MacSurfer's Headline News™

Apple/Macintosh

"Apple's Organizational Crossroads: Forget about products for a moment, about which reasonable people can disagree. Leave aside the financial results, which certainly are unprecedented. And ignore the people you know so well: folks like Jony Ive or Jeff Williams or Phil Schiller, and the many talented workers underneath them. Rather, the very structure of Apple the organization — the way all those workers align to create those products that drive those exceptional results — is distinct from nearly all its large company peers." ["The problem for Apple is that while iPhones may be gunpowder — the growth was certainly explosive! — services are paint. And, just as Dupont learned that having a similar manufacturing process did not lead to similar business model, the evidence is quite clear in my mind that having iPhone customers does not mean Apple is necessarily well-equipped to offer those customers compelling services. At least not yet."] Stratechery 1:24 PM

"Report on Government Information Requests: July 1 - December 31, 2015" [6-page PDF] Apple 6:56 AM

"Apple complied with 80 percent of US law enforcement requests in second half of 2015: The company receives thousands of requests from law enforcement, both in the US and around the world, Apple's transparency report shows." CNET 7:00 AM

"Apple Gets Thousands of Requests From Law Enforcement, Transparency Report Shows: Apple said it handed over some data in 80% of the cases in the second half of 2015, compared with 81% in the first half of 2015" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 7:38 AM

"Apple: 'US asked us for data on 5,192 user accounts'/The number of Apple accounts subject to law-enforcement requests nearly doubled in the second half of 2015, compared with the first six months of the year." ZDNet 7:18 AM

"Apple posts latest Transparency Report, received over 30k law enforcement requests, complied with up to 82%" 9to5Mac 7:18 AM

"US government requested information on nearly 5,200 Apple accounts in past 6 months" AppleInsider 7:19 AM

"Apple Complies With 80 Percent Of U.S. Data Requests, But Most Are About Lost iPhones" Digital Trends 5:05 PM

"China asked Apple for its source code within the past two years" Business Insider 1:23 PM

"Apple says it refused requests for source code from China at latest encryption hearing [Video] 9to5Mac 1:41 PM

"Apple rebuffs China's request to hand over its source code" Financial Times [Paid Membership Required] 4:45 PM

"Apple, FBI continue encryption battle before Congress: There may not be a simple solution to the encryption debate, at least not one the US government and tech companies can agree on." CNET 1:25 PM

"Lawsuit asks Justice Department to reveal decryption orders: The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to know if tech companies have been ordered to unlock user data." Engadget 9:14 PM

"Exclusive: Apple hires former Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Chris Porritt for 'special [car] project'" Electrek 8:06 AM

"Apple just poached a senior Tesla exec who talks to Elon Musk 'three or four times a week'" Business Insider 11:28 AM

"Apple reportedly hires Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering" ["That said, Porritt apparently wasn't necessarily 'poached.' Tesla has confirmed to The Verge that Porritt left the company almost a year ago. Apple declined to comment."] The Verge 11:28 AM

"Apple hires former Tesla engineer to boost car effort" Financial Times [Paid Membership Required] 12:05 PM

"Siri patent infringement settlement to cost Apple $24.9M" AppleInsider 11:12 AM

"Apple settles Siri lawsuit with Rensselaer, Dallas company for $25 million" The Business Review 3:02 PM