MacRumors

Earlier this evening, Apple announced a major change up in their executive management. Most notably, Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall will be leaving. Forstall moved over to an advisory role effective immediately, and will ultimately depart Apple in 2013.

As Senior Vice President of iOS Software, Scott Forstall has been a prominent public figure at Apple. He was originally recruited to NeXT, Inc. after college and came to Apple with Steve Jobs after Apple's acquisition of NeXT in 1996. He has been on stage numerous times during Apple keynotes to demo the latest iOS features. Forstall was even profiled as Apple's CEO-in-Waiting back in January. That article, however, was a not always flattering look at the executive who reportedly had many clashes with others at Apple.

More recently, there was described to be an internal political divide in Apple about the use of skeuomorphism, the inclusion of certain ornamental elements in a product that are carried over from previous tools addressing the same task for which the elements were required for functionality.

According to the report, Apple's iOS chief Scott Forstall has long been a proponent of incorporating skeuomorphic features in the company's software, with Steve Jobs having supported and even originated that design direction for Apple's products. But others such as hardware guru Jonathan Ive find the inclusion of such features distasteful, and Apple's designers have reportedly been divided into camps over which direction to take Apple's products.

In light of the shakeup, Jonathan Ive is now taking over Apple's Human Interface teams.

DaringFireball's John Gruber believes that Forstall was forced out of Apple:

Forstall is not walking away; he was pushed. Potential factors that worked against Forstall: his design taste, engineering management, abrasive style, and the whole iOS 6 Maps thing. I also wonder how much Forstall was effectively protected by his close relationship with Steve Jobs — protection which, obviously, no longer exists.

Inside Apple author Adam Lashinsky agrees with that sentiment and also cites the Apple Maps issue as a reason for his demise:

I also heard that Forstall refused to sign the letter apologizing for the mapping fiasco, sealing his fate at Apple.

Lashinsky is referring to a public apology posted by Apple CEO Tim Cook about iOS 6's Maps. The Map app in iOS 6 replaced Google Maps with Apple's own proprietary solution. After a significant amount of criticism after iOS 6's launch, Cook wrote an open letter apologizing to customers about not meeting expectations.

Update: The Wall Street Journal confirms a similar story with their sources.

In deciding how to manage the crisis, Mr. Forstall argued that the company could address the outcry without apologizing, as Apple had done when it shipped iPhones with faulty antennas a few years ago, one of these people said. Mr. Cook and others disagreed, these people said. Mr. Cook signed his name to the apology instead.

The article also reiterates that Forstall clashed with others at Apple. One source even said he was difficult to work with and "never fit into the culture of Apple".

Update 2: NYTimes also has a similar story:

A senior Apple employee who asked not to be named said Mr. Forstall had also incurred the ire of other executives after inserting himself into product development that went beyond his role at the company. One person in touch with Apple executives said the mood of people at the company was largely positive about Mr. Forstall’s departure.

Apple today published a press release announcing a major management restructuring for its executive team. Among the biggest changes are the immediate departure of retail chief John Browett and a 2013 exit for iOS chief Scott Forstall.

As part of the restructuring, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue, and Craig Federighi are all taking on increased responsibilities.

- Jony Ive will take over leadership of Human Interface teams in addition to his role as head on Industrial Design.

- Eddy Cue will take over responsibility for Siri and Maps, consolidating online services under one unit. Cue was promoted just over a year ago to Senior Vice President for Internet Software and Services. He played a prominent role in the educational announcement earlier this year, and now has control of two of Apple's most prominent new iOS features.

- Craig Federighi will lead both the iOS and OS X teams. Earlier this year, he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Mac Software Engineering. Now, he gains the iOS team that was formerly under Scott Forstall.

- Bob Mansfield will lead a new "Technologies" group focused on innovation in wireless technology and semiconductors. Earlier this year, Apple announced that Mansfield would be retiring, but several months later announced he would instead be staying at the company. Later, it leaked that Tim Cook had faced an "insurrection" after Mansfield announced his retirement, and Cook gave him an extremely generous benefits package to stay at the company. It seems that Mansfield will be staying at the company for the foreseeable future.

