Ron Johnson rides off into the sunset, Hulu Plus probably won’t be riding onto the Apple TV any time soon, and Pete Townshend rides an unsteady metaphor. The remainders for Tuesday, November 1, 2011 are gonna ride on.
Goodbye, Ron Johnson (Apple)
Apple senior vice president of retail Ron Johnson has officially departed the company, and is off starting his new gig as CEO of J.C. Penney. As to filling his shoes, we say there’s only one man for the job.
Hulu Plus app is ready for Apple TV, decision to update is “political not technical” (9to5 Mac)
A Hulu Plus app that works on the Apple TV may already be waiting in the wings, but it could be held up by the fact that it competes with Apple’s own offering. Frankly, I think Apple should go ahead anyway, purely because the terrible experience of using Hulu Plus will clearly drive people to iTunes.
Pete Townshend brands iTunes a ‘digital vampire’ (Associated Press)
The Who frontman called iTunes a “digital vampire” during a lecture earlier this week, because it doesn’t provide artists with the same services that a record label or publisher might. “This is totally just like that part in Twilight,” Townshend reputedly continued, “where Edward refuses to back Bella’s plan to become a spunky indie rock singer.”
Incoming: A Native Gmail iPhone App. Finally. (parislemon)
Tech writer MG Siegler says a Gmail iPhone app is on its way and may, hope against hope, actually be good. I guess we know one thing: It’ll definitely be ad-supported.
“Siri, how much data do you gobble up in a month?” Ars investigates (Ars Technica)
Since Siri and iOS 5’s dictation feature both require sending audio files over a network connection, Ars Technica crunched the numbers to see what kind of dent it will make in your data plan. We won’t give away the twist ending—you’ll have to read for yourself—but now we can move on to more important concerns, like: Is Siri taking funny pictures of you while you sleep and uploading them onto the Internet? Film at 11!
Tim Cook Starts to Make Apple His Own (Wall Street Journal)
And here we were worried he was going to make it someone else’s. Steve Ballmer’s, maybe, or Colonel Sanders’s.
Product News:
27-inch NEC MultiSync EA273WM – NEC has released a 27-inch, 1920-by-1080 LED-backlit display that features HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, redesigned On Screen Display controls, and eco-friendly features that result in 40 percent reduced power consumption. $499.
Packing Pro 7.0 – Version 7.0 of Quinn Genzel’s packing assistant for iOS features a new default theme, app icon, and graphics; makes it easier and quicker to add items to a packing list; and features plenty of bug fixes and performance improvements. $3.