MacRumors

Apple and Tesla have been battling to recruit top talent from each other, according to a new report from Bloomberg Business. Tesla has hired at least 150 former Apple employees, more than they have from any other company.

The company has hired at least 150 former Apple employees, more than from any other company, even carmakers. The former Apple staffers work in many areas of the 6,000-employee automaker, including engineering and law. “From a design philosophy, [Apple] is relatively closely aligned,” says Musk, Tesla’s co-founder and chief executive officer. Apple declined to comment for this story.

Former Apple employees say their decision to join Tesla was based on the company's electric cars and CEO Elon Musk, who is a similar figure to Jobs. Like Jobs, Musk pays a great deal of attention to the details of his products and is a strong, visionary leader. Musk reportedly has a soft spot for Apple and enjoys comparisons to Steve Jobs as well, one former Tesla employee tells Bloomberg.

Apple's influence can be felt in the 17-inch touchscreen installed in Tesla's cars as well as its retail stores, both of which had former Apple employees in key roles. High profile former Apple employees at Tesla include Doug Field, Apple's former VP of Mac Hardware Engineering, who leads new vehicle development at the car company. Using top Silicon Valley talent, like former employees at Apple, allows Tesla to get a leg-up on competitors in the automobile industry.

While Tesla has had success recruiting talent from Apple, Musk says that Apple has hired "very few people" from the car company despite offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to its employees.

Apple and Tesla have interacted in the past, with a report emerging in February 2014 that Apple had considered purchasing Tesla. Musk also revealed the two companies have had "conversations", though it isn't known whether those were about a potential acquisition, iOS integration in Tesla cars or battery technology.

The report also provides an interesting look into other ways Apple has influenced one of the most talked about companies in Silicon Valley and is worth reading at Bloomberg Business.

Following the release of the first OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 beta to developers this afternoon, the embargo has lifted for media outlets to publish their first impressions and hands-on reviews of the all-new Photos for OS X app. Below is a roundup of some of the more interesting comments and opinions about Photos for OS X, which combines iPhoto and Aperture into one for OS X Yosemite.

The Wall Street Journal describes Photo for OS X as a significant improvement for users in the Apple ecosystem, adding that the app is less confusing to use than iPhoto thanks to an improved iCloud-based approach. It also found Photos for OS X to have snappier performance than iPhoto based on the Apple-provided demo notebook.

"If you choose to turn it on, all of your Apple devices feed all their full-resolution photos into iCloud, making them all available over the Internet to the Photos apps on all your Apple devices. [...] You can see the advantage to all this when you edit photos. With iCloud, any change you make on one device will show up moments later everywhere else."

Wired was also impressed with Photos for OS X, describing the software as a "vast improvement" over iPhoto and praising its new built-in photo editing tools. It believes that, while some professionals might opt for Adobe Lightroom and other tools, Photos for OS X is an ideal photo management and editing solution for most Mac users.

"Advanced users, particularly those operating on 5K iMacs or Mac Pros, may be happier eventually switching to Adobe Lightroom—though most of them probably have done so already. But for most of us, particularly recent Mac converts and people who may not fancy themselves serious photographers, Photos is a welcomely humble way to approach image editing."

Even further praise of Photos for OS X was provided by Re/code, which described the software as a "huge improvement" over iPhoto with easy-to-use editing tools and seamless iCloud syncing. Its hands-on impressions found Photos for OS X to be lacking some advanced editing tools found in Aperture, however, noting that some users might opt for professional software.

"While Photos offers some advanced settings like white balance and level, it lacks some of the professional-level tools found in Aperture. For example, it doesn’t have brushable or curve adjustments and doesn’t support splitting and merging libraries. And you can’t add custom metadata fields in the app."

The Verge went hands on with Photos for OS X and walked away impressed, noting that it handles large photo libraries much better alongside more powerful photo editing, sharing and syncing options. As with other publications, it found Photos for OS X to be more suitable for beginners than professionals.

"iPhoto was never one of Apple’s most beloved products. Every year, it seemed slower and less connected to the phone — the place where most photos are taken. Photos for OS X does a lot of things right, but mostly it’s just fast and tightly integrated with your other devices. It feels like a big step forward, even if feels overdue."

Yahoo Tech claims that much of Photos for OS X will be a familiar experience for most Mac users, noting that power users will be impressed with the several photo parameters that can be adjusted. The review finds that Photos for OS X gives up some iPhoto features, however, including flags, star ratings, events, round-trip editing in other apps and sorting albums by keyword, title and rating. Many professional options from Aperture are also missing.