Scott Forstall, the current SVP of iOS Software, is leaving the company next year. In the meantime, he will serve as an advisor to Tim Cook. Forstall was once considered a possible candidate to replace Steve Jobs as CEO, but more recently has come under fire for missteps regarding Apple's new mapping software and the continued impression that Siri is not ready for prime time. Also, Forstall was considered responsible for the skeuomorphic direction that Apple's iOS software had been taking recently. With Jony Ive taking over Human Interface teams, there could be more consistency coming to Apple's user interfaces across the company.

On the retail side, Senior Vice President of Retail John Browett is stepping down effective immediately, with the retail team reporting directly to Tim Cook on an interim basis. A search for a successor is underway.

John Browett raised some eyebrows when he was hired earlier this year. It is assumed that Browett was behind some staff cutbacks at the retail level and an increased focus on profitability at the expense, some say, of Apple's excellent customer service.

Update: Apple has updated its Leadership webpage removing Browett and Forstall, while adding the additional responsibilities for Ive, Cue, Mansfield, and Federighi.

Philips has announced a new iOS-controlled LED lighting system that can emulate nearly any color, as well as personalize the lighting experience with a wide array of dimmer and scheduling options. The company believes the new bulbs could reinvent "the way we think about and experience light in our homes."

Building on its innovation capabilities, today Philips unveils hue, the world’s smartest web-enabled LED home lighting system. Philips hue signals a new era in home lighting both in the way we think about and experience light in our homes. It allows you to create and control the light using your smartphone or tablet.

[...]

Philips hue can be setup in minutes. The intuitive app allows you to remotely control your home lighting to help secure your home, personalize your home lighting experience with custom settings and program timers to help manage your daily schedules, all through the convenience of a smart device. An intuitive and seamless system, Philips hue is upgradeable and future-proof, with the potential for more features to be downloaded and enjoyed in the future.

Philips is also working on new features including geo-location to automatically turn lights on or off when users approach or leave heir homes, as well as integrating with other media including sound and video.

The bulbs will be sold exclusively via Apple Stores beginning tomorrow. Hue is $199 for three bulbs plus the wireless link that can support up to 50 bulbs. Additional bulbs are available for $59 each.

Apple has been pushing app-enabled accessories heavily in its online and retail stores, offering products as varied as thermostats, weight scales, blood pressure monitors, a meat thermometer and a pet-tracking GPS collar.

Update: The starter pack ($199.95) and individual bulbs ($59.95) are now available in Apple's online store.

Apple's retail store unit has been generating some news over the past few days, so we've put together a roundup of some of the more significant items to summarize the latest developments.

- Apple opened its new Palo Alto store on Saturday. The new store replaces the company's previous downtown Palo Alto store that had typically been considered the company's "home store" and was occasionally visited by executives for major product launches. That store, opened in October 2001, was one of the first in Apple's retail chain.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was on hand for the opening of the new store, which is roughly 50% larger than the original one and is one of the first of a new prototype design based on the Upper West Side store in Manhattan. Houston's Highland Village store opened earlier this year with a similar design, while the company is also using the concept for a replacement store in Santa Monica, California.

- As the massive Hurricane Sandy approaches the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast coast of the United States, Apple retail stores are making their own preparations. Business Insider shared several photos from CNN producer Jonathan Wald showing Apple's subterranean Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan with sandbags piled in front and display products wrapped in plastic.

ifoAppleStore notes that at least 35 Apple retail stores are located within the landfall prediction zone, and with many areas shutting down in advance of the storm it seems that Apple will be temporarily closing at least some locations from this group.

- Finally, in line with Apple retail chief John Browett's announcement at the opening of the latest Beijing retail store earlier this month, Apple will be opening its new Holiday Plaza store in Shenzhen, China on Saturday.

The location is notable as Shenzhen is the hub for much of Apple supply chain for its products, with Foxconn having massive facilities in the city dedicated to assembly of iOS devices. The city is also a hub for the counterfeiting industry and is the main point of entry for scalped products coming across the border from Hong Kong.

While Apple sold out of white iPad mini pre-order stock in just minutes on Friday, supplies of the black models held out quite bit longer for those in the United States where Apple was showing greatest availability.

