MacRumors

Since taking the helm of department store chain J.C. Penney last November, former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson has rebuilt much of his new company's executive team, in many cases bringing in associates he had worked with at Apple or in his earlier stint at Target. Until now, Johnson appears to have avoided tapping Apple's staff directly, bringing in Apple veterans who had already left the company for other jobs.

But as announced in a J.C. Penney press release today, Johnson has expanded his executive team again, this time hiring Ben Fay, a key member of Apple's retail store design team to help lead the next-generation of department store designs.

"Ben is an incredibly creative professional with extraordinary leadership skills. Having worked with him over the last 12 years, I am delighted to see Ben step into this new role at jcp," said Johnson. "His design influence has made the Apple stores highly regarded retail destinations around the world, and I am excited to have Ben place his own mark on jcp as we re-imagine the jcpenney store of the future."

According to his LinkedIn profile, Fay spent eight years as a senior director at Apple, overseeing retail store and corporate office design. Prior to arriving at Apple itself, he spent four years at architecture firm Gensler, where he focused on Apple's retail projects. With that résumé, Fay clearly played a key role in the development of the Apple retail store concept alongside Johnson and other members of the team.

Fay's move to J.C. Penney comes just as former Dixons Retail CEO John Browett begins work at Apple as Johnson's replacement. Browett was named Apple's senior vice president of retail in January, but did not officially start with the company until last week.

Browett brings an international flavor to Apple's retail effort, with international stores having been an increasing focus for Apple in recent years, a trend that is expected to continue as Apple works to expand its global reach. The company has also been placing emphasis on larger, iconic stores to help promote the company's brand while providing more space to serve the growing number of Apple customers.

The San Jose Mercury News reports (via The Next Web) that Apple has received approval from the City of Cupertino to build a new 21,500 square foot cafeteria several blocks away from its main headquarters. The facility is being planned to primarily support workers from Apple's satellite buildings in the immediate vicinity, giving them a private location to eat and conduct business without needing to worry about competitors overhearing their conversations.

"We like to provide a level of security so that people and employees can feel comfortable talking about their business, their research and whatever project they're engineering without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations," Dan Whisenhunt, Apple's director of real estate facilities, said at Tuesday's meeting. "That is a real issue today in Cupertino because we've got other companies here in our same business."

The facility will offer a full cafeteria, as well as private meeting rooms, lounge areas, courtyard space, and a 70-space parking garage underneath the cafe. Whisenhunt notes that Apple is also in the process of developing plans to add a private cafeteria at its Results Way campus leased last July to support further expansion while the company moves forward to build its major new headquarters on the former HP campus in Cupertino.

Apple is genuinely concerned about its employees divulging secret information while socializing at outside restaurants, with Adam Lashinsky noting in his recent book Inside Apple that "company lore" suggests employees have been fired after undercover Apple security officers at BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse across a parking lot from Apple's main campus overheard them sharing sensitive information in the open.

The company has of course also experienced the loss of several iPhone prototypes in outside establishments, with an iPhone 4 having disappeared in a Mountain View bar in 2010 and eventually turning up in Gizmodo's hands while an iPhone 4S apparently went missing from a San Francisco bar last year and has not been found. While Apple certainly can't prevent its employees from patronizing outside establishments, the use of privately-controlled cafes can help minimize information leaks in situations where employees are most likely to be talking with each other about their work.

Back in late 2009, an Apple patent application surfaced showing that the company had explored ad-supported operating systems, with the user receiving free or discounted goods or services in exchange for viewing the advertisements. The patent application, which was filed in 2008 and shows ad integration in Mac OS X, was notable for listing Steve Jobs as the lead inventor.

As Ken Segall reveals in his new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success, the idea did indeed belong to Jobs, although he initially considered implementing it for the 1999 release of Mac OS 9.

Rather than charge the normal upgrade price, which in those days was $99, he was thinking of shipping a second version of Mac OS 9 that would be given away for free – but would be supported instead by advertising. The theory was that this would pull in a ton of people who didn't normally upgrade because of the price, but Apple would still generate income through the advertising. And any time an owner of the free version wanted to get rid of the advertising, he or she could simply pay for the ad-free version. Steve's team had worked out the preliminary numbers the concept seemed financially sound.

