MacRumors

Last week, following Apple's blockbuster earnings report, the company held an internal town hall meeting with employees to discuss "exciting new things". While one piece of information about new employee hardware discounts did surface, little else from that meeting has made its way off of Apple's campus.

The Verge now reports that it has been hearing that discussion of the company's philanthropic efforts was a notable focus of the event, with Tim Cook spending "quite a bit of time" talking about the company's work in that area. One of Cook's first visible actions as CEO was to institute a charitable matching program for employees under which the company would match donations up to $10,000 per employee per year, a move that marked a distinct departure for Apple following the Steve Jobs era. That program resulted in $2.6 million in donations in its first two months of existence.

According to The Verge, Cook disclosed at the town hall meeting that Apple has also given $50 million to Stanford University's hospitals, divided equally among projects for a new main hospital and new children's hospital. Apple's involvement in Stanford's philanthropic efforts for the hospitals was announced last year as part of a consortium also involving eBay, HP, Intel, Intuit and Oracle, but Apple's specific monetary commitment to the effort had not been revealed.

Apple CEO Tim Cook held a town hall meeting last week to celebrate Apple's record quarter, and in addition to giving employees deep discounts on Apple products, we're now hearing that he spent quite a bit of time focusing on Apple's charitable contributions. According to our sources, Cook said that Apple has donated a total of $50 million to Stanford's hospitals, split into $25 million for a new main building and $25 million for a new children's hospital.

Cook also reportedly addressed Apple's work with (Product) RED, the Bono-led effort to fight AIDS, with Cook noting that the company has given over $50 million to the project through its special (Product) RED-branded iPods and accessories. Bono had previously cited Apple's involvement in (Product) RED in rebuffing criticism of Jobs regarding his lack of public philanthropy.

The Associated Press reports on a new initiative from the U.S. government to help push schools and textbook companies make the transition to digital textbooks over the next five years. With Apple pushing itself to the forefront of the digital textbook discussion with its iBooks Textbooks launch just two weeks ago, the company stands to significantly benefit if its iPad hardware becomes a primary tool in the move to digital textbooks.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski on Wednesday challenged schools and companies to get digital textbooks in students' hands within five years. [...]

Tied to Wednesday's announcement at a digital town hall was the government's release of a 67-page "playbook" to schools that promotes the use of digital textbooks and offers guidance. The administration hopes that dollars spent on traditional textbooks can instead go toward making digital learning more feasible.

The report notes that the K-12 textbook industry is an $8 billion per year market in the U.S. and that textbook companies have been working for a number of years on digital initiatives. The primary roadblock, according to the textbook publishers, has been that schools simply don't have the hardware necessary to make the full commitment to digital learning.

With the iPad starting at $499, pricing is undoubtedly still a significant hurdle for schools that will need to purchase the devices in significant quantities, although Apple has been rumored to be looking to bring the entry-level pricing down in the coming months by continuing to offer the iPad 2 alongside the new iPad 3.

Following yesterday's release of OS X 10.7.3, a number of users in our forums and at Apple's discussion forums began reporting issues with the update. The most serious of these issues seems to be widespread crashing of apps generally accompanied by an artwork error in the crash notice window in which the window's buttons are replaced with graphics showing "CUI" and question marks.

In general, users have found that applying the combo version of the OS X 10.7.3 update rather than the standard delta version typically offered via Software Update will fix the issues. The combo update can even be applied over an existing installation that is exhibiting the problem.

With the crashing issues perhaps causing users difficulties in applying the combo update to fix the problem, OS X Daily provides a nice summary of how this can be accomplished:

The simple formula is this:

- Download Mac OS X 10.7.3 Combo Updater (direct link)
- Run the 10.7.3 Combo Updater on top of the existing 10.7.3 installation
- Reboot

If you can’t get to the desktop of the Mac in question, you can boot it with Target Disk Mode (Firewire or Thunderbolt required), and then point the 10.7.3 Combo Update at the troubled Mac and install it that way. If your OS X installation is totally screwed up and you can’t use target disk mode, you have a few choices:

1. Restore from a recent pre-10.7.3 Time Machine backup, then install the Combo Updater
2. Boot from Recovery HD, a Recovery Drive, or Lion USB drive, and reinstall everything

Not the best situation, but hopefully you have recent Time Machine backups.

