Monday Recap: Apple Kills Orange Smart Cover, May Build a TV, Siri Co-Founder Exits
Posted 10/24/2011 at 2:54pm
| by J.R. Bookwalter
It’s the last full week of October, which also signals the arrival of the long-awaited official Steve Jobs biography and even some silent MacBook Pro updates. But that’s not the only things that are making news today, with Netflix releasing third-quarter results and rumors sparking up about an Apple television once again. Here’s what’s making news for Monday, October 24, 2011.
Apple Updates Smart Covers, RIP Orange
9to5Mac is reporting that Apple has killed that gaudy orange iPad 2 Smart Cover, and killed it dead. Chalk one up to good taste! In its place, the company has quietly slipped a new Dark Grey polyurethane version which looks quite nice. We’d still prefer the black leather version -- that is, if we weren’t so cheap.
Siri Co-Founder Leaves Apple
AllThingsD is reporting that Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus has left Apple on the heels of the company launching the iPhone 4S, which features the technology acquired by Cupertino. According to sources, the departure was amicable and has been planned “for a while,” including Kittlaus missing his family back in Chicago, “brainstorming new entrepreneurial ideas” and simply wanting some time off now that his baby is out in the world. Kittlaus was the former CEO of Siri from its inception in 2007 and came along for the ride when Apple bought the company in April, 2010.
Apple Retail May Soon Allow In-Store Pickup
MacRumors is reporting that Apple is working on a new pilot program aimed at allowing customers to place an order online and pick it up at their local Apple retail store. Codenamed “Sherwood,” the program will apparently include every product offered on Apple.com, which includes “custom-configured Macs, engraved and gift-wrapped products and the full slate of third-party accessories.” The company is planning to launch the pilot program in a few select retail stores at first, but we’re excited to see this one get rolled out everywhere one day soon.
Netflix Q3 Results Bleed 800k Customers, More Red Ink Coming in 2012
Poor Netflix. Poor, poor Netflix. According to third quarter financial results released today, the company is feeling the sting of customer wrath, not to mention fallout from the aborted Quickster and the loss of key partners such as Starz. TechCrunch is reporting that Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers last quarter, and is now predicting the company will actually lose money for the first time in a long while as they expand to the United Kingdom and Ireland next year. Godspeed, Netflix… you need all the help you can get right now.
Apple Already Building Prototype Television
If you’ve been following Walter Isaacson’s official Steve Jobs bio, you may have heard a tidbit about the late Apple co-founder’s interest in creating an “integrated television set” that would “seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.” Jobs claims that he has “finally cracked it,” and now Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster is following up today with claims that Apple is already building prototype television sets, according to CNNMoney’s Apple 2.0 blog. Of course, Munster has been beating this drum for a while now, and there’s no word on when we might actually see such an offering out of Cupertino. But, you know, we want one anyway…
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