Apple TV's new hardware is building for the future (First Take)
The newly refreshed Apple TV will be hitting stores on Friday, providing modest upgrades including 1080p support, a new single-core A5 processor, a redesigned user interface, and improved iCloud video support. While I haven't had any hands-on time with the device yet, I largely know what to expect, especially since the redesigned user interface is already available on existing Apple TV hardware.This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayGiven that the changes for the new Apple TV are so minor, my buying advice remains largely the same. The Apple TV is an excellent streaming-media box, especially for those who already own other iOS devices and are invested in the Apple ecosystem. AirPlay is still a killer feature, plus there's dead simple integration with other Apple services like iTunes Match, Photo Stream, and iCloud backup of your TV and movie purchases. However, the Roku LT remains a compelling alternative, offering significantly more content sources at half the price, especially if you won't take advantage of the Apple-centric features.What's most interesting is what the Apple TV's changes hint at. The new interface makes your TV look a lot like a giant iPad, with large icons for each service, seemingly paving the way for a true app store to hit the Apple TV some day. And while 1080p output may not make a difference right away, it could play a bigger factor when full-screen AirPlay mirroring comes to Apple's new Mountain Lion operating system. If you already own the old Apple TV, there's not a compelling reason to immediately upgrade, but I wouldn't be surprised if the new Apple TV gets some major upgrades down the line.Design: Same sleek black boxThe look of the Apple TV's hasn't changed from the last incarnation, but it's still the best design around. It's just a simple, unobtrusive black box with a small white light on the front when it's in active use. Around back are just a handful of connections, including HDMI, optical audio output, Micro-USB (for service only), and Ethernet. There's also 802.11n Wi-Fi built-in for connecting to your home wireless network. Note that HDMI is the only video connection available, so if you have an older TV, you're out of luck.This is a photo of the old Apple TV's ports, but the new model looks identical.Sarah Tew/CNETUnlike most other streaming boxes, the Apple TV's power supply is built-in, so there's no wall-wart or bulky power adapter. It also gives the Apple TV a useful heft; Roku's boxes are so light that they can easily be "pulled" by the weight of an attached cable.The included remote is as simple as it gets.Sarah Tew/CNETThe included remote is minimalist in a classic Apple way. It has just a navigation circle at the top, a Menu button (which doubles as a Back button), and a Play/Pause button. That may not seem like enough, but we never felt the need for additional controls. Skipping forward and backward is intuitively done with the navigation circle and although we thought we wanted a Mute button, Play/Pause worked just as well in every instance we ran into.The Apple TV can also be controlled with an iPad or iPhone using Apple's Remote application, and it works well. You can remotely control music from your iTunes collection, and use swipe gestures to navigate menus. We did prefer using the actual remote for navigation, but if you already have your iPhone out, it's useful in a pinch. If you're playing music from your iOS handheld and the Apple TV is hooked to a separate audio amplifier, you won't need to have the TV on, either.The Apple TV home page is new, but I can't say I prefer it to the old home pageUser interface: New, but not necessarily betterIf you're used to to the old Apple TV, the most noticeable difference is the new user interface. Gone are the old list-like menus, replaced with larger cover art at the top and square icons along the bottom for movies, TV shows, music, computers, and settings. Navigate farther down and there's a grid of icons for the Apple TV's other supported services; it looks a lot more like the screen of an iPad or iPhone than ever before. I'm not sold that the new home screen is better than the old design, but it's not a huge step in the wrong direction.The new menu bar along the top makes it easier to jump to useful sections like purchased content.AppleSelecting movies or TV shows brings you to the updated iTunes interface, which is more of an improvement. There's now a menu bar along the top of the screen letting you jump to useful features likes your purchased content and content you'd added to your wish list. Below there's a carousel of promoted content, followed by cover art broken down by categories like "new releases" and genre. If you're willing to pay for content, iTunes is still the best place to do it.iTunes Store: Movies, TV showsThe iTunes Store has been through many incarnations on the Apple TV, but it's the best state it's ever been in. TV shows are $3 for HD, $2 for SD (although increasingly rare to find the SD option); movies are $5 to rent in HD, and anywhere from between $10 to $20 to purchase. The selection of content is excellent, including