Part-Time Apple Employees Now Eligible to Participate in Charitable Matching Program

One of Tim Cook's first acts when he became CEO of Apple was to institute a charitable matching program for employees. Under the program, Apple would match employees' personal contributions to 501(c)(3) charitable organizations up to $10,000 per year. However, the program initially only applied to US-based full-time employees. 

Now, it seems Apple has expanded the program to include part-time US employees as well, and covering international workers soon, according to a tweet from the Apple Retail Workers Union twitter account. 

As of November 2011, some two months after the program went into effect, Apple had matched $1.3 million in employee contributions, with the $2.6 million dollars donated in total.

Source:Macrumors.com

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Macworld 2012: 'Clear' To Do App for iOS, WDC MyBook Thunderbolt Duo

Macworld | iWorld 2012 kicked off this morning in San Francisco with the opening of the expo show floor. For years, Macworld was the major trade show for Apple to announce their new products. The venue was the launching ground for the first iPhone launch back in 2007. 

Since Apple's departure, the show has continued with a focus on 3rd party companies. This year, the show has been rebranded as Macworld | iWorld reflecting the increased importance of iOS in the Apple ecosystem. 

Clear 

Realmac Software and Impending used Macworld | iWorld to announce their new to do app for the iPhone. Impending is a new studio formed by Phill Ryu and David Lanham. Ryu is best known for his work on MacHeist, which MacRumors has partnered with in the past. 

The app is called Clear and is a minimalist take on the to do / list manager app, focusing on simple gestures to manage all elements of the list: 

The app has not yet launched but will be coming in the next couple of weeks. It will be a free download for the basic app with in-app purchases for color themes and the ability to have multiple lists. 

WDC MyBook Thunderbolt Duo 

At least one new Thunderbolt product has been announced. Western Digital announced that they would be showing off their MyBook Thunderbolt Duo drive system at Macworld. The new drives will presumably be similar to their existing MyBook product line. Pricing and availability has not yet been announced. 

We'll have more from Macworld | iWorld over the next few days. 

Source:Macrumors.com

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Former Apple Executives Address Working Conditions in Suppliers' Factories

The New York Times today published a lengthy report discussing working conditions at the facilities of Apple's suppliers in China, part of a growing focus on how Apple's popular products are made. While the company is making strides in holding its suppliers accountable to company standards, the report cites former Apple executives who note that the company continues to struggle balancing its desire for better working conditions and workers' rights with its business priorities.

"Some former Apple executives say there is an unresolved tension within the company: executives want to improve conditions within factories, but that dedication falters when it conflicts with crucial supplier relationships or the fast delivery of new products. [...] 

“We’ve known about labor abuses in some factories for four years, and they’re still going on,” said one former Apple executive who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. “Why? Because the system works for us. Suppliers would change everything tomorrow if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice.”

Apple is far from the only company experiencing such tensions, but has been receiving the most publicity due to the popularity of its products and its booming financial results.

Apple details its efforts on monitoring supplier responsibility in an annual report, outlining hundreds of audits it conducts to check for compliance and the steps it has taken to remedy issues discovered as part of the process. But sources note that while Apple routinely threatens companies with a loss of business if issues are not addressed, the company in practice has tolerate continued issues because it frequently has few alternatives in its supply chain.

“If you see the same pattern of problems, year after year, that means the company’s ignoring the issue rather than solving it,” said one former Apple executive with firsthand knowledge of the supplier responsibility group. “Noncompliance is tolerated, as long as the suppliers promise to try harder next time. If we meant business, core violations would disappear.”

The highest-profile issues at Apple suppliers have involved a number of suicides at Foxconn's facilities and separate explosions at Foxconn and Pegatron facilities last year that together resulted in four deaths and 77 injuries. 

Apple has over 150 suppliers contributing to its products, many of them located in China and other Asian countries where workers are plentiful and wages low in comparison to other regions of the world. Last week, The New York Times detailed how the U.S. has been unable to compete with China for production of the iPhone and other devices as factories in Asia have proven to be considerably more flexible in their ability to scale production up and down and have become the location for nearly the entire supply chain. 

But while the economics and logistics of manufacturing in China bring Apple speed, scale, and costs that are unmatchable in the United States, the company finds itself struggling to deal with the human factor that has become increasingly visible alongside Apple's rise to prominence.

