Tim Cook has sent a letter to Apple's global employees, pledging contributions of $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League in the wake of Charlottesville, and criticising Donald Trump's response to the tragedy that left one woman dead.

According to Buzzfeed, who obtained the letter, Cook called on employees to be "unequivocal" about their resistance to hate and bigotry, before taking direct aim at Trump's approach to the violence in Charlottesville.

"I disagree with the president and others who believe that there is a moral equivalence between white supremacists and Nazis, and those who oppose them by standing up for human rights," writes Cook. "Equating the two runs counter to our ideals as Americans."

The letter, which was sent out on Wednesday evening, came on the same day Trump pulled the plug on two White House business councils. A raft of prominent CEOs had stepped down from the councils in recent days, including Kevin Plank of Under Armour and Brian Krzanich of Intel.

Political leaders have also come out against Trump's weak approach to white supremacism, including Theresa May. When asked about the US president's response to clashes in Charlottesville, the UK Prime Minister said it is important to condemn far-right views "wherever we hear them". Although she didn't mention Trump by name, the remarks have been read in terms of Trump's approach to the violence, in which he said there was blame on both sides of the protests.

"I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them," said May.

Cook claims that Apple is "inclusive of everyone", and that the company will be "stepping up" to support anti-hate organisations. In addition to contribution of $1 million each to the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, Cook claims Apple will We match two-for-one its employees' donations to these and a number of other human rights groups, until 30 September. There are also plans to provide links to these groups via iTunes.

Main image credit: Mike Deerkoski

Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed his concern at the amount of fake news circulating on social networks and the media as a whole, suggesting the government should launch a public awareness campaign backed by tech companies.

In an interview with theDaily Telegraph Cook said the process of explaining what fake news is and how it can be identified should start in schools to ensure young people don't think it's the norm. Education should also be targeted at older age groups to ensure it ceases to exist before it reaches epidemic levels, he suggested.

"There has to be a massive campaign. We have to think through every demographic. We need the modern version of a public-service announcement campaign. It can be done quickly if there is a will," he said.

"We are going through this period of time right here where unfortunately some of the people that are winning are the people that spend their time trying to get the most clicks, not tell the most truth. It's killing people's minds in a way."

Technology companies must also play their part to stop the spread of such news stories taking hold, by innovating technologies to identify fake news stories and stop them from being circulated on social media as Facebook is doing with its news filter, Cook added.

"All of us technology companies need to create some tools that help diminish the volume of fake news," he said, but added it must be done in a way that doesn't affect freedoms of speech.

"We must try to squeeze this without stepping on freedom of speech and of the press, but we must also help the reader. Too many of us are just inthe complain category right now and haven't figured out what to do."

Cook thinks fake news will be a short-term problem, but that doesn't mean it's not important to start educating children in schools and urging them to educate their parents too, encouraging everyone to stop spreading fake news and focus on the truth.

Dozens more tech firms have lent their support to a legal challenge to President Donald Trump's controversial immigration ban, joining 96 other signatories.

In total, more than 120 companies are backing an 'amicus brief', a legal document offering official support to the State of Washington in its case against the president's 90-day travel ban affecting seven countries whose populations are mostly Muslim.

The executive order, issued by the president in late January, blocked travellers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US, before being temporarily struck down by a federal judge. A fierce battle is now underway in attempts to determine the legitimacy of the ban.

As well as public condemnation from activists, civil rights groups and world leaders, the travel ban has also drawn sharp criticism from Silicon Valley. Virtually every major tech company has slammed the order, and the list of firms officially opposing it is now a who's-who of top tech talent.

Alongside luminaries like Google, Facebook, Citrix and Microsoft, the list is now joined by HP Inc, Adobe, Slack, Brocade and more.

In what may be a particularly embarrassing blow to the president, Elon Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, are also part of the latest batch of additions. Musk sits on the president's Strategic and Policy Forum, an advisory panel that meets with Trump regularly.

Although Musk's role on the panel has drawn condemnation from some quarters, he maintains that he does not support or endorse the current administration, He also argued that it was important he advise Trump - precisely because he does not agree with him.

The brief was filed on Sunday on behalf of 96 tech signatories, saying Trump's travel ban was harmful to business. Travellers from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia were affected by the ban, but a Washington state legal challenge led to a federal judge temporarily blocking the order. An appeals court rejected a White appeal, and now a full case must be heard from the justice department as well as two states who mounted the legal challenge, Washington and Minnesota.

A decision is expected later this month, but will only determine whether the travel ban should be kept on hold or not while courts decide on its legality.

06/02/2017: 100 tech firms say Trump's travel ban is bad for business

Nearly 100 tech companies including Apple, Box, Intel and Google have signed a legal document saying their "operations are affected" by US President Donald Trump's travel ban.

The executive order imposing the 90-day ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries is already the subject of several legal challenges, including one from the state of Washington, which has called it "unlawful and unconstitutional".

A total of 97 tech firms filed an amicus brief to the US's Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the travel ban is economically harmful and that it represents a significant break with the US's previous immigration stance.

"The Order represents a significant departure from the principles of fairness and predictability that have governed the immigration system of the United States for more than fifty years," the brief, also signed by the likes of Airbnb, Microsoft and Lyft, states.

"The Order inflicts significant harm on American business, innovation, and growth as a result. The Order makes it more difficult and expensive for US companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world's best employees. It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies' ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States."

By filing the brief, the companies hope to demonstrate the travel ban will harm US businesses' operations and that it is unlawful.

Trump's executive order, issued on 27 January, banned travellers and refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia. Critics claim the ban is anti-religious, something the Trump administration denies. During his campaign, Trump discussed the idea of building a database of Muslims.

Washington state's attorney general, Bob Ferguson, filed the legal challenge to Trump's travel ban that resulted in a Seattle federal judge temporarily blocking the order from being enforced nationwide last Friday.

An appeals court rejected the White House's appeal on Saturday, meaning the case must be heard in full, with both Washington and Minnesota states, as well as the justice department, being asked to give more evidence today, before an expected decision later this month. That decision only concerns whether the ban should remain on hold while courts decide on its legality.

Main image: Tony Webster

01/02/2017: Amazon offers legal backing to fight Trump travel ban

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has said he'll fight against Donald Trump's controversial immigration policies in court in letter sent to employees at the company.

Bezos explained he's supporting the Washington State attorney general, the first state official to say they will be suing Trump over his executive order.

"We reached out to congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle to explore legislative options. Our legal team has prepared a declaration of support for the Washington state attorney general who will be filing suit against the order. We are working other legal options as well," said Bezos.

On Saturday evening, Amazon issued its first letter to employees saying anyone affected by Trump's immigration policy will recieve the full support of the company. It urged those affected by the ban not to leave the country and said it would offer legal resources for those originating from the seven countries Trump has blacklisted, as well as their families.

"From the very beginning, Amazon has been committed to equal rights, tolerance and diversity and we always will be," the company said in its statement.

Bezos joins other tech leaders including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who have both offered their support for company employees who may be affected by the policy. Travel service Expedia's boss also announced his distaste for Trump's executive order.

"The president's order represents the worst of his proclivity toward rash action versus thoughtfulness. Ours is a nation of immigrants. These are our roots, this is our soul. All erased with the stroke of a pen."

30/01/2017: Tim Cook slams Trump's immigration policies

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, has hit out at US president Donald Trump's immigration policies, saying the company would not exist if it weren't for immigrants being allowed to move freely across borders.

"Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do," wrote Cook in an email to Apple staff obtained by tech website Recode. "I've heard from many of you who are deeply concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support."

He quoted civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King in the email, saying: "We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now," which at least went some way to explain how Apple would support those who may no longer be able to re-enter the country or could be subjected to tougher reforms in the future.

He told employees Apple would support any employee who feels they are at risk and he will work closely with the company's HR, legal and security teams to give them the help they need to remain in the country.

"As I've said many times, diversity makes our team stronger," he said. "And if there's one thing I know about the people at Apple, it's the depth of our empathy and support for one another. It's as important now as it's ever been, and it will not weaken one bit. I know I can count on all of you to make sure everyone at Apple feels welcome, respected and valued."

President Trump's executive order restricts immigration from seven Muslim countries for 90 days, suspends any refugees trying to enter the country for 120 days and bars all Syrians seeking refuge indefinitely.

13/06/2016: The NSA's deputy director Richard Ledgett has revealed why it couldn't hack into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone without the help from a third-party.

He told attendees at a conference that the intelligence agency has to focus its budget and time on hacking the most popular devices being used by criminals, rather than the most popular devices in the US, which happens to be the iPhone.

If it were to find security holes in every popular smartphone in the US, he said, it would cost a lot of money, especially if they don't have the support of the manufacturer, as was the case with the iPhone 5c.

