, occasionally to the peril of some huge deals. It was only recently that iAds began to roll out globally. Meahwhile, Apple has begun building a new office space for iAd team members in New York City. Congratulations and good luck to both Apple and Dentsu Group.
Apple number 65 on Newsweek's list of green companies
Newsweek has published their list of the most environmentally-friendly companies, and Apple is ranked number 65 out of 500. While it didn't make the top 10 (Dell is number one), Apple improved significantly from last year when it placed 133rd. The rankings considered a number of scores, including green score, environmental impact and green policies. Other tech companies in the top 10 include HP, IBM, Intel, Sprint, Adobe, Applied Materials and Yahoo!. Apple has made vast improvements in their environmental friendliness over the past few years, as organizations like Greenpeace have put the pressure on. Last January Greenpeace ranked Apple first in their list of the top 18 consumer electronics company in terms of reduction or elimination of hazardous chemicals in the manufacture of its products. [Via Macsimum News]
Apple trademarks "There's an app for that"
Apple has been awarded a trademark for the phrase, "There's an app for that." The tagline has been used to promote the App Store and iOS devices almost since their inception, and has really caught on. From tech articles to jokes told around the water cooler, many people have adopted the phrase. The trademark, which Apple filed for on December 4th, 2009, covers "Retail store services featuring computer software provided via the Internet and other computer and electronic communication networks; retail store services featuring computer software for use on handheld mobile digital electronic devices and other consumer electronics." Congratulations to both Apple for their new trademark, and to me for avoiding a lame "there's an app for that" joke.
Apple to create new HTML5 content for website
Apple has published a new job posting for a Creative Technology Manager, tasked in part with creating new HTML5 content at Apple.com, with support for iOS devices. The listing seeks an individual who "...will be responsible for driving web-standard (HTML5) innovation that enhances and redefines the marketing of Apple's products and services to millions of consumers. Work will also include exploring opportunities with apple.com, email and mobile/multi-touch experiences on the iPhone and iPad." Of course, HTML5-powered content has already begun to appear on Apple's website. Recently, a movie showtimes page has appeared that lets users find location-based movie showings, view theater locations on a map, and view trailers. I've added it to my iPhone's home screen as it's so useful. Also, Apple added a "Compare Macs" page to its site in August, which lets customers view potential purchases side-by-side. For more on Apple and HTML5, look here. [Via AppleInsider]
Apple patent application reveals tiny audio jacks
Apple's developers have been shrinking the iPod with nearly every update, yet they aren't done. This week, AppleInsider has discovered a patent application that reveals even smaller audio jacks that could be used in future, tinier iPods. To understand how, we must discuss pogo pins and cantilever beams. Contemporary audio jacks use cantilever beams, which extend into the cavity of the jack itself, and are pushed out of the way when a plug is inserted. The beams then make contact with the plug and allow data, audio, and power to be transferred. They also take up a decent amount of space; too much in Apple's opinion. The patent mentions pogo pins, which are embedded into the cavity and extend to make contact with an inserted plug. Furthermore, the patent claims that pogo pins would "greatly reduce" the size of the audio jack "in two dimensions." Consider that the current iPod shuffle is essentially the width of its jack, and you see how it's become a limiting factor. Do we want these things to get smaller? The shuffle already feels like a postage stamp.
Apple has bought out Polar Rose
Apple has spent a little bit of that huge cash surplus to buy Polar Rose, a Sweden-based technology company that focuses on face recognition. In a blog post dated September 2nd, Thijs Stalenhoef notes that their face-tagging service is closing down, and, "You may yet see our technology in one of our licensees' products in the future." Polar Rose produced a cool product called FaceCloud, which brought face recognition to web services. Think photo tagging on Facebook to get an idea. iPodNN guesses that Apple may want to bring the service to MobileMe, thereby providing the Faces feature to those without iPhoto. In addition, their very cool FaceLib technology allows mobile devices to recognize users' faces and pull up their associated social networking services, like Facebook, Twitter, Fickr and more. We can easily see such a thing working on the iPhone. Watch a video of FaceLib for Android after the break.