some sources that don't show on competitors like Amazon Instant, such as Cartoon Network's Adult Swim content.Purchased movies are stored in the cloud and can be rewatched as many times as you'd like.Sarah Tew/CNETAll of the content is streamed (rather than downloaded) and you can access almost all of your purchased movies and TV shows to rewatch as many times as you'd like. As of the iOS 5.1 update (March 2012), these same movie and TV show purchases can also be streamed to other Apple devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iTunes software running on PCs and Macs). Even more impressive, you can transfer purchased content to an iPhone or iPad to watch even when you don't have an Internet connection.Overall, the iTunes Store is an experience that Roku or even Amazon can't match right now, combining a huge selection of content with a fantastic layout and the ability to watch that content on the go.Other streaming services: Still limitedOnce you get past the iTunes content, your options are more limited. Netflix is the most important, followed by other high-quality sources like MLB.TV, NBA, NHL, YouTube, and Vimeo. The podcast section also includes plenty of video content (which a lot of people don't realize), including TED Talks and CNET.While the Apple TV supports Netflix, I prefer the standard interface included on competing products.AppleThat still leaves a lot of content sources missing, including heavy hitters like Hulu Plus, HBO Go, Pandora, and Rdio, plus the dozens of niche video sources that Roku supports. If you don't use those services, you won't be missing anything with the Apple TV, but digital video hounds expect more options in 2012.The Apple TV is also still limited in its ability to play your personal digital media. The basic rule of thumb is that it will play anything that plays in iTunes, but that leaves out a lot file formats favored by (ahem) downloaders, such as MKV and DivX. If you're looking to play that kind of content, skip the Apple TV and check out competitors like the WD TV Live and the Boxee Box.AirPlay: The Apple TV's killer featureThe Apple TV's lack of content sources is somewhat made up for by AirPlay. We've covered AirPlay plenty in the past, but it's a killer feature if you own other iOS devices. The idea is you can stream photos, music, and videos straight from another iOS device to the Apple TV. That includes many third-party apps, so while the Apple TV doesn't have a Pandora app, your iPhone does and can stream Pandora to your Apple TV using AirPlay. Notice we said many third-party apps, because not all of them support it, including Hulu Plus and HBO Go. So while AirPlay can substitute for some apps, it's not a panacea.With AirPlay, you can "push" music directly from your iPhone to an Apple TV.Matthew Moskovciak/CNETAirPlay is also great for streaming your personal music collection. It works with any music you have stored on an iOS device and you can also stream your iTunes music collection from a computer. It's one of the easiest ways to listen to your digital music in your living room, although iTunes Match (which I'll get to shortly) makes it one step easier.AirPlay has one more trick up its sleeve: mirroring. The idea with mirroring is whatever is displayed on your device is exactly what gets displayed on your Apple TV. Only the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and the "new iPad" support mirroring so far, but Apple is including mirroring in its upcoming Mountain Lion operating system, due out later this summer. That should let you display anything you can play on your computer--possibly even regular Hulu.com--on your Apple TV. I haven't tested that functionality yet, but it could be yet another awesome AirPlay feature and will benefit from the Apple TV's 1080p support.iTunes Match: Digital music made simpleGetting your digital music collection to your living room somehow still manages to be a pain in 2012, outside of pricey (but excellent) options like Sonos. iTunes Match gets rid of most of the frustrations, letting you store a copy of your digital music in the cloud and stream directly to the Apple TV, iOS devices, and iTunes on a PC. No dealing with hard-drive management or complex network settings. The downside is the service costs $25 a year, which stings a little considering that's a fee to listen to music you already own. (Plus Google and Amazon offers its own music storage options for free.) It can also take some work setting up, but the interface on the Apple TV is a pretty slick way to listen to your digital music if you're willing to pay.Performance: Don't expect too much from 1080pWhen I finally get the new Apple TV hardware in my hands, the first thing I'll test will be whether its 1080p support makes video look any better. 1080p output on its own won't make much of a difference for video content, but improved bit rate and compression on iTunes 1080p content could result in better picture quality. Any improvement will be marginal, though, as iTunes HD content already looked pretty good.Roku LT vs. Apple TVStill can't make up your mind between the two? Check out the direct comparison between the two boxes I did last week.
