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Magic Leap will soon test its technology in the real world
We might be getting closer to finally finding out what Magic Leap's mixed-reality headset looks like. The ultra-secretive company has posted a job listing on Glassdoor for a Field Engineer, who'll actually have to drive around with its devices and collect data in real world locations. "Work will entail setting up and using high precision equipment to capture both environments and user behavior in home settings," the listing reads. Magic Leap announced a Star Wars and a Twilio partnership this year, but its technology is still shrouded in mystery even now.
Apple job listing seeks engineer with knowledge of China Mobile's proprietary network
Adding even more credence to a growing chorus of reports pointing to Apple striking an iPhone deal with China Mobile, Bloomberg today points us to a new Apple job listing seeking an engineer experienced with China Mobile's proprietary TD-LTE network. The job listing notes that the position will "support and drive the carrier approval of mobile phones." The job posting seeks in-depth knowledge and experience with wireless systems including TD-LTE, which is the 4G standard used by China Mobile. Skills with WCDMA and CDMA, the technologies used by China Unicom and China Telecom, respectively, are also sought. "This role will be responsible for the overall management of the technical interface to all carriers in the Greater China region," Apple said in the ad. China Mobile is the world's largest carrier with upwards of 700 million subscribers. To that end, reaching a deal with them would provide Apple with a tremendous opportunity to really create a noticeable uptick in iPhone sales. Just recently, word emerged that in early September, Apple received a "network access license" to carry the iPhone on China Mobile.
Apple working on "new secret project" with Maps
Apple posted a job Friday seeking a Maps Web User Interface Designer to work on a "new secret project," according to MacRumors. The original wording has now been removed from the posting, but not before MacRumors made a copy of it. Its description originally read: Design, develop, and maintain complex front-end code for a new secret project Document and build unit tests for your code. Work with operations, QA, and product management to maximize product effectiveness The Web UI Designer - Maps posting also calls for someone with a minimum three years experience building native and web apps who also has HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, DOM, XML, JSON and Javascript experience. Though there are no clear signs what the "new secret project" is, it could very well be that Apple wants to offer a web-based version of its maps in addition to its Maps apps for iOS and the upcoming OS X 10.9 Mavericks. A web-base Apple Maps would allow Windows users to easily look up places and directions from their desktops and then send those bookmarked locations or saved directions directly to their iOS devices -- as Mac users will be able to with OS X 10.9 Mavericks this fall.
Apple job postings suggest iWork team is growing
Just when you think that Apple has decided to totally ignore iWork, along comes news that the company has added job postings for a number of positions on the iWork team. The last official release of the iWork suite -- Pages, Numbers and Keynote -- is telling: the name of the suite is still iWork '09. About the only major changes to any of the apps over the past few years has been to make them available on the Mac App Store and to add compatibility with iCloud. Apple Bitch covered the latest job listing for a software QA engineer to "work on the next generation of Desktop, Mobile and Web application/services," focusing on bug detection, isolation and reporting in the iWork suite. MacRumors notes that a number of other jobs are open on the team, including three positions for other QA engineers, a Production Specialist, a "Technical Production Ninja," a Verification Engineer, a Visual Motion Designer and a HiDPI Image Specialist to work on making the apps "the best they can be" on Retina displays.
Skype recruiting Xbox developers for 'next generation services'
A llsting on Microsoft's job site reveals that it's looking develop Skype products for the Xbox. The company has kept pretty quiet on its plans for integrating its Skype purchase into its various hardware pockets. While a beta for Windows Phone continues to tick along, this is the first salient sign that Skype and Xbox are looking to team-up. According to the listing: "As a member of the Skype Xbox Engineering Team in London, you will have a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software." On top of those recent vacancies for browser-based Skype engineers, it's no stretch to see Skype bringing its telephony skills and heavily integrating them into Xbox Live, also giving the internet phone group a huge inroad to people's living rooms. However, the job ad doesn't clarify whether the result will be a simple stand-alone Skype client or something with a little more spice. We'll have to wait for some successful applicants.