Jobs envisioned the ad-supported version of Mac OS 9 displaying a 60-second commercial from a "premium" company at startup, with the ads occasionally being automatically swapped out for new ones over the Internet. He also visualized the use of contextually relevant ads, such as an Epson printer ink ad being displayed when the user's printer was reporting that it was low on ink.

Segall was not in favor of the idea, but left that meeting under the impression that Apple was going to proceed with it as the TBWA\Chiat\Day team begin thinking about the premium companies it could target for high-quality advertising. But for whatever reason, Jobs and Apple ultimately decided to scrap the idea.

But while the genesis of the idea indeed appears to lie with Jobs, it is still unclear why Apple decided nine years later to file for a patent on the idea, whether it was due to a serious reconsideration of the idea or merely a tying up of loose ends that saw the company attempting to protect one of Jobs' ideas that had already been discarded.

Netgear today announced its first 802.11ac-compatible Wi-Fi router, capable of delivering gigabit speeds up to three times faster than current 802.11n routers. Topping out at 1300 Mbps in 5 Ghz mode and 450 Mbps in 2.4 GHz, Netgear's R6300 router will launch next month at a price of $199.99.

Netgear's announcement is notable for Apple observers, as it appears that it will represent the first shipping product based on the 802.11ac technology and Apple has been rumored to be introducing support for the faster technology in its AirPort products sometime this year.

Broadcom has already launched its first set of 802.11ac 5G Wi-Fi chips, even though the standard will likely not be finalized until later this year. It is, however, routine for Wi-Fi product manufacturers, including Apple, to embrace upcoming technologies even before they are finalized. Several other companies are set to closely follow Netgear's launch with their own products, with Buffalo having announced a June launch for its first 802.11ac router.

Apple last updated its AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule Wi-Fi base stations products in June 2011, while the smaller AirPort Express has not been updated since March 2008. Curiously, Apple was reported last September to be preparing to launch an updated AirPort Express, with a reference to the device appearing in developer seed notes for AirPort Utility at the time. Apple has not, however, launched such a device.

Support for 802.11ac would obviously also have to be incorporated into Mac and iOS hardware in order for them to take advantage of the new speeds.

Apple was one of the leaders in early adoption of 802.11 Wi-Fi technology, with the original iBook being the first mainstream computer to ship with the technology as an option in 1999, coming in the form of the original AirPort card running the 802.11b standard.

Among the many anecdotes about Steve Jobs included in Ken Segall's new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success, one in particular stands out for its glimpse into Jobs' character, providing evidence of his willingness to engage in playful ideas when the mood suited him. The story takes place relatively soon after the launch of the original iMac, with Jobs wanting to find a high-profile way to celebrate the sale of the millionth one to mark Apple's comeback from the dead.

Steve's idea was to do a Willy Wonka with it. Just as Wonka did in the movie, Steve wanted to put a golden certificate representing the millionth iMac inside the box of one iMac, and publicize that fact. Whoever opened the lucky iMac box would be refunded the purchase price and be flown to Cupertino, where he or she (and, presumably, the accompanying family) would be taken on a tour of the Apple campus.

Steve had already instructed his internal creative group to design a prototype golden certificate, which he shared with us. But the killer was that Steve wanted to go all out on this. He wanted to meet the lucky winner in full Willy Wonka garb. Yes, complete with top hat and tails.

Those in the room with Jobs were amused by his excitement over the idea, but less than enthusiastic about seeing it come to fruition. Fortunately for those looking for a way out of it, California law required that all such sweepstake contests allow entry without requiring a purchase. Given that people would then be able to enter the contest without purchasing an iMac and there in fact being a very good chance that the winner wouldn't be an iMac owner or even an Apple fan, Jobs' pet idea for a Willy Wonka-themed prize was cast aside.

While Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Steve Jobs received significant attention for its glimpse into the life of the Apple co-founder and CEO, others with recollections of Jobs have over the years stepped forward with their own accounts and anecdotes serving to provide a picture of his life.