The report also notes that users who already updated and are unaffected by the issues but still concerned that there may still be issues lurking can back up their systems and simply install the combo version for peace of mind.

Update: 9to5Mac notes that Apple has put out a notice to a set of OS X 10.7.3 testers asking for feedback on the issue.

We would like to know if you have experienced an issue after updating to 10.7.3 characterized by the following: Applications crash or quit on launch, The term “CUI” and other graphic anomalies appear in dialogs and windows. If you have encountered this issue please submit a bug report. Be sure to include the following with your report: Install logs, system logs, a full System Report.

While companies such as Avid and Adobe have attempted to capitalize on Apple's Final Cut Pro X missteps by wooing users in need of professional video editing and production software, AllThingsD notes that Avid is pushing forward on the mobile "prosumer" front with its just-launched Avid Studio [App Store] app for iPad.

The iPad obviously imposes some limitations on what can be done with the software compared with the full Avid Studio for Windows, but Avid suggests that it is full-featured enough to be used for editing on the go and is ideally suited as a companion to the desktop app.

The idea is that the iPad app and the desktop software are complementary, [Avid vice president Tanguy] Leborgne said, so that users who want to create and edit projects on the go can do so, but ultimately preserve them by taking them to the PC.

The Avid iPad app does have some nice features, including an interface that includes a storyboard area and an editing timeline. And while some video editors rely heavily on customized keyboards or a mouse, others might appreciate the ability to pinch and squeeze videos and images to scale them on the touchscreen of the iPad, or the ability to move text and titles around with their fingers.

Avid Studio for iPad is launching with an introductory price tag of $4.99, which will increase to $7.99 after the first month.

Japanese blog Mac Otakara has posted a follow-up to their previous claim of a February iPad 3 media event.

The original report had claimed that Apple would hold an iPad 3 media event in February with product launch in March. We had expressed some doubts about the long lead time between event and launch. Mac Otakara has had a mixed track record in the past, but has had enough hits that they continue to warrant attention.

The site is now reporting that while there will be an event in February, that it would be a "strange" (or unusual) event rather than the usual product announcement event:

I reported that Apple was going to hold Special Event in early February according to Asian supplier and source from united states, but this report told a half-side of truth. Apple will hold "Strange" event at February instead of Special Event.

Meanwhile, they now report that the iPad 3 announcement and launch will both take places in March.

AppleInsider contacted the author for clarification but was only told that the February event would not be a product event.

The Commercial Times relays a report from Daiwa Securities that the iPhone 5 is expected to launch at Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) to be held in June 2012. Daiwa Securities also claims that the iPhone 5 will utilize "glass to glass" touch panel technology which will benefit TPK Holding and Wintek.

The summer launch claim is not new and has been echoed in previous reports. So this could simply be a parroting of previous rumors.

Apple broke from tradition with the iPhone 4S by launching it in October of 2011. Previous iPhone launches have occurred at Apple's annual WWDC conference.

The official dates for the 2012 conference have not yet been announced, but a previously leaked guide suggested June 10th-15th as the likely dates. Moscone's event calendar has those corresponding dates blocked off for a "Corporate Meeting" which typically acts as a placeholder for WWDC.

Research firm IDC today released its estimates of global mobile phone sales for the fourth quarter of and full-year 2011, finding Apple moving past LG to claim third place in the rankings for the first time. Apple was rapidly closing on LG by mid-2010, but fell back into fifth place behind ZTE during the third quarter as customers held off in anticipation of new iPhone hardware. The strong surge from the iPhone 4S launch was then enough for Apple to move up in the year's final quarter and by a large enough margin that it was able pass LG in full-year numbers as well.

While Apple has been estimated to be neck-and-neck with Samsung for the crown of top smartphone manufacturer, Nokia and Samsung firmly hold down the top two spots in the overall mobile phone rankings on the volume of their lower-end feature phones.