Moving your home folder in OS X
Moving your home folder in OS X
Open your user account settings.Go to the Users & Groups (or Accounts) system preferences, and select your username. You may have to authenticate first by clicking the lock at the bottom of the window.Go to the advanced settings.Right-click your username and choose "Advanced Options," which should bring up a window containing a number of details such as the user ID, group, account name, and log-in shell. The window will also contain a warning stating that changes to these settings might damage your account.Change your home folder directory.In this advanced options window, click the Choose button next to the Home Directory field, and then browse to the new location where you copied your home folder. Select the home folder and click Open, and the path to the new folder should now be in the "Home Directory" field.After you have made these changes, click "OK" and then log out of your account. Then log back in and your account should load from its location on the secondary hard drive. If all goes well then you should see no difference in behavior. However, if something does go awry then you can log in to the secondary administrator account and edit your account in the same way to revert the home directory back to its original default location.After logging in to your account successfully, you can then go back to the Users directory on your boot drive and remove the old home folder in there if you would like.Instead of moving your entire account folder, you can set up aliases within your home folder directories to point to the external drive, enabling you to quickly access the external drive from your home folder.Screenshot by Topher KesslerWhile moving your home folder is easy to do and has its benefits, do keep in mind that there are a few potential drawbacks. For one, secondary drives and volumes are not as protected as your main drive. They can easily be formatted and also set so permissions are ignored, which will allow your home folder to be easily browsed by other accounts on the system and thereby potentially compromise the security of your data on a multiuser setup; however, the impact of this would depend on who you allow access to your computer.Alternative optionsWhile moving your home folder to a new drive might seem like the only way to quickly access a larger secondary drive through your home directory, there are some alternative setups that will perform the same functions. One easy option is to just mirror the home folder directories (Music, Movies, Documents, and so on) to a directory on the secondary drive, and then create aliases to these folders within the respective folders in your account.This setup will still use the account's library contents (application preferences and settings) from the main boot drive, while allowing you to easily access the external drive through the aliases so you can store your data and documents. The one drawback to this setup is that some programs will need to be configured to access the external drive instead of the original home folder. For instance, Safari's default downloads folder will need to be changed to point to the secondary drive, and you will need to set the location of your iTunes or iPhoto libraries to point to their locations on the external drive as well, but once these changes are done then everything should work properly.Do you have a custom or unique home folder setup that has its benefits? If so, let us know about it below in the comments.Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us!Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.
Open your user account settings.Go to the Users & Groups (or Accounts) system preferences, and select your username. You may have to authenticate first by clicking the lock at the bottom of the window.Go to the advanced settings.Right-click your username and choose "Advanced Options," which should bring up a window containing a number of details such as the user ID, group, account name, and log-in shell. The window will also contain a warning stating that changes to these settings might damage your account.Change your home folder directory.In this advanced options window, click the Choose button next to the Home Directory field, and then browse to the new location where you copied your home folder. Select the home folder and click Open, and the path to the new folder should now be in the "Home Directory" field.After you have made these changes, click "OK" and then log out of your account. Then log back in and your account should load from its location on the secondary hard drive. If all goes well then you should see no difference in behavior. However, if something does go awry then you can log in to the secondary administrator account and edit your account in the same way to revert the home directory back to its original default location.After logging in to your account successfully, you can then go back to the Users directory on your boot drive and remove the old home folder in there if you would like.Instead of moving your entire account folder, you can set up aliases within your home folder directories to point to the external drive, enabling you to quickly access the external drive from your home folder.Screenshot by Topher KesslerWhile moving your home folder is easy to do and has its benefits, do keep in mind that there are a few potential drawbacks. For one, secondary drives and volumes are not as protected as your main drive. They can easily be formatted and also set so permissions are ignored, which will allow your home folder to be easily browsed by other accounts on the system and thereby potentially compromise the security of your data on a multiuser setup; however, the impact of this would depend on who you allow access to your computer.Alternative optionsWhile moving your home folder to a new drive might seem like the only way to quickly access a larger secondary drive through your home directory, there are some alternative setups that will perform the same functions. One easy option is to just mirror the home folder directories (Music, Movies, Documents, and so on) to a directory on the secondary drive, and then create aliases to these folders within the respective folders in your account.This setup will still use the account's library contents (application preferences and settings) from the main boot drive, while allowing you to easily access the external drive through the aliases so you can store your data and documents. The one drawback to this setup is that some programs will need to be configured to access the external drive instead of the original home folder. For instance, Safari's default downloads folder will need to be changed to point to the secondary drive, and you will need to set the location of your iTunes or iPhoto libraries to point to their locations on the external drive as well, but once these changes are done then everything should work properly.Do you have a custom or unique home folder setup that has its benefits? If so, let us know about it below in the comments.Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us!Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.
Audiophiles- Who are these people and why do their hi-fis cost as much as a nice car-
Audiophiles: Who are these people and why do their hi-fis cost as much as a nice car?
