Jordan Kahn

[slideshow]

Apple plans to build a new off-campus restaurant and recreation facility for employees to provide a place for discussion “without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations.” Mercury News reported today a planning request for the building that the Cupertino Planning Commission approved. (via TNW)

The new facility will feature 70 parking spaces, even though it is located within walking/biking distance from the main campus. The 21,468-square-foot space will not just be a cafeteria; it will also house a courtyard, meeting rooms, and recreation areas. Unlike Apple’s current on-site Caffe Macs restaurant, the new building will not be open to visitors signed in by Apple employees.

Apple’s Director of Real Estate Facilities Dan Whisenhunt explained the reasoning behind building the new cafeteria:

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In its Q1 2012 report of device activations by platform, multi-platform software company Good Technology analyzed thousands of activated smartphones through its network of enterprise customers. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook noted this week during Apple’s Q2 earnings call that the iPad was now being deployed or tested by 94 percent of the Fortune 500s and 75 percent of the Global 500. Good Technology’s numbers show the iPad and iPhone together continue to dominate Android in the enterprise market with roughly 73.9-percent of all smartphone activations and 97.3-percent of tablet activations during Q1. Apple’s iOS devices together took 80 percent of total activations, which is up 10 percent from last year.

Among iOS, iPhone 4S is the clear leader with 37 percent, representing four times the amount of activations of any other device. In the graphic of the Top 10 Devices above, we see iOS take up six of the top 10 spots with iPhone 4S and iPad 2 accounting for the majority of activations during the quarter. Good’s numbers, however, do not include RIM or Windows…

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Update: Ken Segall’s Insanely Simple book just landed in the iBookstore for $12.99. Full excerpt after the break.

There are a few interesting stories coming out of Ken Segall’s “Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success,” which is set for release later this month available now. Perhaps the most intriguing story is the one about Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs and his idea to celebrate the sale of the millionth original iMac shortly after his return to the company. Jobs’ idea was apparently to hold a Willy Wonka style competition –golden ticket and all– allowing a lucky recipient to win a behind-the-scenes trip to Cupertino and a free iMac. He also planned to dress up in the full Willy Wonka outfit to greet the winners, rockin’ a top hat, velvet blazer, and bow tie (via MacRumors):

Steve’s idea was to do a Willy Wonka with it. Just as Wonka did in the movie, Steve wanted to put a golden certificate representing the millionth iMac inside the box of one iMac, and publicize that fact. Whoever opened the lucky iMac box would be refunded the purchase price and be flown to Cupertino, where he or she (and, presumably, the accompanying family) would be taken on a tour of the Apple campus.

Steve had already instructed his internal creative group to design a prototype golden certificate, which he shared with us. But the killer was that Steve wanted to go all out on this. He wanted to meet the lucky winner in full Willy Wonka garb. Yes, complete with top hat and tails.

The idea was apparently cancelled when Apple figured out California state law required the contest to not require a purchase for entry. Apple would have had to open the contest to all, likely squashing Jobs’ idea of handing out the prize to new iMac purchasers.

Last year, CollegeHumor ran its own darker version of Charlie and the Apple factory with Jobs playing the Wonka role:
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We told you earlier this month about the “NoteBook Case” for iPad—a bluetooth keyboard case that does a good job of turning an iPad into a MacBook-looking netbook. That case is now available in the United States and Europe through CPeel, but today we look at another impressive keyboard case currently on Kickstarter called “Brydge.”

Like the NoteBook Case, the Brydge iPad case gets much of its design cues from the MacBook Pro line. The differences include aerospace-grade aluminium, optional built-in speakers, and a patent-pending “click-in” hinge providing close to 180 degrees of positioning freedom. The hinge is made of “metal alloys and magnets, with a thermoplastic elastomer shell.” By all accounts, at first glance, this appears to be one of the better made keyboard cases we have come across.

The Kickstarter project is currently at just $2,855 in pledges from 16 backers, but it still has 39 days to reach its $90,000 funding goal. A $150 donation will get you the model without speakers, while a $180 donation earns a model with speakers. If the project reaches its funding goal, the company plans to ship the first units by October. A full gallery of close-ups and the different models is after the break.

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Apple announced this morning that its 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place June 11 at the Moscone Convention Center, but the event’s $1600 tickets are now listed as sold out within two hours of going live. In 2010, it took roughly a week for tickets to sell out, and last year it took about half a day. Tickets were limited to one per person, or five per organization, and are non-transferable and non-refundable.

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With the announcement of the 2012 Worldwide Developer Conference today, Apple also opened its Apple Design Awards nomination page for iOS and Mac developers. Apple announced last year that the annual awards would now only apply to Mac and iOS apps residing in the App Store, which appears to be the case this year as well.

