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  • Apple’s Executives Scott Forstall and John Browett Are Out

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, News, Rants & Raves, Steve Jobs 2 Responses

    Scott Forstall and John Browett Are Leaving Apple

    Scott Forstall and John Browett Are Leaving Apple

    In a major shake-up apparently since the loss of Steve Jobs, Apple has announced in a press release that Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall is set to leave the company next year. He will continue working as Advisor to Apple CEO Tim Cook at the time. Moreover, John Browett, head of retail, is also out. Tim Cook will take over retail as an interim until a replacement is found.

    Bob Mansfield will be in charge of Apple’s new “Technologies” group and will remain at Apple for two more years. Other Apple’s Executives will have expanded responsibilities due to these changes.

    “We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The amazing products that we’ve introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services.”

    I am also announcing that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to me during the interim. I want to thank Scott for all of his many contributions to Apple over his career.

    For John Browett’s situation, that was expected and the #Firebrowett movement has paid off. But for Forstall’s departure this is an entirely different story, tension has increased between Apple’s executives, Jony Ive and Scott Forstall who said to be the one who pushes for more skeuomorphic designs which obviously come against Ive’s direction.

    Read the full message to employees right below:

    Team,

    We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple’s history. The amazing products that we’ve introduced in September and October – iPhone 5, iOS6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications – could only have been created at Apple, and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services.

    Today, I am announcing changes that will encourage even more collaboration between our world-class hardware, software and services teams at all levels of our company. As part of these changes, Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue, and Craig Federighi will be taking on more responsibilities. I am also announcing that Scott Forstall will be leaving Apple next year and will serve as an advisor to me during the interim. I want to thank Scott for all of his many contributions to Apple over his career.

    Jony Ive will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company in addition to his longtime role as the leader of Industrial Design. Jony has an incredible design aesthetic and has been the driving force behind the look and feel of our products for more than a decade. The face of many of our products is our software and the extension of Jony’s skills into this area will widen the gap between Apple and our competition.

    Eddy Cue will take on the additional responsibility of Siri and Maps. This places all of our online services in one group. Eddy and his organization have overseen major successes such as the iTunes Store, the App Store, the iBookstore and iCloud. They have an excellent track record of building and strengthening our online services to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers.

    Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X. We have the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems on the planet, and bringing together our OS teams will make it even easier to deliver our best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms. Craig recently led the very successful release of Mountain Lion.

    Bob Mansfield will lead a new group, Technologies, which combines all of our wireless teams across the company in one organization, allowing us to innovate in this area at an even higher level. This organization will also include all of our semiconductor teams, who have some very ambitious plans. As part of this, I am thrilled to tell you that Bob will remain with Apple for an additional two years. Bob has led some of our most challenging engineering projects for many years.

    Additionally, John Browett is leaving Apple. Our search for a new head of Retail is already underway. In the meantime, the Retail team will report directly to me. Retail has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level, and they will continue the excellent work they’ve done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services and a focus on the customer that is second to none. This phenomenal team of talented and dedicated people works their hearts out making our customers happy. They have our respect, our admiration and our undying support.

    Please join me in congratulating everyone on their new roles.

    I’d like to thank everyone for working so hard so that Apple can continue to make the world’s best products and delight our customers. I continue to believe that Apple has the most talented and most innovative people on the planet, and I feel privileged and inspired to be able to work with all of you.

    Best,

    Tim

  • The Amazing Spider-man Movie Review

    // Gradly // blog, Comics, Movies, My Take, Reviews, Superheroes, Trailer No Responses

     

    The Amazing Spider-man Movie Review

    The Amazing Spider-man Movie Review

    Finally, I managed to watch “The Amazing Spider-man” and it is not amazing as expected. This movie has serious issues that I hope the team would be able to avoid in the upcoming sequels.

    First off, the cast are surprisingly great, but having two major characters killed off is nonsense and surely leaving a huge void in the sequels.

