papermaster

On today's show, we've discovered the secret of the Bermuda Triangle -- well, some scientists discovered it. We just call it a giant angry Earth fart, like the one that's apparently going to destroy us all. Oh, and also, soft-core porn, falsified expense reports, and a vengeful board. It's the HP Way!

Mark Papermaster is no longer employed as Apple's mobile hardware engineering chief. But is it because he failed to foresee the issues related to the iPhone 4's antenna? Or because he just didn't fit in at Apple? Perhaps both.

When the news hit Saturday that Papermaster was no longer with the company and his duties assumed by Mac hardware engineering chief Bob Mansfield, it was fairly easy to connect the dots: the guy in charge of the iPhone's design was ousted over the embarrassing antenna episode, and also perhaps the lengthy delays in shipping the white version … Read more

Mark Papermaster, Apple's top executive in charge of mobile devices, has left the company.

His departure was first noted in a report by the New York Times. It's not clear if he was fired, or if he resigned on his own, but his bio has been removed from Apple's Web site. Papermaster will be replaced by Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Mac hardware engineering.

Papermaster was brought on to Apple to oversee iPhone design and engineering, and it's hard not to wonder if his sudden departure is connected to the public-relations disaster that followed the … Read more

Six months after Mark Papermaster accepted a key leadership role at Apple, he has finally started leading the group developing future iPhones and iPods.

Papermaster's first official day was Friday. His title is senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, and he reports directly to CEO Steve Jobs. Papermaster replaced Tony Fadell as the leader of the hardware design of Apple's mobile computers, while Scott Forstall is still in charge of the software development that runs on those devices.

Apple had to fight with Papermaster's former employer, IBM, in order to get him into the fold. IBM … Read more

Updated at 12:30 p.m. PST with more details.

Apple announced on Tuesday that former IBM executive Mark Papermaster has resolved his dispute with IBM over a noncompete agreement and will start leading Apple's iPhone group on April 24.

IBM had sued Papermaster for allegedly violating the terms of a noncompete agreement in agreeing to join Apple as senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, claiming that Papermaster would be in a position to divulge important IBM trade secrets. The two parties exchanged briefing papers for a few months but apparently found a way to settle their differences.… Read more

Despite the fact that Apple has yet to produce an iPhone chip based on its own design, and that IBM doesn't design smartphone chips, the judge overseeing the Mark Papermaster noncompete case views the two companies as chip competitors.

Judge Kenneth Karas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York filed his opinion Monday (click here for PDF) on why former IBM executive Papermaster should not be allowed to join Apple as head of the iPhone and iPod hardware engineering team. Karas' decision to grant a preliminary injunction preventing Papermaster from working at Apple … Read more

Apple may have a real fight on its hands if it believes Mark Papermaster is the right man to nurture the iPhone.

In an age where employees move between companies as often as relief pitchers change teams, noncompete agreements seem an outdated concept. But lawyers say the noncompete agreement that Papermaster signed with IBM is serious business that demonstrates how companies are increasingly looking to enforce restrictions on their most important employees, and that could force Apple and IBM to share valuable information to make their argument stick.

IBM is suing Papermaster for violating the terms of a noncompete agreement, … Read more

Apple's iPhone man-in-waiting, Mark Papermaster, has filed a countersuit against his former employer in a dispute over a noncompete agreement.

InformationWeek spotted the court documents filed late Thursday in federal court in New York claiming that IBM's noncompete agreement with Papermaster shouldn't apply to his potential employment at Apple, since the two companies are not competitors in the arena where Papermaster will be employed. In October, Apple hired Papermaster to replace outgoing iPod executive Tony Fadell and lead the development of future versions of the iPhone, but IBM is suing to prevent him from working for Apple … Read more

Apple has removed the biography of its future iPhone leader from the company Web site.

You can still find Apple's press release from last week announcing the hiring of Mark Papermaster on the site, but the brief bio once posted among those of Apple's other senior executives disappeared Monday. It's visible through the magic of Google's caching technology, should you want a look.

An Apple representative did not immediately return a call seeking comment as to why Papermaster's bio was pulled, but this in all likelihood is the result of the preliminary injunction preventing Papermaster from starting work at Apple. … Read more