"We don't do every phone, every variation of phone. If we don't have a bad guy who's using it, we don't do that," Ledgett said at the conference, which was reported by The Intercept.

The FBI needed to enlist the help of an outsider to break into the terrorist's iPhone and paid a reported $1m one-time fee when Apple refused to co-operate with the investigation.

25/05/2016:Apple has hired encryption industry legend Jon Callas in a bid to strengthen security in the wake of its privacy battle with the FBI.

Callas is perhaps best known for co-founding PGP - or 'Pretty Good Privacy' - and has been an expert on security and encryption for decades.

In addition to developing the OpenPGP standard, he also established Silent Circle and Blackphone, makers of secure communication tools and hardware.

This is in fact the third time that Callas has been employed by Apple. He first joined the company in 1995, working on encryption. He also worked on OSX's security from 2009 to 2011.

Callas is reportedly one of many security specialists that Apple will be employing, and it would appear that Apple is taking a proactive approach to scaling up their security in response to its clash with the FBI earlier this year.

The two organisations were set to engage in a landmark legal case over whether or not the FBI could force Apple to break the encryption on its products.

The FBI was attempting to obtain data from the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino killers' iPhones, but abandoned the case after paying an anonymous third party $1.3 million to hack into the device.

The FBI has not revealed whether or not any actionable intelligence was gained from the hack.

Apple's renewed focus on security is possibly an effort to stop similar cases happening in the future, as the frontrunners for both parties in the US presidential elections have come out in support of the FBIs position.

12/05/2016: FBI director James Comey has defend the bureau's decision to bypass court action by privately paying for a method to hack into the San Bernardino iPhone.

The security agency purchased only the means to unlock the iPhone 5c in its possession, not the access to the alleged software flaw, Comey told a US government review board on Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.

The FBI's focus, he said, was on getting into the phone, not avoiding government process.

"We did not in any form or fashion structure the transaction with an eye toward avoiding" the government review," said Comey.

Previously, the bureau told the White House that its understanding of how the third party it dealt with hacked the smartphone was so slim that it would be pointless commencing a government review.

Following comments made by Comey at a recent security event in the UK, the FBI is thought to have paid at least $1.3 million to the unnamed third party, who helped it crack into the San Bernardino gunman's iPhone.

Paying a six-figure sum for an exploit that it has admitted it is not entirely sure how to use has led to comments about whether the FBI handled this case sensibly.

By comparison, when the National Security Agency (NSA) buys hacking tools or exploits from third parties, "we try to avoid getting into situations where we don't know the underlying vulnerability", a senior NSA official told several participants at a meeting of privacy advocates and academics last week, the Post also reports.

In a statement regarding the government's review process, which the FBI said it supports, the bureau said the bureau's handling of its San Bernardino case "should not be interpreted as an indication of general FBI policy".

09/05/2016:The FBI has been asked to use the hack it acquired to break into the San Bernardino iPhone to assist in catching the shooter of a pregnant woman in Louisiana.

Brittney Mills, 29, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was shot multiple times and killed in front of her house by an unknown assailant, after opening the door to her attacker, who is believed to have wanted to use her car.

Mills was eight months pregnant at the time, and her baby boy died a week after the shooting in late April last year.

A year on, the case has still not been solved.

Local investigators believe Mills's killer was someone she knew, and they also presume her phone holds the key to bringing the attacker to justice.

They have asked the FBI to supply them with the hack it paid $1 million to use when it broke into the phone of one of the killers in the San Bernardino shooting.

So far, the intelligence agency has not ruled out assisting the local law enforces, according to The Advocate despite shunning Apple by refusing to outline the security flaw to its technicians.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III contacted Apple in mid-2015, but was offered no assistance to unlock Mills locked iPhone, which is running iOS 8.

FBI spokeswoman Christopher Allen said the agency has not decided if and how it would share the method with local law enforcement on the hundreds of locked smartphone cases, but Moore is hopeful his office will be among the first to get access if the method is made available.

"I think I will get it. It's just a matter of when," Moore said.

If the FBI does go ahead and release its unlocking method for local law enforcement it could set a major precedent. There are hundreds of cases involving locked Apple devices, and just a fraction of those have been reported on in the wake of the San Bernardino case.

The FBI told Apple that it would not share the bypass at reportedly cost it in excess of $1.3 million from the unnamed hacker that assist it with breaking into the San Bernardino iPhone. But, crucially, it has been suggested that the FBI's hack only works on the iPhone 5c and its iOS 8 software. Apple is already thought to be tightening up its mobile encryption and is likely to plug the hole that FBI used if it comes across it.

25/04/2016: The US government has backed out of a second attempt to compel Apple to help it gain access to a locked iPhone.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has now dropped the case against Apple, sending a four-sentence letter to the judge explaining that it had obtained a password to unlock a New York drug dealer's iPhone by hand.

It had admitted that it had not exhausted all other avenues to open the device earlier this month.

This case was similar, but not directly related, to a high-profile case concerning the iPhone of a San Bernardino gunman. In that case, the FBI managed to crack the iPhone 5c with help from an unnamed third-party, paying it $1.3 million.

A DoJ spokeswoman, Emily Pierce, said in a statement to Bloomberg: "These cases have never been about setting a court precedent.

"In this case, an individual provided the department with the passcode to the locked phone at issue."

The spokewoman refused to disclose who provided the password to unlock the phone.

This is not the end for Apple's court battles with the US government, however. Another case is reportedly already developing due to Apple refusing to obey a warrant from the Massachusetts federal court to unlock an iPhone belonging to a "gangster".

22/04/2016:The FBI paid approximately $1.3 million to hack the iPhone belonging to San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook, director James Comey told a London audience this week.

The prices security agencies pay for unofficial backdoor tools and hacks is not often disclosed. But a seven-figure sum is a significant amount to pay.

During an on-stage interview at the Aspen Security Forum in London on Thursday, Comey was asked how much the FBI paid to crack the phone.

He replied: "A lot More than I will make in the remainder of this job, which is seven years and four months."

The FBI director makes $180,000 a year, which means the FBI paid at least $1.26 million, minus the four months.

It was previously revealed that the FBI paid an unnamed third-party to hack the locked smartphone belonging to the San Bernardino gunman. So far, nothing of value has been found on the phone, the FBI admitted last week.

Still, the FBI was able to crack into the phone without Apple's assistance. "It was, in my view, worth it," said Comey.

18/04/2016:Apple has responded to the FBI's ongoing attempts to force it to unlock an iPhone related to a drugs case in New York.

In February a New York judge ruled in Apple's favour, stating that the company could not be compelled to break into the phone under the All Writs Act - the same piece of legislation in question in the now resolved San Bernardino case. In early April, however, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) vowed to fight back and have the ruling overturned.

Apple has now lodged its own response, claiming the FBI has not exhausted all other avenues.

"The government seeks to compel Apple to take possession of an iPhone and breach its security features absent any showing of the need for Apple's assistance, and under a sweeping interpretation of the All Writs Act that has been soundly rejected by Magistrate Judge Ornstein," the company said in the preliminary statement of its latest filing.

"As a preliminary matter, the government has utterly failed to satisfy its burden to demonstrate that Apple's assistance in this case is necessary - a prerequisite to compelling third party assistance under the All Writs Act," it added.

This case in New York is one of two still ongoing between the DoJ and Apple, with the second taking place in Boston.

Little is known about the Boston case, as it is being held largely in secret, although it appears the judge in that case has ruled in favour of the DoJ, stating it is "reasonable" to ask Apple to help extract data from the device. It is also known that the device in question is running iOS 9, which is more secure than the older operating the San Bernardino iPhone 5c used.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion at the end of March asking the court to unlock all sealed dockets relating to the case, a decision on which is still pending.

14/04/2016:Nothing of interest or use has yet been found on the iPhone 5c at the centre of the now concluded battle between the FBI and Apple, it has been claimed.

The phone, which belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters who claimed the lives of 14 people and injured a further 22, was cracked into last month by an unnamed third party - now thought to be an individual, rather than a specialist business as had first been suggested.

It is now being reported by CBS Newsthat, according to an anonymous law enforcement official "so far nothing of real significance has been found". This is despite the high-profile nature of the case and the FBI's insistance that the device could contain details of a third shooter.

However, CBS News's source did stress that the iPhone is still being analysed.

13/04/2016:The source of the hack used to gain entry to the iPhone 5c belonging to San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook, is not Israeli forensics firm Cellebrite, it has been claimed.

In early April, the FBI dropped its case against Apple demanding the company create a custom version of iOS to get into Farook's locked iPhone after a third party came forward with a way to access the device without the manufacturers help.

Initially, it was claimed an Israeli firm specialising in data forensics, Cellebrite, was the unnamed external entity that had developed the crack the details of which are currently still secret, even from Apple. However, The Washington Posthas claimed the FBI paid professional hackers an unspecified amount of money to get into the phone and that Cellebrite was not involved at all.

