Apple Corporate

Apple's former software chief was pretty happy in retirement. But the opportunity to again influence the next generation of consumer technology lured Avie Tevanian back to work, this time on the money side.

Private equity firm Elevation Partners announced on Tuesday that Tevanian is joining its ranks. Shortly after the announcement, I had a chance to talk with Tevanian about a wide range of technology topics including his former employer, the biggest trends in technology, as well as whether he'll have to trade in his iPhone for a Palm Pre.

Here's an edited transcript of our conversation: … Read more

Former Apple software chief Avie Tevanian is becoming a venture capitalist, joining former Apple CFO Fred Anderson at Silicon Valley's Elevation Partners.

Tevanian, who helped lead Mac OS X's development at Apple, was also a board member at Tellme Networks when that company was acquired by Microsoft and currently serves as a director for Dolby Laboratories. At Elevation Partners, Tevanian will serve as a managing director aiming to spot new investment possibilities and help guide the firm's investment companies and strategy.

"Elevation Partners has put together an impressive investment team with the technological expertise and operational … Read more

Mobile advertising company Quattro Wireless confirmed Tuesday that it's been acquired by Apple, in a blog post by Quattro CEO Andy Miller, who's identifying himself now as Apple vice president of mobile advertising.

A price wasn't named, but AllThingsD reported that it's $275 million when it broke the news on Monday.

The announcement comes as Apple increasingly finds itself going head-to-head with Google in new developments in the mobile market. In November, Google announced its $750 million acquisition of AdMob, a Quattro competitor. Government regulatory bodies, however, may slow down that purchase.

Google also just unveiled the Nexus One, … Read more

Disney is going theme park with its new Times Square retail store.

Perhaps trying to emulate the retail magic of Apple stores, Mickey Mouse & Co. will be transforming an old retail space in New York's Times Square into an interactive store with theme park attractions and children's exhibits.

Hoping to attract young consumers and their parents, the store will conjure up an interactive princess castle and a kids' theater offering animation and storytelling for the younger crowd. Also on display will be specific activities for kids, special events, and even celebrity guest appearances timed with major Disney … Read more

Apple is set to announce that it has acquired Quattro Wireless for $275 million, several sources confirmed.

The announcement might come as soon as Tuesday, upping the ante in the mobile advertising business significantly.

Google recently forked over an astonishing $750 million for AdMob, a Quattro competitor, which Apple had also made a bid to acquire.

Both start-ups are aimed squarely at the fast-growing market to advertise on smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices. In fact, Google will unveil the Nexus One tomorrow, a Android-powered mobile phone it designed and will sell on a Web … Read more

So, that rumored Apple event everyone has been jawing about these past few weeks? It's on and it's going to be a big deal.

Sources in a position to know tell me Apple is indeed planning a media event later this month at which the company will announce a major new product. The gathering is to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, a space Apple often uses for media events like this. According to other sources, it will occur on Wednesday, January 27, not Tuesday, January 26, as had been rumored. … Read more

The legal back-and-forth between Nokia and Apple over patents, and who might be abusing them, continued Tuesday as Nokia lodged a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In its complaint to the USITC, the Finnish company alleges that Apple infringes seven Nokia patents "in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers."

The alleged patent infringement is connected to key features in Apple products including user interface, camera, antenna, and power management technologies. Their value to Nokia, the company says, comes in allowing better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size, and longer … Read more

"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever." Apple CEO Steve Jobs has uttered those words or some variation on them after many of the company's holiday quarters, and this year will be no different, if analysts are to be believed.

Remarking on Apple's December quarter in a note to investors Monday morning, Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Doug Reid said iPhone and iMac sales for the period have been quite strong.

"Our checks suggest December quarter sales of iPhones are tracking ahead of our prior estimates, driven by increased market penetration in the United … Read more

Tech stocks typically have to break significant price milestones or have dramatic dips to make CNET's news story queue. Likewise, we try not to hop on the Apple rumor bandwagon unless there's something credible or/and novel to report.

But being as it's Christmas Eve and all, we'll go out on a limb and offer you this nugget anyway. Apple's stock closed Thursday at an all time high of $209.04, up 6.94 points (3.43 percent) in a shortened day of trading on unconfirmed rumors that the company might unveil a long-awaited portable … Read more