MacRumors

Much has been made of the apparently tense relationship between Apple and Facebook, sparked in large part by the spat over Facebook integration in Apple's Ping social networking service last year. According to one report, the companies have also faced over such topics as Apple's desire for systemwide Facebook integration in iOS 4 and Facebook's plans for tablet platforms.

But in a new interview with Charlie Rose set to air on PBS tonight, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg reveals (transcript from AllThingsD) how he was mentored by Steve Jobs, who advised Zuckerberg about building high-quality teams and maintaining a sharp focus on Facebook's products.

Mark Zuckerberg: Oh, I don’t know. I mean, he — he’s amazing. He was amazing. I mean, he — I had a lot of questions for him on –

Charlie Rose: Like what?

Mark Zuckerberg: How to build a team around you, right, that’s focused on building as high quality and good things as you are. How to keep an organization focused, right, when I think the tendency for larger companies is to try to fray and go into all these different areas. Yeah, I mean a lot just on the aesthetics and kind of mission orientation of companies. I mean, Apple is a company that is so focused on just building products that — for their customers and their users. And — and that’s like — it’s such a deep part of their mission is build these beautiful products for their users. And I think we connected a lot on this level of, okay, Facebook has this mission that’s really more than just trying to build a company, right, that has a market cap or a value. It’s like we’re trying to do this thing in the world. And I don’t know, a lot of it I just think we connected on that level.

Apple is of course famous for its laser-like focus on a relatively small number of products, offering greater clarity to customers and users while also ensuring that the company's employees do not become spread too thin or stray too far from the overall objectives.

In the wake of Steve Jobs' passing, the extent to which he served as a mentor to other high-profile industry personalities has become more clear, as evidenced by an on again-off again relationship with Google executives Larry Page and Sergey Brin and a connection with Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff that ultimately resulted in Benioff giving Jobs and Apple the "App Store" trademark and URL free of charge out of gratitude.

Jobs' advice to Zuckerberg parallels some of the advice he gave to Page, shared in Walter Isaacon's biography of Jobs, in which he told Page to figure out what five things Google wanted to focus on "when it grows up". Seeing Google straying dangerously toward a bloated array of apps and services, Jobs warned Page about the possibility of turning into the next Microsoft, with an assortment of peripheral products dragging the company away from its core areas of focus and expertise.

According to a pair of research notes issued today, demand for Apple's new iPhone 4S remains very strong as the company continues an aggressive international rollout schedule, with Apple's own retail stores typically running out of available units on a daily basis and pre-orders for the device in Hong Kong having sold out in only ten minutes.

Barron's details the first note, which comes from Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore. According to Whitmore's survey of 30 Apple retail stores, 85-90% of them are running out of iPhone 4S stock on a daily basis and encouraging customers to continue utilizing the reservation system that went into effect following the launch weekend.

Our retail checks reveal Apple is experiencing daily stock outs at ~85-90% of the ~30 retail stores we called. Apple employees are directing customers to make an online appointment (first come first serve) for next day pick up at nearby Apple retail stores as stocks appear to be refreshed daily at most locations.

Meanwhile, Apple on Friday began taking pre-orders for the iPhone 4S in fifteen new countries, including the very strong Hong Kong market where the company just recently opened its first retail store. According to Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White, Apple sold through its initial stock of iPhone 4S units in Hong Kong in only ten minutes.

Our checks indicate that pre-orders in Hong Kong were sold out within ten minutes after becoming available. In our view, this is a very positive sign for iPhone 4S demand in Greater China as Hong Kong represents the first entry of the new smartphone in the rapidly growing region and we expect the 4S to reach Mainland China in December. We believe this rapid sell out will rest concerns surrounding the uptake of the iPhone 4S in the Greater China region that were driven by the limited language capability of Siri, which did not launch in Mandarin or Cantonese.

As White notes, Hong Kong will be the first country within Apple's "Greater China" market to offer the iPhone 4S, and it will undoubtedly be a popular source for Chinese customers looking to have early access to the device.

Late Friday, FOSS Patents reported that Motorola Mobility had won an injunction against Apple in Germany, a decision that could potentially prevent Apple from selling any of its mobile devices in the country. Curiously, the injunction was issued as a default judgment, with Apple apparently deciding not to defend itself for unknown reasons.

The strange circumstances have led to some dispute over whether the injunction will have any impact on Apple's operations in Germany, with The Verge's Nilay Patel arguing that the victory is a "totally symbolic" one for Motorola given that it affects only Apple Inc. and not its Apple Germany subsidiary that actually sells the devices in that country.

Motorola Mobility filed lawsuits against both organizations, and while Apple Germany is vigorously fighting its case, Apple's lawyers let the Apple Inc., lawsuit slide, resulting in this default judgement and injunction. But since Apple Inc., doesn't actually sell anything in Germany, it's a totally symbolic victory for Motorola — there aren't any products to ban.

