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Apple's New Retail Chief John Browett Added to Executive Leadership Pages

Wednesday May 2, 2012 8:10 am PDT by Eric Slivka
One week ago, we noted that former Dixons Retail CEO had officially started his job as senior vice president of retail at Apple. Browett's start date of April 20 was revealed by securities filling revealing that he had received stock rights currently worth $60 million as of that date.

At the time, we pointed out that Browett had not been added to Apple's leadership page on its website, but that issue has now been addressed and Browett has received his own dedicated page with the standard headshot photo and a brief biography.

John Browett is Apple's senior vice president of retail, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Browett serves on the company's executive team and oversees Apple's retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.

John joined Apple in April 2012 from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he was CEO since 2007. Prior to joining Dixons Retail, Browett held a series of executive positions at Tesco plc including CEO of Tesco.com. Earlier in his career he advised retail and consumer goods clients at Boston Consulting Group.

He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Wharton Business School.

Given that Apple lists its executives in alphabetical order with the exception of CEO Tim Cook, Browett holds a prominent position on the main page directly next to Cook. With Browett's arrival, the senior executive leadership team now includes ten members, all of whom with the exception of Browtt and general counsel Bruce Sewell have been with the company for at least ten years.
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Apple's New Highland Village Retail Store in Houston Hit by Gunfire

Monday April 30, 2012 11:05 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reports that five businesses along Westheimer Road in Houston were hit by random gunfire early Monday morning, with Apple's new Highland Village retail store being one of the targets.

The Houston Police Department confirms it is investigating five random shootings at business in southwest Houston.

Between 4:40 and 5:40 a.m. Monday, several windows were shot out. The targets were from gas stations to swanky furniture store Cantoni, officials said. [...]

The brand new Apple store at 4012 Westhiemer was also hit.


Glass pane left of Apple logo shattered by gunfire (Source: KPRC-TV)

No one was injured in the shootings, although an employee and a customer at a Valero gas station narrowly escaped the gunfire.
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Upcoming Saskatchewan Apple Retail Store Fills Huge Void in Coverage [Updated]

Monday April 30, 2012 10:52 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
ifoAppleStore reports that Apple is planning to open a new retail store in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall in Regina, Saskatchewan. The location is a notable one for being the first in the vast province in the heart of Canada, with no other Apple retail stores located within a 300-mile radius.

Cornwall Centre is located in city center and has 90 retailers in an enclosed mall. City planning documents mention the new store, but the exact location within the mall isn’t known. Based on construction schedules, the store could open by November 2012.

Regina, the provincial capital with a population of roughly 200,000, is the second-largest city and part of the second-largest metropolitan area in Saskatchewan, just behind Saskatoon.

Update: As noted in our forums and confirmed by The Regina Leader-Post (via iPhoneinCanada.ca), the forthcoming store is actually a reseller and not an official Apple retail store.

Regina's Cornwall Centre is getting a store selling Apple products — though, contrary to rumours that circulated Tuesday morning on the web — it won't be an Apple store.

Krista Bebeau, the downtown mall's marketing manager, said it will an outlet of a firm called iWorld Connect — the website of which (http://iworldconnect.com/) confirms the company is opening a store in Regina.

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Scott Forstall and Mickey Drexler Net Millions in Apple Stock Sales

Monday April 30, 2012 9:08 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
A pair of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that Apple executive Scott Fortsall and board member Mickey Drexler each sold off tens of thousands of shares of Apple stock on Friday, netting millions of dollars each.

Forstall, who serves as senior vice president of iOS Software and has been a fixture in Apple's keynote presentations and media events, sold off 64,151 shares of Apple stock on Friday, netting roughly $38.7 million. Forstall gained 120,000 shares of Apple stock last month as a 2008 retention bonus of restricted stock units converted to actual stock. 55,849 shares were immediately sold off at that time to account for the taxes due on the conversion, and Forstall held on to the remaining shares until last Friday.