Availability of the black models in the U.S. online store began to slip on Saturday, when shipping dates for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model moved to two weeks. The 32 GB and 64 GB models have now followed suit, and all Wi-Fi iPad mini models are now being quoted two-week shipping estimates. Apple is still quoting its original "Mid November" estimate for cellular-capable models in the U.S., with other countries seeing "Late November" estimates.

The iPad mini will officially launch this Friday, November 2. For those who were not able place pre-orders in time, Apple's retail stores will begin sales at 8:00 AM on Friday.

Apple's fourth-generation iPad is also launching on Friday under a similar schedule that will see cellular-capable models delayed until mid-to-late November. New pre-orders for Wi-Fi iPad models are currently seeing shipping estimates of one week in many countries, with some seeing two-week estimates.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that French designer Philippe Starck was working with Dutch shipbuilder Feadship on a new yacht for the family of Steve Jobs. The yacht had been mentioned in Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs as a project he had been working on since 2009, but the ship was not completed before his death last year.

Dutch site One More Thing now reports [Google translation] that the ship, christened "Venus", has officially launched, with Jobs' widow Laurene Powell Jobs and their three children participating in the event.

The aluminum-hulled ship is said to be 70-80 meters in length and features seven 27-inch iMacs lined up in the wheelhouse to help run the controls.

Just 12 hours after iPad mini pre-orders went live, Apple has already begun preparing some of those first orders for shipment. The status reflects the final step before the packages are handed off to delivery companies. So far, we have seen a pair of reports in our forums with at least one of them coming from the UK, and another report from a Twitter user in Germany.

The first pre-orders of Wi-Fi models are scheduled for delivery on Friday, November 2, with Apple typically arranging with delivery companies to have shipments held until the launch date. It is not unusual, however, for a handful of orders to slip through early.

Apple sold out of its launch-day stocks of the white iPad mini models in the United States within minutes, and with the company still offering launch-day delivery on the black models it appears that supplies of the white models may be especially tight in the early going. Orders for Wi-Fi models in many other countries went to shipping estimates of two weeks essentially immediately upon opening, while cellular-capable models are projected for mid-to-late November availability.

(Thanks, Rob!)

Apple customers are no longer asking for Blu-ray drives in their Macs these days, according to Apple marketing head Phil Schiller. This is perhaps unsurprising given Apple's trend toward removing optical drives from its notebook and now desktop lines, but may regardless cause some consternation among Blu-ray fans.

A MacRumors post from June 2010 in which Steve Jobs told a reader that it appeared Blu-ray would be beaten by downloadable formats garnered more comments for a news post than any other in our history, and we still hear from tipsters asking when Apple will finally include a Blu-ray player in its Macs.

According to an interview Phil Schiller did with Time's Harry McCracken, native Blu-ray support will likely never come to the Mac.

Schiller pointed out that one major application for optical drives, software distribution, has gone largely digital. As for video, he said that "Blu-ray has come with issues unrelated to the actual quality of the movie that make [it] a complex and not-great technology…So for a whole plethora of reasons, it makes a lot of sense to get rid of optical discs in desktops and notebooks."

His preferred Blu-ray alternative? iTunes, of course, which lets you buy a movie and then watch it on all your Apple devices.

Once upon a time, people assumed that Macs’ lack of Blu-ray was a delay, not a permanent decision to fast-forward past it. I told Schiller that I imagined folks don’t ask about it much these days. "Correct," he said.

External Blu-ray drives are available currently via USB 2/3 and eventually via Thunderbolt but, given the overwhelming trend towards downloaded media, these are certainly niche products.

The Economic Times reports that Apple will be launching the iPhone 5 in India on November 2, one week from today. The launch had previously been rumored for today, but the new report claims that shipping delays forced Apple to push the launch back by a week.

Apple's global rollout plan was addressed in the company's earnings conference call yesterday, with CEO Tim Cook acknowledging in response to a question from JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz that schedules are somewhat fluid based on supply and demand.

What we did initially, Mark, was we planned the first 30-40 countries prior to introducing the product and rolled those out across September on two different dates. The balance of the quarter we planned with an eye toward the supply and what we think the demand will be, but we do plan these in advance and so it is not a precise science. And we obviously have to plan those with several weeks of notice and so occasionally it can be different than what we think.

