Apple hires former EPA chief Lisa Jackson (BizJournals)
Lisa Jackson, former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will be joining Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to coordinate the company’s environmental practices. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the hire at the AllThingsD conference. Jackson stepped down from her post at the EPA in 2012 amid an email scandal, according to the New York Times. Jackson’s post at Apple will likely involve helping the company manage its environmental footprint in its manufacturing and production areas, which has come under scrutiny in recent years.
Apple Raises Prices for Some Products in Japan After Yen Weakens (BusinessWeek)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) raised the price of iPad tablet computers and iPod music players in Japan after a weaker yen that’s boosting importing costs prompted Toshiba Corp. (6502) and Fujitsu Ltd. (6702) to consider increasing prices. Apple now sells the iPad Wi-Fi model with 16 gigabytes of memory for 49,800 yen ($493), compared with its previous price of 42,800 yen, according to Apple’s website. The iPod Shuffle music player costs from 4,800 yen, compared with the previous starting price of 4,200 yen. “We made some pricing adjustments due to changes in foreign exchange rates,” Takashi Takabayashi, a spokesman for Apple in Japan, said by phone today. He declined to elaborate.
Panel to review split ruling in Apple, Samsung patent fight (Reuters)
A trade panel that specializes in patent cases will reconsider a split decision made by one of its judges in a long-running patent battle between Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The International Trade Commission said late Tuesday it would take a second look at an ITC judge’s decision that Samsung had infringed one Apple patent for a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tablets. It will also look at the judge’s decision, made in March, that the South Korean company, which supplies some Apple chips, did not infringe a second patent which detects if a microphone or other device is plugged into its microphone jack. A final decision is due on August 1.
Wozniak agrees Apple’s tax practices are unfair (VR-Zone)
The US Senate is unhappy about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s international tax practices and now Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, is saying that he agrees with the government. Apple’s international tax practices and off-shore cash has brought a lot of heat from the US Senate. The tech giant has joined many large American corporations who utilize various loop holes in the law to circumvent paying taxes. One such method involves shifting your profits out of the country to other places on the globe where taxes are lower. It’s a destructive practice that hurts the economy, and Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak agrees with the senate’s opinion that Apple’s tax practices are unfair. Wozniak believes large corporations like Apple should not be taxed on their profit, as is currently the case, but rather on their income.