Following Friday's transaction, Forstall holds 2,988 shares of Apple stock, worth roughly $1.75 million at today's share price and the same number of shares he held prior to last month's vesting of his 2008 retention bonus. Forstall is also in line to receive a number of other stock grants should he remain with the company over the next several years, including a 150,000-unit grant that will vest in equal portions next year and in 2016. A separate grant of 100,000 units will vest in 2014.

Meanwhile, longtime Apple board member Mickey Drexler, who serves as Chairman and CEO of J. Crew and was previously President and CEO of The Gap, has cashed in on stock options dating back nearly a decade in order to reap a substantial windfall.

Drexler exercised a set of 20,000 options from 2003 priced at $9.16 each and a second set of 20,000 options from 2004 priced at $14.205 each, selling off all 40,000 shares on Friday for $24.1 million. After accounting for the exercise prices on the options, Drexler netted close to $23.7 million. Drexler continues to hold 584 shares of Apple stock worth roughly $384,000 at today's share price.
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Apple Temporarily Closing Some U.S. Stores for Security Grate Installations

Monday April 30, 2012 12:45 pm PDT by Jordan Golson
Apple closed a number of U.S. retail stores last week, and is closing another half dozen more this week for undisclosed renovations. All of the stores closing are street-level locations and the most likely reason is to retrofit the stores with Apple's new security grate system. Apple closed a number of other stores last fall for the same reason.


Security grating barely visible at Apple's 4th Street store in Berkeley, California

The stores are closed for between 7 to 10 days each, and locations closed this week include Los Gatos (CA), Coconut Point (FL), Leawood (KS), Friendly Center (NC), Manhasset (NY), and Bridgeport Village (OR).

Last week, Bethesda Row (MD), Village Pointe (NE), and Crocker Park (OH), and perhaps others were all closed, apparently for the same reason.
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Josh Gad Likely to Play Steve Wozniak in Steve Jobs Indie Film

Friday April 27, 2012 6:51 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Progress continues on the independent film "Jobs", which will see Ashton Kutcher play the role of the Apple co-founder and CEO. According to Variety, actor Josh Gad is in talks to portray Steve Wozniak in the film, which will focus on the early days of Apple.

Written by Matt Whiteley, pic chronicles Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time.

Gad is making a deal to play Wozniak, who created the Apple I computer and co-created the Apple II computer in the mid-1970s.

Gad is best known for his starring role in The Book of Mormon, a satirical Broadway musical from the creators of irreverent animated television show South Park. Gad has also held a number of other film, TV, and stage roles, and has occasionally served as a correspondent for The Daily Show.

Production on "Jobs" is reportedly set to begin next month. The film is a separate project from the upcoming Sony Pictures film based on Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs.

(Photo by Taylor Hill / Getty Images)
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Deus Ex: Human Revolution Arrives on the Mac App Store

Thursday April 26, 2012 10:04 am PDT by Jordan Golson
The critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution has finally arrived on the Mac, after being promised in September of last year. Unlike some games released for the Mac recently, Human Revolution was just released for PC and consoles last summer. Some game titles new to the Mac were originally released as many as 6 years ago.

When former SWAT commander Adam Jensen is forced to undergo cybernetic augmentation, he discovers that the boundary between man and machine is a point of no return. Uncover the truth behind a global conspiracy in a first-person role-playing game where you must combine combat, stealth, hacking and social interaction to determine the course of human evolution.

In a world where amoral corporations market biomechanical modifications and those who protest against them are silenced, only those who adapt survive. Discover the true potential of your augmentations and manipulate Adam’s body into your perfect machine.

The Mac version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution already includes the 'Missing Link' downloadable content pack, the Explosive Mission and Tactical Enhancement expansion packs, a 44-minute "making-of" documentary, a 40-page book of design and concept art, motion comic, a soundtrack composed by Michael McCann, and three trailers.