It does appear that this next round of launches coming on November 2 is a fairly substantial one, as we have also seen reports saying that the iPhone 5 will be launching on that date in Bulgaria, Malta, Romania, and Thailand, and there are likely to be other countries included in this group.

Apple noted during its conference call that it remains on track to make the iPhone 5 available in at least 100 countries by the end of the year, although many of those additions will not be coming until December. The device launched in nine countries on September 21, with an additional 22 countries seeing debuts on September 28.

Update 10:01 AM: Greece is also included in this round of launches. MacRumors posters have noted that the device will also be launching in Croatia, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Research firm IDC yesterday released its estimates of global mobile phone and smartphone shipments for the third quarter of 2012, revealing that the iPhone 5 launch helped Apple gain market share over the year-ago period that saw customers holding out for the iPhone 4S launch. The few days of iPhone 5 sales in the quarter were not, however, enough to halt a continuing slide in market share over the past few quarters as Samsung in particular has maintained very strong growth at the top of the market.

In the smartphone market, Apple's shipments of 26.9 million iPhones were up a healthy 57.3% year-over-year, outpacing overall market growth of 45.3% and boosting Apple's share from 13.8% to 15.0%. Apple's share was, however, pegged at 16.9% in the prior quarter.

With Samsung still declining to release official sales number, IDC estimated the company's smartphone shipments at 56.3 million during the quarter, doubling year-over-year and pushing Samsung's leading share of the worldwide market to 31.3%. And with Nokia's share of the smartphone market imploding as it tries to reinvent itself on the back of Windows Phone 8, no other manufacturer besides Samsung and Apple has a market share above 8%.

iPhone shipments finished the quarter nearly flat from the previous quarter, reaching a total of 26.9 million units. Although the iPhone 5 was only on the market for one week in 3Q12, the aggressive rollout of the device resulted in more than 5 million iPhones sold in the first weekend of availability, which helped buoy Apple's shipment totals. iPhone sales weren't dampened by the introduction of its Maps software, which was not completely ready for use. Instead, the iPhone 5's larger screen and 4G LTE connectivity generated user interest. What remains to be seen is how Apple will fare during the holiday quarter, when the iPhone 5 will be available in more countries worldwide.

In the overall mobile phone market, Apple continues to ride the smartphone boom with its 57.3% annual unit growth easily outpacing the overall market's 2.4% growth. The performance enabled Apple to take 6.1% of the mobile phone market during the quarter, up from 3.9% in the year-ago quarter but down from 6.4% in the previous quarter.

With Apple providing guidance yesterday of $52 billion in total company revenue for the current quarter, it seems that the company is unsurprisingly projecting a significant boost in iPhone sales numbers as the iPhone 5 sees a full quarter of availability in the early launch markets and Apple works to extend the device to its goal of 100 countries by the end of the quarter.

Apple started pre-orders for the iPad mini and 4th Generation iPad early this morning at 3AM Eastern / 12AM Pacific. As noted in our forums, the initial stock of White iPad minis sold out quickly in the U.S. Within the first 17 minutes, ship dates for the white iPad mini slipped to 2 weeks from the original "Delivers 11/2". The black Wi-Fi iPad mini remains available for delivery by November 2nd.

Of course, its hard to tell how much of the stock out is related to high demand vs. low supply. We suspect stocks may have been low as others have noted that countries outside the U.S. listed "2 week" delivery times from the first moment the white iPad minis went on sale.

As typical, Apple will also offer the iPad mini in retail stores on launch day. Apple keeps a sizable stock of devices to be available on the official launch day of products. The Wi-Fi iPad mini will be available in retail stores starting on November 2nd. Meanwhile, the cellular version is promised by mid-November.

As instructed by a UK court, Apple has posted a small link in the footer of Apple.com/uk. The notice acknowledges the judgement that Samsung had not infringed on the iPad design with their Galaxy Tab. The text of the notice starts:

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited’s Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple’s registered design No. 0000181607-0001

But Apple's notice is somewhat playful and goes on to quote directly from the judgement where the Judge describes that Apple's design is "cool" and ultimately the Samsung design is simply not as cool. The Judge wrote:

"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

Apple goes on to explain that the case was also tried in Germany and that in that court Samsung was found guilty. In the end, they write "So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad."