One of those people is Ken Segall, the longtime creative advertising director who spent several stints working with Jobs at various ad firms including the famous TBWA\Chiat\Day that has been responsible for many of Apple's landmark ad campaigns. Segall's new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success, offers an interesting blend of business advice and anecdotes designed to help readers understand how Jobs and the culture of simplicity he fostered enabled Apple to reach the loftiest of heights.

Segall breaks his book down into ten chapters focused on different themes all centered around "the Simple Stick". Under the philosophy of Steve Jobs, the pursuit of simplicity is key in everything Apple does, and as complexity began to creep into projects he repeatedly hit them with the Simple Stick in order to bring them back to Apple's focus.

The Simple Stick symbolizes a core value within Apple. Sometimes it's held up as inspiration; other times it's wielded like a caveman's club. In all cases, it's a reminder of what sets Apple apart from other technology companies and what makes Apple stand out in a complicated world: a deep, almost religious belief in the power of Simplicity.

Having worked with Jobs at both NeXT and Apple, Segall was present for a number of Jobs' highs and lows over the years, events which led to a library of interesting and entertaining stories. Yielding a unique perspective, many of these stories come from the back room where Segall was present for discussions among Jobs, other Apple executives, engineers, and advertising professionals about the future of Apple's products and how to market them to the public.

Insanely Simple debuts tomorrow, April 26, and is available in hardcover from retailers such as Amazon, as well as in e-book format from Apple's iBookstore and other retailers.

Earlier this month, Sprint revealed that it would continue to offer its unlimited data plans as it rolls out its first LTE devices. The news led to reasonable speculation that the policy would also apply to an LTE-enabled iPhone, which is expected to launch later this year.

CNET now reports that Sprint has confirmed plans to continue offering unlimited data for the next iPhone, regardless of whether or not the device supports LTE.

If the next iteration of the iPhone arrives with LTE, Sprint will continue to offer a no-strings unlimited plan, CEO Dan Hesse told CNET. The company is already sticking with unlimited for its first batch of LTE phones, but it was unclear whether the offer would apply to next iPhone.

"I'm not anticipating the unlimited plan would change by that point," he said. "That's our distinctive differentiator."

Hesse notes that the unlimited data plans for the iPhone have been successful for the company, attracting customers from other carriers. As announced in its earnings release earlier today, 44% of Sprint's iPhone sales during the first quarter of 2012 were to customers new to the carrier.

With LTE's faster data speeds, customers have the potential to significantly larger amounts of cellular data, and it had been unclear whether Sprint would be able to continue offering unlimited data to LTE customers for that reason. Sprint has been behind the other major U.S. carriers in its rollout of LTE support, as it initially supported WiMAX for its 4G technology, it is now moving rapidly to begin deployment of LTE to its network.

A pair of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published early today reveal that former Dixons Retail CEO John Browett, who was announced in January as the next Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple, has officially started work with the company. The development is in line with previous announcements about an April start.

Browett's start date was revealed in an SEC Form 3 filing noting that Browett owned no stock in Apple at the time he began work. The document lists April 20 as the "date of event requiring statement", indicating that he began work at Apple last Friday.

As of that start date, Browett also received a total of 100,000 restricted stock units (RSUs) on Friday, with staggered vesting dates designed to reward Browett for staying on the job. At Apple's current stock price, those RSUs are worth roughly $61 million. The first batch of 5,000 units will vest on October 20, and an additional 15,000 units will vest at Browett's one-year anniversary with the company, which is April 20, 2013. The remainder of the units will vest in batches of 20,000 units on each anniversary of his start date through the fifth year.

Unlike options, restricted stock units do not require the recipient to purchase stock at an exercise price in order to receive the shares. The RSUs simply convert to actual shares on the vesting dates, although there are tax implications to the conversion that generally result in recipients immediately selling off at least some portion of their grants as they vest.

Browett has not yet been added to Apple's leadership page on its website, but his photo and a brief biography should be appearing there in the near future. Browett replaces Ron Johnson, who left Apple last November to become CEO of department store chain J.C. Penney.