Last week I dropped by his Manhattan apartment to check out his hi-fi, and I have to say, it's pretty unusual. I didn't recognize any of his components, except the Atma-Sphere vacuum tube power amplifiers. The tubes illuminated the room with a lovely warm orange glow, so I felt right at home.The monitor speakers' sides are covered with an exotic knitted weave, and Richard explained his speaker cabinets are made out of the sort of "ballistic ceramic" material used to make body armor. His speakers are, in fact, two-of-a-kind prototypes that were never put into production, probably because they would have been too expensive to manufacture in significant numbers. Oh, and there was a cool looking Raven turntable on a shelf under the amplifiers.Richard has around 4,000 LPs, and when he played a Louis Armstrong recording from the '50s or '60s the system sounded amazingly good. Pops' vocal and trumpet were three dimensionally present and the sound was extremely precise. I loved the way the speakers communicated Armstrong's energy and rhythm--he sounded absolutely "live." And the band's acoustic stand up bass' percussive pluck and "woody" resonance were exceptionally realistic. The sound was oh-so high-fidelity, it was truly great. Aah, the golden glow of tubes!Richard DRichard's drawn to gear that pushes the technology envelope, like his Liquid Ceramic Composite Conductor Audio Cables that are as thick as garden hoses. This level of exotica is really expensive, so Richard buys most of his gear second hand from Audiogon, a great source for used audio. Even so the system is worth about as much as "a nice car." He also prefers to buy from folks who allow him to try the gear at home, so he knows if he's really going to like it.Richard loves turning people onto the pleasures of great sound, "I recently played a friend some Pink Floyd tracks on my new turntable. It was a real treat for him to discover instruments and musical details in songs he had heard hundreds of times before." Richard also gets a kick out of knowing that in all likelihood he's hearing better and more realistic sound than the engineers who made the recordings. I'm sure he is.Richard D's hi-fi:Raven One turntable fitted with a Graham Phantom tonearm, and Sumiko Celebration cartridge.H-Cat preamplifier.Tron Seven phono stage.Atma-Sphere MA-1 tube power amplifiers.Cerious Technologies Too/Bass ceramic cabinet speakers. PS Audio Powerplant Premier power regenerator.Apple MacBook for iTunes and CD playback.
Last week I dropped by his Manhattan apartment to check out his hi-fi, and I have to say, it's pretty unusual. I didn't recognize any of his components, except the Atma-Sphere vacuum tube power amplifiers. The tubes illuminated the room with a lovely warm orange glow, so I felt right at home.The monitor speakers' sides are covered with an exotic knitted weave, and Richard explained his speaker cabinets are made out of the sort of "ballistic ceramic" material used to make body armor. His speakers are, in fact, two-of-a-kind prototypes that were never put into production, probably because they would have been too expensive to manufacture in significant numbers. Oh, and there was a cool looking Raven turntable on a shelf under the amplifiers.Richard has around 4,000 LPs, and when he played a Louis Armstrong recording from the '50s or '60s the system sounded amazingly good. Pops' vocal and trumpet were three dimensionally present and the sound was extremely precise. I loved the way the speakers communicated Armstrong's energy and rhythm--he sounded absolutely "live." And the band's acoustic stand up bass' percussive pluck and "woody" resonance were exceptionally realistic. The sound was oh-so high-fidelity, it was truly great. Aah, the golden glow of tubes!Richard DRichard's drawn to gear that pushes the technology envelope, like his Liquid Ceramic Composite Conductor Audio Cables that are as thick as garden hoses. This level of exotica is really expensive, so Richard buys most of his gear second hand from Audiogon, a great source for used audio. Even so the system is worth about as much as "a nice car." He also prefers to buy from folks who allow him to try the gear at home, so he knows if he's really going to like it.Richard loves turning people onto the pleasures of great sound, "I recently played a friend some Pink Floyd tracks on my new turntable. It was a real treat for him to discover instruments and musical details in songs he had heard hundreds of times before." Richard also gets a kick out of knowing that in all likelihood he's hearing better and more realistic sound than the engineers who made the recordings. I'm sure he is.Richard D's hi-fi:Raven One turntable fitted with a Graham Phantom tonearm, and Sumiko Celebration cartridge.H-Cat preamplifier.Tron Seven phono stage.Atma-Sphere MA-1 tube power amplifiers.Cerious Technologies Too/Bass ceramic cabinet speakers. PS Audio Powerplant Premier power regenerator.Apple MacBook for iTunes and CD playback.