Apple jumped into the third spot globally from the fifth spot last quarter thanks to a record-breaking quarter of shipments. That represents the Cupertino-based company's highest-ever ranking on IDC's Top 5 global mobile phone leaderboard. The launch of Apple's iPhone 4S smartphone, which is now available in over 90 countries (as of mid-January), was the primary reason the company leapt over LG and ZTE in 4Q11. Device sales in the U.S. and Japan were particularly strong given extra sales days in the quarter and carrier distribution.

Apple's share of the market hit 8.7% in the fourth quarter and registered at 6.0% for the full year. Steve Jobs famously noted during the iPhone's 2007 introduction that Apple was shooting to take 1% of the massive overall mobile phone market, and the company has clearly exceeded that goal and can now set its sights on a 10% quarterly share during the next spike in sales.

One year ago, Apple ranked fifth in both fourth quarter and full-year sales for 2010, but by nearly doubling its sales year-over-year Apple was able to overtake both ZTE and LG to move into third place.

Earlier this week, Tim Cook announced the hiring of John Browett to replace Ron Johnson as the Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple. After spending more than 10 years at Apple, building the world's most successful retail chain from scratch, Johnson was appointed CEO at JC Penney with the difficult task of turning around one of the country's most well-known department stores.

Johnson announced his departure from Apple in June of 2011 and by August Apple's recruiters were in full-swing looking for a replacement. Curiously, for a company where nearly the entire executive team is home-grown, reports emerged that Apple was using executive search-firm Egon Zehnder to assist with finding the perfect candidate. The Wall Street Journal reported that Steve Jobs, at the time still on medical leave, was intimately involved in the decision to hire an outside firm "mainly because he wants to consider executives who are based abroad."

The entire executive team at Apple, aside from the just-hired Browett and Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel, has been with the company for more than 10 years. Aside from the general counsel position, Apple's leadership team has remained fairly consistent through the second Steve Jobs era.

Of nearly two dozen current and former executives, only a bare handful were hired from outside the company rather than being promoted from within, and only one -- general counsel Bruce Sewell -- is still with the firm. Apple's most famous crash-and-burn external hire was that of Mark Papermaster, a long-time IBMer who was hired by Apple in 2008 as Senior Vice President for Devices Hardware Engineering. After a lengthy court battle with IBM over a non-compete clause he had signed, he was put in charge of the teams behind the iPod and iPhone, and presumably the early development of the iPad as well.

Papermaster finally started work at Apple on April 24, 2009, nearly six months after he was originally hired. He left the company after only 15 months, just after the Antennagate scandal.

He was in charge of the division that created the iPhone 4, and Papermaster's departure would seem to be that of an executive who fell on his sword over perceived issues with Apple's flagship product. However, Adam Lashinsky's book Inside Apple notes that there was more to it than a simple product miscue. Papermaster's years at IBM left him ill-prepared for the aggressive corporate culture at the top of Apple.

Steve Jobs was on medical leave when Papermaster, who declined repeated requests to be interviewed, started at Apple. By the time Jobs returned, the word on Papermaster was that he wasn't fitting in. He wasn't seen as fighting hard for his division, a requisite internally. "Papermaster is a really nice guy, proverbially the guy you'd want to have a beer with," said someone who interacted with him during his time at Apple. "He is warm, patient, and willing to listen--just not the right qualities for Apple. It was so painfully obvious to everyone." It was said that when he came back to work, Jobs paid little attention to Papermaster, meaning the new executive had achieved "bozo" status in the founder's exacting judgement."

Inside Apple is full of tales of the unique culture at Apple, such as the lack of profit-and-loss reports for individual divisions, like those that exist at most large companies. Apple's idiosyncratic culture and the complete lack of external hires at the top -- plus the short life-spans of those that have been tried -- mean John Browett, currently the CEO of European technology retailer Dixons Retail, could be in for a bumpy ride.

From both Apple's press release announcing the move and an email Tim Cook sent to an Apple customer about Browett's hire, it's clear that Apple is not hiring Browett for his experience at Dixons. Browett's hire has raised some concerns from Apple fans because of poor shopping experiences at the different retailers he was in charge of. Instead, Cook is hiring Browett for his enthusiasm for amazing customer service -- something Apple puts a lot of stock in -- as well as his international expertise.

