Al Gore a lightning rod at Apple shareholder meeting
Gore was seated in the first row, along with his six fellow board members, in Apple's Town Hall auditorium as several stockholders took turns either bashing or praising his high-profile views on climate change.At the first opportunity for audience participation just several minutes into the proceeding, a longtime and well-known Apple shareholder--some would say gadfly--who introduced himself as Shelton Ehrlich, stood at the microphone and urged against Gore's re-election to the board. Gore "has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted," Ehrlich said, referring to Gore's views on global warming. "If his advice he gives to Apple is as faulty as his views on the environment then he doesn't need to be re-elected."Another shareholder immediately got up to defend Gore and endorse his presence as an Apple director. And that wasn't the end of it. Two different proposals from shareholders were presented in regard to Apple's environmental impact. One was from the nonprofit As You Sow, which for the second straight year asked Apple to publicly commit to specific greenhouse gas reduction goals and publish a formal sustainability report; the second came from Herrington Investments, which proposed that Apple's board establish a sustainability committee, just like a compensation or personnel committee.As You Sow's representative, Conrad MacKerron, praised Gore, but also challenged him on not doing more to encourage the company to set specific public commitments. Forest Hill, Herrington Investment's senior portfolio manager also addressed some of his comments directly to Gore, saying making board members responsible for Apple's envronmental impact "would make Apple a corporate leader."Neither Gore nor anyone else on Apple's board of directors responded directly. Both proposals were ultimately rejected by shareholders.Despite his apparently polarizing nature, Gore was re-elected with the rest of the slate in preliminary results. Proposals regarding changes to an employee stock plan, directors' stock options, an advisory vote on executive compensation, and selection of Ernst & Young as Apple's public accounting firm were all passed to complete the official business portion of the event.The security of cash on handDuring the following Q&A session led by CEO Steve Jobs, COO Tim Cook, and CFO Peter Oppenheimer, shareholders were given the chance to speak their mind on, well, practically anything. Besides the environment, many homed in on the theme of just what Apple plans on doing with all that cash it has sitting around--approximately $40 billion in reserve, Apple reported last quarter. One shareholder asked if Apple might consider investing in electric-car maker Tesla. To that, Jobs replied he was planning on throwing "a toga party" with the money instead."Cash gives us tremendous security and flexibility. When you take risks, it's like jumping up in the air, and it's nice to know the ground will be there when you land."--Apple CEO Steve JobsHe was obviously joking, but he did rebut more than one shareholder on the suggestions that Apple, among other ideas tossed out there, buy more companies, offer cash dividends, or create an Apple video game development studio.Jobs took time to clearly lay out Apple's attitude on being conservative with its savings. "Cash gives us tremendous security and flexibility. When you take risks, it's like jumping up in the air, and it's nice to know the ground will be there when you land," he told the group. "We run our company conservatively from a financial point of view because you never know what opportunity is around the corner...We're very fortunate that if we needed to acquire something we could write a check for it and not have to borrow money."Jobs also rejected the idea of giving stockowners more of that cash through dividends because, he said, he believed the stock price, currently at $201.60 a share, would be unaffected either way. He asked one shareholder, "Would you rather be a company with our same stock price and $40 billion in cash, or a company with the same stock price and no cash?"Other topics raised by stockholders included the following:• The suggestion that Google CEO's Eric Schmidt's presence on Apple's board until last summer was damaging to Apple in terms of future competition between Apple's iPhone OS and Google's rival Android mobile operating system. Jobs gave Apple's standard respond on Schmidt's controversial presence on both boards: "Eric conducted himself appropriately. He recused himself when we were discussing matters that might be a conflict."• The notion that Apple return to Macworld Expo. Jobs: "No. Sorry."• Asked when Verizon customers would be able to buy the iPhone, Jobs said Apple would not be discussing its exclusive arrangement with AT&T or Verizon.• Could a strategic alliance with Nintendo and iTunes help ensure that Netflix doesn't gain more ground in the digital video business? Jobs seemed to dismiss that. "Strategic alliances take an awful lot of work, and there'd have to be a really big payoff. But I suppose anything's possible."• And displaying a sense of humor, when asked what he considered his biggest challenges in the future, Jobs deadpanned, "Shareholder meetings."This story was updated on 2/26 to correct the spelling of Shelton Ehrlich's name.
