Steve Jobs

On budget iPhone…

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 10, 2013

Just a quick thought here on this less-pricey iPhone meme. Per reports, Apple's marketing boss Phil Schiller uncharacteristically responded with a statement to Shanghai Evening News in order to poke holes in the rumor that was beginning to pick up considerable steam. He claims that "despite the popularity of cheap smartphones", such a device "will never be the future of Apple’s products".

But it's an ambiguous dismissal (it's translated from Japanese) and it does't outright deny whispers of Apple internally exploring the idea. His words just don't tell the whole truth. Plus, Apple has a history of lying to the media. The company often makes bold denials, only to refute its own rebuttal by doing exactly what it's said won't do. If Android is anything to go by, an affordable iPhone could easily make a huge difference...

Six years ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ January 9, 2013

As I look around and I see all of the touchscreen smartphones and tablets on the market, I think, it's hard to believe that Apple started all of this 6 years ago. That's right, 6 years ago today, Steve Jobs took the stage at Macworld '07 and unveiled the long-awaited iPhone.

Now, you can argue that there were smartphones before the iPhone, even touchscreen phones. But you can't say that Apple didn't change the mobile landscape forever that day in the Moscone Center. And as tribute, we've got videos of the keynote and more after the fold...

IDEO founder David Kelley talks Steve Jobs, his first iPhone and more

Cody Lee ∙ January 7, 2013

This is kind of cool. David Kelley, the founder of IDEO, an international design firm and innovation consultancy, spoke with CBS' 60 Minutes last night about a wide range of things, including his close relationship with Steve Jobs.

IDEO played a big role in early Apple, designing its first Mouse, the Lisa, and more. And naturally, this bore a friendship between the two founders, giving Kelley some great Jobs stories—particularly one about his first iPhone...

Ashton Kutcher’s ‘jOBS’ will hit theaters in April

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Great news movie buffs, it's just been officially announced that the jOBS film starring Ashton Kutcher will hit theaters in a few months. The movie, which has garnered a lot of attention from the media, takes a biographical look at Steve Jobs' life.

Last month, we heard that the flick was going to debut at the Sundance Film Festival later this month. And today we've learned that Five Star Feature Film and Open Road Films are teaming up to distribute the film, and it's coming in April...

Steve Jobs yacht now free to sail

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

The yacht Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs envisioned after returning from a 2007 cruise from Italy to Turkey should be free to go after a payment dispute with French designer Philippe Starck has been resolved.

According to a French newspaper report yesterday, the yacht has been cleared to leave the port in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where it was detained by authorities over unpaid fees. The 80-meter aluminum craft nick-named 'Venus' had been docked in the harbor since December 8...

Jobs family yacht impounded in Amsterdam over a bill dispute with designer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

French designer Philippe Starck needs no introduction. He's been designing pretty much everything, from houses to consumer products such as tooth brushes and some think he will also revamp Apple Stores. The 63-year-old is also known for his work on a yacht for Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs, which now belongs to the Jobs family.

But the 80-meter-long mega yacht named "Venus" (after the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, prosperity and victory), revealed by Starck himself last October, has reportedly been impounded in Amsterdam over a payment dispute with the designer...

Steve Jobs wanted to name Safari ‘Freedom’, ‘Alexander’ or ‘iBrowse’

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 20, 2012

Here’s a nice little nugget. Though it's now taken for granted, the Safari browser was almost named "Freedom". Yes, "Freedom", of all the monikers. Steve Jobs apparently considered a bunch of silly names for Apple’s browser that included “Freedom”, “Alexander” and “iBrowse” before settling with “Safari”.

He also spent some time trying “Freedom” because he liked the sound of it and how it signified Apple’s freedom from Microsoft and Internet Explorer. One programmer who worked on the Safari project shares an anecdote describing how he persuaded Jobs to drop the “Freedom” name as it sounded like a “feminine hygiene product”...

Apple awarded design patent for original iPhone by Jobs and Ive

Cody Lee ∙ December 18, 2012

In a world where the company with the biggest and baddest IP portfolio reigns king, Apple is superior. It's proven this on a number of occasions, most recently by winning a settlement of over $1 billion from Samsung in a northern California trial.

Today, it adds another interesting patent to the stack. The US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the Cupertino company a patent for the design of the original iPhone, released in 2007, and created in part by Steve Jobs and Jony Ive...

CEO Larry Page wishes Google and Apple would get along better

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Larry Page, who co-founded Google along with Sergey Brin in 1998, made it to #13 on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans at the age of 39, with personal wealth estimated at $20.3 billion. One of the brightest computer scientists of our time, Page invented the PageRank algorithm, a secret sauce that powers Google's search rankings.

An American Jew, Page took over reigns of Google from then CEO Eric Schmidt in April of 2011, mercilessly axing many projects in order to focus the company on a few that mattered the most. He oversaw Google's acquisition of the handset maker Motorola Mobility and is now leading the search Goliath as it wages an all-out war against Apple on multiple fronts, vying for supremacy in the all-important mobile market.

The Google CEO today sat for a quick one-on-one interview with Forbes, here's what came out of him concerning Apple, competition and other interesting topics...

USPTO preliminary invalidates key Steve Jobs iPhone patent

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2012

The ultimate smartphone patent which covers the intricacies of the iPhone's touch screen heuristics has been preliminary invalidated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), reveals the FOSS Patents blog which covers intellectual property and litigation in the technology industry.

That's bad news as USPTO in October also invalidated the famous rubber banding patent, Apple's other prized iPhone invention. Now, all is not lost because many patent claims that are rejected at the early stage do ultimately survive, though the prospect of loosing the iconic multitouch patent is without any doubt a major concern for Apple, even with plenty of other multitouch-related patents the company now holds...

Ashton Kutcher’s jOBS film set to debut at Sundance in January

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As most of you know, there are currently two Steve Jobs-based movies in the works. One is an indie film that has been in production for several months now and stars Ashton Kutcher. And the other, a Sony project, is being penned by Aaron Sorkin.

Well as it turns out, the former, entitled jOBS, is almost finished. And the Sundance group just announced that they would be debuting the flick during their legendary Sundance Film Festival this upcoming January. More details after the fold...

Steve Jobs biopic to focus on products and friction between execs

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Lights! Action! Steve! Well, sort of. A biopic focusing on late Apple CEO Steve Jobs won't be a cradle-to-grave review of the man who pulled Apple out of the ditch. Instead, the film will feature three behind-the-scenes glimpses into Jobs' most famous products. According to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin who was hired to develop Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs for Sony Pictures, the upcoming flick will be comprised of just three 30-minutes scenes backstage before the introduction of the original Mac, NeXT and the iPod. Sorkin is known for his screenplays featuring character studies, such as his acclaimed look at Facebook, The Social Network...