Apple says goodbye to design firm that helped develop some Apple products
The New York Times reports that Apple and SurfaceInk have parted ways after the small Silicon Valley developer showed off a tablet design to some potential clients. Apple obviously didn't like one of its partners demonstrating a product that could become a competitive threat, so out the door they went. The Times quotes founder and Chief Executive Eric Bauswell as saying that SurfaceInk and Apple had "gone separate directions." SurfaceInk was founded in 1999, and has worked for Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Palm.
A study of 17 Apple press invitations
Reporting for Fortune, Philip Elmer-DeWitt reiterates Dan Frommer's question: "Is Apple really going to announce a TV gadget at an event with a guitar on the invitation?" It's a legitimate question, as Apple's press events have the power to move AAPL's price. When rumors become expectations that ultimately aren't met, the stock price has shifted downward. In this case, the "TV gadget" Frommer refers to is the rumored iOS-powered Apple TV. With that in mind, AAPLinvestors compared the wording on the last 17 press invitations to what was ultimately introduced at each event. What they found was that Apple often takes liberty with their often cryptic text. For example, the September 2, 2008 invitation read "Let's Rock," and Apple introduced the fourth-gen iPod nano, the second-gen iPod touch, iTunes 8 and HD TV shows. HD TV is cool, but does it really "rock?" Also, the August 31, 2009 invitation read "It's only rock and roll but we like it." That afternoon Apple introduced iTunes 9, iPhone 3.1, the fifth-gen nano, the third-generation iPod touch and additional colors for the iPod Shuffle. Reading into Apple's terse press invites is part of the fun. So we still might see a new Apple TV next week. Who knows if we will, though. [Via MacDailyNews and Fortune]
The iPhone 4 Apple Press Event metaliveblog
Apple Press Event Welcome to our iPhone 4 live press conference event! Today we'll be metaliveblogging Apple's iPhone 4 announcements, adding our traditional TUAW twist to the proceedings. Will Steve Jobs offer a $29 bounty or free bumpers to all early iPhone 4 adopters? Or will the iPhone 4 itself be recalled? (We seriously doubt it!) Or is today's announcement about new service providers for those mysterious iPhone3,2 and iPhone3,3 models that Engadget uncovered a while back? Join us as we find out! Sources for today's metaliveblog include: Engadget Ars Technica gdgt Macworld Fortune
Join us tomorrow: Apple's iPhone 4 Press Conference
Apple Press Event Please join us tomorrow at 10AM Pacific (1PM Eastern) for a live TUAW blogging event as Apple addresses the press over its controversial iPhone 4 device. CEO Steve Jobs is expected to lead the event. The question on everyone's mind is, of course, will Apple be holding the event in the right place? Your guess is as good as ours. As the reception from the press might turn out to be a little cheeky in the proximity of such a big announcement, expect a bumper crop of interest from Apple enthusiasts. You can signal your interest by signing up for an e-mail reminder of the event from CoverItLive. What: Apple iPhone 4 Press Event Where: Here on TUAW! Except in the bottom-left-hand corner of the site. When: 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern
Apple's search for wireless antenna engineering talent
Apple is hiring! Can you guess what kind of talent they're after? Wireless antenna engineers, of course. On June 23rd, just after the Death Grip was discovered by the public, Apple published three listings for iPhone and iPad antenna engineers who can "define and implement antenna system architecture to optimize the radiation performance for wireless portable devices." Additionally, Apple is looking for two iPhone OTA Wireless Systems Engineers. All of these positions require several years worth of experience and Master's Degrees. Here's a chance to work for Apple, build something cool and keep us from having to wrap our iPhones in bracelets. Good luck to all applicants. [Via Engadget and TechCrunch]