    The Amazing Spider-man Movie Review

    The Amazing Spider-man Movie Review

    .. But what went wrong? [Spoilers ahead]

    Peter Parker doesn’t have a specific goal in this movie. At first it was to figure out what happened to his parents, which isn’t explained as well. We know nothing other than that “They were scientists.” So what? That’s not even 10% of what I needed to find out. I know the staff are keeping this for the next movies but they kept teasing us with the tagline “The Untold Story” and what we got is less satisfying.

    Peter’s second goal is to control his new powers. The scene in the subway train when a random loser puts the beer bottle on his head for no or a strange reason, Peter jumps off and sticks to the ceiling begins climbing walls and beating up some innocent guys, and guess what? Almost a dozen witnessed him doing such spectacular abilities and no one seems to care about that or reporting what they saw to the authorities.

    Now Peter’s goal is to bring uncle Ben’s murderer to justice, after several trials he just stops doing this, with no reason! The only thing he would do is crying one time and kissing the girl in another.

    Later, Peter’s new goal is to confront the new villain, The Lizard, which is more like a CGI version. This thing is horribly written and executed, it has confusing motives, in the human form he looks good while in his alter ego he becomes violent, angry and in one scene knocking cars off of a bridge for no obvious reasons! Maybe it was just to tell someone that the vaccine isn’t ready yet? This is ridiculous and not satisfying.

    There were a confusion and inconsistencies in this movie that totally spoiled this experience. Peter seems to be very comfortable being in the sewers to the point enjoying himself there. Police trying to stun Spider-man with Laser rifle while shooting the lizard using live rounds?! Really! In one scene, where Spider-man rescues a boy from a burning car, he wastes almost 5 minutes trying to convince the boy to be brave, climb up and hold his hand. This is boring and unneeded details at all.

    Apart from some amazing POV scenes that unfortunately were spoiled in the trailers, most action scenes were non-thrilling at all, taking place at night or visually uninteresting. Guys, CGI and the sky at night do not make good fellows.

    The climax does not work because we have seen that in a dozen movies before. The chemical missile that needs charging, again, for no reason (actually for the hero to come and rescue) and guess what, there is an antidote for that! You know the thing Gwen has been working on for the past 5 minutes. Really? Since when kids study advanced genetics in school?

    Finally, Spider-man keeps removing his mask almost to every major character in this movie, This really isn’t the spider-man I wanted to see.

    Rated: 6/10

    Watch the trailer below:

  • Iron Man 3 Stunning Movie Trailer

    // Gradly // blog, Movies, Superheroes, Trailer No Responses

    Iron Man 3 Stunning Movie Trailer

    Iron Man 3 Stunning Movie Trailer

    Marvel has released the first trailer for Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 and it looks awesome and might end up the best Iron Man movie so far. Watch the intense trailer below and tell us what you think:

    Iron Man 3 stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley.

    Official Synopsis:

    Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

    Iron Man 3 is set to be released on May 3rd, 2013.

  • Apple Q4 2012 Results: $36 Billion Revenue, 26.9 Million iPhones, 14 Million iPads, 4.9 Million Macs Sold

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, iPad, iPhone, News No Responses

    Apple Q4 2012 Results: $36 Billion Revenue, 26.9 Million iPhones, 14 Million iPads, 4.9 Million Macs Sold

    Apple Q4 2012 Results: $36 Billion Revenue, 26.9 Million iPhones, 14 Million iPads, 4.9 Million Macs Sold

    Apple has just posted earnings for Q4 2012 financial results for the quarter that ended on September 29, 2012. Apple managed to get a revenue of $36 billion, with 14 million iPads, 26.9 million iPhones, 5.3 million iPods and 4.9 million Macs sold.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the conference:

    “We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”

    Below is the press release:

    Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter ended September 29, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

    “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.”

    The Company sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

    Apple’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $2.65 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on November 15, 2012, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 12, 2012.

    “We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.”

    “We’re pleased to have generated over $41 billion in net income and over $50 billion in operating cash flow in fiscal 2012,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2013, we expect revenue of about $52 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $11.75.”

    Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2012 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on October 25, 2012 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq412. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

    This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue and diluted earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 24, 2011, its Forms 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended December 31, 2011; March 31, 2012; and June 30, 2012; and its Form 10-K for the year ended September 29, 2012 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

    Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.