Separately, IT Pro has been told the FBI was in fact approached by the hacker, who is based in the US, much earlier in the course of the case, but that the amount of money they wanted from the agency was initially more than it was prepared to pay.

It is unclear if the price was reduced or the FBI decided it would be more beneficial to pay up and bring the court case to a close early.

11/04/16: The US Department of Justice has asked Apple to help it hack into an iPhone thought to be related to a criminal case in New York.

A letter filed by the DoJ to the courts said the government, "continues to require Apple's assistance," to help it bust a drugs-related case in the city.

Jun Feng, who owned the iPhone, pleaded guilty to taking part in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy last year and although has apparently been convicted, the DoJ wished to use information from the iPhone in the ongoing investigation.

The case was put forward in February, but the letter was only made public last week. At the time, the judge ruled Apple could not be forced to provide the data the authorities, so the government lodged an appeal against the decision.

Meanwhile, a similar request was put forward regarding the extraction of data from an alleged drugs gang member's iPhone in Boston. The request was put forward in February by US Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler, but it was only unsealed last week and the judge involved ruled it was "reasonable" for the DoJ to ask for Apple's help by extracting data.

It's thought the FBI's methods of hacking into iPhones would not work to unlock the devices involved in these latest cases as they are a different model to that used by SanBernardino attacker Syed Farook's phone.

08/04/2016: The FBI has revealed the hack it used to break into the SanBernardino attacker's phone isn't particularly useful for those outside of the investigatory agency.

FBI director James Comey told a gathering at Ohio's Kenyon College the tool it used to break into Syed Farook's iPhone 5c is extremely limited in its scope of use and will only work on an iPhone 5c running iOS 9.

"This doesn't work on [an iPhone] 6s, doesn't work in a 5s, and so we have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," Comeysaid in the question and answer session with students and professors.

It means that anyone not using an iPhone 5c can be sure they are safe from the FBI's hack, which was achieved using third party software - at least for the moment.

However, the FBI isn't necessarily going to tell Apple how it managed to break into Farook's iPhone because it thinks the company will then close the vulnerability that allowed it to hack into the device in order to protect its customers.

"We tell Apple, then they're going to fix it, then we're back where we started from," he said. "We may end up there, we just haven't decided yet."

He's also pretty sure the third party software provider won't reveal its secrets to Apple either.

"I have a high degree of confidence that they are very good at protecting it, and their motivations align with ours," he added.

07/04/2016: Apple's sales could drop as a result of the FBI breaking into the San Bernadino attacker's iPhone, according to a report byFortune.

The publication surveyed more than 2,000 registered voters in the US and almost a third of respondents said they were unlikely to buy an iPhone folowing the news that iPhones could be hacked by the FBI, while 21 per cent said they were unsure whether they would buy an iDevice after the news broke.

The majority of those saying they wouldn't buy the next iPhone were aged over 65, the survey revealed, while younger respondents, aged between 18 and 29, were undecided whether the news would affect their next smartphone purchase.

However, one outcome of the hack by FBI officials was that almost half of those questioned said they were more concerned about their privacy.

The ease with which the FBI managed to break into the iPhone 5c alarmed a high proportion of Apple customers, demonstrating how easy it could be for non-governmental parties, as well as officials, to access their data.

04/04/2016:The FBI's method for hacking into the locked iPhone 5c may soon be exposed, claim senior Apple engineers, threatening to make it useless in the future.

Once the way the FBI managed to break into the phone is revealed, experts say, Apple will set about fixing the encryption issue in order to assure users that their devices can not easily be hacked.

Further legal battles involving locked phones will likely compel the FBI to reveal its method - claimed to have come from a third party source - and this will then reveal it to Apple in the process.

"The FBI would need to resign itself to the fact that such an exploit would only be viable for a few months if released to other departments," Jonathan Zdziarski, an independent forensics expert, told Reuters.

"It would be a temporary Vegas jackpot that would quickly get squandered on the case backlog."

A senior Apple engineer added: "Flaws of this nature have a pretty short life cycle. Most of these things do come to light."

31/03/2016:The FBI has reportedly agreed to help prosecutors in an Arkansas murder trial hack into an iPhone 6 and iPod for the purposes of gaining access to evidence, reports the LA Times.

The FBI's Little Rock field office agreed to help prosecutors gain access to the Apple devices owned by two suspects in the case, according to Cody Hiland, prosecuting attorney for Arkansas' 20th Judicial District, although an FBI spokesman in Washington declined to comment.

The issue with gaining access comes from an iPhone running on iOS 8 or later automatically encrypting data present on the device.

This news comes just days after the FBI decided to drop its court case against Apple regarding encryption of an iPhone 5c belonging to a terrorist who along with his wife had murdered 14 colleagues at the Department of Public Health in December 2010, having gained access through a third party.

29/03/2016: Hours, after the FBI dropped its court case against Apple, technology, security and privacy organisations, are warning that many questions still remain regarding the case and its repercussions.

The court battle revolves around an iPhone 5c, owned by San Bernardino County in the US but used by Syed Rizwan Farook, a terrorist who worked for the county's Department of Public Health before he and his wife murdered 14 of his colleagues in December 2010.

Following the attack, the iPhone became locked and the FBI claimed it had no way to access the data stored on the phone other than for Apple to create a custom version of iOS with an encryption backdoor that would allow the data to be extracted.

The FBI had told the court that Apple engineers were the only people with the technical abilities to hack into the phone and that it had "exhausted all other practical options".

But last week it saidan "outside source" - reported to be Israeli mobile data forensics firm Cellebrite - had come forward and demonstrated a method to extract the data safely.

Drawing the case to a close now has advantages for both sides: the FBI will not be forced to face difficult questions about privacy and security in Congress while Apple's engineers will not be forced to break their own encryption, something that could have cast a long shadow over consumer confidence.

But this abrupt end to the case also raises a number of questions.

The most obvious of these is "How did they do it?" - if the case had progressed in court, Apple's lawyers said they would have demanded to talk to the mysterious third party and find out everything they could about the exploit.

With the whole case being vacated (i.e. withdrawn), however, the FBI has apparently made the method used to crack the phone "classified", according to the Guardian.This effort is ostensibly to keep iPhones secure from criminal hackers, but also to keep Apple or any security researchers from reverse-engineering it and then creating a patch.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has expressed concern on this issue. Staff Attorney Andrew Crocker told IT Pro: "EFF is pleased that the Justice Department has retreated from its dangerous and unconstitutional attempt to force Apple to subvert the security of its iOS operating system. However, this new method of accessing the phone raises questions about the government's apparent use of security vulnerabilities in iOS."

He saidthere should be "a very strong bias in favour of informing Apple of the vulnerability" under the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP), although if theGuardian's report is correct, it would seem they will not be taking that course of action.

Independent security researcher Graham Cluley also toldIT Pro this is "not the end of the story".

"The FBI will want to get into other iPhones, for which this method won't work. They will try to compel Apple's software engineers to write code that they don't want to write, that they believe will put the privacy and security of millions of innocent users at risk," Cluley said.

"Alternatively, it will be a different technology company having demands made of it - perhaps a company which doesn't have as much of a backbone (or the legal funds) that Apple did. And a precedent will be set," he added.

28/03/2016:The FBI has announced it has dropped its iPhone hacking case against Apple, as it has managed to get into the device in question by other means.

Apple and the FBI had been involved in a months-long court battle, with the law enforcement agency trying to force the Cupertino company to build a custom version of iOS in order to get into a locked iPhone 5c used by Syed Farook, one of two shooters who killed 14 people in December 2015.

The FBI has not yet released details of how it managed to get into the iPhone in question, although last week it said it had procured help from an "outside source" - rumoured to be Israeli mobile data forensics firm Cellebrite -to help it get into the device.

24/03/2016: FBI director James Comey has slapped down assertions made by the Wall Street Journal that the agency's court tussle with Apple is part of a wider strategy to establish a legal precedent forcing phone makers to break their own encryption.

"The San Bernardino case was not about trying to send a message or set a precedent; it was and is about fully investigating a terrorist attack," Comey wrote in a letter responding to the WSJ's editorial, in which the paper accused the FBI of "[fibbing] by saying the Apple case is about one phone".

Referring to claims by the FBI that it had "exhausted all other practical options" to get into the iPhone 5c at the heart of the dispute, the WSJ said: "Now we learn the FBI, far from exhausting all other practical options, had been pursuing such non-Apple leads all along."

Comey issued a strong rebuttal, saying the WSJ was "simply wrong to assert that the FBI and the Justice Department lied about [their] ability to access the San Bernardino killer's phone".

He claimed that the case had prompted "creative people around the world to see what they might be able to do" to aid the FBI.