The game weighs in at more than 15 gigabytes and does not support any of the following graphics cards: ATI X1xxx series, ATI HD2xxx series, NVIDIA 9400, NVIDIA 7xxx series, NVIDIA 320M, Intel HD3000 and Intel GMA series.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Ultimate Edition is available for $49.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]
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Microsoft Releases Update to Office for Mac 2011 SP2

Wednesday April 25, 2012 11:43 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Earlier this week, we noted that Microsoft had pulled its Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 2 from Microsoft AutoUpdate after users reported issues with Outlook database corruption. While the issues could be fixed and the update remained available for those looking to manually rebuild their databases and install the software, Microsoft opted to remove SP2 from AutoUpdate in order to protect those users who were unaware of the potential issues with the update.

Microsoft today announced that it has released an update to SP2, known as Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.1.

This update is primarily preventative and targets those who have not yet installed SP2; however, whether you have or have not installed SP2, please run this update to bring your installation of Microsoft Office:Mac 2011 to the latest version.

The downloads weighs in at 110 MB and requires a minimum of Office for Mac 2011 Service Pack 1 (14.1.0).
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iOS-Inspired iPhoto for Mac Update Coming This Summer?

Tuesday April 24, 2012 11:30 am PDT by Jordan Golson
The next version of iPhoto will be redesigned to be more like the iOS version of iPhoto, according to Belgian website Apple Weetjes [Google Translate].

The report includes a couple of details about potential new features. The new Mac version of iPhoto is said to gain the excellent iPhoto Journals feature and a redesigned photo retouching system, both inspired by the iOS version of iPhoto. The site also claims that the new iPhoto will require OS X Lion or Mountain Lion -- Snow Leopard won't be supported.

Apple Weetjes doesn't have much of a track record on rumors, but the features they mention do seem likely to make their way to the Mac version of iPhoto at some point.

via AppleInsider
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Free Snow Leopard Discs for MobileMe Users Now Arriving

Tuesday April 24, 2012 10:00 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Last week, we noted that Apple had begun sending emails to at least some current MobileMe users offering them free copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard in order to assist them with ultimately upgrading to OS X Lion in advance of MobileMe's discontinuation at the end of June. Lion is required for full compatibility with iCloud, Apple's free service that replaces many of MobileMe's features.


Several readers who requested free copies of Mac OS X Snow Leopard have reported receiving their shipments over the past day or two, with each disc arriving with a printed copy of the software license.

The discs contain Mac OS X 10.6.3, the standard retail version of Snow Leopard. After upgrading their systems to Snow Leopard using the disc, users will have to upgrade again to Mac OS X 10.6.8 via Software Update. Once that upgrade is completed, users can access the Mac App Store and purchase OS X Lion for $29.99.

The free Snow Leopard upgrade effectively cuts in half the fee for pre-Snow Leopard users to upgrade to Lion, as they would ordinarily have to purchase Snow Leopard on disc for $29 and then Lion through the Mac App Store for $29.99. By targeting the program at existing MobileMe members who have yet to transition their accounts to iCloud, Apple hopes to encourage as many users as possible to make the move before MobileMe services are officially turned off.

(Thanks, Ben!)
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New Apple Retail Store Opening in Madrid on April 27

Tuesday April 24, 2012 8:49 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Following last week's retail store opening in Rome, Italy, Apple has announced another international grand opening this week with the debut of the Gran Plaza 2 store in Madrid, Spain.


Centro Comercial Gran Plaza 2 under construction

Rather than the traditional Saturday grand opening, the Gran Plaza 2 store will open to the public at 10:00 AM on Friday, April 27 to coincide with the opening of the shopping center itself.

The new store will be Apple's sixth in Spain and third in the Madrid area, joining two other mall-based stores: Parquesur and Xanadú.
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Apple Seeds OS X Lion 10.7.4 Build 11E52 to Developers

Tuesday April 24, 2012 7:04 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple is continuing its roughly biweekly release cycle for developer builds of OS X 10.7.4, pushing out Build 11E52 for testing yesterday.


As with the last several builds, Apple lists no known issues. The company is also asking developers to focus their testing on Graphics, iCal, Mail, Printing, and Time Machine.

Work on OS X 10.7.4 continues as Apple is also pushing forward on OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which is due for release in "late summer". Earlier this week, Apple released its third developer preview of Mountain Lion for testing.

(Thanks, TTR!)
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