IBM launches 'Smart Cube' with app store
IBM launches 'Smart Cube' with app store
• The Smart Cube hardware, which starts just under $8,000;• Smart Market, a marketplace for customers to download enterprise applications (so far there are 48 business apps from 17 software companies);• Smart Desk, a dashboard for maintenance, to manage applications on the Cube and in the cloud;• Integrated Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise. IBM's claim for small and midsized businesses (SMBs): Four steps and you're running without manuals, installation CDs, and configuration hassles. The Smart Cube is sold through channel partners. IBM argues that these value added resellers are the preferred channel for many small businesses. However, IBM will be the sole point of contact for technical support.Big Blue's sweet spot is expected to be for companies with 15 to 1,000 employees. The target market for QuickBooks enterprise is companies with 20 to 500 employees.The big pitch to SMBs is that they can save on labor and time because the IBM lineup won't require integration work. Matt Friedman, vice president of marketing for IBM's Smart Business unit, said the Smart Cube has print serving, VOIP, database, network, storage, and backup settings integrated. Friedman made a point to note that the Smart Cube isn't preconfigured as much as it is integrated at the factory with more than 150 IBM patents. Friedman considered it a software and services in a box effort. "We automated the complexity," said Friedman, adding that the Smart Business platform is designed to run "all core business applications from ERP to supply chain to CRM to vertical industry apps."As for the ROI case, IBM argues that SMBs can save $20,000 over three years relative to similar Microsoft Windows-based offerings from Dell and HP. Most of that savings derives from the labor associated with deployment, maintenance and system and software management. The Smart Cube comes in two flavors-Linux and IBM's i operating system.Other key points:• Independent software vendors (ISVs) pay IBM to have their applications listed in the Smart Market. IBM drives demand and offers the technical support. Friedman wouldn't disclose the license revenue split, but did not that it's "not dissimilar to the Apple model."• The Smart Market allows potential customers to compare applications by industry, company size and categories. Larry Dignan/ZDNet• IBM's market place won't do freebies. Some apps ran north of $70,000. Larry Dignan/ZDNet
• The Smart Cube hardware, which starts just under $8,000;• Smart Market, a marketplace for customers to download enterprise applications (so far there are 48 business apps from 17 software companies);• Smart Desk, a dashboard for maintenance, to manage applications on the Cube and in the cloud;• Integrated Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise. IBM's claim for small and midsized businesses (SMBs): Four steps and you're running without manuals, installation CDs, and configuration hassles. The Smart Cube is sold through channel partners. IBM argues that these value added resellers are the preferred channel for many small businesses. However, IBM will be the sole point of contact for technical support.Big Blue's sweet spot is expected to be for companies with 15 to 1,000 employees. The target market for QuickBooks enterprise is companies with 20 to 500 employees.The big pitch to SMBs is that they can save on labor and time because the IBM lineup won't require integration work. Matt Friedman, vice president of marketing for IBM's Smart Business unit, said the Smart Cube has print serving, VOIP, database, network, storage, and backup settings integrated. Friedman made a point to note that the Smart Cube isn't preconfigured as much as it is integrated at the factory with more than 150 IBM patents. Friedman considered it a software and services in a box effort. "We automated the complexity," said Friedman, adding that the Smart Business platform is designed to run "all core business applications from ERP to supply chain to CRM to vertical industry apps."As for the ROI case, IBM argues that SMBs can save $20,000 over three years relative to similar Microsoft Windows-based offerings from Dell and HP. Most of that savings derives from the labor associated with deployment, maintenance and system and software management. The Smart Cube comes in two flavors-Linux and IBM's i operating system.Other key points:• Independent software vendors (ISVs) pay IBM to have their applications listed in the Smart Market. IBM drives demand and offers the technical support. Friedman wouldn't disclose the license revenue split, but did not that it's "not dissimilar to the Apple model."• The Smart Market allows potential customers to compare applications by industry, company size and categories. Larry Dignan/ZDNet• IBM's market place won't do freebies. Some apps ran north of $70,000. Larry Dignan/ZDNet
Apple announces its best apps of 2013
Apple announces its best apps of 2013
Apple's iTunes App Store has had an incredible year. In May, it hit its 50 billionth app download â€" doubling in just 14 months from the 25 billion it hit in March 2012, a number that took four years to accrue. As of October, there have been 60 billion downloads.Just this year alone, over 20 billion apps have been downloaded, and the number of apps in the store has increased from 775,000 to over a million. The store has also seen 575 million new accounts created, and developers have made over US$11 billion in revenue (that's not including Apple's percentage).The top three games Apple deemed the best of the year for iPhone â€" the winner and two runners-up â€" were from independent developers.Game of the year is non other than Vlambeer's insane epic, Ridiculous Fishing, a deeply moving tale about a fisherman searching the seas for his lost dad (and shooting a lot of fish in the process). When it launched in March, we spent way too many hours