"If you’re happy with iPhoto and Aperture now, you should feel no hurry to switch over when Photos comes out this spring (as part of the free Yosemite 10.10.3 update), unless you want that iCloud Photo Library feature. Which would be understandable. [...] Someday, yes, there will be some OS X version that can’t run today’s iPhoto and Aperture at all. But that’s years away. In those years, Apple has plenty of time to bring Photos’ feature list up to code, and you can freely keep using iPhoto and/or Aperture and Photos, side-by-side on the same Mac."

Overall, Photos for OS X appears to be a significant improvement for users migrating from iPhoto, but a step down in functionality for those coming from Aperture. A number of other publications have shared first impressions and hands-on reviews, including CNET, Engadget, Macworld, Mashable and SlashGear. Photos for OS X will be available as a public beta soon ahead of a Spring launch as a free update on OS X Yosemite.

Apple today seeded the first beta of OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite to developers, just over a week after releasing OS X 10.10.2 to the public. OS X 10.10.3 includes the much anticipated Photos app for Mac.

The new beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Dev Center.

Recent rumors questioned the removal of mentions of the Photos app for Mac from Apple's website, suggesting it might be delayed, but today's beta release indicates that it is still on track for an early 2015 launch. 10.10.3's release notes offer details on the app:

All new for OS X, Photos automatically organizes your photo library and helps you perfect your photos with comprehensive editing tools. You can also store your photos and videos in the cloud using iCloud Photo Library, and access them on all your devices.

Photos lets you:
- Browse your photos by time and location in Moments, Collections, and Years views.
- Navigate your library using convenient Photos, Shared, Albums, and Projects tabs
- Store all of your photos and videos in iCloud Photo Library in their original format and full resolution
- Access your photos and videos stored in iCloud Photo Library from your Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iCloud.com with any web browser
- Perfect your photos with powerful and easy-to-use editing tools that optimize with a single click or slider, or allow precise adjustments with detailed controls
- Create professional-quality photo books with simplified bookmaking tools, new Apple-designed themes, and new square book formats
- Purchase prints in new square and panoramic sizes

Quite a few sites have been given preview access to Photos for Mac, giving us our first look at the app that is designed to replace both iPhoto and Aperture. Re/code, for example, has shared several screenshots of the app, and calls it "both refreshingly new and comfortably familiar."

Apple has also created a Photos preview page that walks users through the Photos experience. The Photos for Mac app takes on a Yosemite-style design, with an emphasis on translucency and flatness. Like Photos for iOS, the Mac app organizes images into Moments, Collections, and Years, in a format that's immediately recognizable to anyone who has used the iOS app.

Photos for Mac integrates with iCloud Photo Library (though iCloud Photo Library is not required), letting a user access all of their photos regardless of the device they were captured with, for a seamless photo editing and management experience. Beta Photos users will find that their existing iPhoto libraries will be updated for compatibility with the Photos app, and there's also an option to import Aperture libraries.

Edits made to a photo on iOS or on Mac through the now-universal Photos app are automatically synced to all devices if iCloud Photo Library is enabled, and the Mac app includes a range of editing tools. Enhance can be used to improve images with a single click, but there are also Smart Sliders for more customized adjustments.

The app has somewhat more in-depth tools than were available in iPhoto, giving access to a histogram along with Light, Color, Black & White, Levels, White Balance, and Definition. Eight pre-defined filters are also included for adding quick effects, and there are options for printing Photo books and sharing images on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and more.

Update: OS X 10.10.3 includes a new emoji picker that consolidates emoji into a single page with clear labels. In OS X, the emoji menu is brought up by pressing Control + Command + Space.

The update also includes new support for Google 2-step verification when setting up accounts in System Preferences.

Swatch CEO Nick Hayek today revealed that the company has plans to manufacture and ship its own line of smartwatch devices with a launch target within the next three months, easily setting itself up against Apple's recent confirmation of an April launch date for the Apple Watch (via Bloomberg).

Hayek previously displayed skepticism about smartwatches, in particular the idea of one from Apple, saying he didn't believe it would be "the next revolution." Hayek also previously dismissed the concept of a Swatch smartwatch initiative, arguing the company's highest-end devices should already be called smartwatches because "they make you look smart."

Apple and Swatch were rumored at one point to be joining together for a smartwatch, but Swatch quickly denied those claims last summer. Now, building on the decades of experience Swatch has accumulated over the years, Hayek voices determination in the face of going practically head-to-head with Apple on the smart wearables front.

“Entrepreneurs are practical people, and they care more about being successful than being consistent,” said Luca Solca, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas. “Hayek has always said they have relevant technology for a smartwatch -- sensors, display, battery -- and seems to be set to make the most [of] it. Better to have an option and a hand in this category than not to. Nobody can yet say how relevant smartwatches will be in the end.”

