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Apple seeking 800,000-sq feet of space for car project as team reaches around 600 people – WSJ

A Tesla-style concept of the Apple Car from CarWow

A Tesla-style concept of the Apple Car from CarWow

One of the largest property companies in the San Francisco Bay Area has said during an investor call that Apple is seeking around 800,000 square feet of space in the area to expand its car project. The WSJ quotes Hudson Pacific Properties CEO Victor Coleman talking about rising demand for space for car R&D in the area.

We’re seeing the Toyotas of the world, the Teslas of the world, BMWs, Mercedes. Ford now is out in the marketplace looking for space. I haven’t even mentioned the 400,000 square feet that Google’s looking to take down and the 800,000 square feet that Apple’s looking to take down for their autonomous cars as well.

That would be almost a third the size of the spaceship campus Apple is currently building, which is around 2.8M square feet …


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Opinion: Two factors explain Tim Cook’s optimism versus Wall Street’s pessimism

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Tim Cook’s interview on CNBC last night highlighted the huge gulf between his optimistic view of Apple’s future prospects, and the pessimistic one being expressed in both Wall Street commentary and the share price.

The share price speaks for itself. As Business Insider notes, the stock has dropped 11% since Apple announced its first-quarter earnings, and 27% over the past year. Even billionaire investor Carl Icahn – who once couldn’t stop talking about how under-valued AAPL was – sold 7M shares back in February and has now dumped the stock altogether. Not the greatest expression of confidence in the company’s future.

Analysts have been queuing up to pronounce that Apple is doomed, the iPhone is on a slide, it’s all over. Tim Cook, meanwhile, claims that Wall Street is guilty of ‘hugely over-reacting’ to a short-term glitch …


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India reportedly rejects Apple’s plans to sell used iPhones in the country after opposition by Samsung & others

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Bloomberg speculates that India could refuse to grant Apple permission to sell used iPhones in the country citing comments from a telecommunications ministry official today.

The U.S. company’s application has been turned down, the official said, asking to not be identified, citing official policy [whileApple declined to comment.

Apple had hoped that used iPhone sales would be a good way to get a foothold in a country where its market share is just 2%, and where 80% of phones cost less than $150. Its iPhone Upgrade Program in the United States gave the company a plentiful supply of used phones that it could have sold at much lower prices in India without sacrificing margin, which must have seemed like the perfect plan … 


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Apple joins Google, Microsoft and others in an open letter declaring anti-encryption bill ‘unworkable’

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Just a day after a prominent legal expert described the proposed anti-encryption Burr-Feinstein bill as unconstitutional, unenforceable and harmful, Apple has called the proposal ‘well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable.’

The description is in an open letter from the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, of which Apple is a key member, alongside companies such as Google, Dropbox, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter. The letter, addressed to the two Senators behind the proposed bill, explains why it would be harmful to the interests of both the U.S. people and American businesses …


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AAPL shares close below $100 for first time in 15 months amid China and ‘peak iPhone’ fears

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Apple shares yesterday closed below $100 for the first time in 15 months, the WSJ noting that the value of the company has dropped by $100B in a little over a month, losing 7% this week alone.

The Cupertino company’s 4.2% drop on the day was greater than the overall market’s slide and the 3% slump in the Nasdaq Composite, which closed down 10% from its May peak. Since early December, Apple has shed $100 billion in market value.

The slide is being attributed to two factors: one (semi-)factual, one speculative …


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European investigation into legality of Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland expanded & extended

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The long-running investigation into the legality of Apple’s tax arrangements in Ireland has been expanded, with the European Commission now seeking additional information from the Irish government, reports the FT. This means that the investigation is likely to be extended well into next year. A ruling had originally been expected before the end of the year.

While Irish authorities had expected the case to be concluded soon, they have instead been sent bulky sets of supplementary questions, meaning it will be difficult to reach a final verdict until after the 2016 election, which is expected as early as February […]

The Irish finance ministry confirmed that the government was supplying the requested additional information to the commission. “We do not expect any decision until after the new year,” said a spokesman.