Apple itself also took an apparently unconcerned attitude toward the ruling, noting that it fails to impact the company's sales "at this time".

This is a procedural issue that has nothing to do with the merits of the case. This does not affect our ability to sell products or do business in Germany at this time.

Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents vehemently disagrees with Patel's interpretation, noting that there is danger to Apple if courts rule that the parent Apple Inc. company is judged to be an entity selling products in Germany. As one example, Mueller points to the fact that Apple's German website is registered to Apple Inc. and not Apple Germany, meaning that enforcement of the injunction could lead to Apple having to shut down its German website operations. Another example suggests that the injunction could simply prevent Apple Inc. from delivering shipments to Apple Germany, thereby cutting off sales further up the distribution chain without a direct judgment against Apple Germany.

Mueller argues that any restrictions on Apple Inc.'s ability to business in Germany will have an effect on the company's business there, even with actual sales being funneled through the Apple Germany subsidiary. Consequently, he believes that Apple will begin to feel an impact "within weeks" unless Apple wins a suspension of the injunction. In a follow-up post, Mueller notes that a number of German lawyers have indicated that Apple is likely to win such a suspension as the trials continue to play out, but that Apple will need to move quickly to appeal the verdict in order to minimize any impact from it.

All of the lawyers I talked to had consistent positions. In particular, all of them agree with me that the default judgment against Apple Inc. of Cupertino would have very near-term business impact unless Apple wins a suspension. They all agree that in one way or another, Apple's German business also depends on Apple Inc. being unrestricted to do business in Germany. And they all concur that Apple is more likely than not to win a temporary suspension (for the period until a substantive decision following a second hearing by the same court). "More likely than not" is a conservative consensus position. An unnamed one of them told me he can't imagine any other outcome.

As for why Apple allowed the default judgment to be made in Motorola's favor, Mueller puts forward an array of theories, from Apple's lawyers simply missing the court date for some reason to strategic plans to either draw out the case or to preserve the ability to introduce certain new evidence. With so many other cases and investigations relating to Apple's intellectual property disputes, it can be difficult to determine how a move in one case could affect other events, similarly hampering the ability to understand Apple's rationale.

Back in July, Adobe entered the Mac App Store for the first time with the release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor, a slightly scaled-down version of the company's consumer image editing application. When the company released Photoshop Elements 10 in boxed form in mid-September, we asked Adobe about a Mac App Store release for the new version and were told that it was in the works but under a different timeline given that it is a separate application.

Adobe has now completed work on not only the Mac App Store version of Photoshop Elements 10 Editor but also Premiere Elements 10 Editor, which are now available in the Mac App Store for $79.99 each.

Like the earlier Photoshop Elements release for the Mac App Store, the new releases do not include the Elements Organizer functionality found in their non-Mac App Store counterparts, and do not support case-sensitive HFS+ (HFSX) volumes. Premiere Elements 10 Editor also does not support the SmartSound capabilities found in the full version.

Current users of Photoshop Elements 9 Editor from the Mac App Store should note that the new Version 10 is a separate application and thus not available as a free upgrade.

Rumors have suggested that Apple has acquired 3D mapping firm C3 Technologies. While much of the early demos showed C3's ability to create realistic looking 3D maps, the company had also been working on both street view and interior views prior to their acquisition.

BrightSideOfTheNews reported in a January, 2011 article that the company was creating street level imagery as well using the same technology:

In addition to 3D maps, C3 also makes awesome street level imagery captured using "an advanced multiple camera system with overlapping viewing angles to capture the entire surroundings in stereo."

Beyond street level views, the company was also offering interior panoramas as shown in this early promotional photo:

SingularityHub noted how C3 created these interior shots:

As well as increasing its geographic range, C3 is expanding into interior settings. With a special camera rig, they can also create a 3D model of the interior of a building using the same photo stitching they use with their aerial or street level maps. Businesses have to request C3 to come in and create such an inside map of their facilities, so don’t expect these 3D indoor maps to become ubiquitous anytime soon. Still, the technology is ready and available, so we’re bound to see at least a few examples in the months ahead.

Obviously, both street-level work and interior shots are particularly resource intensive. In fact, the interior views are said to have required businesses to invite the company in to make create the images. It's not clear if Apple will use the technology to this degree when they release it. At a minimum, however, street view data would be required to make it match up feature for feature with Google's technology which presently powers iOS Maps.

Apple has awarded 1 million shares of stock to seven top executives as a reward for their hard work during Apple's record fiscal year -- the first time the company did more than $100 billion in revenue.

