Apple CEO Steve Jobs Resigns, Replaced by Tim Cook

Today marked the end of an incredible era for Apple as Steve Jobs resigned as Chief Executive Officer, citing that he is no longer fit or able to serve as the head of the company. With his resignation, the CEO role will be filled by Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer.

In a press released that seems to be directed both to Apple’s Board of Directors and the world at large, Jobs gracefully stepped out of the CEO role while asking to remain as Chairman of the Board, as well as an Apple employee. Unsurprisingly, his wish was granted and Jobs will remain with the company to assist in the transition. Commenting on behalf of Apple’s Board of Directors, Art Levinson said that “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” and that Jobs had “made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

Apple’s board members wasted no time in approving Tim Cook as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Cook has been with Apple for well over a decade, rising through the ranks to his previous position as COO. Cook was widely rumored to be next in line for the CEO position, although many expected Jobs to hang on for a bit longer. Although Jobs has been on medical leave since the start of the year, he has kept up with his normal schedule of public appearances for Apple, including delivering the iOS 5 keynote at the WorldWide Developer’s Conference in June.

Jobs has kept his health matters private since word broke that he was dealing with some form of cancer some years ago. The letter that he issued to the public to announce his resignation (posted below) didn’t shed any light on a possible decline in his health or whether it was related to his resignation. It is our sincere hope that Jobs’ battle with cancer has not taken a turn for the worse.

Below is Steve Jobs’ resignation letter as released today, in its entirety. Our many thanks go out to Mr. Jobs for the brilliance he has brought to Apple, taking the company from the brink of disaster to having the largest market share of any corporation in the world in just over a decade.

Nobody really knows if this will effect the iPhone 5 Release Date or not, but Apple likely already has a strict launch plan.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Sprint Set to Join AT&T and Verizon as an iPhone 5 Carrier

According to a report issued today by the Wall Street Journal, Sprint will join AT&T and Verizon in offering iPhone handsets starting this fall with the launch of Apple’s next-generation iPhone 5 handset.

Sprint is currently the third-largest wireless carrier in the country, behind Verizon and AT&T respectively. With more than fifty million customers, Sprint represents a huge new market for Apple and its wildly-selling iPhone. After launching the first iPhone handset exclusively with AT&T, Apple has continually moved to add new carrier partners to continue its push to become the number-one smartphone manufacturer in the world.

Interestingly, the United States was the first country to receive Apple’s iPhone in 2007, but the last to drop carrier exclusivity which only happened in January of this year with the launch of the CDMA iPhone 4 handset on Verizon. The rumor mill has been speculating that Sprint and T-Mobile were possible new carriers that would be on board following the launch of the iPhone 5; this new report from a source as reputable as the Wall Street Journalseemingly confirms it. As T-Mobile is currently in merger negotiations with AT&T, it’s likely that subscribers will have access to the iPhone in the future anyway.

Sprint currently operates its cellular network using the same CDMA technology as Verizon. While this would indicate that Sprint should be able to sell the same iPhone 5 handsets as Verizon does, many reports suggest that Apple may do away with its multiple handsets instead offering a “world phone” capable iPhone 5 that can connect to nearly every cellular company’s network on the planet. A number of news outlets reported this week that app developers have seen an iPhone model like this one reported in app usage logs, so it’s likely that a single iPhone 5 handset will be offered to all of Apple’s carrier partners.

Receiving the hottest-selling smartphone on the planet couldn’t come at a better time for Sprint, a company that has seen its customers leaving in droves due to poor handset selection, and of course because they can’t get an iPhone. AT&T and Verizon have been quick to scoop up these lost customers; AT&T reported half-year sales of over 7 million iPhone handsets (iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4) through June 30, while Verizon sold about 4.5 million iPhone 4 handsets during the same time period.

Finally, a number of reports came out in the last day that suggest Apple may be planning to release a cheaper version of its iPhone 4 handset along with the next-generation iPhone 5 around the end of September. It’s currently unclear if this less-expensive handset would be offered to new carrier partners such as Sprint, or if it would only be offered to carriers that already sell the iPhone 4.