The 404 1,087- Where we talk about it without ruining it (podcast)
The 404 1,087: Where we talk about it without ruining it (podcast)
With Justin Yu still under the weather, The 404 Show once again experiments with Joe Kaminski filling in. We consider ourselves very lucky to have a guest with super-powers on our program. The first power is his knack for going on obscenely long tangents about the most meaningless of topics. The second is the ability to give spoiler-free movie reviews, more specifically of The Amazing Spiderman, which was just released.Next it's off to a discussion on Android and the fact that only 10-percent of those devices have Ice Cream Sandwich running on them. What's even more confusing is that Jelly Bean (ICS' successor) was just released last week. It's arguably the most annoying Android reality, so we weigh its pros and cons.Finally, we touch on EA's recent statement that the company will soon be distributing games 100-percent digitally. This shouldn't be much of a surprise, since EA already goes out of the way to combat used game sales (see EA Online Pass). But perhaps the most exciting news of the day is the introduction of the official 404 trucker hat (pictured above). These bad boys will be available should you come and hang out with us at ComicCon 2012. All the info you need is here. We also highly recommend participating on CNET's ComicCon Twitter Contest for your chance to win a game console.The 404 Digest for Episode 1087This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff Bakalar
With Justin Yu still under the weather, The 404 Show once again experiments with Joe Kaminski filling in. We consider ourselves very lucky to have a guest with super-powers on our program. The first power is his knack for going on obscenely long tangents about the most meaningless of topics. The second is the ability to give spoiler-free movie reviews, more specifically of The Amazing Spiderman, which was just released.Next it's off to a discussion on Android and the fact that only 10-percent of those devices have Ice Cream Sandwich running on them. What's even more confusing is that Jelly Bean (ICS' successor) was just released last week. It's arguably the most annoying Android reality, so we weigh its pros and cons.Finally, we touch on EA's recent statement that the company will soon be distributing games 100-percent digitally. This shouldn't be much of a surprise, since EA already goes out of the way to combat used game sales (see EA Online Pass). But perhaps the most exciting news of the day is the introduction of the official 404 trucker hat (pictured above). These bad boys will be available should you come and hang out with us at ComicCon 2012. All the info you need is here. We also highly recommend participating on CNET's ComicCon Twitter Contest for your chance to win a game console.The 404 Digest for Episode 1087This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayPodcastYour browser does not support the audio element. Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video  Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuAdd us on Facebook!The 404 Fan PageThe 404 GroupJustin YuJeff Bakalar
Jobs hints at wireless music downloads on the iPhone
Jobs hints at wireless music downloads on the iPhone
That changed today when Apple CEO Steve Jobs dropped ever-so subtle hints that the iPhone may download music wirelessly and accommodate work-friendly applications in the near future. "There are a lot of things you can imagine down the road," Jobs said when asked if over-the-air music will ever be a reality. Granted, that not an admission, but it's not a denial either. During the interview with The Wall Street Journal Jobs went on to say that corporate-friendly applications are on the way from third-party sources. He didn't make any specific promises, but he mentioned that Salesforce.com will be in the game. He also said VOIP applications are in the works and added that he didn't put the technology in the iPhone from the start because Apple doesn't consider VOIP to be a big breakthrough.In other tidbits from the interview, Jobs said that Apple dropped 3G from the iPhone because the chipsets took up too much space and they were too much of a drain on the battery. But again, he did not rule out adding the technology in the future. "Down the road, I'm sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G, but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision," he said. In the meantime, however, Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson are confident the iPhone's Wi-Fi and EDGE network compatibility will be enough.And regarding its partnership with AT&T--another source of iPhone criticism--Jobs said Apple had considered an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) but decided against it because it "would be a big waste of energy." Finally, he wouldn't elaborate on which carriers Apple would partner with in other countries.
That changed today when Apple CEO Steve Jobs dropped ever-so subtle hints that the iPhone may download music wirelessly and accommodate work-friendly applications in the near future. "There are a lot of things you can imagine down the road," Jobs said when asked if over-the-air music will ever be a reality. Granted, that not an admission, but it's not a denial either. During the interview with The Wall Street Journal Jobs went on to say that corporate-friendly applications are on the way from third-party sources. He didn't make any specific promises, but he mentioned that Salesforce.com will be in the game. He also said VOIP applications are in the works and added that he didn't put the technology in the iPhone from the start because Apple doesn't consider VOIP to be a big breakthrough.In other tidbits from the interview, Jobs said that Apple dropped 3G from the iPhone because the chipsets took up too much space and they were too much of a drain on the battery. But again, he did not rule out adding the technology in the future. "Down the road, I'm sure some of those tradeoffs will become more favorable towards 3G, but as of now we think we made a pretty good doggone decision," he said. In the meantime, however, Jobs and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson are confident the iPhone's Wi-Fi and EDGE network compatibility will be enough.And regarding its partnership with AT&T--another source of iPhone criticism--Jobs said Apple had considered an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) but decided against it because it "would be a big waste of energy." Finally, he wouldn't elaborate on which carriers Apple would partner with in other countries.