John Browett is Tim Cook's first major hire as CEO, and a lot of analysts and Apple fans will be watching to see how it plays out. Though it is likely Steve Jobs had extensive input on the process both before he resigned as CEO and before he passed away, Tim Cook is indisputably in charge.

The first Apple Store opened in 2001, more than 10 years ago. Apple Retail's second 10 years are called the "decade of significance" within the company. It seems likely that retail will continue to be Apple's most noteworthy corporate initiative -- showcasing both the brand and its products to millions of visitors a week -- and John Browett, a complete outsider, is Apple's choice to run it.

Apple today released OS X 10.7.3, the third maintenance update to OS X Lion. The update is available via Software Update and Apple's download pages.

The 10.7.3 update is recommended for all OS X Lion users and includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:

- Add Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian language support
- Address issues when using smart cards to log into OS X
- Resolve issues authenticating with directory services
- Address compatibility issues with Windows file sharing

Detailed information is available in the full full release notes.

Available versions includes:

- OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Client) (997.01 MB)
- OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Client Combo) (1.2 GB)

- OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server) (1 GB)
- OS X Lion Update 10.7.3 (Server) Combo (1.34 GB)
- Server Admin Tools 10.7.3 (202.59 MB)

Apple has also released Security Update 2012-001 to bring security fixes to users running systems with Mac OS X Snow Leopard:

- Security Update 2012-001 (Snow Leopard) (192.73 MB)
- Security Update 2012-001 Server (Snow Leopard) (212.09 MB)

Finally, Apple has also released Apple Remote Desktop 3.5.2 Client (3.75 MB) to address issues with screen sharing.

Earlier today, we reported on new photos of an iPod nano casing that appears to support a rear-facing camera. With similar photos having shown up in the past, it was unclear whether Apple was still pursuing the design for a future iPod nano.

M.I.C gadget now weighs in with claims that the pictured device is in fact a two-month old prototype but that Apple has been having difficulties with the 1.3-megapixel camera taking overexposed photos.

It’s real, and it’s a two-month-old prototype that has big problems. It comes with an auto iris lens that can be affected by diffraction and blurring when the iris opening becomes too small in bright conditions. Ok, I gotta say it simply, it takes overexposed photos.

According to our factory sources, Apple have problems with the lens aperture for the next-gen iPod nano, the iris is not functioning correctly to allow the advantages of the low aperture to be utilized.

Interestingly, the report claims that the user interface for the camera features is finished and that Apple is looking to launch the device late this quarter or early next quarter once it finishes working out the camera issues.

The release would be a significant deviation from Apple's usual iPod refresh timeline, which has typically seen updates come in the September-October timeframe. But with Apple shaking up its schedules in 2011 by pushing the iPhone back from its usual June release to take the iPod's place with an October debut, it is possible that other changes to the usual timeline are in store.

The iPods saw only very minor changes last October, with the iPod touch essentially gaining only a white option and a price drop while the iPod nano saw a price drop and a software update that was also compatible with the previous year's model. The iPod shuffle and iPod classic received no updates at all, making Apple's 2011 iPod updates by far the most modest in the company's history. Consequently, Apple could be looking to make more substantial changes to its iPod line, such as the release of a camera-equipped iPod nano, well ahead of the fall 2012 timeframe.

Update: Refuting M.I.C gadget's claim that the iPod nano shown in the photos is a two-month old prototype, Apple.pro's Anthony Tsai posts this screenshot showing that the photos were in fact originally posted to the Internet in August 2011:

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, whose long-standing claims of an Apple television set have been gaining steam in recent months as new rumors have surfaced in support of the idea, issued a research note late yesterday (via AppleInsider) discussing some new developments with Apple's work. Specifically, Munster notes that he had recent discussion with a "major TV component supplier" which disclosed that Apple had contacted the company to inquire about their products. The disclosure adds another data point to rumors from Asian supply chains that Apple has been working on a television set. The relevant portion of Munster's report is quoted by Barron's:

In Jan-12 we spoke with a major TV component supplier who has been contacted by Apple regarding various capabilities of their television display components. We see this as continued evidence that Apple is exploring production of a television. This latest data point follows Jan-11 meetings in Asia that led us to believe Apple was investing in manufacturing facilities for LCD displays ranging from 3.5″ mobile displays to 50″ television displays. In Sept-11 we met with a contact close to an Asian supplier who indicated that prototypes of an Apple Television are in the works. We believe TV hardware could be ready for a late CY12 launch, but the timeline and scope of a revamped content solution is more uncertain.