The link must remain on Apple UK website for a period of one month, and Apple is also required to run ads acknowledging the ruling.

Apple is now accepting pre-orders for the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad. U.S. customers can also order iPad mini + Cellular models on Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. Prices for the iPad mini are $329 (16GB), $429 (32GB), and $529 (64GB). Cellular models cost $130 more, and all models come in white or black.

Delivery for pre-orders of Wi-Fi models is expected on November 2nd. Alternatively, customers will be able to purchase at retail locations on that same date. Apple's online store is currently quoting "Mid November" shipping for cellular models in the United States, with other countries seeing "Late November" availability for those models.

Apple's Online Store has gone offline in preparation for iPad mini pre-orders. Pre-orders for the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad will likely begin at 12:01am Pacific and 3:01am Eastern on October 26th.

Customers can begin pre-ordering all models of iPad mini and all models of the fourth generation iPad on Friday, October 26 through the Apple Online Store in the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

iPad mini with Wi-Fi models will be available for purchase in retail stores on Friday, November 2, with pre-orders beginning to arrive that same day. iPad mini with Cellular models will begin shipping a few weeks after the Wi-Fi models, first in the U.S. on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon with other countries following later.

Fourth generation iPad preorders begin tonight as well, with similar availability to the iPad mini.

In September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was in licensing negotiations with record labels to create a Pandora-like music service. The next day, the New York Post reported that talks were hung up over licensing fees.

Earlier today, it was Bloomberg breaking the story. The wire service reported the music service would launch in the first quarter of next year, and, just like last time, anonymous record company executives are pouring water on the deal, saying record companies still want Apple to improve its offer. This time, CNET has the story:

The negotiations are ongoing so the terms could change, but the sources said Apple has offered to pay a lower royalty rate than Pandora pays even though it wants to provide iTunes users with the ability to do more with the music than Pandora's customers enjoy. Pandora, the leading Internet radio service, pays a statutory rate set by Congress. Under the terms of this rate, Pandora must limit the way users interact with songs, such as capping the number of times they can listen to the same song or an individual artist.

In exchange for this greater flexibility with songs, Apple is offering a percentage of the ad sales generated by the service. CNET's sources say that some of the sector's leaders don't believe the cut Apple put on the table is big enough. Others in the music industry, however, argue it's good for the overall business if Apple takes on Pandora.

It seems likely that these negotiations are playing themselves out in the press, as well as behind boardroom doors.

Apple has increased the amount of money charged for App Store pricing tiers for a number of countries across the European Union. The lowest tier is now €0.89, up from €0.79. It is equivalent to the $0.99 tier in the U.S. MacStories has confirmed the following countries have seen a change in pricing:

- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Greece
- Poland
- Germany
- France
- Belgium
- Austria
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Luxembourg
- Hungary
- Russia

Additionally, several countries have seen App Store pricing change from U.S. dollars to local currencies. Apps in India are now being priced in Rupees, apps in Saudi Arabia are being priced in Saudi Riyals, and customers in the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, and South Africa are all seeing purchases listed in local currencies now.

During Apple's fourth quarter earnings call today, CEO Tim Cook explained the company's pricing philosophy for the iPad mini in some detail. The following is a portion of our rough transcript:

When we set out to build it, we didn't set out to build a small, cheap tablet. We set out to build a smaller iPad that offered the full iPad experience. The difference between us and the competition is profound. 35% larger screen than 7" tablets. 2 great cameras. Fastest communications with dual bank Wi-Fi. Fit and finish of our precision enclosure is breathtaking when held in your hands. That's what we've done, the iPad mini has higher costs and gross margin is significantly below our corporate average. Height of the cost curve, but we want to make a large number and we're going to work to try to get down the cost curve and get more efficient with manufacturing as we've done with our other products.

One of the things we try to do is to create a product that people will love for months and years and continue using. That's what iPad Mini is designed to do. You can see that more broadly on iPad by looking at the usage statistics. Over 90% of web traffic from tablets is from iPads. Apple will not make a product that somebody may feel good about for the moment, but then won't use when they get home. That's not the experience we want our customers to have. I would encourage you to use an iPad mini and I don't think you'd be using anything other than an iPad once you do that.