plumbing its colourful, polygonal depths and enjoying the sheer craziness of the concept.Simogo's Device 6 and Australian studio Uppercut Games' Epoch 2 took out the runners-up prizes. Device 6 is an interactive text adventure unlike anything we'd ever played before. The text, flowing around corners and upside-down, tells the story of a young lady waking up in a mysterious castle. You have to think well beyond the text to solve the puzzles â€" collecting clues from sounds, pictures and other elements to solve the puzzles.Epoch 2 is an amazing achievement for a studio that, two years ago, consisted of three guys in Queanbeyan. Following on from its debut hit, Epoch, it's a third-person cover-based shooter that is one of the best implementations we've seen to date of touchscreen controls â€" along with a fascinating story and some stellar art. Ed Orman of Uppercut told us, "We're amazed to find ourselves on Apple's Best Of 2013 list with Epoch 2! With so many great indie games this year, it's fantastic that our small studio can make something that stands out." (Our full write-up of the game is here.)On iPad, independent developer Frogmind's side-scrolling puzzle platformer Badland swept Game of the Year, with 2K Games' XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a reboot of the 1994 title UFO: Enemy Unknown, and Electronic Arts' Real Racing 3 in the runner-up spots.For App of the year, Duolingo took the iPhone prize: a simple, easy-to-use language-learning app that uses mini-games to teach you Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English. Exercises help you retain what you've learned, and you can start from the very basics of vocabulary and work your way into more complex grammar.The iPad prize was awarded to Disney Animated, an in-depth exploration of the history of Disney and its animation techniques, built by The Elements creator Theodore Gray.Free photography app VSCO Cam and healthy lifestyle cooking app The Whole Pantry came in as iPhone runners-up. Music app Traktor DJ and art app Procreate (which you might remember from that amazing Morgan Freeman portrait) were the runners-up for iPad.As for the most popular apps? Well, unsurprisingly, these are games. The most downloaded paid app for 2013 was Mojang's Minecraft â€" Pocket Edition. The most downloaded free app will surprise no one: King's Candy Crush Saga.Click here to view Apple's full best of 2013 lists, including music, books, movies, TV shows and podcasts.
Apple's iTunes App Store has had an incredible year. In May, it hit its 50 billionth app download â€" doubling in just 14 months from the 25 billion it hit in March 2012, a number that took four years to accrue. As of October, there have been 60 billion downloads.Just this year alone, over 20 billion apps have been downloaded, and the number of apps in the store has increased from 775,000 to over a million. The store has also seen 575 million new accounts created, and developers have made over US$11 billion in revenue (that's not including Apple's percentage).The top three games Apple deemed the best of the year for iPhone â€" the winner and two runners-up â€" were from independent developers.Game of the year is non other than Vlambeer's insane epic, Ridiculous Fishing, a deeply moving tale about a fisherman searching the seas for his lost dad (and shooting a lot of fish in the process). When it launched in March, we spent way too many hours plumbing its colourful, polygonal depths and enjoying the sheer craziness of the concept.Simogo's Device 6 and Australian studio Uppercut Games' Epoch 2 took out the runners-up prizes. Device 6 is an interactive text adventure unlike anything we'd ever played before. The text, flowing around corners and upside-down, tells the story of a young lady waking up in a mysterious castle. You have to think well beyond the text to solve the puzzles â€" collecting clues from sounds, pictures and other elements to solve the puzzles.Epoch 2 is an amazing achievement for a studio that, two years ago, consisted of three guys in Queanbeyan. Following on from its debut hit, Epoch, it's a third-person cover-based shooter that is one of the best implementations we've seen to date of touchscreen controls â€" along with a fascinating story and some stellar art. Ed Orman of Uppercut told us, "We're amazed to find ourselves on Apple's Best Of 2013 list with Epoch 2! With so many great indie games this year, it's fantastic that our small studio can make something that stands out." (Our full write-up of the game is here.)On iPad, independent developer Frogmind's side-scrolling puzzle platformer Badland swept Game of the Year, with 2K Games' XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a reboot of the 1994 title UFO: Enemy Unknown, and Electronic Arts' Real Racing 3 in the runner-up spots.For App of the year, Duolingo took the iPhone prize: a simple, easy-to-use language-learning app that uses mini-games to teach you Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English. Exercises help you retain what you've learned, and you can start from the very basics of vocabulary and work your way into more complex grammar.The iPad prize was awarded to Disney Animated, an in-depth exploration of the history of Disney and its animation techniques, built by The Elements creator Theodore Gray.Free photography app VSCO Cam and healthy lifestyle cooking app The Whole Pantry came in as iPhone runners-up. Music app Traktor DJ and art app Procreate (which you might remember from that amazing Morgan Freeman portrait) were the runners-up for iPad.As for the most popular apps? Well, unsurprisingly, these are games. The most downloaded paid app for 2013 was Mojang's Minecraft â€" Pocket Edition. The most downloaded free app will surprise no one: King's Candy Crush Saga.Click here to view Apple's full best of 2013 lists, including music, books, movies, TV shows and podcasts.
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