Observers have been looking for Apple's next major product line even as the iPad and iPhone experience booming sales and the Mac continues its resurgence with long-standing steady growth easily outpacing that of the overall PC industry. The rumor mill clicked into high gear on the topic of an Apple television set with Steve Jobs' disclosure in his authorized biography that he had "finally cracked" how to revolutionize television technology.

Rumors have since focused on an integrated television set involving iTunes and iCloud and controlled via Siri voice technology. One report has claimed that Apple design chief Jony Ive has a 50-inch Apple television set prototype in his design lab, although various sources have at different times claimed a wide range of sizes for Apple's TV set, from 32 inches to over 50 inches.

Sources seems to suggest that Apple is shooting for a launch of its television set later this year or early next year. What remains unknown is whether Apple will be able to make any revolutionary changes on the content side within that timeframe. The company has made several efforts to work with content providers on ideas such as "best of TV" packages that would be made available through iTunes and enable users to in some cases eliminate their cable television subscriptions, but the company has reportedly made little progress in those negotiations.

BGR reports that it has received from a source photos of what are claimed to be screenshots from Apple's iBoot development and debugging software for the bootrom showing details on an iPad 3. The screenshots, which show references to the known "J1" and "iPad3,1" code names, reveal that the device will indeed be using a new application processor carrying an S5L8945X identifier, presumably as part of a new A6 system-on-a-chip.

For starters, the model numbers are J1 and J2 (iPad3,1 and iPad3,2), and while DigiTimes reported this a few weeks ago, these two models are not different devices, just a single iPad available in two versions — one with Wi-Fi only and one with Wi-Fi and embedded GSM/CDMA/LTE for all carriers. Also included in the photos is, for the first time, confirmation of which processor Apple will be using in the iPad 3: an A6 processor with model number S5L8945X. For reference, the Apple A4 model was S5L8930X and the A5 is S5L8940X.

The report notes that the processor is expected to be of the quad-core variety, up from the current dual-core processor used in the A5 on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. The report also reiterates claims that the iPad will support LTE alongside GSM and CDMA 3G networks in a single device.

BGR offers no assessment of the reliability of the source of the photos, and iBoot output could be easily faked, but if legitimate the details bolster claims that the iPad 3 will be a major upgrade to the popular tablet device.

Last April, Taiwanese site Apple.pro posted a photo of what appeared to be an iPod nano with a hole in the rear casing that was said to be for a camera. A second photo showing the casing from the other side surfaced a month later, appearing to show a clipless design for the device and claiming that it would carry a 1.3-megapixel camera.

Apple ultimately made no changes to the design of the iPod nano in September of last year, instead opting to update the software and lower pricing on the 8 GB and 16 GB models. But the idea of a camera-equipped iPod nano was revived in November with the publication of a May 2010 patent application on speaker design that appeared to show a hole in the iPod nano's clip in the same location as the rumored camera hole seen in the leaked photos.

Apple.pro now reports [Google translation] that a series of new photos have surfaced showing this camera-enabled iPod nano casing in even more detail. The new photos clearly show the device retaining its clip-on design with a metal housing for a camera assembly protruding from the back of the main case and sitting flush with a hole in the device's clip.

The design would allow Apple to squeeze a camera into the current diminutive form factor of the iPod nano by moving much of the lens and sensor hardware outside of the main casing but still within the overall device envelope by utilizing a small portion of the gap between the device and the clip.

Given that this design for a camera-equipped iPod nano has been floating around for some time and did not make an appearance during last October's update, it is unclear whether the design is still in the works for Apple or if it has been scrapped for some reason. The company had previously introduced a low-resolution video-only camera on the previous iPod nano form factor, but removed the feature when it redesigned the device with a smaller, iPod shuffle-like form factor in 2010.