Less than two hours after going on sale, passes for Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) have already sold out. The quick sellout comes even as Apple imposed new restrictions this year limiting ticket sales to registered iOS and Mac developers and limiting the number of passes available per developer group.

WWDC has sold out increasingly quickly in recent years, selling out in eight days in 2010 and in under 12 hours last year.

The conference will be held June 11-15 at the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco.

With only a little over six weeks of lead time, Apple today officially announced that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) from June 11-15 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Conference passes are on sale now for $1599, and come with a new restriction requiring that purchasers be members of one of the company's developer programs.

Tickets are expected to sell out quickly given past years' trends. Last year, the conference sold out in under twelve hours.

“We have a great WWDC planned this year and can’t wait to share the latest news about iOS and OS X Mountain Lion with developers,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iOS platform has created an entirely new industry with fantastic opportunities for developers across the country and around the world.”

Apple notes that it will hold over 100 technical sessions for developers, with over 1,000 Apple engineers on hand to provide support for attendees.

This year's conference again appears to be focused on both OS X and iOS developers equally, with OS X Mountain Lion set for public release later this summer and iOS 6 likely ready to enter developer testing at the conference ahead of an iPhone hardware update later in the year.

The June 11-15 dates for WWDC 2012 are not particularly surprising, given that a generic "Corporate Meeting" event typical of Apple's WWDC listing appeared on the Moscone Center's calendar last year, and the timeframe also appeared as long ago as April 2010 in a tentative convention calendar listing WWDC dates through 2015. Nevertheless, developers able to secure passes to the conference will need to move quickly to obtain travel arrangements and may encounter high prices, as the U.S. Open golf championship is being held in San Francisco during the same week.

Apple today announced financial results for the first calendar quarter of 2012 and second fiscal quarter of 2012. For the quarter, Apple posted revenue of $39.2 billion and net quarterly profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share, compared to revenue of $24.67 billion and net quarterly profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 47.4 percent, compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter, and international sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's revenue. Apple's quarterly profit and revenue were both company records for the March quarter.

Quarterly iPhone unit sales reached 35.1 million, up 88 percent from the year-ago quarter, and the company sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, up 151 percent year-over-year. Apple sold 4 million Macintosh computers during the quarter, a unit increase of 7 percent over the year-ago quarter. The company sold 7.7 million iPods, representing 15 percent unit decline year-over-year.

"We're thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. "The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver."

Apple's guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 includes expected revenue of $34 billion and earnings per diluted share of $8.68.

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q2 2012 financial results conference call at 2:00 PM Pacific, and MacRumors will update this story with coverage of the conference call highlights.

Conference Call Highlights

- Very pleased to report results of our outstanding fiscal quarters. New March quarter records for iPhone, iPad, Mac, profit and revenue.

➜ Click here to read rest of article...

Google today announced its long-awaited Google Drive cloud storage service, providing users with 5GB of free storage integrated with Google Docs and other Google services.

Today, we’re introducing Google Drive—a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff. Whether you’re working with a friend on a joint research project, planning a wedding with your fiancé or tracking a budget with roommates, you can do it in Drive. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.

Beyond the free 5GB level, Google offers several levels of paid storage up to 16 TB, all accessible via Google Docs or through clients for PC, Mac, Android and iOS devices -- though the iOS app has yet to be released, Google promises it is "coming soon". One of the biggest features in Drive is the ability to open more than 30 different file types directly in the browser, allowing users without programs like Illustrator and Photoshop to open up files and see what's inside. The service includes extensive sharing and collaboration features, as well.

The launch of Google Drive comes as several other cloud storage services have augmented their services in recent days. Microsoft's SkyDrive, which offers users 7GB of free cloud storage, yesterday updated its offering with an updated iOS app [Direct Link] and a preview client for OS X Lion, which allows users to manage their SkyDrive accounts directly from the Finder. Finally, Dropbox extended its file storage service with the ability to quickly share files stored on Dropbox with anyone, simply by creating a link.