"I'm not embarrassed to admit that all technical creativity does not reside in government," Comey said. "Lots of folks came to us with ideas. It looks like one of those ideas may work and that is a very good thing."

The court case between Apple and the FBI was suspended earlier this week when the FBI said it had found an "outside party" that may be able to crack into the phone used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters, without Apple's help.

It was claimed yesterday that this helping hand is Israeli data forensics firm Cellebrite, although this has not been confirmed by either party.

Lawyers from the Department of Justice are due to return to court on 5 April to state whether or not they wish to pursue the case.

23/03/2016: Israeli company Cellebrite is the "outside party" helping the FBI break into the iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters, according to reports.

The FBI and Apple have been caught up in a legal dispute over an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters who killed 22 people in December 2015.

The law enforcement agency claims the device may contain important intelligence about potential terrorist threats to the USA. It has asked Apple to create a custom version of iOS to break into the device after it became locked, allegedly after somebody in the San Bernardino County government reset the associated Apple ID in an attempt to gain access.

Apple has so far refused to comply with court orders to comply with the FBI's wishes, however on Tuesday the agency asked for a postponement of the latest court hearing, saying "an outside source" had demonstrated a way to break into the device without Apple's help.

Today, Israeli website Ynet News reported that Cellebrite, a company based in Petah Tikva specialising in data extraction, transfer and forensic analysis for mobile devices, is this third party, citing "experts in the field familiar with the case".

The company has an existing relationship with the FBI to provide decryption technology as part of a contract signed in 2013,Ynet reported.

A Cellebrite spokesman and a spokesman for the FBI both declined to comment when approached by IT Pro.

IT Pro also contacted Apple but had not received a response at the time of publication.

22/03/2016:Less than 24 hours after Tim Cook used his iPhone SE launch keynote to reaffirm Apple's commitment to the security and privacy of its customers, its court date with the FBI has been postponed after the law enforcement agency announced it may not need Apple's help to crack into the San Bernardino attackers' iPhone after all.

In the court filing requesting the postponement, the FBI said: "an outside source" had demonstrated a way to get into the locked iPhone at the centre of the legal battle without the need for Apple to custom write a new OS for this purpose.

"Testing is required to determine whether it is a viable method that will not compromise data on Farook's iPhone," the filing said, adding: "If the method is viable, it should eliminate the need for the assistance from Apple."

US Department of Justice spokeswoman Melanie Newman told BBC News the government was "cautiously optimistic" the third party's method to unlock the phone would be successful.

21/03/2016:Tim Cook used the Apple iPhone SE launch event to comment on Apple's feud with the FBI, claiming that Apple has "a responsibility" to oppose the government.

The statement came ahead of the company's high-profile court clash, which begins tomorrow after a lengthy series of hearings and public back-and-forths.

He said that Apple's executives "owe it to our customers, and we owe it to our country"to fight for encryption.

The company's legal battle is an "issue that impacts all of us", Cook said, and added that Apple "did not expect to be in this position at odds with our own government."

21/03/2016:Apple CEOTim Cook may address the company's ongoing battle with the FBI over the locked iPhone court case, with tonight's Apple Event taking place the day before witnesses are called.

Apple is widely expected to launch the smaller, cheaper iPhone SE and the iPad Air 3 during it's March 21 press conference at the Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino.

On March 22 two Apple employees, chief privacy engineer Erik Neuenschwander and global law enforcement manager Lisa Olle, will speak for the company in a requested cross-examination of witnesses from the government.

The fact that the two events are separated by mere hours has led to speculation as to whether Cook will mention the ongoing controversy surrounding iOS encryption alongside the launch of Apple's latest devices, with the timing not thought to be a complete coincidence.

21/03/2016:Apple and the US Department of Justice will present witnesses for cross-examination tomorrow in the ongoing locked iPhone court case, according toReuters.

The witnesses have already given written declarations on the legal briefs filed, an Apple lawyer speaking on a conference call told the publication, adding that the government made a request to cross-examine witnesses working at Apple last week.

Two Apple employees chief privacy engineer Erik Neuenschwander and global law enforcement manager Lisa Olle will speak for the iPhone maker.

FBI electronics engineer Stacey Perino and supervisory special agent Christopher Pluhar will be called up by the government.

Statements from Pluhar and Perino expand on the FBI's attempts to recover data from the locked iPhone through the iCloud service, via its automatic backup. The agency attempted to gain access, but reset the account, meaning the latest data on the device was not uploaded into the cloud, as it would usually have been.

However, Perino stated in her declaration that the FBI would not have been able to access the phone's data regardless of whether the reset occurred or not.

The case will resume tomorrow, hours after Apple's spring press conference today, where it is expected to announce a new iPhone.

18/03/2016: Apple engineers may refuse court order, report claims

Apple engineers may quit or refuse to comply with a court order to hack an iPhone, if the US Department of Justice succeeds in its battle with Apple,according tothe New York Times.

Apple has said in a court filing that it would require between six and 10 engineers to create what it has dubbed GovtOS', a version of iOS that does away with a security barrier that wipes a handset's data after 10 incorrect password attempts.

These engineers would be drawn from a number of divisions, the tech giant said.

It is unclear whether the US Department of Justice has accounted for a situation where key Apple members refuse to follow the court's instructions in the event it wins the case, but former federal prosecutor Joseph DeMarco told the New York Times the outcomes would likely not be good for Apple.

"If and this is a big if every engineer at Apple who could write the code quit and, also a big if, Apple could demonstrate that this happened to the court's satisfaction, then Apple could not comply and would not have to," he said.

DeMarco added that if the engineers refused to code the OS but did not resign, Apple could be held in contempt of court.

Riana Pfefferkorn of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society explained that iPhone maker could then face daily fines if a judge took the opinion that it was deliberately avoiding compliance.

17/03/2016:Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has sided with his former company in its ongoing battle with the FBI and US Department of Justice.

The former Apple executive was asked for his thoughts on the case during a Reddit Ask Me Anything session on Tuesday and said the right to data privacy should not be relinquished.

"You know what, I have things in my head, some very special people in my life that I don't talk about, that mean so much to me from the past. Those little things that I keep in my head are my little secrets. It's a part of my important world, my whole essence of my being," he said.

"I also believe in honesty. If you tell somebody, I am not snooping on you,' or, I am giving you some level of privacy; I will not look in your drawers,' then you should keep your word and be honest."

Wozniak explained that undermining the iPhone's encryption with the new code would inevitably fall into malicious hands.

"I come from the side of personal liberties," he said. "But there are also other problems. Twice in my life, I wrote things that could have been viruses. I threw away every bit of source code. I just got a chill inside. These are dangerous, dangerous things, and if some code gets written in an Apple product that lets people in, bad people are going to find their way to it, very likely."

Read Wozniak's full comments here.

16/03/2016:Apple has blasted the US government's legal arguments as "an exercise in wishful thinking" in the final court filing before its court battle with the FBI.

The company said that the government's interpretation of the All Writs Act of 1789 - the legislation law enforcement is using to strong-arm Apple into complying with its requests - "is not statutory interpretation".

"The government seeks an order here that is neither grounded in the common law nor authorized by statute," the brief read, explaining that for the All Writs Act to apply, an appropriate parallel must have been established by common-law rulings.

As the government wishes to apply it, Apple contended, the act would have "no limiting principle". It also claimed that the government had yet to explain how there would be any difference between "GovtOS today, and LocationTrackingOS and EavesdropOS tomorrow".

The filing claimed that the FBI and the DOJ are also attempting to use the All Writs Act to circumvent CALEA, a pre-existing piece of legislation that limits the government's ability to conduct surveillance on civilian communications networks.

The government, in turn, has been making veiled threats about requisitioning Apple's source code and signing key. This would essentially allow it to crack into any Apple product at will.

The company has said that this warning highlights "the government's fundamental misunderstanding or reckless disregard of the technology at issue and the security risks implicated by its suggestion".

11/03/2016:Apple has reacted angrily to the latest court filing from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in its ongoing attempt to get the Cupertino company to help it break into a locked iPhone 5c.

In its filing, which can be read here, the DoJ said: "Apple and itsamici [those who have filed amicus briefs] try to alarm this Court with issues of network security, encryption back doors, and privacy, invoking larger debates before congress and in the news media. That is a diversion."

It went on to accuse Apple of wishing to make its products "warrant-proof" and having "deliberately raised technological barriers that now stand between a lawful warrant and an iPhone containing evidence related to the terrorist mass murder of 14 Americans".

The DoJ also accused Apple of using "rhetoric [that is] not only false, but also corrosive", and of "extolling itself as the primary guardian of Americans' privacy". It also raised the fact Apple has co-operated with the demands of other nations, singling out china in particular.

In response, Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel and SVP of legal and government affairs, told a press conference that the filing "reads like an indictment".