An Apple patent application filed in late 2009 also suggests that Apple has an interest in equipping the current iPod nano design with a camera, offering it as one example of an environmental sensor that could be used to allow the device to display screen savers and other content that relate to the device's environment such as the current weather or other factors.

MacRumors reader Tony Hart notes on his blog that after emailing Apple CEO Tim Cook with his thoughts on the company's selection of Dixons CEO John Browett as the next head of retail, he received a personal response in which Cook noted that Browett was "the best by far" among the candidates he talked with about the position.

Tony,

I talked to many people and John was the best by far. I think you will be as pleased as I am. His role isn't to bring Dixons to Apple, [it's] to bring Apple to an even higher level of customer service and satisfaction.

Tim

The selection of Browett has raised some concerns among those familiar with Dixons, which operates stores under a number of names including Currys and PC World, as the retailer does not have particularly good reputation in the UK. Browett has, however, been considered by some to be a rising star in retail after serving time leading operations at supermarket chain Tesco and then taking the reins at Dixons in 2007. Apple had also been expected to look internationally for its next retail chief as the company focuses its expansion plans on locations outside of the United States.

While Steve Jobs was known for occasionally responding to customer emails, usually with tersely-worded replies, Cook seems to have carried on that tradition even as he has moved to put his own stamp on Apple. A number of Cook's emails to the Apple team have made their way out of the company's offices, and he has on occasion, as in this case, replied to customer emails as well.

The slow trickle of new Thunderbolt products continues. Seagate has begun selling a $99 Thunderbolt SATA adapter for portable (2.5") external hard drives:

The GoFlex series is a set of external hard drives with interchangeable interface adapters that allow their hard drives to switch between different interfaces. Existing adapters include USB 3.0, Firewire, and eSATA. This new adapter offers Thunderbolt support for existing portable GoFlex customers. One reader notes that the interface is simply an SATA interface, so this adapter could be used with any bare 2.5" SATA hard drive.

Seagate first announced the Thunderbolt adapters at CES and is also planning on offering a desktop version of the adapter for $199 in February.

Macworld had a hands on with the portable unit and found it did indeed perform faster than Firewire 800 (and of course USB)

Using the new Thunderbolt adapter, we saw write speeds of 78.8MBps, or 40 percent faster than FireWire 800. Read speeds were about 79.3MBps, about 13 percent faster than FireWire 800.

The performance gains were only so big since they were testing against a single non-SSD drive. Previous Thunderbolt benchmarks have shown much larger boosts but only when using SSD and RAID configurations, eliminating some of the drive bottlenecks.

As it's aimed at the portable market, there are some other limitations with the device. The device only has a single Thunderbolt port, so it must be at the end of the chain. However, it is also bus-powered so no external power supply is required. (The upcoming $199 desktop model reportedly will have an external power supply and additional Thunderbolt port.) Also, the $99 price doesn't include a Thunderbolt cable which still runs $50 at the Apple online store.

So, the entire setup will add a $150 premium to your hard drive purchase, but is one of the few single-drive external Thunderbolt drive options available today.

Update: Note, that Seagate's GoFlex adapter is simply a standard SATA connector, so it could be used as a bare 2.5" SATA Hard Drive -> Thunderbolt adapter.

In an interview with AllThingsD, recording artist Neil Young revealed that he had discussed high definition music formats with Apple's Steve Jobs prior to his death.

The interview is summarized by CNet, in which Young claims that MP3s have just "5 percent of the data present in the original recording." Young is concerned that there is no suitable high definition available to consumers.

Higher definition music, of course, would require much larger files. Young reportedly approached Apple and specifically Steve Jobs about it:

When asked if Young had approached Apple about the idea, Young said that he had, in fact, met with Jobs and was "working on it," but that "not much" ended up happening to the pursuit.

Of note, Young made mention that Jobs was a vinyl fan, despite having helmed the company that would spearhead the way people listened to and purchased digital music.

Apple presently offers their iTunes Music store at a quality of 256 kbps AACs. Apple does support a lossless audio format that can be used on their iPods and iPhones, but these files take up considerably more space than standard AAC files, and are not sold on the iTunes store. Based on the interview, it seems there is no present interest from Apple in such an offering.