Earlier we reported that the recently promoted Eddy Cue received 100,000 shares of stock in the form of a restricted stock unit or RSU. These RSU's convert into freely tradable shares of stock on their exercise dates. In Cue's case, 25% of his shares on 9/21/2014 and 75% on 9/21/2016, assuming he continues his employment at Apple.

According to Apple's filings with the SEC, the other six executives each received 150,000 RSU's, vesting in two equal parts -- 50% on 6/21/2013 and the remaining 50% on 3/21/2016. Those executives are:

- Scott Forstall, Senior Vice President, iOS Software (SEC Filing)
- Bob Mansfield, Senior Vice President, Hardware Engineering (SEC Filing)
- Peter Oppenheimer, Senior Vice President and CFO (SEC Filing)
- Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Product Marketing (SEC Filing)
- Bruce Sewell, Senior Vice President and General Counsel (SEC Filing)
- Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President, Operations (SEC Filing)

An Apple spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the awards are "meant to reward them down the road for their hard work in helping to keep Apple the most innovative company in the world."

No paperwork has been filed showing any award for CEO Tim Cook. Earlier this year, when he was appointed CEO, Cook was awarded 1 million shares, vesting in 2016 and 2021, should he stay with the company. The only other executive on Apple's leadership team to not receive an award, at least according to the SEC, is Senior Vice President, Industrial Design Jonathan Ive.

At current prices, Cue's 100,000 share award would be worth $40 million, and Forstall, Mansfield, Oppenheimer, Schiller, Sewell, and Williams' awards are worth $60 million each.

comScore today released the results of its latest survey of mobile phone usage in the United States, noting that Apple has reached a milestone in surpassing a 10% share of the U.S. mobile phone market. As has been the recent trend, Apple again led the major phone manufacturers in growth between the three-month period ending in June and the period ending in September, growing by 1.3 percentage point to hit 10.2% of the U.S. market.

Narrowing down to smartphones, Apple's iOS took 27.4% of the market, up 0.8 percentage points since the previous three-month period but trailing Android's 44.8% share and 4.6 percentage point growth. Apple stood at 9.8% of the overall mobile phone market and 27.3% of the smartphone market in last month's release of the firm's rolling three-month data sets.

comScore's data tracks installed user base rather than new handset sales, making it more reflective of real-world usage but slower to respond to shifting market trends than some other studies. With today's released data covering the period of July through September, it is also important to note that it does not include any surge from the iPhone 4S launch, which took place in mid-October.

Just two days after seeding the first beta of iOS 5.0.1 to developers, Apple has already pushed out a second version for testing.

The new version, known as build 9A404, comes as Apple is working quickly to deploy the update to address battery life issues and bring several other enhancements to devices running iOS 5. The latest build is available as an over-the-air update for those with the first beta of iOS 5.0.1 installed on their devices.

FierceWireless reports on comments from U.S. Cellular CEO Mary Dillon, who claims that the mobile phone carrier turned down a proposed deal to offer the iPhone because it considered Apple's terms to be "unacceptable". The decision is not final, however, and U.S. Cellular could offer the iPhone at some point in the future if a deal can be struck.

U.S. Cellular turned down Apple's iPhone because it did not make sense for the company economically, CEO Mary Dillon said on the company's third-quarter earnings conference call.

Dillon said that the carrier had the opportunity to sell the iPhone but that Apple's "terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint." Dillon added that the potential strain on the company's network was not a factor in the decision, and that U.S. Cellular remains open to carrying the iPhone in the future.

U.S. Cellular, headquartered in Chicago, is the sixth-largest mobile phone company in the United States with over 6 million subscribers. Behind the top tier of Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA lies a group of so-called "super-regional" carriers led by MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular, and Cricket. Interest in the possibility of these super-regional carriers being able to offer the iPhone was sparked by last month's announcement from C Spire Wireless that it had landed a deal for the iPhone. C Spire ranks at the lower end of the super-regional group, with under a million customers on its network.

Earlier this week, the Czech arm of Telefonica/O2 announced that it would be dropping the iPhone entirely after it was unable to reach a deal with Apple for the iPhone 4S. The company cited Apple's "business terms" as the reason for the discontinuation, and U.S. Cellular's disclosure today adds further evidence that some carriers simply don't see the economic advantage to offering the iPhone even as other carriers are working hard to land the device.

9to5Mac reports that Apple's vice president of global security John Theriault has left the company, marking yet another key executive departure this year.

While the reasons for Theriault's departure and his destination appear to be unconfirmed, speculation naturally turns toward this summer's loss of another iPhone prototype. Apple has received some criticism over its handling of the case, which involved Apple security personnel being escorted by San Francisco police to a home to where the device had been traced. Apple's security personnel conducted an unsuccessful search of the home, with the homeowner claiming to have believed that they were police officers and not private security agents.