"In 30 years of practice, I don't think I've ever seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less focused on the real merits of the case," Sewell said, according to Business Insider.

"For the first time ever, we see an allegation that Apple has deliberately made changes to block law enforcement requests for access. This should be deeply offensive to everyone that reads it. An unsupported, unsubstantiated effort to vilify Apple rather than confront the issues in the case.

"We are going before court to exercise our legal rights. Everyone should beware because it seems like disagreeing with the Department of Justice means you must be evil and anti-American. Nothing could be further from the truth," Sewell concluded.

The case continues.

10/03/2016:An Apple executive fears that the FBI could eventually secretly spy on your phone camera and microphone if it succeeds in forcing Apple to help weaken an iPhone's security.

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of internet software and services, told broadcastUnivision (Business Insider received an English transcript from Apple):"When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?

"For example, one day [the FBI] may want us to open your phone's camera, microphone. Those are things we can't do now. But if they can force us to do that, I think that's very bad."

The significance of unlocking the single encrypted iPhone at the heart of the dispute has been played down by the FBI.

Cue, however, claimed that it is the equivalent of giving them a key to the back door of everybody's houses.

"Since we don't have the key, they want us to change the lock," Cue said. "When we change the latchkey, it changes for everyone. And we have a key that opens all phones. And that key, once it exists, exists not only for us. Terrorists, criminals, pirates, all too will find that key to open all phones."

He stressed that Apple engineers are constantly working to make its devices more secure.

The current case, he suggested, should not be viewed as Apple versus the government, but instead an example of Apple's attempts to keep citizens safe from criminals and other malicious agents.

"It's Apple engineers against terrorists, against criminals. They are the people we are trying to protect people from. We are not protecting the government," he said. "We want to help. They have a very difficult job, they are there to protect us. So we want to help as much as possible, but we can not help them in a way that will help more criminals, terrorists, pirates."

He added that Apple would appeal the current case to the US Supreme Court if necessary.

07/03/2016: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has asked a New York court to reverse a pro-Apple ruling that could threaten the FBI's position in the ongoing encryption dispute.

US magistrate judge James Orenstein ruled in late February that the tech company was not required to open an iPhone involved in a routine narcotics case.

In a 45-page brief, the DoJ asked a federal court in Brooklyn to overturn the decision, stating that it sets "an unprecedented limitation" on its judicial authority.

In both Orenstein's drugs case and the investigation into the San Bernardino shootings, which is at the centre of the FBI's request for Apple to help it break into the device, the government has attempted to use the All Writs Act to compel Apple to divulge information kept on the devices.

However, while federal judges have sided with the FBI regarding the San Bernardino case by ordering the company to render "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators, Judge Orenstein has not.

Instead, he ruled that using the All Writs Act to force access to the device would "thoroughly undermine fundamental principles of the Constitution".

The government has also argued that while the San Bernardino case would involve Apple writing custom software to bypass security features, the New York drugs trial involved pre-established data extraction methods that have already been used in previous cases.

07/03/2016:FBI wants us to turn back the clock on security, says Apple VP

Apple has accused the FBI of trying to undo years of security advancements for the iPhone.

Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at the tech giant, said that by returning to iOS 7 security standards, hackers would be well-poised to hack into people's iPhones.

In a comment piece for theWashington Post, he said:"Our team must work tirelessly to stay one step ahead of criminal attackers who seek to pry into personal information and even co-opt devices to commit broader assaults that endanger us all.

"That's why it's so disappointing that the FBI, Justice Department and others in law enforcement are pressing us to turn back the clock to a less-secure time and less-secure technologies. They have suggested that the safeguards of iOS 7 were good enough and that we should simply go back to the security standards of 2013.

"But the security of iOS 7, while cutting-edge at the time, has since been breached by hackers. What's worse, some of their methods have been productised and are now available for sale to attackers who are less skilled but often more malicious."

Since iOS 8, Apple has included device-specific encryption methods but claims the FBI would erase this by rolling back to a previous operating system.

The law enforcement agency wants Apple to assist it in removing a security barrier on the iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the people responsible for killing 14 people in San Bernardino last year.

Apple - and other Silicon Valley firms - believe that setting such a precedent would harm American citizens, and is fighting the case in a California court and Congress.

Federighi added that while Apple's software engineers are not always perfect in their work, "identifying and fixing those problems are critical parts of our mission to keep customers safe. Doing anything to hamper that mission would be a serious mistake".

Meanwhile, the judge overseeing the court battle between the two organisations has heard that criminals have been switching to the newer iPhone models as their "device of choice" to commit offences thanks to the tough encryption present in each handset.

The US Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and two other bodies said in a court filing that they were aware of "numerous instances" of criminals who previously used throwaway burner phones' switching to iPhones, Reuters reported.

No specific instances were listed in the documents the group presented.

However, it cited a prison phone call recorded by New York authorities in 2015, where an inmate called Apple's encrypted operating system a "gift from God".

04/03/2016: DA claims iPhone was "cyber pathogen" trigger

The iPhone at the centre of the Apple-FBI dispute may have been used to release a "cyber pathogen" on the infrastructure of San Bernardino, according to the District Attorney for the county.

A court brief spotted by Ars Technica, and filed by San Bernardino DA Michael Ramos, read: "The seized iPhone may contain evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino County's infrastructure."

The iPhone 5c is owned by the county, which issued it as a work phone to Syed Farook, one of the two San Bernardino shooters responsible for killing 14 people.

Apple is fighting back against the FBI's demand that it create an alternative operating system for the iPhone, so the agency can try as many passwords as possible on the phone without triggering the device's in-built security barrier that wipes its data after 10 incorrect password attempts.

However, the DA did not refer to any proof to back up his suspicions, and the county told Ars that it had nothing to do with filing the brief.

An iPhone forensics expert,Jonathan Zdziarski, told Ars: "This reads as an amicus designed to mislead the courts into acting irrationally in an attempt to manipulate a decision in the FBI's favor."

The news comes after theUN High Commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said the FBI's efforts to compel Apple to bypass the iPhone's security barrier could harm millions of people.

He said in a statement: "In order to address a security-related issue related to encryption in one case, the authorities risk unlocking a Pandora's Box that could have extremely damaging implications for the human rights of many millions of people, including their physical and financial security."

"A successful case against Apple in the US will set a precedent that may make it impossible for Apple or any other major international IT company to safeguard their clients' privacy anywhere in the world," the UN human rights chief added. "It is potentially a gift to authoritarian regimes, as well as to criminal hackers.

"There have already been a number of concerted efforts by authorities in other States to force IT and communications companies such as Google and Blackberry to expose their customers to mass surveillance."

Earlier today, dozens of Silicon Valley tech firms backed Apple's stance against the FBI, saying its request to bypass security would harm American citizens.

04/03/2016:Apple vs FBI: Silicon Valley stands firm behind Apple

Google, Microsoft, Box and dozens of other tech giants have backed Apple in its battle against the FBI over weakening iPhone security.

The Silicon Valley giants filed a legal brief yesterday to call on a judge to support Apple's refusal to bypass a security feature that wipes iPhone data after 10 incorrect passwords.

The FBI wants Apple to help it access the iPhone 5c that belonged to San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

Facebook, Dropbox, Cisco and Yahoo also signed the legal brief, which their lawyers submitted to the district court of California, ahead of a hearing on 22 March.

It read: "[These firms] here speak with one voice because of the singular importance of this case to them and their customers who trust[them] to safeguard their data and most sensitive communications from attackers.

"[They are] united in their view that the government's order to Apple exceeds the bounds of existing law and, when applied more broadly, will harm Americans' security in the long run."

Various other amicus briefs which allow outside persons to comment on legal cases - came from other tech firms and privacy campaigners, while relatives of San Bernardino victims filed legal briefs opposed to Apple's stance.

The FBI wants Apple to write a new version of its operating system that would mean the iPhone would not wipe its data after 10 incorrect password attempts.

Both sides made opening speeches to Congress last week, with the FBI comparing the security barrier to a "vicious guard dog", while Apple claimed that bypassing the feature would weaken the security of all American citizens.

The FBI admitted it had asked the California county to reset the password on Farook's phone, meaning that the device did not send a fresh data backup to Apple's servers though the FBI claimed it would not have got all relevant data from the device.

Box founder Aaron Levie was the latest to call for a public discussion of the issue, saying after the legal briefs were filed: "Asking Apple to break or weaken its security features undermines our collective trust in technology in the digital age. Instead, we need an open, public dialogue focused on helping us collectively strike the right balance between privacy and security."

Amazon, which also signed a legal brief against breaking the iPhone's encryption, has dropped encryption support from its latest Fire OS.