If the ruling goes against Apple, it could face a bill for billions of Euros in underpaid tax …


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‘Future teardown’ of an Apple Car shows us who could be making the various elements

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While we can’t say for sure that an Apple Car will ever go on sale, it’s a certainty by this point that the company is devoting substantial development resources to the project. Tim Cook said recently that there would be “massive change” in the car industry, and that “autonomous driving becomes much more important.”

But as a recent opinion piece on sister site Electrek argued, and Elon Musk warned, actually manufacturing a car is massively more complex than making consumer electronics devices. Apple will therefore be looking for partners to pull together different elements of the car. Re/code has put together an interesting look at the most likely candidates … 
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Latest 4K drone footage of Campus 2 shows huge glass panels on site as spaceship continues to grow

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With the construction of Apple’s new Spaceship campus now showing rapid progress, new 4K drone footage (below) shows huge glass panels in the staging area close to the metal sections.

The circular Campus 2 building is really taking shape now above ground level, even when compared to footage from just three weeks ago, and we get a sense of the scale of the excavation from the sizeable pyramid of excavated dirt just outside the ring … 
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In wake of unflattering movies, Tim Cook emails Apple staff asking to honor Steve Jobs on the 4th anniversary of his passing

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Tim Cook has emailed Apple staff on the 4th anniversary of the passing of Steve Jobs, thanking them for “remembering both who he was and what he stood for,” reports the Telegraph. Cook said that Jobs was “a brilliant person” who left an incredible legacy.

What is his legacy? I see it all around us: An incredible team that embodies his spirit of innovation and creativity. The greatest products on earth, beloved by customers and empowering hundreds of millions of people around the world. Soaring achievements in technology and architecture. Experiences of surprise and delight. A company that only he could have built. A company with an intense determination to change the world for the better.

Cook also made two references which which seem to indirectly refer to less flattering portraits painted of Jobs in biographies and movies … 
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Apple extends its exclusive rights to Liquidmetal for another year

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After Apple’s original contract securing the rights to use Liquidmetal’s unique metal alloy in consumer electronic products was extended through February 2015, today proof comes that Apple has once again secured rights for another year, hinting at its continued interest in the material.

On June 17, 2015, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) and Apple Inc. (“Apple”) entered into a third amendment (the “Third Amendment”) to the Master Transaction Agreement that was originally entered into on August 5, 2010 and amended on June 15, 2012 and May 17, 2014 (the “MTA”). Under the MTA and its first two amendments in 2012 and 2014, the Company was obligated to contribute to Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC, a special purpose subsidiary of the Company, all intellectual property acquired or developed by the Company from August 5, 2010 through February 5, 2015, and all intellectual property held by Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC was exclusively licensed on a perpetual basis to Apple for the field of use of consumer electronic products under the MTA. Under the Third Amendment, the parties agreed to extend the February 5, 2015 date to February 5, 2016. The Third Amendment has an effective date of February 26, 2015.

While Apple has yet to use the material in its products, apart from reportedly testing the material in its SIM card injector tool, back in 2012 Liquidmetal’s inventor noted that it would likely take three to five years before the material would be ready for use on a large scale and approximately two to four more years to implement in something like a MacBook casing. What’s more likely is Apple using the technology for smaller parts first, like a hinge or a bracket, according to its inventor. Watchmakers have notably made use of the material for components of traditional watches.

(via MacRumors)

Apple accused of stifling streaming music competition as DOJ joins EC in antitrust investigation

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Allegations that Apple is engaging in anti-competitive practices in the run-up to the launch of its rebranded Beats streaming music service are now being investigated by the Department of Justice, according to “multiple sources” cited by The Verge.

The claim is that Apple has been attempting to use its influence to persuade music labels to pull out of deals with free, ad-supported services like Spotify and YouTube in order to reduce competition and increase demand for its own paid service. The European Commission launched an investigation into these same allegations last month …


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