As usual, Apple had no comment surrounding the news that Sprint would be joining its huge family of carrier partners. As the clock ticks toward the inevitable launch of the next iPhone, we shall all see soon enough if today’s news is true.

AT&T Readying the Troops for a Mid-September iPhone 5 Launch

According to a report published today on Boy Genius Report, Apple’s major US carrier partner AT&T is getting its staff prepped for the release of the next iPhone handset, expected sometime in mid-September. The report cites a ‘proven source’ that claims that AT&T’s retail arm has been communicating with its legions of employees, telling them to “finish training in order to have employees available for the influx of foot traffic expected in September.”

While this report is simply another rumor, there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind at this point that September will bring some sort of new or updated iPhone handset; it’s even possible that Apple will completely revamp its lineup and launch more than one new iPhone. The BGR report claims that Apple will announce the next iPhone sometime in late August, and then handset will then go on sale in early September. The site has a decent track record in regards to Apple and iPhone related rumors, and has numerous contacts deep in the wireless industry.

The BGR report coincides with the release of further speculation on the launch date from MacRumors, which recently stated that Apple has started contacting some of its former retail employees to see if they will return to work part-time between mid-August and mid-September. Since this timeframe also happens to be the lucrative ‘back to school’ retail extravaganza, it’s possible that Apple just wants its stores fully staffed to avoid any sales or service issues. However, it’s also possible that this is in preparation for the flood of customers expected with the launch of the next iPhone.

Most sources to date have placed the highly-anticipated iPhone 5 launch as occurring sometime this fall, ushered in with the launch of iOS 5, the newest version of the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. Apple further hinted at this on their 2^nd quarter earnings call last week, with CFO Peter Oppenheimer stating that Apple will have a “future product transition” that will “have a material impact on the September quarter”.

At this point, it appears to be all-systems-go for the next iPhone to hit shortly. Recent reports have claimed that Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing partners have all been preparing for production of the next iPhone, and while today’s report claims a mid-September launch window, rumors have speculated that the iPhone 5 could launch anytime from the end of August through the end of October. Regardless of when it comes, there’s little doubt that the handset will be a huge blockbuster for Apple.

Some reports have claimed that the next-generation iPhone will be both lighter in weight and sport a thinner profile than the iPhone 4, and perhaps will feature an upgraded rear camera, and possibly a larger display. The Wall Street Journal claims that the iPhone will contain new wireless chipsets manufactured by Qualcomm, which may make a single iPhone 5 handset compatible with GSM and CDMA networks around the world.

As for Apple, the company didn’t comment on the latest report, and has kept mum in regards to the next iPhone handset. Those in Cupertino did state that the company plans on manufacturing upwards of 25 million handsets through the end of 2011; to get this many out the door, the handset will need to launch within the next couple of months. For now, it’s simply a game of ‘wait and see’.

iOS 5 Beta 3 Adds Gestures that Replace Hardware Buttons

Apple has released the newest beta of their upcoming iOS 5 mobile operating system, and one of the quickly discovered new features is a gesture interface that provides the same functionality as the iPhone and iPad’s hardware buttons.

Listed under the Accessibility settings in the device’s setup area, the new “Assistive Touch” option places a floating button on the screen which allows users to use touch gestures to complete a variety of commands, including returning to the home screen, multitasking, changing the device’s volume and more. While it appears that Assistive Touch is targeted at those who have difficulty with hardware buttons, the feature appearing in this way has signaled to many that Apple is considering dropping hardware buttons in future devices.

There are some gaps in the Assistive Touch software, as would be expected from a beta release. It’s possible to create and save custom gestures for the interface, but as of yet there appears to be no way to actually assign it to do anything. The rest of the interface appears to be working perfectly, however, as users can make use of the Assistive Touch menu system to access four options: Home, Device, Gestures and Favorites.