Microsoft job ads hint at a browser-based version of Skype based on HTML5
There's something thrilling about using job postings to parse a company's strategy, especially when the advert is so gosh darn low on secrecy. Take Microsoft, for instance, which posted four openings for developers to work on its Skype for Browsers project. If that weren't self-explanatory enough, the various ads each explain that Microsoft is looking for code monkeys to help "bring [the] Skype experience on to the Web," a position that calls for HTML5 know-how, along with proficiency in C#, Java or C++. That's as official a heads up as any, though if you've been paying attention you know Skype already powers Facebook's web-based video chat service. So it shouldn't exactly be surprising, then, that a Skype-branded version is likely in the works as well. Armchair investigators can find the postings at the source links, where any brilliant, Europe-based developers can try their hand at one of the four openings.
Valve employee spills the hardware beans: wearable computers, ahoy
When Michael Abrash started working for Valve, he expected the higher-ups to hand him a pile of work and tell him to hop to it. They didn't. Instead, he was told to figure out the most valuable thing he could do for the company, and then do it. So, Abrash wound up kicking off an in-house R&D project for wearable computers, and according to a recent blog post, is looking to expand his research team. More than me-too mice and gamepads, indeed. Abrash is quick to put a lid on rumors of "Steam glasses," however, and warns readers not to expect any big reveals at E3 -- this is just an "initial investigation into a very interesting and promising space," he says, and is more "research than development." Rearing to give Google's Project Glass a run for its money? Or maybe you're just itching for a detailed narrative of employee and employer? Either way, you'll find what you're looking at the source link below.
Valve job posting reveals plans for homegrown hardware, promises it won't suck
Rumors fluttering about Valve's entry into the hardware market just got a little less salty. According to the outfit's own jobs page, it's prepping to offer consumers "whole new gaming experiences." A call for an experienced electronics engineer says it all, "For years Valve has been all about writing software that provides great gameplay experiences. Now we're developing hardware to enhance those experiences." The ideal candidate ought to have a hefty load of prototyping experience, a knack for working with embedded systems and microcontrollers, a proficiency in thermal management, high speed serial interfaces, ARM / x86 system design, and more. We're not about to hazard a guess at what this adds up to, but Valve promises it's more compelling than "me-too mice and gamepads." Hit the source link below to apply, get hired, and let us know what's up.[Thanks, Alexis]
Microsoft job opening hints at forthcoming backup / restore features for Windows Phone
The current state of performing backups for Windows Phone is far from ideal, although a new job posting from Microsoft suggests that a better solution may be coming to the smartphone platform in its next major software release. According to a job posting from the monolith in Redmond, the company is seeking a talented employee to join its Windows Phone Backup, Migrate and Restore team. The listing goes on to state, "Our goal is to ensure that no matter if someone loses their phone, drops their phone in a lake ... a user can quickly and seamlessly get their phone back to a good state." Whether this involves backup to the cloud, or simply more robust features within the Zune software is never explicitly stated, although Microsoft does suggest it aims to leapfrog the competition in this arena. Not a moment too soon, either.
Games at Google revealed in job posting, takes a stab at social gaming
Well, one of the few remaining sectors that Google has yet to conquer, gaming, will be Big G free no longer. The tech giant is looking for a product manager to man a new property called Games at Google. Obviously, with just a job posting to work with, details are scant, but we can tell you that the gaming platform will boast some social features -- an area where the Goog has struggled mightily. What don't we know? Just about anything else. Will it be a Game Center-like feature for Android phones? Or, perhaps, a web-gaming outlet for Chrome built with help from the folks at Zynga, who Google quietly partnered with back in the summer of oh-ten. Regardless, we're waiting with bated breath to find out when and where we'll be able to order hits in Mafia Wars next.
Two new Apple Stores coming to Ontario, Canada
It's always nice when a TUAW reader tips us off to a rumor of a new North American Apple Store, and it's especially cool when the rumor includes two new stores. In this case, Canadian reader Noah let us know that he was looking at job postings on Apple's site and found two new stores in Ontario listed with the information "New Stores, New Opportunities." A quick look at the Canadian job listings for Apple retail stores shows that the stores will be in Waterloo (Conestoga) and Burlington (Mapleview Centre), Ontario. If you're a reader in the Waterloo-Kitchener or Burlington areas near Toronto who is looking for employment with Apple, this could be your opportunity.