Apple's latest top executives get $50M stock perks
Apple's latest top executives get $50M stock perks
Apple's newly-minted top executives will have good reason to stick around in the form of a hefty stock bonus that finishes vesting in four years.New filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, and Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, were both given 75,000 shares of company stock as part oftheir promotions last week.Those grants, currently worth $50.62 million, vest at three separate points over the next four years. The first batch of 25,000 vests December 23, 2013, with the other two chunks of 25,000 vesting April 23, 2015 and August 23, 2016 respectively.The big potential pay days are not unusual for Apple's top brass. The long-term vesting of the shares among some of Apple's top executives provides incentive to stay with the company and improve its performance in return for a big payoff when those shares vest.Last November Apple doled out 150,000 shares each to most of its senior vice presidents, short of SVP Eddy Cue, who received a slightly smaller 100,000-share bonus, and design guru Jonathan Ive, who is an SVP, but does not fall under the SEC's section for directors, officers, and principal stockholders. At the time that worked out to just over a $60 million payday to those who got the 150,000 shares, with Cue's cut coming out to a little more than $40 million.Also of note is a sale of 25,000 shares of stock by Apple board member Mickey Drexler worth about $16.6 million. Drexler has been a director on Apple's board since 1999 and is currently the chairman and chief executive of the J.Crew Group.
Apple's newly-minted top executives will have good reason to stick around in the form of a hefty stock bonus that finishes vesting in four years.New filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show that Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, and Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, were both given 75,000 shares of company stock as part oftheir promotions last week.Those grants, currently worth $50.62 million, vest at three separate points over the next four years. The first batch of 25,000 vests December 23, 2013, with the other two chunks of 25,000 vesting April 23, 2015 and August 23, 2016 respectively.The big potential pay days are not unusual for Apple's top brass. The long-term vesting of the shares among some of Apple's top executives provides incentive to stay with the company and improve its performance in return for a big payoff when those shares vest.Last November Apple doled out 150,000 shares each to most of its senior vice presidents, short of SVP Eddy Cue, who received a slightly smaller 100,000-share bonus, and design guru Jonathan Ive, who is an SVP, but does not fall under the SEC's section for directors, officers, and principal stockholders. At the time that worked out to just over a $60 million payday to those who got the 150,000 shares, with Cue's cut coming out to a little more than $40 million.Also of note is a sale of 25,000 shares of stock by Apple board member Mickey Drexler worth about $16.6 million. Drexler has been a director on Apple's board since 1999 and is currently the chairman and chief executive of the J.Crew Group.
Apple's Korea after-sales policy the world's best, regulator says
Apple's Korea after-sales policy the world's best, regulator says
Apple has updated its after-sales policy in South Korea, making it the world's best, according to a regulator in that country.According to the Korea Herald, citing a statement from the country's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Apple will now replace all defective products in that country with new devices within the first month of purchase. The company will even replace devices that become defective after the first month with a new model if the issue is obviously caused by a manufacturing issue. Apple had previously offered the policy to Korean customers with its iPhone last year, but has now expanded it to all of its devices, except for the iMac.With that change, Korea's FTC says Apple is delivering to the country a top level of service.Related storiesApple upgrades iPhone AppleCare coverage, priceDidn't get AppleCare when you preordered your iPhone 4S? You still canApple loses appeal in Italian AppleCare issueCNET's review of the Apple iPhone 4S"Apple confirmed that the renewed policy in Korea is the world's best level compared to [those] in other countries," FTC official Kim Chung-ki said today at a news conference, according to the Korea Herald.Korea has become a leader in consumer-friendly after-sales policies. On April 1, the country started enforcing a bill that requires companies to adhere to stringent government regulations on after-sales policies. In the event companies don't do so, they'd be required to note that on their product packaging.Apple's after-care policies have become an integral component in its success at establishing strong customer relationships. Aside from a standard policy that offers a full refund on iPhone returns within 30 days, the company's paid AppleCare service covers everything from regular defects to accidental damage.Back in October, Apple unveiled the iPhone AppleCare+ plan, allowing iPhone owners to extend their one-year warranty and 90 days of tech support to two years. The plan includes two incidents of accidental damage and costs $99.
Apple has updated its after-sales policy in South Korea, making it the world's best, according to a regulator in that country.According to the Korea Herald, citing a statement from the country's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Apple will now replace all defective products in that country with new devices within the first month of purchase. The company will even replace devices that become defective after the first month with a new model if the issue is obviously caused by a manufacturing issue. Apple had previously offered the policy to Korean customers with its iPhone last year, but has now expanded it to all of its devices, except for the iMac.With that change, Korea's FTC says Apple is delivering to the country a top level of service.Related storiesApple upgrades iPhone AppleCare coverage, priceDidn't get AppleCare when you preordered your iPhone 4S? You still canApple loses appeal in Italian AppleCare issueCNET's review of the Apple iPhone 4S"Apple confirmed that the renewed policy in Korea is the world's best level compared to [those] in other countries," FTC official Kim Chung-ki said today at a news conference, according to the Korea Herald.Korea has become a leader in consumer-friendly after-sales policies. On April 1, the country started enforcing a bill that requires companies to adhere to stringent government regulations on after-sales policies. In the event companies don't do so, they'd be required to note that on their product packaging.Apple's after-care policies have become an integral component in its success at establishing strong customer relationships. Aside from a standard policy that offers a full refund on iPhone returns within 30 days, the company's paid AppleCare service covers everything from regular defects to accidental damage.Back in October, Apple unveiled the iPhone AppleCare+ plan, allowing iPhone owners to extend their one-year warranty and 90 days of tech support to two years. The plan includes two incidents of accidental damage and costs $99.