Some of the biggest claims Swatch makes about its upcoming smartwatch include the ability to connect to the Internet "without having to be charged," undoubtedly a direct shot at Apple's yet-to-be-confirmed battery life for the Apple Watch. The Swatch device will also include a form of mobile payments baked into the watch, but as of now will function only in a select few Switzerland-based grocery stores, with the company in talks to acquire more mobile payment retailer partners.

Under the looming launch of the Apple Watch, several other high-end watchmakers have shifted gears and decided to delve into the smartwatch market, including TAG Heuer and Montblanc's "e-Strap" accessory band that attaches to traditional watches in lieu of buying an entirely new device.

Fourteen major U.S. hospitals have rolled out their own trials of Apple's HealthKit tool, with the pilot program earning praise among doctors for its ease of use and advanced tracking of various health metrics, reports Reuters.

According to the news agency, eight hospitals trying out HealthKit are on the U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll which ranks the best hospitals, with the program seeing more of a positive reaction versus health tracking programs by Google and Samsung.

Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans has been working with Apple and Epic Systems, Ochsner's medical records vendor, to roll out a pilot program for high-risk patients. The team is already tracking several hundred patients who are struggling to control their blood pressure. The devices measure blood pressure and other statistics and send it to Apple phones and tablets.

"If we had more data, like daily weights, we could give the patient a call before they need to be hospitalized," said Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Richard Milani.

Apple said that over 600 developers are integrating HealthKit into their health and fitness apps. The company has also hired Rana and John Halamaka, who act as two informal industry advisors that focus on health data privacy and industry introduction. Last September, it was reported that Duke University and Stanford University Hospital had begun trials with HealthKit, with representatives from both hospitals speaking highly about the program's convenience for patients and doctors.

Apple introduced HealthKit alongside the new Health app in iOS 8 as a part of a new initiative into health and fitness tracking. HealthKit taps into data from the iPhone's various sensors along with compatible accessories to provide a more comprehensive picture of a user's health. The upcoming Apple Watch will also contain a number of sensors and health tracking features that seamlessly integrate with the Health app.

Rumors about Apple's television plans have died down in recent months as no new product has appeared, but the company hasn't given up on TV. According to industry executives that spoke to Re/code, Apple is in talks with television programmers over deals that would see the company offering a web-based TV service.

Such a service would potentially allow Apple to deliver customized television packages that would be streamed over the Internet, providing access to a bundle of channels from participating content providers. The service would not include a full lineup of channels like traditional cable, but it would offer a range of content delivered by Apple with its own interface on devices like the Apple TV.

The theory is that Apple would put together bundles of programming -- but not the entire TV lineup that pay TV providers generally offer -- and sell it directly to consumers, over the Web. That means Apple wouldn't be reinventing the way TV works today, but offering its own version of it, with its own interface and user experience.

Apple is reportedly far enough along in the development of such a service that it has been showing potential programming partners demos, but talks remain in the early stages -- pricing and a potential release timeline are unknown.

Apple originally had very ambitious plans for revamping television, which included a desire to create a subscription television service that would replace existing cable subscription packages, but was unable to move forward with that idea due to pushback from content providers.

After a string of failed negotiations, Apple scaled back on its television plans, aiming to wedge itself between cable companies and consumers by designing a set-top box that would play live television in lieu of a traditional cable box. Rumors suggested Apple was in talks with Comcast and Time Warner over such a service, which would also include cloud-based DVR functionality, but that has yet to materialize and may have shifted into its newest web-based television plans.

Apple has repeatedly failed to reach deals with content providers due to their reluctance to change the status quo, but as Re/code points out, the television industry has been shifting towards web-based models in recent months, and both Sony and Dish have managed to establish deals with programmers to provide live TV and video-on-demand over the web.

During the company's most recent earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again reiterated that television is something that Apple "continues to look at." Apple is working towards finding a way to make a "greater contribution," than what it currently offers, he said.

Typo Products, a company that developed a BlackBerry-esque keyboard case for the iPhone, must pay BlackBerry $860,000 for continuing to sell its Typo case despite being ordered to cease sales in March.

The Typo keyboard was first announced in December of 2013 and was backed by media personality Ryan Seacrest (of American Idol fame). Seacrest reportedly invested $1 million into the product, which was the result of a desire to introduce a physical keyboard for the iPhone.

According to Seacrest and his partner Lauren Hallier, they saw many of their friends carrying two phones -- one for typing and correspondence, presumably a Blackberry, and an iPhone for everything else. The keyboard that the duo developed, which snapped onto an iPhone, bore a marked resemblance to BlackBerry's signature keyboards, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the company.