Apple publishes job posting for "Cloud Systems Software Engineer"
A job posted by Apple last week suggests the company plans to expand its portfolio of "cloud-based" products and services, AppleInsider reports. According to the job description, the "Cloud Systems Software Engineer" will join a "small team" to "explore the far reaches of the possible," build "the future of cloud services at Apple," and form the foundation for the company's "exciting new products and services." The job listing reveals nothing about Apple's specific plans for future web applications or services. The ideal candidate will likely be deeply involved with building internal systems for sharing data across Apple's family of cloud products. By asking for applicants that can collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams and have experience constructing highly scalable software powered by a variety of data management systems, it looks like the Cupertino-based company wishes to add muscle to the core APIs that power its online products and services. Apple currently offers a suite of web products and services called MobileMe for US$99 per year. Many, including The Wall Street Journal, speculate the company plans to dramatically enhance these services later this year. There's also the beta iWork.com, which has been in beta since 2009. [via AppleInsider]
Netflix beefing up service center in preparation for global launch
It's no secret that Netflix has grand plans to expand its global footprint that now feeds media to some 20 million North American subscribers. Hell, the company was boasting of the "significant dollars" allocated to its 2011 international expansion plans just four months ago. While nothing's official yet, we've unearthed a few tantalizing openings posted to the Netflix job site over the last few days that could point to an imminent launch. Notably, Netflix's customer service call center in Hillsboro Oregon is gearing up to expand its scope of operations beyond North America. Two new job postings for a Training Supervisor and Quality Assurance Analyst both mention the need to prepare for "rapid" international expansion and "will support a specific country / region outside of North America." The Training Supervisor is being hired specifically to educate customer service reps in preparation for that future international growth. Neflix is looking for fluency in English in addition to Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), and Spanish (Latin American and European), leaving things pretty wide open with regard to the countries targeted for initial launch. We do know that Netflix had plans to launch in the UK way back in 2004 -- plans that were ultimately scrapped in order to focus on its core US business (and later Canada). But if not the UK then we should at least expect to see Netflix target the European continent first if a statement attributed to CEO Reed Hastings from way back in January of 2010 still rings true: "the big market for Hollywood content (after the U.S.) is Europe...Third is Asia. Fourth is the rest of the world." Can't let Amazon have the market to itself now can we Reed? [Thanks, Chico]
Microsoft job posting teases Windows Phone Mobile Studio, requires thinking cap to grok
A conclusion for Captain Obvious to draw, this is not. As with most mega-corp job postings, the wording in Microsoft's latest is just obfuscated enough to keep us guessing, but a few key phrases have us (as well as ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley) on edge waiting for the next big thing in cloud storage. Judging by the rousing reception seen by Amazon's Cloud Drive, we're guessing that the folks in Redmond haven't forgotten completely about Kin's one positive feature: Kin Studio. Based on a new job request, there's a Windows Phone Mobile Studio brewing, and the leading thought is that this is really Kin Studio... but for WP7 devices. Granted, this may be nothing at all like it sounds -- we could be looking at a future home for apps, or simply another aspect of Zune that'll make music management a wee bit easier. That said, we'd love to see Microsoft bust out a world-class streaming / storage service for its mobile platform, and you can bet we'll be prying for details at MIX next month.
Microsoft's Ventura could be a cloud music / video platform, have something to do with Zune
Zune hasn't gotten much love from Microsoft as of late, but that might change over time -- ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley noticed that the company is staffing up for a cloud-based multimedia project (by a group known as "Ventura Media Services") directed at PCs, TVs and mobile devices. "The team is a tight group of music and video lovers that create services and experiences revolving around music/video discovery and consumption," read a series of job postings that date back at least as far as July of 2010, calling for software developers in Beijing and Redmond who are familiar with the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. (Two of them have "Zune" in the job title.) While it's hard to say if this project is a major focus for Microsoft no matter how often the job posting says "large scale" (we count four times) it'd definitely be nice to have some competition for Google and Apple when they start drawing the multimedia-streaming battle lines. [Thanks, zblack]
Microsoft goes on a hiring spree for new Xbox hardware devs, staffing up for next console push?
