Lukáš Gondek The Prime Minister of Israel visited Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, the announced departure of the CFO passed without panic on Wall Street, and the last MacBook Pro without a Retina display should end its service this year...
Smartwatch maker Basis finally bought by Intel (3/3)
Basis, a smart watch manufacturer, has been in the sights of several companies recently, including Apple, Google, Samsung and Microsoft. In the end, this company was bought by Intel for 100 to 150 million dollars, which, however, has not yet issued an official statement on this deal, and therefore no one knows exactly what the purpose of the acquisition was. Intel is probably trying to secure a good place in the rapidly developing wearable market. A couple of recently launched products, such as the ultra-small Intel Quark or Edison chips, which were made just for use in wearable devices such as smart watches, would indicate this. Intel's CEO confirmed last month that Intel is working on two wearable devices. It's unlikely that Intel will come up with its own line of smartwatches, but it certainly sees potential in this area.
Source: AppleInsider
Wall Street not surprised by Oppenheimer's end, expects easy transition (4/3)
Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced that he is going to retire in the second half of this year. Oppenheimer worked at Apple for 18 years, then as CFO for 10 years. However, the news did not affect Apple shares, which rose one percent on the day the news was announced. Under Oppenheimer's leadership, one of Apple's largest share buybacks took place, and the California company also began paying a quarterly dividend under his leadership. Under Oppenheimer, Apple's annual turnover also grew from 8 billion to an incredible 171 billion dollars. Analyst Brian White assured investors that the arrival of new CFO Luca Maestri will be seamless, as Maestri has been with Apple since early 2013.
Source: AppleInsider
MacBook Pro without Retina display should stop selling this year (5/3)
Apple plans to stop production of the last MacBook Pro without a Retina display later this year. The 13-inch MacBook Pro without Retina display was last updated in June 2012, and its 15-inch version was discontinued by Apple last year. After introducing the new 13-inch model with Retina display, Apple lowered the price of this computer to $1, which is only $299 more than what Americans can buy the non-Retina display version of the laptop. According to the latest information, the new MacBook Pro with Retina display could have the latest Broadwell chip from Intel. It is also speculated that even before the 100- and 13-inch MacBook Pros are introduced, Apple is preparing to launch a 15-inch version.
Source: MacRumors
Apple continues to demolish the site where the new campus will grow (5/3)
Apple continues to prepare the construction of its second campus, which journalists have nicknamed "spaceship" due to its futuristic appearance. In the newly taken photos, we can see that Apple has completely demolished the former headquarters of Hewlett-Packard. The construction of the center itself, with an underground garage surrounded by extensive fauna, should take 24 to 36 months, and Apple expects to open the center in 2016.
Source: 9to5Mac
Apple allegedly published confidential documents, for which Samsung was punished (5/3)
An interesting turn took place in one minor court case between Apple and Samsung. After the court fined Samsung for revealing confidential information about Apple, representatives of the South Korean company now came up with the argument that Apple ultimately published this information itself. These are the licensing agreements between Apple and Nokia that Samsung's lawyers mistakenly shared with their employees. According to Samsung, however, Apple made the same mistake when it included the agreement with Nokia, along with confidential information about agreements with Google and Samsung itself, in its publicly accessible files in October. Apple is said to be refusing to provide information about the investigation into the issue, but if the Californian company was really at fault, the court will most likely reduce Samsung's fine.
Source: The Verge
iBeacon will also be used at the SXSW festival (6/3)
iBeacon is finding more and more uses, and the organizers of the SXSW festival, where Apple will present its iTunes Festival for the first time in America, have decided to use this technology as well. Festival-goers will be able to use the iBeacon through the official SXSW app. "We have placed iBeacon beacons in various places where the lectures will be held," describes the intentions of using iBeacon the creator of the application. "When the visitor arrives at the lecture venue, they will be able to use the iBeacon to join a group conversation with other listeners and discuss with them or vote in polls and the like." Festival-goers will also be alerted via notifications of important changes regarding the lectures they have signed up for . Those interested will also have the opportunity to participate in an event organized by the creators of the official SXSW app, where iBeacon technology will be presented to them.
Source: 9to5Mac
Tim Cook met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (March 6)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a short clip of his visit to Tim Cook in Cupertino, California on his official YouTube channel. The prime minister and Cook met for lunch, along with several other Apple representatives, right at the company's headquarters. Although the list of those involved has not been released, Bruce Sewell, Apple's senior VP of legal affairs, can be seen in the video. It is not clear what the meeting was about, but it seems that the representatives mainly talked about the technological focus of Apple and Israel.
As they entered the reception center, Cook and Netanyahu had their picture taken by photographers in front of a huge sign that read, “If you do something wonderful, you should start doing something else right away and not dwell on it for too long. All you have to do is figure out what's next," in a quote from Steve Jobs. The Israeli prime minister quipped, "But you can't expect that from the government." To which Tim Cook replied with a smile, "No, but I wish we could."
[youtube id=1D37lYAJFtU width=”620″ height=”350″]
Source: AppleInsider
A week in a nutshell
In connection with Apple, two big topics were discussed in the last week. At the beginning of the week, Apple introduced its new CarPlay service - the integration of iOS into the on-board computers of cars. Several cars presented CarPlay right after at the Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari even at the presentation assisted by Apple officials. As it later turned out, making apps for CarPlay is not complicated at all, but Apple has given access to only a select few developers for now. He wants to ensure driving safety above all.
The other big news was the announced retirement of CFO Peter Oppenheimer. A longtime Apple employee who has been CFO for the past ten years, first joined the board of directors of Goldman Sachs and then announced that ends this September. He will be succeeded by Luca Maestri.
The never-ending court battle between Apple and Samsung continued for another round. This time he scored a defeat for Apple, because neither did judge Lucy Koh failed for the second time with a request to ban the sale of Samsung products.
At the end of the week, we learned that several top Apple officials received a large bonus. Together, they will receive more than $19 million in stock.
