SVM Mac: latest issue on newsstands

It's the end of a great adventure that lasted 23 years. The latest issue of SVM Mac, 245, out now on newsstands. For this issue collector, magazine officials have prepared a long folder called "Apple yesterday, today and tomorrow." The opportunity to revisit the history of Apple, through its products. A nice flashback to the first example of Mac operating systems. Please note participation in this edition of David Borel, to whom we owe the site MacBrains, who worked on the part of the dossier on the future of Apple.

Apple: a multinational support themselves finally

For many years, the financial position of Apple is growing at an exceptional rate, without the company itself follows. This has often earned the nickname Apple "start-up multinational." In 2011, the Cupertino company seems to have taken the measure of his status.

A number of employees rose sharply

49 400 employees in FTE (full-time equivalent), Apple has increased to 60 400 FTE employees, with a further 2,900 FTE employees who are consultants or part-time. Apple now hiring more than 10,000 people per year, equivalent to half of its payroll in 2008.

Nortel Auction

Nortel Placed in receivership, Nortel has auctioned a 6000 patent represents a real treasure chest for any company involved in some way in mobile telephony. While Google had started the bidding at 630 million Euros, it is ultimately a consortium of Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony who won for a mere $ 3.2 billion Euros. A kind of all against Google that worries the authorities right now.

The problem is that this consortium, which became known as the Rockstar Bidco, has three companies in direct competition with Google (Android) in the field of mobile telephony: Apple (IOS), Microsoft (Windows Phone) and RIM (BlackBerry OS). This is not the first time these companies come together to counter Google, which has a real problem of industrial property, the sword of Damocles over Android and all manufacturers using this OS: Microsoft, Apple and EMC s 'were already allied to blow the beard and nose Google patents from Novell.

The competition authorities are concerned that these alliances can be considered a breach of competition against Google. These patent portfolios are real weapons that can destroy the strategy of the Mountain View Company in mobile telephony: by attacking Samsung, Motorola, HTC and others, Microsoft, Apple or RIM would indeed make Android charge, and decrease of much interest, while Google cannot defend its partners want to have itself a sufficient portfolio of patents.

Google has the best role here: she continues to assert itself as opposed to the arms race in the field of patents, but nevertheless participated in the entire major who presented bids in recent months. The Mountain View Company has in fact no choice: "the best defense of society against this type of prosecution is, ironically, to have a thick portfolio of patents, Google is a relatively young company, but our competitors have larger portfolios given their history, "admitted the legal department a few months ago.

Google should obviously try to invalidate the sale of a portfolio covering areas as diverse as wireless, Internet search, social networks and new technologies of data transmission for mobile devices. The defense seems to be emerging is that of accusing these companies have allied in order to keep up: if it could fly against RIM, EMC and Ericsson have finally paid unless each bid basis, it should be less effective against Apple.

The Cupertino company is not only the company that has most contributed to the pot, but the only company to have never left the table deal with Google - it actually covered financially for Rockstar Bidco they retire no negotiations without formally never join the consortium. A real poker game, it will be understood, which Apple is out to win the pedal.

Samsung versus Apple

In the case between Apple Samsung backdrop of patent infringement, design and trademarks and unfair competition, Apple has applied for and obtained permission to dissect the prototype from Samsung. The Korean company has responded by asking to see the prototypes of the upcoming iPhone and iPad.

There is a fundamental difference between these two queries: Apple wants to see prototypes of products discovered and widely known even then that Samsung wants to see prototypes of products that nobody knows anything. We notice the difference in official documents: while Apple has asked for such and such a model using names, Samsung is sticking to a very cautious "iPhone 5 or 4GS, or whatever his name. Several scholars have thus noted that if the application Apple was fairly common, the Samsung was much less and had little chance of success. It poses the question of permeability between the legal department and other branches of the conglomerate, and potential risks of industrial espionage: whereas Samsung products, although not marketed, were largely revealed by the press or by Samsung itself, those Apple has never been seen.

Justice has not yet ruled on the request of Samsung, but Apple has already responded, calling it "attempt to harass" the worst faith. The Korean firm asked Apple to provide versions of "final and trade" of the next iPhone and iPad before next June 13, which the Cupertino company has denied. Apple now refers to the division of Samsung Mobile as the "copier", claiming that the products of the Galaxy "copying technology, user interface and innovative spirit" of the iPhone and iPad. The study of the prototype from Samsung is expected to confirm that fact.

Richard J. Lutton, chief adviser for intellectual property issues at Apple, justifies the denial of his company to provide prototypes to Samsung: "Apple is recognized as one of the most secretive companies in the world". No doubt his view, the motion from Samsung is an attempt to destabilize. The procedure was reactivated on Friday; we should quickly come to the conclusions of this component.

No rewards from Apple at WWDC 2011

On the occasion of every WWDC, Apple presents awards for the best applications running on its OS. To claim the Apple Design Awards this year, Mac applications will necessarily figured on the Mac App Store.

At the edge of Mac OS Leo, although Apple operates a "Back to the Mac", the name of the conference in October which had unveiled the new Mac Book Air and Mac OS X 10.7.

Back to Mac in effect as if they had been set aside at WWDC 2010, they reappeared this year. "The future of Mac OS" will be announced, but it's also the Apple Design Awards of trophies rewarding the best applications of the year, the Mac is again under the spotlight.

The Design Awards were for the first time, forgot the applications for Apple computers last year. The symbolic impact of this predation was strong enough, some blaming Apple to lose interest.

"The error" is corrected for the WWDC 2011 as the Design Awards reward software for iMac, MacBook and company. But a new sine qua non has emerged to claim the title of best Mac application: be on the Mac App Store.

This condition, however, force the developers to make their exclusive application to the Apple Store. They are always free to offer their product for download on their own site. But to win an Apple Design Award, it is necessary that the software is available on the App Store for Mac.

The decision is somewhat surprising fact; there is a way like another to push developers to cozy up to the Mac App Store. The Cupertino Company is pushing its paperless shop for a while; the disappearance of the boxes in the Apple Store seems on track, while Mac OS Leo could be downloaded from the online store of the company Steve Jobs.