The “Home” option does exactly what it sounds like, returning the user to the iPhone or iPad’s home screen – similar in function to the hardware button. “Device” offers a multitude of different controls, including those to lock the screen, to change the volume, a button that performs a “shake” of the device, and another to rotate the screen’s orientation. The “Gestures” menu shows options for three, four and five-fingered gestures, which have been popping up in the iPad 2 betas for iOS 5 and are expected to be coming to the device when iOS 5 is officially released. Finally, “Favorites” allows access to custom, saved gestures as well as a handful of other ones such as “pinch” and “swipe”.

Customers of Apple’s devices who may struggle with some or all of the hardware gestures – think elderly users and the “shake” function on an iPad – are likely to be very happy with the company’s implementation of these resources in iOS 5. While the rumor mill is likely to use Assistive Touch as Apple’s means to finally rid their devices of hardware buttons, there’s been no indication from the company that they ever plan to do so, and a great deal of users would be frustrated with the inability to adjust things like an iPhone’s volume without taking the device out of their pocket and accessing the screen. Assistive Touch does show that Apple is paying attention to its customer space, and that they have the skills to produce software interfaces that could eliminate hardware buttons in the future if that’s what the market dictates.

It’s tough to imagine a button-less iPod or iPhone, but this could be relatively feasible for the iPad which is screen-centric and virtually everything is done via the display. Only time will tell if Apple decides to eliminate hardware buttons entirely.

We still have very little “real” information about the iPhone 5 Release Date but will keep everyone updated with rumors and official news.

AT&T Readying the Troops for a Mid-September iPhone 5 Launch

According to a report published today on Boy Genius Report, Apple’s major US carrier partner AT&T is getting its staff prepped for the release of the next iPhone handset, expected sometime in mid-September. The report cites a ‘proven source’ that claims that AT&T’s retail arm has been communicating with its legions of employees, telling them to “finish training in order to have employees available for the influx of foot traffic expected in September.”

While this report is simply another rumor, there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind at this point that September will bring some sort of new or updated iPhone handset; it’s even possible that Apple will completely revamp its lineup and launch more than one new iPhone. The BGR report claims that Apple will announce the next iPhone sometime in late August, and then handset will then go on sale in early September. The site has a decent track record in regards to Apple and iPhone related rumors, and has numerous contacts deep in the wireless industry.

The BGR report coincides with the release of further speculation on the launch date from MacRumors, which recently stated that Apple has started contacting some of its former retail employees to see if they will return to work part-time between mid-August and mid-September. Since this timeframe also happens to be the lucrative ‘back to school’ retail extravaganza, it’s possible that Apple just wants its stores fully staffed to avoid any sales or service issues. However, it’s also possible that this is in preparation for the flood of customers expected with the launch of the next iPhone.

Most sources to date have placed the highly-anticipated iPhone 5 launch as occurring sometime this fall, ushered in with the launch of iOS 5, the newest version of the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. Apple further hinted at this on their 2^nd quarter earnings call last week, with CFO Peter Oppenheimer stating that Apple will have a “future product transition” that will “have a material impact on the September quarter”.

At this point, it appears to be all-systems-go for the next iPhone to hit shortly. Recent reports have claimed that Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing partners have all been preparing for production of the next iPhone, and while today’s report claims a mid-September launch window, rumors have speculated that the iPhone 5 could launch anytime from the end of August through the end of October. Regardless of when it comes, there’s little doubt that the handset will be a huge blockbuster for Apple.

Some reports have claimed that the next-generation iPhone will be both lighter in weight and sport a thinner profile than the iPhone 4, and perhaps will feature an upgraded rear camera, and possibly a larger display. The Wall Street Journal claims that the iPhone will contain new wireless chipsets manufactured by Qualcomm, which may make a single iPhone 5 handset compatible with GSM and CDMA networks around the world.

As for Apple, the company didn’t comment on the latest report, and has kept mum in regards to the next iPhone handset. Those in Cupertino did state that the company plans on manufacturing upwards of 25 million handsets through the end of 2011; to get this many out the door, the handset will need to launch within the next couple of months. For now, it’s simply a game of ‘wait and see’.