02/03/2016:Apple vs FBI: Conflict moves from courts to Congress

Apple and the FBI have butted heads in Congress as the feud over a shooter's locked iPhone has grown into a debate about national security versus civil liberties.

The opposing sides made their opening remarks to a congressional judiciary panel on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

"We're asking Apple to take the vicious guard dog away and let us pick the lock," FBI director James Comey told the panel, referring to the iPhone 5c belonging to San Bernadino shooter Syed Farook, who helped kill 14 people.

"The FBI is asking Apple to weaken the security of our products," Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell responded later that afternoon.

"Is it the right thing to make our society overall less safe in order to solve crime? That's the issue that we're wrestling with."

Comey admitted the FBI had made a mistake just after the San Bernardino attack when it asked the county which owned the phone to reset the password for the perpetrator's iCloud account. That data, stored on Apple servers, held backups of the phone. Had the password not been reset, the phone may have made a fresh backup available to investigators for further inspection.

"The experts tell me there's no way we would have gotten everything off the phone from a backup," Comey added.

Tuesday's hearing moved the debate from the courts to Congress, where both sides agree the larger policy deliberation belongs.

However, in the past month, judges have issued conflicting opinions on whether or not companies should help law enforcement break encryption.

On Monday, a federal judge in Brooklyn, US Magistrate Judge James Orenstein, said the government could not force Apple to help it gain access to a phone in a drug case, saying that relying on the ancient All Writs Act would produce "impermissibly absurd results".

But in California, Judge Sheri Pym instructed Apple to help the FBI crack the locked iPhone used by one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino shootings, last December. Apple filed an appeal against this ruling late on Tuesday night.

Following these two conflicting rulings, Comey said Congress must address the wider collision between privacy and public safety.

29/02/2016:New York case could set tone for California rematch

In a significant turn of events, a judge in New York has ruled Apple cannot be forced to unlock an iPhone, deeming that such an action under the All Writs Act would likely be unconstitutional.

The case, which involves an iPhone retrieved as part of a drugs investigation, is similar to the one Apple is currently fighting in California, where judge Sheri Pym of the US District Court in LA ruled Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to FBI investigators who want to gain access to the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

In both cases, the government has used a catch-all piece of legislation known as the All Writs Act to attempt to compel Apple to break its own security protocols. In the case of the San Bernardino iPhone, this means writing a custom version of iOS. However, while judge Pym in LA has looked favourably on the FBI's request, judge James Orenstein in New York has not.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation campaign group said of the ruling: "It's a significant rejection of the government's interpretation of the All Writs Act, which prosecutors have advanced in multiple jurisdictions across the country."

"While the government has argued that its extraordinary invocation of the All Writs Act is not intended to set a precedent, judge Orenstein properly recognises what is at stake. In particular, he casts shade on the very constitutionality of the government's interpretation, describing it as virtually unbounded," it added.

It is unclear, however, what effect, if any, the New York ruling will have on the California case. Amicus briefs are set to be filed within the next 72 hours in LA, with oral evidence being heard within the coming weeks.

26/02/2016:Microsoft has become the latest company to announce its support for Apple in its fight against the FBI's demands the company unlocks an iPhone belonging to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook.

At a hearing on Thursday, Microsoft's chief legal officer said the company will file an amicus brief - also known as a friend of the court brief - next week in support of Apple, according toBloomberg. The news outlet also said Alphabet - Google's parent company - and Facebook plan to file a separate brief, citing "people familiar with the matter", while Twitter has publicly said it will also be filing an amicus brief.

Bloombergreports that during Thursday's hearingBrad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, told the court: "Every case has implications for others." Microsoft is itself embroiled in a court battle with an unnamed US law enforcement agency, thought to be the FBI, which is seeking to access email data held in the company's Dublin data centre. In a mirror image of the iPhone case, Apple came out in support of Microsoft, along with a number of other tech giants.

Microsoft's move to support Apple is, however, in contrast to statements made by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on 23 February, where he claimed: "nobody's asking for a backdoor".

25/02/2016:Apple CEO Tim Cook believes the FBI wants his company to create "the software equivalent of cancer".

The tech giant is currently embroiled in a fierce battle with the agency over the iPhone of San Bernardino killer Syed Farook, which Apple has been court-ordered to help the FBI gain access to.

In an interview with ABC News, Cook reiterated his claims that Apple has "passed all of the information that we have on the phone".

He stated that the only way to get any further data "would be to write a piece of software that we view as sort of the equivalent of cancer".

"We think it's bad news to write," he said. "We would never write it. We have never written it."

The proposed software, he warned, would be "bad for America", and went on to say "this case is not about one phone... this case is about the future."

"If a court can ask us to write this piece of software, think about what else they could ask us to write," Cook explained. "Maybe it's an operating system for surveillance, maybe the ability for the law enforcement to turn on the camera".

"I don't know where this stops. But I do know that this is not what should be happening in this country."

"Some things are hard, and some things are right, and some things are both," he said. "This is one of those things."

25/02/2016:Apple wants Congress to decide iPhone dispute

Apple will tell a US federal judge this week that its argument with the FBI over cracking a locked and encrypted iPhone should be decided by Congress, rather than the courts, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Apple will also contest that the court order for it to help hack the iPhone, which belonged to one of the San Bernardino attackers, is invalid under the 1789 All Writs Act, which has been used in the past to compel companies to provide assistance to law enforcement.

Judge Sheri Pymof the US District Court in LAordered Apple last week to create specialised software to help the FBI hack into a locked iPhone used by one of the perpetrators of the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, last December.

Apple has not yet made any filings in the case because the US Department of Justice (DoJ) asked the magistrate to rule before Apple had an opportunity to dispute.

However, according to the AP, the company intends to argue in its legal papers that the 1789 law has never been used to coerce a company to write software to assist the government.

Michael Zweiback, the former chief of the cybercrimes section of the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles and a former prosecutor, told the AP it was very unusual for the US government to ask Apple to give the FBI specialised software that would weaken the protections on the iPhone.

"There's a significant legal question as to whether the All Writs Act can be used to order a company to create something that may not presently exist," Zweiback said.

Speaking about the implications on data privacy the case could have, he added: "We are not the only ones who are asking for encryption keys," he said. "The Chinese government has made similar demands upon them, the European Union has made similar demands upon them, so the implications are really not even national. They're international in scope."

However, Josh Earnest, a spokesman for The White House, said: "Sending complicated things to Congress is often not the surest way to get a quick answer. In fact, even asking some of the most basic questions of Congress sometimes does not ensure a quick answer."

23/02/2016:Apple vs FBI: Bill Gates calls for calm in iPhone encryption row

Bill Gates has dismissed claims the FBI wants a backdoor into Apple's iPhone as overblown.

Apple has defied a court order demanding the company help the FBI unlock the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 people and injured 22 in a shooting in California.

The Microsoft founder has now called into question Apple CEO Tim Cook's claims that creating software to bypass a security barrier on the phone would set a "dangerous precedent", and called for a sensible discussion around the issue.

"Nobody's talking about a backdoor", Gates told the Financial Times. "This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case".

He likened the case to government agents requesting access to phone or banking records, stating "there's no difference between information".

A fierce debate has been ignited over whether or not Apple should comply with the FBI's requests. Silicon Valley has largely closed ranks around the company, with multiple prominent industry figures speaking up in the company's defense.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg have both offered varying degrees of support for Apple's position, with the latter stating at MWC 2016 that his company is "sympathetic with Apple."

Gates' own Microsoft has also indicated that it sides against the government on this occasion. Multiple spokespeople pointed to a statement from the Reform Government Surveillance group - of which Microsoft is a member - that backs Apple up.

The group demands that limits are set to the US government's capacity to collect data and that it operates under better oversight and accountability.

22/02/2016:Tim Cook calls for data privacy discussion in internal memo

Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent an internal email to staff reasserting his refusal of a federal court order to assist the FBI in cracking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen.

The FBI had obtained the court order to force Apple to help it bypass a security barrier that would have wiped the data on the iPhone of Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 people in a suspected terrorist attack in San Bernardinolast December, after 10 incorrect attempts.

In the memo, obtained by BuzzFeed News, Cook thanked Apple employees and the public for the support the company has received in the days since its refusal hit the headlines.

He said that though Apple has no sympathy for terrorists, "the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding people" is what is at stake, and would set "a dangerous precedent that threatens everyone's civil liberties".

"Apple is a uniquely American company. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect," Cook wrote.

The CEO called on the US government to withdraw its demand under the All Writs Act and has encouraged an open discussion between intelligence, technology and privacy experts on the implications for national security, privacy, and personal freedom.

Cook added that Apple would gladly participate in such a discussion.

According to him, members of congress want Apple to backtrack its data protection to iOS 7, undoing significant encryption changes it established with iOS 8.

