Apple India is Hiring a ‘Digital Content Taxonomist’ in Bengaluru

Apple has just posted a new position on their Jobs at Apple portal for Bengaluru, India.

The AppleCare Digital team is looking for a smart and passionate person to join our team as a content Taxonomist. You’ll help build a world-class, intuitive, and comprehensive taxonomy to help optimize solution\information discovery when searching and browsing our digital channels. You will help build taxonomies for Product\Services, Geo, Channels, OS etc.

This team services more than 3 billion customers a year across a broad range of digital platforms. The organization is responsible for all support and service of digital content, web assets, customer tools and apps, communities, analytics, SEO and social media. We are the highest volume post sales support function in Apple and carry out to the highest standard of quality and innovation on behalf of our customers worldwide.

Interesting position, but I’m not sure why they had to use backslashes in the summary above.

May 28, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Apple Short Lists First Retail Store Location in India

Saritha Rai, reporting for Bloomberg:

The iPhone giant has zeroed in on several upscale sites in Mumbai, and plans to make a final decision in the next few weeks, said the people, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. The vetted spots are comparable to iconic Apple locations on Fifth Avenue in New York, Regent Street in London or the Champs-Elysees in Paris, they said.

It seems like it’s finally happening.

May 8, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Warren Buffett’s Paper Wizard

Here’s something from Apple that dropped in totally out of the blue — A side-scrolling game for iPhone, in partnership with Warren Buffet.

Think you can toss a newspaper like the legendary Warren Buffett? Test your paper-flinging skills as you make your way from the streets of Omaha, Nebraska, all the way to Cupertino, California. Avoid vehicles and birds as you deliver papers to buildings near and far. Will anyone collect enough Warren Bucks to dethrone the Paper Wizard? Probably not.

The game is published by Wildlife Design, Inc on the App Store, but Apple still holds the rights to the game and according to 9to5Mac, also helped out with the development.

May 7, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Apple Addresses Spotify’s Claims in a Statement

After Spotify filed a complaint against Apple earlier this week, Apple has today released a statement trying to address Spotify’s claims.

According to the statement:

What Spotify is demanding is something very different. After using the App Store for years to dramatically grow their business, Spotify seeks to keep all the benefits of the App Store ecosystem — including the substantial revenue that they draw from the App Store’s customers — without making any contributions to that marketplace. At the same time, they distribute the music you love while making ever-smaller contributions to the artists, musicians and songwriters who create it — even going so far as to take these creators to court.

and

Spotify wouldn’t be the business they are today without the App Store ecosystem, but now they’re leveraging their scale to avoid contributing to maintaining that ecosystem for the next generation of app entrepreneurs. We think that’s wrong.

Great points, but the statement complete sidesteps why the company disallows apps to mention other available payment models. I think Apple is fair in asking for a 30% cut for payments made through the App Store, but Spotify (and other apps) should also be allowed to tell their users that they can purchase the same subscriptions, using other payment methods, sometimes cheaper, from the service’s own website. Apple itself says that many Spotify users are free users and Apple is fine not getting any revenue from them. For any revenue Spotify receives outside of the App Store payment system, Apple shouldn’t need to ask for a cut.

Moreover, Spotify wouldn’t be in this tough position if Apple didn’t have its music streaming service, with substantial unfair advantages over Apple, offered at the same price as Spotify. Right now, Apple offers a competitor service on the same platform as Spotify, at the same price as Spotify, and has substantial advantages that users like.

March 15, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Spotify Files a Formal Complaint Against Apple

Spotify has announced that it has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission (EC), the regulatory body responsible for keeping competition fair and nondiscriminatory.

Daniel Ek, founder and CEO of Spotify, writes:

In recent years, Apple has introduced rules to the App Store that purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience—essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the issues directly with Apple, we’re now requesting that the EC take action to ensure fair competition.

and

We aren’t seeking special treatment. We simply want the same treatment as numerous other apps on the App Store, like Uber or Deliveroo, who aren’t subject to the Apple tax and therefore don’t have the same restrictions.

More power to Spotify!

The company has created a lovely website called Time to Play Fair that shows a timeline of all the ridiculous App Store policies that Apple has in place as well as the rejections that Spotify has faced over the years.

March 13, 2019 ✚ Permalink

India’s I.T. Ministry Approves Wistron’s Rs. 5,000-crore Plan for Apple

Anandita Singh Mankotia and Romit Guha reporting for The Economic Times:

The information technology ministry has approved contract manufacturer Wistron’s Rs 5,000-crore plan to make high-end Apple devices, a move that will give a big push to the government’s Make in India initiative. Wistron currently makes cheaper Apple phones in India.

Good to see some progress on this front, it has been a long time coming.

March 7, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Amazon to Acquire eero

Amazon Press Release:

Amazon […] and eero today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire eero. eero’s home mesh WiFi systems set up in minutes and blanket every room of a customer’s home in high-performing, reliable WiFi. eero is already delighting Amazon customers with its products and services, as indicated by eero’s 4.6-star product rating on Amazon.com.

eero makes one of the best mesh networking products available in the market today, so there’s no doubt that this is a killer acquisition for Amazon. But it begs the question, “What the fuck is Apple up to”?

Eero was started by ex-Apple employees, and their product language screams the Apple design language and experience. I just cannot fathom how Apple chose to exit this market right as it was heating up, and for a company that screams that privacy is a right, not having a product that handles the home network is a real shame.

February 12, 2019 ✚ Permalink

Office 365 Comes to the Mac App Store

Apple’s Press Release on their Newsroom:

Today, Office 365 is available for the first time on the Mac App Store, making it easier than ever for Mac users to download Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and the whole suite of Microsoft’s popular apps. Users can also purchase a subscription for Office 365 from within the apps, so they can get up and running instantly.

This was announced at WWDC in June last year. I wonder how much of a cut from the subscriptions is Apple getting from this.

My bet? Not a lot.

January 25, 2019 ✚ Permalink