The Apple Beat: Tim Cook celebrates 5 years at the helm of Apple

Cook's commitment: "Apple has a culture of excellence that is, I think, so unique and so special. I'm not going to witness or permit the change of it.." - photo by Gadjo C. Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Tim Cook has been the face and leader of Apple Inc. for five years. After being endorsed by his predecessor, founder Steve Jobs, on August 24, 2011, Cook has been at the helm of Apple as it became the most valuable company in the world and has seen the launch of new product categories like the Apple Watch and updated Apple TV while overseeing the growth of Apple's various ecosystems and expansions.

To mark his 5-year anniversary, Cook gets a bonus of $100 million. Cook unlocked previously awarded stock bonuses adding up to US $100 million tied to both his length of tenure and Apple's performance under his leadership.

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Apple gives rainbow-coloured Apple Watch bands to employees for Pride weekend

Apple CEO Tim Cook together with a number of its employees joined the annual Pride Parade in San Francisco in style. The Apple employees were given a limited edition, rainbow-coloured watch band to commemorate the event. A Reddit user posted a photo of the Apple Watch with the colorful band attached to it and a letter talking about the 30^th year Apple has been associated with Pride and how the band is “a symbol of our commitment to equality.” Cook, who we know has been open about his life as a gay man, shared a photo about Sunday’s parade and the large number of Apple employees who showed up to celebrate.

Source: Mashable

Google's Sundar Pichai weighs in on FBI encryption issue, sides with Apple's Tim Cook

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter to raise his concerns over the FBI's attempt to gain access to an iPhone backdoor which could expose user information. Pichai seems to agree with Apple CEO Tim Cook who today released a strongly worded public letter in response to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's desire to be able to access the contents of people's iPhones in investigations.

"The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens," Cook declared in his open letter.

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Apple posts public letter in response to FBI iPhone unlock request

Apple CEO Tim Cook: "We believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.."

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.  - Tim Cook

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Apple is now involved in a huge dispute with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over that agency's requests to build a backdoor on the iPhone. The imbroglio is rooted in the FBI's request that Apple unlock an iPhone used in a San Bernandino shooting-related court case. While Apple has often helped the FBI in legally providing data that they have, the company is worried that creating a backdoor on the iPhone's OS sets a dangerous precedent.

Cook's public letter states the following.

 "The FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation. In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.

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