Apple's Jony Ive reportedly buys $17M home in SF
Apple's Jony Ive reportedly buys $17M home in SF
Jony Ive has put to rest rumors of an imminent departure from Apple with the purchase of a $17 million house in San Francisco.Apple's senior vice president of industrial design purchased a six-bedroom, eight-and-half-bath house on one of the city's most exclusive blocks in the Gold Coast neighborhood, people familiar with the deal tell The Wall Street Journal. The house, which was built in 1927 and features views of the San Francisco Bay, appears to be a property that went on the market in February for $25 million. The official MLS for the property has been pulled off the Web, but here is the selling agent's description of the property, which lists the selling price as $17 million.Related storiesApple gets 'Back to the Mac' with iLife '11, Mac OS X Lion (live blog)Steve Jobs, Jony Ive named smartest in techApple's Ive talks design, what competitors do wrongUnder Ive's direction, Apple's put out a list of iconic products including the iMac, iPod, and iPad. However, last year rumors circulated that Ive was contemplating a departure from Apple to relocate to the U.K. following the completion of a three-year stock deal.Ive, 45, was not listed among the group of executives who got massive stock grants last November, with an aim of keeping them there through 2016. However that does not mean he hasn't been given bonuses over the years. Ive is an SVP, but does not fall under the SEC's section for directors, officers, and principal stockholders when it comes to disclosures.Ive, who has lived in San Francisco with his family for a number of years, couldn't be reached for comment. CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Jony Ive has put to rest rumors of an imminent departure from Apple with the purchase of a $17 million house in San Francisco.Apple's senior vice president of industrial design purchased a six-bedroom, eight-and-half-bath house on one of the city's most exclusive blocks in the Gold Coast neighborhood, people familiar with the deal tell The Wall Street Journal. The house, which was built in 1927 and features views of the San Francisco Bay, appears to be a property that went on the market in February for $25 million. The official MLS for the property has been pulled off the Web, but here is the selling agent's description of the property, which lists the selling price as $17 million.Related storiesApple gets 'Back to the Mac' with iLife '11, Mac OS X Lion (live blog)Steve Jobs, Jony Ive named smartest in techApple's Ive talks design, what competitors do wrongUnder Ive's direction, Apple's put out a list of iconic products including the iMac, iPod, and iPad. However, last year rumors circulated that Ive was contemplating a departure from Apple to relocate to the U.K. following the completion of a three-year stock deal.Ive, 45, was not listed among the group of executives who got massive stock grants last November, with an aim of keeping them there through 2016. However that does not mean he hasn't been given bonuses over the years. Ive is an SVP, but does not fall under the SEC's section for directors, officers, and principal stockholders when it comes to disclosures.Ive, who has lived in San Francisco with his family for a number of years, couldn't be reached for comment. CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Apple's Jobs still shapes PC laptop future
Apple's Jobs still shapes PC laptop future
Of course it doesn't hurt that the Air has been the highest-profile thin laptop since 2008.And Apple has been evangelizing it like no one else--which can be traced directly to Steve Jobs.(Though Dell tried to promote the Adamo, and Sony has made efforts with laptops like the Vaio X.) Maybe most importantly, Jobs and Apple have had a particularly big influence on Intel (though Intel executives don't usually readily admit this)--in turn, probably the single most influential hardware player in the PC industry. Intel CEO Paul Otellini made a rare appearance with Jobs at the Air debut in 2008.Here's what Otellini said at the time: "A year ago, you challenged us to get [our] microprocessor into this impossibly thin machine.... When we started this project we didn't think it was possible.... There are times that we sweated over it. But at the end of the day, we did what we do best together, which is to innovate." Some of the fruits of that project now can be found at the core of all Ultrabooks. And Intel was challenged again with the most recent MacBook Air, which packs the chipmaker's most power-efficient central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) combined onto one chip.An Intel executive recently admitted that Apple threatened to drop its chips if the company didn't improve power efficiency.This is quintessential Apple: badgering a company to improve its product or risk elimination. (When IBM's and Motorola's PowerPC chip roadmap didn't hew to Jobs' vision, Apple dumped PowerPC and went with Intel.)Whatever happens, Apple and Jobs have made their mark on laptop design for years to come.And despite the popularity of iPhones and iPads, consumers worldwide will continue to buy millions of laptops every year with Jobs' and colleague Jonathan Ive's fingerprints all over them.
