According to a report from Associated Press, orangutans at Miami’s Jungle Island zoo are taking a liking to Apple’s iPad in a new program that has six of them communicating with the device:
The software was originally designed for humans with autism and the screen displays pictures of various objects. A trainer then names one of the objects, and the ape presses the corresponding button… While other trainers have developed strong relationships with the orangutans, the iPad and other touchscreen computers offer an opportunity for them to communicate with people not trained in their sign language
Linda Jacobs, who is in charge of the mental stimulus program, explained the younger orangutans seem to immediately respond to the iPads: Read more
Apple plucked a high-ranking executive from the folding Sony Ericsson Joint Venture, 9to5Mac has learned. President of Sony Ericsson U.S. and Head of Region North America Anderson Teixeira will be heading Apple’s Latin America region. He is leaving Sony Ericsson after a decade at the JV.
Sony is buying out Ericsson’s piece of the venture and the group is folding into Sony Electronics.
Teixeira started at Apple this month.
Internally at Apple, he is “Latin America General Manager,” but to the greater world he’s “Head of Latin America.” He will be operating out of Apple’s small Coral Gables Florida office at 1 Alhambra Plaza Suite 700. He has nine reports at that office.
A mid-2009 profile listed some background on his appointment at Sony:
Anderson Teixeira was based at the company’s US operations in Raleigh, North Carolina. A native of Brazil, Teixeira has been part of Sony Ericsson since the formation of the joint venture in 2001. He has led the company’s operations in Latin America, as Head of Region Latin America, based in Miami, Florida, and subsequently in Western Europe, based in Munich. As President of Sony Ericsson US, Teixeira will report to Sony Ericsson President Dick Komiyama. In his role as Head of Region North America, Teixeira will have overall responsibility for Sony Ericsson’s sales and marketing operations in the US and Canada.
It is not immediately clear who Teixeira will report to but we will update that information as it becomes available.
