Hasta La Gadget!

Imagine the scene two years ago, August 2007 to be precise. Palm was busy preparing to launch its Foleo and the OS that would save Palm was still expected to be coming from ACCESS. In fact, things were looking so bad for Palm in August that we penned an intervention letter that then CEO Ed Colligan responded to. Apple, for its part, was still enjoying the glow of the golden halo rising above its iPhone launched just over a month prior with the help of 2% of Palm’s hired workforce, according to Bloomberg. Oh, and Apple had just lost Jon Rubinstein, the man leading its iPod division, to Palm.

Now Bloomberg is reporting that Steve Jobs approached Palm’s Ed Colligan in August 2007 with a proposal to refrain from hiring each other’s staff (read: quit poaching our employees, Ed!). Colligan refused, saying,

Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other’s employees, regardless of the individual’s desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.

Meeeow.

Continue reading Palm’s Colligan rebuffs Steve Jobs’ ‘likely illegal’ plea to stop hiring from Apple

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm’s Colligan rebuffs Steve Jobs’ ‘likely illegal’ plea to stop hiring from Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Should have seen this one coming, right? Google CEO Eric Schmidt has resigned from Apple’s board today citing a conflict of interest. Apple (Steve Jobs, in fact) says that “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest.” Android and Chrome OS — something had to give, but the timing sure does make it seem like that Google Voice app rejection might have really hurt someone’s feelings.

The truth is, it’s been a tangled web for some time as far as the relationship between Apple and Google goes. Sure, Schmidt sat on the board, the companies claim to be working on new projects, and Google Maps comes preloaded onto the iPhone, but over the past year, Google’s increasing move into Apple’s space, and Apple’s increasing desire to control every inch of that space have not been good bedfellows. It’s hard to imagine that Apple could maintain a completely healthy relationship with a direct competitor in both the phone and OS space for very long, and that’s to say nothing of Cupertino’s latest push into online document editing and management, which couldn’t have seemed very awesome to Schmidt and company. Oh, and there’s that matter of the antitrust case which is currently ongoing. Still, it’s a bit sad to see this power couple going their separate ways, though it does give us some hope that Google will begin a full assault with Android in earnest, because only sweet stuff could come from those efforts. If you’re interested, the full PR is after the break.

Update: The FTC says it’s going to continue investigating the two companies for “remaining interlocking directorates,” so Apple and Google aren’t totally out of the woods, but we don’t think anything else major is in store here.

Continue reading Google’s Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board over “conflict of interest”

Google’s Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board over “conflict of interest” originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The anticipation is palpable, sure, but those hoping for a Steve Jobs comeback at this year’s WWDC should be prepared for disappointment. Apple just affirmed that this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference will indeed kick off on Monday, June 8th, and the keynote address will be given at 10:00AM PT (so 1:00PM here on the right coast, and 7:00AM on the gorgeous isle of Maui). The big news, however, isn’t that we’ll be there live for every last word (’cause you already knew that, yes?) — it’s that Philip Schiller and company, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will be manning the address, offering devs an “in-depth” look at iPhone OS 3.0 and OS X Snow Leopard. In fact, attendees can expect a “final Developer Preview release” of the forthcoming OS, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks yet to get details beyond that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Apple confirms WWDC keynote time, Phil Schiller leading the way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 May 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When TGS is faced with budget cuts on 30 Rock, Tina Fey’s character Liz Lemon did the only thing she knew to do: appeal to her superiors with a full-on Steve Jobs impression, mock turtleneck and all. Of course, if she was really Steve Jobs, that turtleneck would’ve fired three writers on the spot and introduced the Tracey Jordan Nano. Check out the three pillars key to her show’s success in the gallery and video after the break.

Continue reading Screen Grabs: Liz Lemon dons mock turtleneck, invokes Reality Distortion Field to save TGS’s budget

Screen Grabs: Liz Lemon dons mock turtleneck, invokes Reality Distortion Field to save TGS’s budget originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has issued a statement saying that Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. Steve Jobs sent out a letter to Apple employees today saying that his previously-explained health problems are “more complex” than he at first thought, and that he plans to return in June. In the meantime Steve will be around for major strategic decisions, and Tim Cook (Apple’s Chief Operating Officer) will take over the day-to-day in his absence. AAPL is down around 8% in after hours trading. The full letter is below:

Continue reading Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple due to health reasons

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple due to health reasons originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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