Of course it doesn't hurt that the Air has been the highest-profile thin laptop since 2008.And Apple has been evangelizing it like no one else--which can be traced directly to Steve Jobs.(Though Dell tried to promote the Adamo, and Sony has made efforts with laptops like the Vaio X.) Maybe most importantly, Jobs and Apple have had a particularly big influence on Intel (though Intel executives don't usually readily admit this)--in turn, probably the single most influential hardware player in the PC industry. Intel CEO Paul Otellini made a rare appearance with Jobs at the Air debut in 2008.Here's what Otellini said at the time: "A year ago, you challenged us to get [our] microprocessor into this impossibly thin machine.... When we started this project we didn't think it was possible.... There are times that we sweated over it. But at the end of the day, we did what we do best together, which is to innovate." Some of the fruits of that project now can be found at the core of all Ultrabooks. And Intel was challenged again with the most recent MacBook Air, which packs the chipmaker's most power-efficient central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) combined onto one chip.An Intel executive recently admitted that Apple threatened to drop its chips if the company didn't improve power efficiency.This is quintessential Apple: badgering a company to improve its product or risk elimination. (When IBM's and Motorola's PowerPC chip roadmap didn't hew to Jobs' vision, Apple dumped PowerPC and went with Intel.)Whatever happens, Apple and Jobs have made their mark on laptop design for years to come.And despite the popularity of iPhones and iPads, consumers worldwide will continue to buy millions of laptops every year with Jobs' and colleague Jonathan Ive's fingerprints all over them.
Apple's iWeb to be shelved with MobileMe-
Apple's iWeb to be shelved with MobileMe?
Apple's iCloud announcements at last week's Worldwide Developers Conference had one product casualty in the form of MobileMe, but a piece of software the company ships with every Mac could be on the chopping block, too.In a purported e-mail response to a customer asking if they should plan on going elsewhere to build their sites and get them hosted, Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed that the company is doing away with its iWeb site building software and connected hosting services.As with other e-mails allegedly from the CEO, Apple does not comment on their authenticity and did not immediately respond to an inquiry on this one. MacRumors, which posted the e-mail thread, said the e-mail headers looked legitimate.iWeb was added to the iLife suite in 2006 as a way for Mac users to design Web sites with a what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editor. For users with a MobileMe account, the software would allow them to push a site design straight to Apple's servers, or elsewhere using FTP. Apple last week announced that MobileMe would be closing up at the end of June 2012, though made no mention of iWeb coming down with it.Compared to other components of the iLife suite, which include iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband, iWeb tended to get less attention, receiving just one major update in 2009. Nonetheless, like iDVD (which is another infrequently updated part of iLife) it provided a solution for customers to build a commonly-needed project with all their media, something Apple's gone after with its products and software since the early days of the Mac.Apple's iCloud, which succeeds MobileMe, launches later this year alongside iOS 5. Unlike MobileMe, it's not a destination like .Mac and iTools that came before it. Instead, Apple is positioning it as a cloud service to keep user media, settings, apps, and music in sync across multiple devices. The company said last week that it would be providing more details about the eventual closure of MobileMe at a later date.
Apple's iCloud announcements at last week's Worldwide Developers Conference had one product casualty in the form of MobileMe, but a piece of software the company ships with every Mac could be on the chopping block, too.In a purported e-mail response to a customer asking if they should plan on going elsewhere to build their sites and get them hosted, Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed that the company is doing away with its iWeb site building software and connected hosting services.As with other e-mails allegedly from the CEO, Apple does not comment on their authenticity and did not immediately respond to an inquiry on this one. MacRumors, which posted the e-mail thread, said the e-mail headers looked legitimate.iWeb was added to the iLife suite in 2006 as a way for Mac users to design Web sites with a what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) editor. For users with a MobileMe account, the software would allow them to push a site design straight to Apple's servers, or elsewhere using FTP. Apple last week announced that MobileMe would be closing up at the end of June 2012, though made no mention of iWeb coming down with it.Compared to other components of the iLife suite, which include iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband, iWeb tended to get less attention, receiving just one major update in 2009. Nonetheless, like iDVD (which is another infrequently updated part of iLife) it provided a solution for customers to build a commonly-needed project with all their media, something Apple's gone after with its products and software since the early days of the Mac.Apple's iCloud, which succeeds MobileMe, launches later this year alongside iOS 5. Unlike MobileMe, it's not a destination like .Mac and iTools that came before it. Instead, Apple is positioning it as a cloud service to keep user media, settings, apps, and music in sync across multiple devices. The company said last week that it would be providing more details about the eventual closure of MobileMe at a later date.
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