Apple Corporate

Former Apple retail boss Ron Johnson out at J.C. Penney

Ron Johnson, J.C. Penney's chief executive and former Apple retail chief, is out at the clothing retail giant, CNBC reports.

Johnson joined J.C. Penney in November 2011, after spending more than a decade at Apple, building and growing its retail empire.

That success did not equate at Penney's, where Johnson attempted to run the more than 1,100-store company as what he referred to as "a startup." That initially included getting rid of sales events, in place of fixed pricing. Johnson also tried to add high-tech features to the store, like free Wi-Fi and … Read more

Apple's planned 'spaceship' HQ will reportedly cost $5B

Apple's planned second corporate campus is turning out to be a headache.

That's according to Bloomberg Businessweek, which profiled the development process of the proposed "spaceship" building, an unusual structure shaped like a doughnut or ring.

The budget for the building has jumped to $5 billion from $3 billion, Bloomberg Businessweek said, citing unnamed sources. The cost would exceed that of the new World Trade Center and be three times as expensive as top-of-the-line downtown towers, the report said.

Apple, meanwhile, has delayed the start of construction as it works with its lead architect to slash $… Read more

Samsung takes smartphone battle to the storefront

DALLAS -- Samsung has opened a new front in its battle for smartphone supremacy: the storefront.

The Korean electronics giant plans to set up mini Samsung stores inside all U.S. Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile venues within the next couple of months -- just in time for the Galaxy S4 launch. The "Samsung Experience Shops," which start rolling out Monday, will be in 500 big-box Best Buy stores and all 410 Best Buy Mobile locations by early May. Best Buy's remaining 550 large-format Best Buy stores will feature the shops by early June.

A larger … Read more

The untold story behind Apple's $13,000 operating system

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, Calif. -- In the common retelling of Apple's history, it was Steve Jobs' and Steve Wozniak's second computer, the Apple II, that launched their fledgling company toward stratospheric growth and financial success. The machine's triumph as a single platform for business software, games, artistic tools -- and more -- set the stage for the later debut of the first Mac, and later OS X and iDevices.

What many forget -- or may not even know -- is that when the Apple II was introduced at the inaugural West Coast Computer Faire in April, 1977, it suffered from what, in retrospect, was a glaring shortcoming: It had no disk drive. … Read more

Apple sued over EarPods product name

A new lawsuit claims Apple's latest headphones could be confused with a line of hearing aids bearing a similar, trademarked name.

In a complaint filed late last week, Randolph Divisions and Hearpod Inc. said Apple's EarPods headphones infringe on its trademark for "Hearpods." Randolph Divisions filed for the name in February 2005, and ended up using the name in its line of hearing aids.

"Both Plaintiffs' Goods and Defendant's Goods are similar in nature in that, among other things, they are inserted into the ears of their users and are used to facilitate and … Read more

Apple's mea culpa works wonders in China

Apple CEO Tim Cook's apology to China over his company's warranty apology seems to have succeeded in reducing tension with the Chinese government.

Global Times, a state-run media outlet in China, today wrote that Apple's "apology letter has eased the situation, softening the tense relationship between Apple and the Chinese market," according to Reuters, which was first to report on the statement. The Global Times also said that Apple's apology was "worth respect."

Tim Cook yesterday issued an apology, saying his company was sorry for the lack of communication on its warranty … Read more

Apple looks to be amping up Siri with hiring binge

Siri could be getting a lot better at her job.

Apple posted 12 new Siri-focused jobs over the weekend, according to Fast Company. The open positions include software engineers, operations engineers, and interaction designer. This means that Apple's speech recognition personal assistant may be getting an overhaul.

The job description for Siri software engineers says, "The Siri team is looking for an exceptional engineer to help build out new areas of expertise for Siri, expanding the product's capabilities for millions of users," while the description for Siri interaction designer says, "The successful candidate will contribute … Read more

Apple to reveal Q2 2013 earnings on April 23

Apple said today it will discuss its financial performance for its fiscal second quarter 2013 in a conference call on April 23.

The call, which as usual will be streamed, is expected to cover the company's revenue and sales figures. CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer will likely be on hand to provide a financial forecast for the next quarter.

The iPhone maker recorded a monster first quarter of 2013, posting revenue of $54.5 billion and earnings of $13.1 billion on sales of 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads. That was just below … Read more

Apple CEO apologizes to China over warranties, offers fixes

Following weeks of scrutiny over its warranty policies in China, Apple now says it has improved services in the region.

That message came from the top, in an apology note from Apple CEO Tim Cook, posted in Chinese on Apple's Chinese site today.

In it, Cook apologized for a lack of communication on the matter, and said that the company is implementing improvements in three areas of its warranty policy and related services.

Those changes:

A new repair policy for the iPhone 4 and 4S that provides a new phone exchange or new parts replacement for a year after … Read more