mansfield

Apple's hardware-boss shuffle ruffled feathers, report says

Why exactly is Apple's former hardware chief Bob Mansfield sticking around, despite announcing plans to retire?

When this occurred in late August, Apple didn't provide an explanation. A new story claims some of the company's top employees did not believe Mansfield's replacement was ready for the job, something that led to infighting within the company's top ranks.

In a piece looking back at Apple's past year without former CEO Steve Jobs, who died one year ago on Friday, Bloomberg Businessweek throws in a tidbit about the situation, saying that some of Apple's senior … Read more

Did Tim Cook make Bob Mansfield an offer he couldn't refuse?

A couple of months ago, Apple announced that Bob Mansfield, the company's senior hardware chief, was retiring. That was then.

A few minutes ago, Apple disclosed that no, Mansfield's sticking around to "work on future products." The news was made public in a release (below) announcing promotions for Craig Federighi, Apple's vice president of Mac Software Engineering, and Dan Riccio, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering, to senior vice presidents.

Mansfield, who replaced the outgoing Mark Papermaster in 2010, often represented Apple in its promotional videos. He is often seen describing the technical ins … Read more

Apple's senior hardware chief Bob Mansfield to retire

Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering Bob Mansfield is retiring, the company said today.

Mansfield, who has been with Apple since 1999, will be replaced by Dan Riccio, Apple's current vice president of iPad hardware engineering.

"Bob has been an instrumental part of our executive team, leading the hardware engineering organization and overseeing the team that has delivered dozens of breakthrough products over the years," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "We are very sad to have him leave and hope he enjoys every day of his retirement."

Apple says the … Read more

Elektro: 1939 smoking robot saved from oblivion

You can walk into any toy store and buy a robot these days. No big deal. Back in 1939, a robot was an incredible oddity. That's why crowds flocked to see Elektro, a robot built by Westinghouse Electric for the New York World's Fair.

The talking Elektro described himself as a "smart fellow" with a "fine brain" consisting of 48 electrical relays that worked like a telephone switchboard.

Elektro was a bit of a smarty-pants, making lame jokes, smoking cigarettes, and blowing up balloons. Elektro could walk (slowly), move his mouth, and turn his head. This was pretty advanced stuff for the day. The 7-foot-tall creation took voice commands via a telephone handset.

Elektro lies low Elektro disappeared into obscurity after touring the country and then passing time as a minor attraction at a California amusement park. Elektro's story could have ended there, but the big metal guy is now in line for a revival. Elektro's head turned up in a basement and his body in a barn. … Read more

Apple VP sells off $13.7 million in stock

Bob Mansfield, Apple's senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering, sold off 99 percent of his company shares earlier this week, a sale amounting to just under $13.7 million.

Mansfield, who joined Apple when the company acquired Raycer Graphics in 1999, now owns 501 shares following the sale according to a Form 4 filed with the SEC on Monday.

But that doesn't mean he's divesting himself from the company. Fortune reports that Mansfield still holds fully vested options to buy 30,000 more shares of company stock at $36.54 per share, along with an additional 100,000 restricted stock units that vest in 2014.

Mansfield's last big sale was 40,000 shares of company stock back in October, netting $10.84 million after strike price. In the past three years, Fortune estimates the net gain from these trades at $37.9 million.

Along with Mansfield's transaction this week, Apple Vice President and Corporate Controller Betsy Rafael sold 2,956 shares of common stock on the same day. … Read more

Apple awards raises to key executives

Apple awarded three key members of its executive team with $100,000 raises to kick off its 2009 fiscal year.

Chief operating officer Tim Cook, chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer, and senior vice president of Mac hardware engineering Bob Mansfield will have a little more cash in their pockets this year courtesy of Apple's board of directors, the company revealed in a proxy filing Wednesday. Cook now makes $800,000 a year, while Oppenheimer makes $700,000, and Mansfield makes $600,000.

This was the first raise for Cook and Oppenheimer since October 2005. Mansfield received a raise just … Read more

Apple gambling on Papermaster's leadership skills

Apple knew full well that Mark Papermaster would have to learn his new role as iPod and iPhone chief "on the job" when it hired him.

Papermaster's former employer, IBM, filed a lawsuit against him last week, claiming that he broke the terms of a noncompete contract with IBM in accepting a high-profile job with Apple. InformationWeek spotted Papermaster's formal response Friday morning, in which he declares that the two companies are not competitors and that his experience at IBM is not the primary reason why Apple sought his services.

The court filings reveal the interesting … Read more

Apple promotes two iPhone, Mac executives

Apple has promoted two new executives to the inner circle of its management, and put them in charge of its two most important products at present.

Scott Forstall is now senior vice president of iPhone Software, and Bob Mansfield is now senior vice president of Mac Hardware Engineering. AppleInsider spotted the moves, which come as Apple is getting ready to talk about both the iPhone and the Mac during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.

Forstall is familiar to Apple watchers new and old; he's the executive who introduced the particulars of the iPhone's software development kit … Read more