Source:Macrumors.com

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iPad Grabs 58% of Tablet Shipments in 4Q 2011

Research firm Strategy Analytics today announced the results of its calculations of worldwide tablet shipments during the fourth quarter of 2011, revealing that Apple continues to hold a majority of the market as Android improves its standing on the strength of Amazon's Kindle Fire.

"Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. Demand for tablets among consumer, business and education users remains strong. Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter.”

Despite strong growth in shipment share for Android, Apple's share is down less than four percentage points since the firm's estimates for the second quarter of last year. Android's other gains appear to have come at the expense of Microsoft and Research in Motion, which registered at 4.6% and 3.3% respectively during the second quarter. 

The relevance of Strategy Analytics' numbers have been questioned in the past due to its counting of shipments rather than end sales to customers. With many early Android tablets seeing little interest from consumers, the firm's reports were seen as overstating Android's impact by counting Android tablets still sitting on store shelves while Apple was selling nearly every iPad it could make. It is unclear whether that dynamic has changed with the introduction of the Kindle Fire, which has reportedly seen fairly strong adoption and which may have lower channel inventory needs due to Amazon's heavy emphasis on distribution through its own website.

Source:Macrumors.com

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iPhone Drives AT&T's Record-Smashing Quarter for Smartphone Sales with 7.6 Million Activations

AT&T today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2011, revealing that the carrier saw record-smashing sales of 9.4 million smartphones, nearly double the previous quarter's sales and 50% higher than the company's previous record. The iPhone was clearly the primary driver of smartphone sales for AT&T, as the carrier reported 7.6 million iPhone activations during that quarter, with the "majority" of those activations being iPhone 4S devices.

"In the fourth quarter, the company set a new record with 9.4 million smartphones sold, nearly double the number sold in the third quarter and 50 percent more than the previous quarterly record. Fourth-quarter smartphone sales represented more than 80 percent of postpaid device sales. Both iPhone and Android device sales set records. During the quarter, more than 7.6 million iPhones were activated, the majority of which were iPhone 4S, which went on sale Oct. 14, and more than twice as many Android smartphones were sold versus the fourth quarter a year ago. iPhone sales were helped by a superior customer experience, with AT&T delivering download speeds up to three-times faster than on other U.S. carriers' networks."

The iPhone and total smartphone numbers can not be directly compared, however, as the "activations" number AT&T reports for iPhones includes used devices activated on new contracts such as when a user's old device is sold or given away upon upgrading. 

AT&T also touts its lead over Verizon in iPhone activations, noting that it has continued to easily outpace Verizon every quarter since AT&T lost exclusivity on the iPhone in early 2011. 

Finally, AT&T notes that it has continued to improve its voice and data network, with more than 80% of data traffic now coming over the carrier's enhanced backhaul that allows for "4G" speeds on devices supporting at least HSPA+, such as the iPhone 4S. The carrier also reports that "call retainability", an inverse measure of dropped call rates, has continued to increase and was over 99% throughout the quarter for 3G connections on a nationwide basis.

Source:Macrumors.com

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iPhone 4S Coming to Indonesia, Costa Rica, and France's Free Mobile on January 27

iPhone 4S teaser notice from Telkomsel

Following a major expansion of iPhone 4S availability to China and 21 other countries two weeks ago, Apple appears to be preparing to make a few more additions to the device's market reach this Friday, January 27. 

Apple's current iPhone partners in Indonesia, Telkomsel and XL have both announced that they will begin carrying the iPhone 4S on Friday. Telkomsel is the country's number one carrier with over 100 million customers, while XL ranks number three with approximately 46 million customers. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S will be arriving in Costa Rica on the same day, with newcomers Claro and Movistar joining existing iPhone partner Kolbi in offering the device. 

While France already has several carriers supporting the iPhone and the country is typically among the first to offer new iPhone models, the country's iPhone offerings may be ripe for a shakeup as new carrier Free Mobile will also begin offering the iPhone 4S on January 27. 

The carrier is currently offering unlimited talk/text/data packages without phones priced at €19.99 per month with no contract. Current customers of Free's home Internet service pay only €15.99. The carrier has yet to announce pricing for any iPhone plans that could come on contract with subsidized devices, but The Connexion reports that Free's iPhone plans would be "half the price" of competitors offerings.

Source:Macrumors.com

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