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Apple execs talk developing ResearchKit: ‘there’s a strong personal connection’

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Apple SVP Jeff Williams announcing ResearchKit

Following the introduction of ResearchKit at this month’s Apple event, Apple executives Jeff Williams and Bud Tribble held a question and answer session with Apple employees regarding the new initiative, according to a source who provided a transcript of the conversation. Williams, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Operations, is the top executive in charge of Apple’s health engineering initiatives, including the Apple Watch, HealthKit, ResearchKit, and fitness software. Tribble is a Software Engineering Vice President with a medical background as a doctor, and he organized many of the partnerships for both HealthKit and ResearchKit…


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Apple briefs Congress in its continuing effort to promote its privacy credentials

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Politico reports that Apple briefed a Congressional committee on the security and privacy of its products following concerns raised by the celebrity nudes story.

A week after Apple rolled out new products that track users’ health and fitness, the company dispatched its executives to Capitol Hill to address emerging privacy and security concerns […]

Bud Tribble, the company’s chief technology officer, and Afshad Mistri, its health product manager, briefed the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, according to three congressional sources.

Apple is clearly focusing on communicating its commitment to securing user data. Tim Cook yesterday published a letter on the company’s website addressing the issue. Apple also added a new webpage specifically focusing on the security credentials of iOS, OS X and its cloud services.

While it now appears clear that the methods used to obtain celebrity nudes from iCloud were a combination of phishing and weak security questions rather than any fundamental weakness in the service itself, Apple will be keenly aware that perceptions matter as much as, if not more than, facts.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

From fashion to fitness part II: Apple hires a pair of key Nike FuelBand engineers

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Wearables

This is an update to a February post in which we rounded up all recent Apple hires pertinent to the development of the upcoming iWatch. This post includes the addition of several new hires and experts, including a pair of key Nike FuelBand hardware engineers, and the new hires are labeled with italics.

Apple has been developing a sensor-laden, fitness- and medical-focused wearable computer as indicated by several notable recent hires and information we have received from sources. The device will have a focus on both fashion and exercise as Apple has been testing the device with key professional athletes. We’re expecting the product to be announced in October of this year and ship by the holiday season. As the  launch of the “iWatch” approaches, we have compiled an up-to-date list (into categories of leadership, fashion, fitness, and health) of all known and pertinent recent Apple hires to provide a clearer picture of what Apple’s future wearable technologies could offer to consumers…


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Apple execs say iOS and OS X won’t merge, and 10.10 will prove that

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Among the hoopla surrounding the 30th anniversary of the Mac last week, Macworld‘s Jason Snell had an excellent interview with Apple’s Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble about both the past and the future for the Mac. While the entire interview is well worth a read, the talk from Apple executives about iOS and OS X convergence being a “waste of energy” stood out to me the most.

“It’s obvious and easy enough to slap a touchscreen on a piece of hardware, but is that a good experience?” Federighi said. “We believe, no.”

“We don’t waste time thinking, ‘But it should be one [interface]!’ How do you make these [operating systems] merge together?’ What a waste of energy that would be,” Schiller said. But he added that the company definitely tries to smooth out bumps in the road that make it difficult for its customers to switch between a Mac and an iOS device—for example, making sure its messaging and calendaring apps have the same name on both OS X and iOS.

Of course, it appears that the Apple executives are taking shots at Microsoft, Windows 8, the Surface line of products, and Google’s new Touch-enabled Chromebooks. Microsoft is well known to believe that computer operating systems should be the same regardless of devices. On the other hand, Apple has two complete different operating systems: one for the iPad and iPhone, and the other for the Mac. Federighi explains why:


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Watch the full Tim Cook ABC interview on 30 years of Mac, NSA surveillance (Video)

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Yesterday we posted some excerpts from an ABC interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives that officially aired on the network last night. In the interview, Cook is joined by Apple’s Apple Senior VP Craig Federighi and Apple software VP Bud Tribble to talk about the 30th anniversary of Mac, the new made-in-America Mac Pro, iWatch (iRing?), secrecy at Apple and the recent NSA surveillance controversies.

Cook on NSA surveillance programs:

Number one, we need to be significantly more transparent. We need to say what data is being given, how many people it affects, how many accounts are affected, we need to be clear. And we have a gag order on us right now so we can’t say those things… .Much of what has been said isn’t true. There is no backdoor. The government doesn’t have access to our servers. They would have to cart us out in a box for that, and that just will not happen. We feel that strongly about it.

Cook didn’t say much that we didn’t already see in the excerpts, but you can check out the full uncut interview from ABC above.


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Tim Cook, Craig Federighi talk 30 years of Mac, secrecy, NSA, and sapphire crystal in ABC interview

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Last night we reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook has been interviewed by ABC in celebration of 30 years of the Mac. Tonight, the interview will air on World News with Diane Sawyer, but this morning, a tease of the interview was given on Good Morning America. ABC has sent us the above video excerpt of the video. As you can see in the video, Cook is joined by Apple Senior VP Craig Federighi and Apple software VP Bud Tribble.

Interviewer David Muir does not hold his questions back, and specifically asks the trio about secrecy, Apple’s plans for its Arizona plant, and about the iWatch. The interview takes place inside of Apple’s Cupertino headquarters, and we learn some new tidbits about Cook from this interview. According to Muir, the Apple CEO wakes up at 3:45 AM each morning and receives between 700 and 800 emails from customers each day. The CEO says Apple wants to make even more made-in-the-USA products (besides the Mac Pro), and he confirms that the new Mesa, Arizona Apple plant is to develop sapphire crystal.

Oh, and the iWatch? Cook jokingly says Apple is making a “ring” instead.

Tonight, the rest of the interview will showcase Cook’s thoughts on the NSA and more. You can watch the full (very interesting!) excerpt below:


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Apple takes over its homepage to celebrate 30 years of Mac, with accompanying video, timeline and poll

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In addition to interviews with the press, Apple is celebrating 30 years of Mac with a full-bleed graphic on its homepage, which links to a minisite that plots how the Mac evolved over the years. The message says that Apple made the Macintosh with a promise to get “the power of technology .. in the hand of everyone”. “This promise has been kept.”, it reads. The dedicated minisite depicts a (scrollable) timeline of the major models of Mac since 1984, spanning the PowerBook, the iMac and ending with the Retina MacBook Pro and the brand new Mac Pro.

See the accompanying video after the break.


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Apple execs discuss 30 years of the Mac, the Surface-style touchscreen approach, and the coexistence of OS X & iOS

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Federighi Mac

Marking the 30th anniversary since Apple gave us the Mac, Macworld spoke with Apple’s Phil Schiller, Craig Federighi, and Bud Tribble to discuss the Mac in an era dominated by the iPhone and iPad.

The execs looked back at the Mac’s impact on the PC market and its historical significance for the company, and while they acknowledged the success of iOS, insisted the Mac has a permanent place in the hardware lineup. Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, even dared to promise the Mac is forever:

“There’s a role for the Mac as far as our eye can see. A role in conjunction with smartphones and tablets, that allows you to make the choice of what you want to use. Our view is, the Mac keeps going forever, because the differences it brings are really valuable.”

Federighi, who leads Apple’s software platforms including both OS X and iOS, discussed the importance of keeping the platforms separate:


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