Through the website set up for WWDC, developers can sign up and nominate apps for inclusion in the awards. To be considered, the app must be on the App Store or Mac App Store by May 1. Note: Apps that are not nominated can still win an Apple Design Award if they catch Apple’s eye.

Last year’s winners included iPhone apps Infinity Blade, Cut the Rope, and Golfscape GPS Rangefinder, and iPad apps djay for iPad, Osmos, and Our Choice. For Mac developers, apps including Capo, Pixelmator, and Anomaly Warzone Earth took home last year’s awards. At WWDC 2011, Apple also handed out awards to student developers, which will likely happen again—especially given Apple’s new scholarship program for the 2012 event.

Winners will get an Apple Design Award trophy and usually some Apple gear or prizes that have not been announced. Apple broke down the criteria for apps considered for the awards:

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Apple just announced during its Q2 2012 earnings call that it currently has $110 billion in cash reserves, which is up from $81.5 billion in September 2011. Apple was also up in every other segment with $18.4 billion in short-term marketable securities (up from $16.1 billion) and long-term marketable securities at $81.6 billion, which is up from $55.6 billion in the previous six-month period ending September 2011.

Other numbers that Apple reported today for the quarter:

iTunes and App Store:

-$1.9 billion in iTunes revenue (a 35 percent YOY increase)

-600,000 apps (200,000 iPad specific apps)

iOS devices:

-365 million iOS device sales

-$22.7 billion in revenue from iPhone and accessories

-6.6 billion in revenue from iPad and accessories.

-7.7 million iPod sales

-94 percent of Fortune 500 and 75 percent of global 500 testing or deploying iPad

iCloud:

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According to a report from Bloomberg, U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Thomas Pender has ruled in favor (PDF) of Motorola and claimed Apple’s devices infringe on one Android-related patent owned by the company. The ruling is only a partial victory for Motorola’s attempt to receive an injunction on iPhones and iPads, because the judge’s decision will still have to be reviewed before import blocks can be achieved:

ITC Judge Thomas Pender said Apple violated one of four Motorola Mobility patent rights. The patent relates to Wi-Fi technology. The judge’s findings are subject to review by the six-member commission, which has the power to block imports that infringe U.S. patents.

As for the Wi-Fi patent in question (# 6,246,697), Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet told AllThingsD that Motorola refused to license its industry-standard technology on “reasonable terms”:

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Apple’s iPad trademark dispute with cash-strapped display company Proview has continued to drag on despite the Chinese company claiming it was in negotiations with Apple as recent as February. Today, several reports suggested Apple and Proview are now involved in court-moderated mediation with senior officials who are boasting Apple could lose the right to the iPad trademark in China. The mediation would be the first confirmation of settlement talks between the two companies. The Associated Press reports:

Apple Inc. risks losing the right to use the iPad trademark in China, a senior official suggested Tuesday, as a Chinese court was seeking to mediate a settlement between the technology giant and a local company challenging its use of the iPad name… Yan Xiaohong, deputy director of the National Copyright Administration, told reporters in Beijing that the government regards Shenzhen Proview Technology as the rightful owner of the trademark for the popular tablet computers

If Apple and Proview are unable to come to a settlement in the talks, Guangdong High Court in southern China will rule over the case in the months to come. According to Deputy Director of China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce Fu Shuangjian (via The Wall Street Journal), Proview is still the legitimate owner of the iPad trademark in the country:

“Currently, Proview Shenzhen is still the legitimate registered owner of the IPAD trademark,” Mr. Fu said. But he indicated that officials are waiting for the Guangdong court’s final judgment, after which the industry and commerce sector “will deal with the case according to law.”

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Following the launch of Microsoft’s SkyDrive iPhone app, the company gave a preview of its refreshed SkyDrive service for Windows 8 and OS X. Today Microsoft has launched a new app for both Windows and Mac that brings Dropbox-like file management to the service. Of course SkyDrive is seen by many as a direct competitor to iCloud and other alternative cloud services. The tool essentially allows you to manage content stored in your SkyDrive by accessing files from your desktop, dragging and dropping them to the cloud, and organizing files in familiar folders.

The release comes following rumors that Google is prepping a Google Drive Mac app for its upcoming cloud service.

SkyDrive for Mac is the easiest way to access your SkyDrive from your Mac. When you install SkyDrive, a SkyDrive folder is created on your computer. Everything you put in this folder is automatically kept in sync between your computers (Mac or PC) and SkyDrive.com, so you can get to your latest files from virtually anywhere… Almost 70% of Mac users also regularly use a Windows PC. Since we want every customer to be able to rely on SkyDrive to access files anywhere, it’s important for SkyDrive be wherever they are. 

Microsoft has also updated its iOS SkyDrive app today bringing support for iPad, Retina displays, the ability to open SkyDrive files in third-party iOS apps, and much more. The new application is available for download on your Mac here, and a full description of features from Microsoft is below:

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