Just a month after the Typo keyboard was announced, BlackBerry filed a lawsuit accusing Typo Products of "blatantly" copying the BlackBerry keyboard and infringing on BlackBerry patents. A judge agreed with BlackBerry, handing down the aforementioned injunction that banned the Typo from selling its keyboards, despite Typo's argument that it was not harming BlackBerry as BlackBerry was already losing market share.

Typo ignored the injunction and continued selling its Typo keyboard cases, leading BlackBerry to file a contempt of court order in August, which resulted in today's $860,000 fine. BlackBerry had initially asked for $2.6 million in penalties, plus attorneys' fees for the violation.

In addition to continuing to sell the original keyboard case, Typo Products introduced the Typo2 keyboard for the iPhone 6 in December of 2014, which it says does not infringe on any BlackBerry patents. Typo2 features a sleeker design with a built-in keyboard that unfortunately blocks the Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 6. Typo's website currently sells Typo2 keyboards for both the iPhone 5/5s and the iPhone 6.

In response to the fine levied against it, a Typo representative told Re/code that the ruling is "part of the ongoing patent litigation related to the initial Typo product" and that it "has no impact on the Typo 2." A BlackBerry representative only had this to say: "The court's order speaks for itself."

Longtime Apple rival and supplier Samsung will be responsible for manufacturing the A9 chips for Apple's next-generation iPhone and iPad, Re/code confirmed today. Over the past several months, there's been a lot of confusion over whether Samsung or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) would produce Apple's A9 chips, but recent rumors suggest that Samsung's technological advances have put it ahead of TSMC.

Apple signed a chip production deal with TSMC back in 2013 with the hopes of diversifying its supply chain sources and reducing its reliance on Samsung because of ongoing legal battles, but it has been unable to break away from Samsung for its A-series processors. Both TSMC and Samsung produced 20-nanometer A8 and A8X processors for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014, though TSMC handled the bulk of the orders.

At a time when Samsung's mobile division is seeing profit loss due to flagging sales, the company's semiconductor business has helped to balance out some of the losses with continued growth. During the last quarter, Samsung's chip division earned 2.7 trillion won, making supplier relationships like the one that it has with Apple highly important to the company.

Samsung is reportedly already manufacturing A9 chips for Apple, built on its 14-nanometer chip process that has outpaced TSMC's production capabilities. As detailed by Re/code, the 14-nanometer process will result in smaller chips that use less power.

That's because Samsung holds a technological edge over TSMC when it comes to the latest manufacturing process. Samsung has managed to shrink the size of the transistors on its chips to 14 nanometers -- effectively packing more processing power into a smaller space and consuming less power. TSMC is still at 20 nanometers.

Samsung has not confirmed that it is producing chips for Apple, but Samsung semiconductor president Dr. Kinam Kim said in October that Samsung is expecting chip profits to grow over the coming year thanks to demand for its 14-nanometer chips.

Little is known about Apple's next-generation iPhone, but based on past releases and upgrade cycles, the new smartphones will use A9 chips and may feature updates to the camera. Rumors have also suggested that Apple may be planning to incorporate an A9 chip into its "iPad Pro," which may debut in the second or third quarter of 2015, and the A9 in some form will undoubtedly also make an appearance in 2015 iPad Air/mini upgrades.

Apple may be planning to hold a special event during the month of February, according to French Apple-focused website iGen [Google Translate] (via iDownloadBlog). The site's sources, which are often reliable, suggest that the event might take place during the last week of February, potentially on Tuesday, February 24.

The event may see Apple once again showcasing the Apple Watch, which is set to debut in April, and it may also see the launch of the 12-inch MacBook Air. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently predicted that the upcoming notebook will debut in March, which is in line with a late-February unveiling.

Apple's 12-inch MacBook Air is rumored to feature a new ultrathin design that does away with fans and introduces a revamped trackpad. It may include a low-power Core-M processor and it may be the first device to take advantage of the new reversible USB Type-C connector, which is much smaller and allows a USB cable to be inserted into a notebook in any orientation.

Apple may also use the event to unveil additional details on the Apple Watch, such as pricing and battery life. An event showing off the Apple Watch could explain why Apple has been asking some developers to have their apps ready to launch in the App Store in mid-February, as we reported last week. It's possible that Apple will use apps from these developers to demonstrate additional capabilities of the watch.

Though rumored, a February event is by no means confirmed at this point, and it is unclear what else Apple might cover in addition to the Apple Watch and the 12-inch MacBook Air.