Before you go leaping to any conclusions, do remember that Microsoft plans on keeping the Xbox 360 going until at least 2015 so we're not really talking imminent changes here. Nonetheless, the software giant has listed a plethora of new job openings, with the most interesting ones being at its Mountain View research campus, where a team responsible for "defining and delivering next generation console architectures" is looking for fresh blood. A graphics hardware architect is sought to ensure that the next Xbox strikes the optimal balance between the awesome and affordable, while a design verification engineer and a few others will be hired to test and help develop prototypes. This bolstering of numbers seems to indicate Microsoft is starting to ramp up research and development on its next-gen home entertainment linchpin, and while nothing's likely to emerge from those Mountain View labs in the short term, the mere sound of clanking tools and buzzing electrons is getting us excited already.
Apple job posting calls for another LTE expert
"iOS Cellular Protocol SW Engineer-SH/BJ" doesn't have the sex appeal of "chief designer" or anything, but someone is being sought for that very position, to work under the Haus of Apple. And what does the job entail? Among other duties, "Implementation, Integration, customization, enhancement and maintenance of L1-3 Protocols for one or more of the following air interface: GSM/UMTS, CDMA (1x/EVDO), LTE etc." You read that right, LTE. It's not the first time we've seen such the technology listed (hello there, since-removed "Cellular Technology Software Manager" job posting), but at the same time, it's not surprising that Apple's looking to the future. Just don't get your hopes up for an LTE iPhone or iPad in the near future.
Apple job posts point to built-in NFC capabilities for iPad / iPhone
Ladies and gentlemen of the, ahem, jury, we intend to show -- through rumors and circumstantial evidence -- that Apple might very well be building Nexus S-like NFC capabilities into next-generation iPhones and iPads. We present for your consideration exhibits A, B, and C: three Apple job posts, seeking two managers of global payment platforms and one test engineer for iPhone hardware. According to the original post, the right engineer possesses a background in both ICT (information and communication technology) and RFID (radio frequency identification), which forms the basis for NFC. Suspiciously, Apple removed the "ID" in "RFID" sometime in the past 24 hours. Still not convinced of Apple's NFC involvement? Consider this: Apple's manager of global payment platforms is tasked with contributing "to the analysis and development of new payment types and processes." Okay, so there's not a smoking gun in sight, but a little innocent conjecture never hurt anybody.
Crytek seeking iOS developers, leaves us guessing at the reason
Are you interested in and capable of developing "complex, integrated iPhone/iPad applications"? Crytek will want to hear from you, then, as the author of the CryEngine has this week advertised its intention to leap into the Apple orchard known as iOS via a job posting. Sadly, there's no direct mention of a mobile version of Crysis, though given the limited range of Crytek's activities, the company is clearly looking to develop either an iOS game or a game companion app. Aside from the job requirements, the "preferences" section is also illuminating as it lists Android and Windows Mobile development expertise -- potentially suggesting that whatever developer leads the iOS charge might then transition to bringing Crytek's goods to the other major mobile platforms. Hey, if the Unreal Engine can be crammed inside an iPhone, why not the CryEngine?
Apple looking to hire iOS navigation engineers, first test is to find way around One Infinite Loop
Is Apple looking to take it to Google and its uppity Maps app? That certainly looks to be the case, with AppleInsider noticing that the company has four new job listings which specify "Computational Geometry or Graph Theory" and "experience developing navigation software" as "valuable knowledge." The obvious implications here are that Apple's looking to craft first-party, full-fledged, turn-by-turn navigation and bring it to its GPS-equipped devices, but maybe the company's previous new hires simply got lost a lot and this is just an attempt to nip that problem in the bud. Either way, the software job market just improved by four. Giddy up, coders. [Image credit: Nurimb]