Theriault, a former FBI agent and Pfizer vice president, was profiled just two months ago for his role overseeing Apple's anti-counterfeiting efforts. That work has taken on increased importance with the proliferation of fake Apple products and even fake Apple retail stores popping up in a number of countries. The most publicized location for these counterfeiting operations has been China, where Apple has been stepping up its anti-counterfeiting efforts in support of its own increasing presence in the country.

Update: AllThingsD confirms that Theriault has left Apple, and while the reason for his departure is officially said to be retirement, sources indicate that the circumstances surrounding the latest lost iPhone case are indeed the root cause.

Despite a sequential drop in iPhone sales in the third calendar quarter of 2011 as customers held out for the iPhone 4S, Apple once again seized over half of the profits generated by leading mobile phone manufacturers during the quarter, according to a new research report by Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley and shared by Forbes. According to the study's estimates, Apple raked in 52% of the overall profits during the quarter, down slightly from 57% in the second calendar quarter but up from 47% in the year-ago quarter that also had the then-new iPhone 4 on the market.

In an epic reversal of fortunes, Mr. Walkley pointed out that in 2007, Nokia had 67% of operating profits while Apple had just 4%. Today, while Apple has 52% of industry profits, Nokia has been relegated its rival’s former position with just 4% of operating profits.

As noted in a report from AllThingsD on the same research note, Walkley predicts that the launch of the iPhone 4S will spur even further growth for Apple, pushing the company to take over 60% of industry profits in the final calendar quarter of 2011.

Walkley is not the only observer to routinely release estimates of mobile phone manufacturer profit shares, as asymco's Horace Dediu performs a similar analysis each quarter. Dediu's numbers have typically come in 5-10 percentage points higher for Apple than Walkley's estimates have, but the trends seen by each analyst are certainly consistent: Aside from some natural ebb and flow due to iPhone release cycles, Apple is continuing to increase its dominant share of mobile phone industry profits despite shipping only a small fraction of total units.

Update: Dediu has just posted his Q3 estimates, pegging Apple at 56% of industry profits.

The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung has certainly been well-documented as it has expanded to encompass numerous lawsuits and other complaints filed by both sides in a number of different countries. The offensive portion of Samsung's case has centered on 3G-related patents that it owns, but Apple has argued that those patents are essential to basic device operation and must therefore be licensed under FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) terms. Apple's lawyers have also argued that Samsung's proposed licensing terms for those patents have so far not been made in compliance with FRAND standards.

As first reported by FOSS Patents, a new legal filing by Apple in a U.S. case has revealed that the European Commission is indeed investigating Samsung over potential abuse of FRAND-related patents. From the filing:

Samsung has launched an aggressive, worldwide campaign to enjoin Apple from allegedly practicing Samsung's patents. Samsung has sued Apple for infringement and injunctions in no fewer than eight countries outside the United States. Indeed, Samsung's litigation campaign and other conduct related to its Declared-Essential Patents is so egregious that the European Commission recently has opened an investigation to determine whether Samsung's behavior violates EU competition laws.

Reuters also reports that the European Commission has issued a statement acknowledging the investigation, noting that it has requested information from both Samsung and Apple as it enters the early stages of a potential antitrust inquiry.

"The Commission has indeed sent requests for information to Apple and Samsung concerning the enforcement of standards-essential patents in the mobile telephony sector. Such requests for information are standard procedure in antitrust investigations to allow the Commission to establish the relevant facts in a case. We have no other comments at this stage," the EU executive said in a statement.

Apple has won a number of injunctions against Samsung over claims that several Android-based tablets and smartphones infringe upon Apple's design patents. Samsung initially adopted a primarily defensive stance against Apple, but has recently gone on the offensive to assert its 3G patents in an attempt to strengthen its hand in the courts and any potential settlement talks. But with some observers and Apple having argued that Samsung's asserted patents are subject to FRAND terms and judges and regulatory authorities beginning to agree with or at least consider that position, Samsung's efforts may yet backfire on the company.

While Apple's Fifth Avenue retail store in Manhattan is not set to reopen until 10:00 AM this morning, crews have completed their work on the revamped glass cube, fully revealing the streamlined design for the first time.

MacRumors reader Vincent sent along these photos of the new cube, which utilizes only 15 panes of glass rather than the 90 used in the original cube. The new cube is also "seamless", doing away with nearly all of the hardware that previously held the panes of glass together.

In addition to the new cube, Apple has also upgraded the plaza, refreshing or installing new water drains and pavers while removing the small bollards that had previously surrounded the cube.

Update: YouTube user patjem2 has posted a brief video showing the new cube and a growing crowd of customers just prior to the store's reopening.

A second video also shows the first customers entering the newly-reopened store through the updated glass cube.