Update 12:23 PM: Sources speaking to 9to5Mac have indicated Apple will not be holding a late February media event.

Apple is working on a new Beats-based paid music streaming service that will be deeply integrated into iTunes on Mac and the stock Music app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, according to 9to5Mac. The report claims that the Apple-designed streaming service will also be available for Android and through a new Apple TV app in the works.

"Based heavily upon cloud streaming, Apple’s new service is centered around the user’s music library. A new search feature will be able to locate any song in the iTunes/Beats catalog, and users will be able to stream music from the catalog as well as add songs to their personal libraries. Users will be able to select specific tracks to store on their iOS devices and/or computers, or keep all songs solely in the cloud. Apple will also deeply integrate Beats Music’s Playlists, Activities, and Mixes features into the new service, letting users access a vast array of pre-made, human-curated playlists to fit various activities."

The report adds that Beats Music users will be able to merge their existing account with an iTunes/Apple ID account for seamless transition to the new service. The app's design will shift away from the traditional red and black branding of Beats and feature a user interface that resembles the look and feel of iTunes and the stock Music app on iOS. New social features will also be included for sharing music and playlists with friends.

Apple's new subscription-based service is expected to cost $7.99 per month, cheaper than the $9.99 per month charged by Beats Music and competing services such as Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music. While the new Beats service will inevitably have some overlap with iTunes Radio, iTunes Match and the iTunes Store, the report claims that Apple will retain all three offerings.

While Beats Music is available for Android, this new service will mark the first time that Apple develops an Android app in house. Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously expressed that he does not have an issue developing an app for Android if the circumstances make sense, but this will be the first time the company actually delivers on that idea. Unlike Beats Music, however, no Windows Phone app will be offered.

Due to some personnel changes and other difficulties in the collaboration between Apple and Beats, which the iPhone maker acquired last year for $3 billion, the timeline for this new streaming service project remains in jeopardy. The report claims that while Apple originally planned to launch the service in March, sources claim that the company is now more likely to launch the service at WWDC in June.

Apple on Monday posted a listing to its Jobs at Apple page describing an Engineering Project Manager position for "Apple Search," sparking speculation the company could be working on a full-fledged search engine for use on OS X and iOS platforms.

As first highlighted by Cult of Mac, the most recent position would be based in San Francisco and asks for applicants who are "technical, driven and creative," with the ability to "manage back end operations projects for a search platform supporting hundreds of millions of users." Though Apple's website lists the job as posted February 2, 2015, entries on other job sites indicate it was originally posted on November 19, 2014.

Though the wording appears to hint at a new service, in all likelihood the job's parameters are covering Apple's already-existing search platform, largely embodied in Spotlight. Another job, posted in mid-January, supports the Spotlight probability thanks to frequent mentions of the updated Spotlight Suggestions service.

While gaining attention thanks to the use of the term "Apple Search," the new listings are less likely to be aimed at an entirely new Apple-based search engine and more likely cover ongoing efforts to improve Spotlight. Job listings have in the past hinted at the company's work on upcoming projects, but most of the time - as with patents - they are more of an intriguing tease into what may or may not be going on behind the scenes.

Apple is facing some search engine decisions this year, however, with Google's search engine contract with Apple reportedly set to expire in 2015. That is most likely to be resolved, however, by an extension of the contract for an additional term or perhaps a shift to another provider such as Yahoo or Microsoft, both of which are reportedly lobbying for the lucrative deal.

For the first time since 2012, sales of Apple's iPhone overtook sales of Android devices by a slight margin during the October to December 2014 period in the United States, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel (via TechCrunch). Apple's iPhone took a 47.7% sales share of the U.S. smartphone market while Android accounted for 47.6%, with Windows Phone accounting for 3.8% of sales.

In the US, Apple iOS overtook Android for the first time since this time in 2012, albeit by the slimmest 0.1% margin," reported Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. “While the success of the iPhone 6 and 6Plus is unprecedented, this quarter’s performance also points to Apple having its strongest portfolio ever. With a range of devices available at different price points in both contract and pre-pay Apple was able to take advantage of a weaker Android offering at the premium end of the market.

Kantar also notes that the iPhone 6 was the best selling smartphone in the United States, and that the iPhone's market share rose 6.2% in Europe during the holiday quarter. By comparison, Android's share declined 3.8% overall in Europe, as Italy was the only country to experience market share growth. In China, Apple grew 2.2% to claim a 21.5% market share, with the growth attributed to the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

During the company's earnings call last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus brought more Android switchers and new customers than prior models. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold a record 74.5 million units during the holiday quarter, with a 46% growth when compared to last year and Apple's launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.