Apple Corporate

More than a year since Google CEO Eric Schmidt's departure from Apple's board, the company has elected a replacement.

Going in a completely different direction than Schmidt's expertise in online search and advertising, Apple today announced the appointment of Ronald Sugar, former chairman and CEO of aerospace and defense giant Northrop Grumman. Sugar will head the board's Audit and Finance Committee.

CEO Steve Jobs emphasized Sugar's engineering background in a statement announcing the appointment.

"Ron is an engineer at heart, who then became a very successful business leader. We are very excited to welcome … Read more

This had better be good.

Apple has promised us--by plastering it all over its home page--that "tomorrow is just another day" that we'll "never forget," thanks to an "exciting announcement from iTunes."

This naturally has thrown the tech news hype machine into high gear. What could Apple have to say? Language like that implies something pretty big. Apple, of course, is no stranger to hyperbole in its marketing messages--think the "magical and revolutionary" iPad.

While that phrase is pretty dramatic, to be fair, the iPad actually ended up being industry-altering. And … Read more

If you're a gadget geek with some spare change--make that a lot of spare change--here's a golden opportunity to indulge. Later this month the first Apple computer--including a letter signed by none other than Apple co-founder CEO Steve Jobs to the original owner--will go on sale at a famous London auction house.

The Christie's brochure describes the computer as a "historic relic," and judging by current technological standards, I suppose that's an accurate description. Just in case you can't remember, the Apple-1, introduced in 1976, came without a casing, power supply, keyboard, or … Read more

After years running Java for Mac OS X as an in-house project, Apple is handing control to the Oracle, the companies announced Friday.

With Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January, Java stewardship moved to the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant, which sells Java server software among other products. Java is widely used on servers, common on mobile phones, but never met its potential on personal computers as a tool to let developers span different varieties of desktop computers with the same program.

In the Oracle handoff, Apple will transfer its Java work to OpenJDK, the open-source project … Read more

A trademark lawsuit filed against Apple by a Web advertising firm over the term "iAds" was quietly settled in July.

No one has disclosed exactly how the case was resolved but Apple now owns the "iAds" trademark, and last week a company peripherally involved in the suit posted a note to the Web that said Apple paid a "seven-figure settlement."

At Apple's iOS 4 event on April 8, CEO Steve Jobs announced Apple's iAds program. A month later, Innovate Media, an online ad agency headquartered near Los Angeles, filed a trademark suit … Read more

Apple added more than 12,000 employees to its ranks in the past year--a reflection of its sharp revenue growth and expanding retail presence.

As of late September, Apple had 46,600 full-time employees, as reported in a 10-K statement it filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That figure reflects a healthy surge from 34,300 workers in 2009 and 32,000 in 2008, according to Reuters.

Most of those gains came in Apple's retail stores, which now employ 26,500 people--10,000 more than last year. The company currently has 317 retail outlets--233 in the U.… Read more

Apple has launched an online Apple Store in China.

Opening for business yesterday, the new Chinese version of the Apple Store lets customers in China buy iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple products online. Beyond providing the traditional Apple lineup, the store is also selling certain third-party products. Apple is offering free shipping and discounts for students and teachers.

Shoppers can also get free personalized engraving on an iPod or iPad and can configure Macs with the options and features they want, Apple said. And prepping for the holiday season, Apple is offering personalized gift wrapping on the iPhone, iPad, … Read more

In a bid to capture more corporate and government customers, Apple is seeking help from IT services provider Unisys.

In deal between the two companies, Unisys will offer maintenance and other services to businesses and government agencies that buy Apple devices, Gene Zapfel, a managing partner at Unisys, told Bloomberg. The contract was signed this month, Bloomberg reported yesterday, but so far no details have been revealed.

Though its focus has traditionally been on consumers, schools, and creative professionals, Apple has found itself pulled more into the enterprise arena, especially as employees are bringing their iPhones to work.

Apple Chief … Read more

Steve Jobs made an unusual appearance on Apple's earnings call today. The reason?

"I couldn't help dropping by for our first $20 billion quarter," he said, by way of explanation. But the real reason soon became clear: to deliver a very pointed message to Google, Research In Motion, customers, developers, and competing smartphone and tablet makers. It had been two years since his last earnings call appearance.

Here's an edited transcript of his comments (a recording of Jobs' comments during the call is available at YouTube):

"First let me discuss iPhone. We sold 14.… Read more