"Starting with iOS 8, we began encrypting data in a way that not even the iPhone itself can read without the user's passcode, so if it is lost or stolen, our personal data, conversations, financial and health information are far more secure. We all know that turning back the clock on that progress would be a terrible idea," Cook wrote.

In tandem with the internal memo, Apple has today published a Q&Ato answer questions people may have about its case with the FBI.

In the Q&A, the company underlines its commitment to protect its customers' data and also refutes arguments by the FBI claiming that unlocking the iPhone is not a big deal.

Apple is required to provide a formal response to its court order by the end of the week.

19/02/2016:McAfee offers to unlock iPhone for FBI in three weeks

Maverick cybersecurity legend John McAfee has offered to his services in helping the FBI unlock an iPhone that was used by one of the San Bernardino killers.

In an op-ed in Business Insider, McAfee said that the FBI doesn't "have the talent" to crack the iPhone.

"They don't have the personnel. And how could they? We're talking people with purple mohawks, face tattoos. They smoke weed all day long! Things that could keep them from working with the government," he said.

McAfee insisted that he was on the side of Apple in its fight, but said his actions wold help both sides.

"I have friends," he said. "They can tell you what the operating system is doing, in short order."

"They are all prodigies with talents that defy normal human comprehension. About 75 percent are social engineers. The remainder are hardcore coders. I would eat my shoe on the Neil Cavuto show if we could not break the encryption on the San Bernardino phone. This is a pure and simple fact.

He said he would offer the services of his team free of charge.

"We will primarily use social engineering, and it will take us three weeks," he said.

"If you accept my offer you will not need to ask Apple to place a backdoor in its product, which would be the beginning of the end of America.

"If you doubt my credentials, Google 'cybersecurity legend' and see whose name is the only name that appears in the first 10 results out of more than a quarter of a million."

18/02/2016: Google CEO Sundar Pichai warns FBI's iPhone backdoor would set a "troubling precedent"

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has backed Apple's refusal to help the FBI bypass the iPhone's built-in security.

Apple boss Tim Cook plans to fight a court order he argues would compel his firm to build a backdoor into the iPhone.

The FBI obtained the order to get Apple's help cracking an iPhone 5c belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook, who killed 14 people in a suspected terrorist attack in San Bernardinolast December.

But Google's Pichai said Cook is right to challenge the court order, saying creating a backdoor into the iPhone's encryption could create wider risks to data protection.

In a series of tweets calling such a move a "troubling precedent", he said: "Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users' privacy.

"We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders. But that's wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data."

The technical assistance the FBI has asked for would enable it to remove the iPhone's ability to wipe its data after 10 failed password attempts.

Cook called for a public discussion about the issue, claiming such a move would threaten Apple customers' security.

Whatsapp's founder, Jan Koum, also came out in support of Apple's stance, writing in a Facebook post that "we must not allow this dangerous precedent to be set", saying it would put people's freedom and liberty at risk".

Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) applauded Apple's defiance of the court order and accused the US government of trying to create a "master key" to Apple devices that goes beyond the scope of needing access to a single iPhone.

"Once that master key is created, we're certain that our government will ask for it again and again, for other phones, and turn this power against any software or device that has the audacity to offer strong security," an EFF statement read.

Read more about why the FBI's request for a backdoor could spell trouble for your privacy here

17/02/16: Apple defies order to unlock San Bernardino shooter's iPhone

Apple has been ordered to disable some of the key security features of an iPhone 5c belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters by a judge in Los Angeles.

However, the Cupertino-based company is refusing to comply.

Judge Sheri Pym of the US District Court in LA ruled Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to FBI investigators working on the San Bernardino case, which saw 14 people killed and 22 others injured by Syed Rizwan Farook, to whom the iPhone belonged, and Tachfeen Malik, his wife.

Such technical assistance includes helping the FBI to guess Farook's passcode and removing the device's auto-erase function, which kicks in when the wrong passcode has been entered 10 times.

Prosecutors acting on behalf of the FBI said: "Apple has the exclusive means which would assist the government in completing its search, but has declined to provide that assistance voluntarily."

Despite the ruling, however, Apple continues to refuse to comply.

In an open letter to customers, CEO Tim Cook said: "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.

"This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake."

Cook went on to explain the need for strong encryption, saying that "compromising the security of our personal data can ultimately put our personal safety at risk".

In direct reference to the San Bernardino case, he said Apple has "no sympathy for terrorists" and has aided the FBI both in the immediate wake of the attack and provided data subsequently to the agency that was in the company's possession in response to what it describes as valid subpoenas and search warrants.

"We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them," said Cook. "But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create."

He continued: "Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features ... in the wrong hands, this software which does not exist today would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone's physical possession."

Cook contends that the implications are far-reaching and could undermine "the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect".

"The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control," he said.

The case is very reminiscent of an ongoing court battle in New York between Microsoft and an unnamed US law enforcement agency - widely thought to be the FBI - regarding email data held in its Dublin datacentre.

Both Apple and Microsoft have also been strongly opposed to attempts in the UK to undermine data security through the Investigatory Powers Bill - commonly known as the Snooper's Charter.

The case continues.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has defended his company's prospects in a rare media interview after plunging revenues saw shares fall for eight consecutive days.

The world's most valuable company reported a quarterly decline for the first time in 13 years last week, when revenues dropped 13 per cent to $50.5 billion, and profits fell $3.1 billion to $10.5 billion - largely due to the iPhone hitting saturation point.

Shares fell from $105.08 on 25 April to $93.64 today, but Cook's interview with Mad Money, a CNBC show, saw him tell investors not to worry, pointing to the size of Apple's income as an indicator of health.

"To put that in perspective, the $10 billion is more than any other company makes. So it was a pretty good quarter, but not up to the Street's expectations, clearly," Cook told host Jim Cramer.

Cook added that Apple still has the ability to innovate - and believes it will continue to produce world-changing products like the iPhone.

"We're going to give you things that you can't live without that you just don't know about today," Cook said. "We don't talk about products on the roadmap. I'm incredibly excited about things we're working on. I don't want to be more specific than that."

Possible future key products include new versions of the Apple Watch, with Cook saying Apple is still learning about wearables in order to make it a device people deem essential.

Others include services, which Cook hailed as an area of growth in Apple's financial results, that include Apple Pay and AppleCare, and the much-rumoured but unconfirmed Apple Car.

Apple has called on the UK government to make changes to the Investigatory Powers Bill as the iPhone maker fears that if the law was enacted in its present state it would radically alter customers' security and privacy.

The bill is currently being scrutinised by a parliamentary committee. In a submission to the committee, Apple said that it believed "it would be wrong to weaken security for hundreds of millions of law-abiding customers so that it will also be weaker for the very few who pose a threat."

"In this rapidly evolving cyber threat environment, companies should remain free to implement strong encryption to protect customers," it added.

Apple underlined a number of areas where it wants to see changes. It said the bill would grant the government powers to demand Apple change the way iMessages works and this, the company claimed, would weaken its encryption and allow security services to eavesdrop on the service for the first time. At present, iMessage is set up so that even Apple cannot decrypt messages passing through the system.

The tech giant also claimed that the language in the bill could be interpreted widely and force it to create backdoors to allow security agencies access. Such a backdoor would make users' data less secure, Apple argued.

"The government does not know in advance which individuals will become targets of investigation, so the encryption system necessarily would need to be compromised for everyone," the statement said.

It continued: "The bill threatens to hurt law-abiding citizens in its effort to combat the few bad actors who have a variety of ways to carry out their attacks. The creation of backdoors and intercept capabilities would weaken the protections built into Apple products and endanger all our customers. A key left under the doormat would not just be there for the good guys. The bad guys would find it too."

Home Secretary Theresa May's bill would legally require companies, such as Apple, to hand over data on devices. Security agencies would also be allowed to tamper with equipment to extract data from a device.

Apple said that if companies were forced to comply with warrants for information, or snoop on their customers on behalf of governments, other countries would demand the same.

It added that the law would "force non-UK companies to take actions that violate the laws of their home countries".

Apple continued: "This would immobilise substantial portions of the tech sector and spark serious international conflicts. It would also likely be the catalyst for other countries to enact similar laws, paralysing multinational corporations under the weight of what could be dozens or hundreds of contradictory country-specific laws.

"Those businesses affected will have to cope with a set of overlapping foreign and domestic laws. When these laws inevitably conflict, the businesses will be left having to arbitrate between them, knowing that in doing so they might risk sanctions. That is an unreasonable position to be placed in."

Apple CEO Tim Cook last month warned that the bill would do nothing to stop criminals.

"We believe very strongly in end-to-end encryption and no back doors," Cook told The Telegraph. "We don't think people want us to read their messages. We don't feel we have the right to read their emails."

Cook continued: "Any back door is a back door for everyone. Everybody wants to crack down on terrorists. Everybody wants to be secure. The question is how. Opening a back door can have very dire consequences."

Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook seemingly decided to talk trash about rival Google's Chromebooks, which have become ubiquitous in American schools.

Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Cook criticised the devices as "test machines", saying that "assessments don't create learning".

"We are interested in helping students learn and teachers teach, but tests, no. We create products that are whole solutions for people - that allow kids to learn how to create and engage on a different level," he said.

Usurprisingly, he has come in for serious criticism over the comments, with educational technology provider Neverware saying Cook's comments show he is "out of touch" in an open letter (it is perhaps worth noting, though, that Neverware facilitates the use of Google services in the classroom).

But is this really just Cook having a snipe at Google?

In my opinion, no. Firstly, most of Cook's comments on Wednesday were about the general state of education in the US, particularly the importance of coding and creativity, but also the need to adapt to the realities of technology now.

The second aspect is one of branding.

Chromebooks are cheap and cheerful laptops that perform a limited range of functions - that is their niche and there is no problem with that. In fact, if US statistics are anything to go by, they are actually very successful in this niche. If Apple were to try and compete with them at the same level, it would not only be strange, but potentially counterproductive to the success it has experienced in its own niche.

Cook's comments are a reaffirmation of Apple as a brand: a producer of high end, desirable, fashionable devices beloved of the creative industry, with a relatively closed ecosystem. You need only look at Apple's marketing strategy and partnerships for Apple Watch and the new iPad Pro, and its strategy in enterprise, particularly its relationship with IBM, to see this in action. I would have been more surprised if Cook said Apple was going to go toe-to-toe with Google and unveiled a bargain-basement laptop with limited functionality.

Is Cook bitter about Chromebooks' success in education? Well I'm sure he would like Apple to have a larger slice of the pie - what company doesn't want to increase its overall market share - but to see this as sour grapes is to miss the point.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook has expressed his confidence regarding China's economy, despite the country's stock market and other monetary factors raising concerns among tech companies.

The comments arose as Cook toured around the country to coincide with the opening of Apple's 21st store in the country. The store is situated in Dalian - described as the 'most liveable' city in the country.

"I know some people are worried about the economy. We'll continue to invest," Cook told the Xinhua news agency. "China is a superb place to be. Nothing has changed that."

It was announced China's annual growth slowed to 6.9 per cent earlier this week, causing some companies and investors to pull out of business in the country.

However, this hasn't deterred the iPhone-maker and Cook thinks it still provides a huge opportunity for the technology company to make a lot of money.

In fact, China Mobile released its 4G customer results for September and it revealed the network signed up an additional 18.4m 4G smartphone users in the September quarter - many of these became iPhone customers, Forbes explained.

It's not just about making more money for Apple though - Cook also said he wants to make sure Apple continues to support China's mission to become cleaner. He announced new initiatives to help reach its goals, including integrating solar power into the company's manufacturing plants, which will be partly responsible for preventing 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution between now and 2020.

"Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now," Cook said. "The transition to a new green economy requires innovation, ambition and purpose. We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort."

Apple's CEO Tim Cook has taken a broadside at the business model used by its biggest rival Google, saying customers shouldn't have to trade their data for lower prices.

Cook's speech at EPIC's Champions of Freedom event in Washington said the issue of data privacy and protection was one of "morality", but it also offered an unspoken argument for why Apple's products cost more.

"Like many of you, we at Apple reject the idea that our customers should have to make tradeoffs between privacy and security," Cook said, according to a report from TechCrunch. "We can, and we must provide both in equal measure."

He pointed out that other tech firms - no names were mentioned, but it's clear who he was referencing - rely on data collection for their income, saying Apple "doesn't want your data".

"I'm speaking to you from Silicon Valley, where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information," Cook said, according to the report. "They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetise it. We think that's wrong. And it's not the kind of company that Apple wants to be."

It's an intriguing change of sales tack from Cook, suggesting he's trying to give Apple products a competitive advantage on privacy and security - the iPhone may cost more, but that's because Apple isn't selling your data.

And it's not only iPhones. Cook stressed data protection is even more important now that phones and wearables are collecting health data and used as payment methods, and as the Internet of Things is connecting more devices in our homes.

Saying customers should "be in control" of their own information, he said getting a service for free isn't worth "having your email, your search history and now even your family photos data mined".

Google recently updated its Photos service to include unlimited storage, telling people it's ideal for rationalising your family pictures that are spread out across laptops, phones and other devices.

Ensuring encryption

Cook also targeted governments on encryption, saying it's "incredibly dangerous" to allow backdoors into otherwise encrypted products.

"We've been offering encryption tools in our products for years, and we're going to stay on that path," he said. "We think it's a critical feature for our customers who want to keep their data secure."

He added: "If you put a key under the mat for the cops, a burglar can find it too."

Apple beat analyst forecasts on revenues and profit in its second quarter as the firm sold more iPhones in China that the US for the first time in its history.

Apple iPhone revenues in China increased by 71 per cent to $16.8 billion for the quarter, helped by people buying presents for the Chinese New Year. According to Apple chief executive Tim Cook, a burgeoning middle class in the country fuelled iPhone purchases, making up the bulk of its sales.

Around 61 million smartphones were sold in the quarter, an increase of 40 per cent on the same time last year but down from Q1.

Overall, the firm reported revenues of $58 billion and a net profit of $13.6 billion - an increase of 27 per cent and 33 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Cook said its best ever March results were due to the "continued strength" of the iPhone, Mac and App Store. The latter was said by Apple to have an "all-time record performance".

"We're seeing a higher rate of people switching to iPhone than we've experienced in previous cycles, and we're off to an exciting start to the June quarter with the launch of Apple Watch," Cook said in a statement.

However, sales of the Apple iPad were pegged at 12.6 million, a decrease of 23 per cent from a year ago - around $5.43 billion in sales. The larger screen of the iPhone 6 Plus was blamed for declining sales of the iPad.

Apple sold 4.6 million Macs in the last quarter, up from 4 million in the second quarter of 2014 but down from 5.5 million in the first quarter.

The firm did not break out Apple Watch sales but Cook said he was "thrilled" by the launch and said in a conference call with financial analysts that the response had been "overwhelming positive" and that "demand is greater than supply".

"We're working hard to remedy that. We've made progress over the last week or so, and we were able to deliver more customers an Apple Watch over the weekend than we had initially anticipated," said Cook.

Cook said that Apple would make the watch available in more countries by late June, but demand was difficult to gauge as Apple was taking orders online only and not selling through its stores.

Russia has made the radical decision to remove a memorial of Steve Jobs after Apple's current CEO Tim Cook revealed he is gay.

The iPhone-shaped structure was placed outside St Petersburg college in January 2013 following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs from cancer, but now those who constructed the shrine said they had to remove it in accordance with the country's laws.

ZEFS, the group of companies that erected the statue said: "In Russia, gay propaganda and other sexual perversions among minors are prohibited by law.

"After Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly called for sodomy, the monument was taken down to abide to the Russian federal law protecting children from information promoting denial of traditional family values."

Russia's law that prohibits the spread of gay propaganda was introduced last year and aims to stop young people being exposed to homosexuality.

Because the memorial was placed outside a university, Maxim Dolgopolov, the head of ZEFS asked for it to be taken down, saying he supported the protection of traditional values by law.

"Sin should not become the norm. There is nothing to do in Russia for those who intend to violate our laws," he said.

There have also been calls for Cook to be banned from entering Russia, led by Vitaly Milonov, a St Petersburg legislator and campaigner against gay rights.

Cook announced his sexuality last week in an article on Bloomberg Businessweek, saying he wanted to push forward civil rights, arguing that if by coming out as gay he can help young people come to terms with who they are, then that is a good thing.

"I don't consider myself an activist, but I realise how much I've benefited from the sacrifice of others. So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy," he wrote in the column.

Apple has sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices on its launch weekend, beating last year's record of nine million units.

The iPhone 6 Plus completely sold out in most territories the day it went on sale last Friday.

Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said: "Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn't be happier. We would like to thank all of our customers for making this our best launch ever, shattering all previous sell-through records by a large margin.

"While our team managed the manufacturing ramp better than ever before, we could have sold many more iPhones with greater supply and we are working hard to fill orders as quickly as possible."

Both devices went on sale in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico and Singapore last weeek, and will go on sale in 20 more countries on Friday.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were announced two weeks ago in Cupertino. The iPhone 6 features a 4.7-inch screen, while the larger iPhone 6 Plus' 5.5-inch display was subject to a little criticism for being too big.

They are available across the UK's main networks: Three, Vodafone, EE and O2, starting at 30.99 per month, but be prepared to pay a chunky upfront fee if you want to keep that monthly cost down.

Virgin Media said yesterday that 33 per cent of Apple devices using the company's Underground internet services were running iOS 8, despite initial reports saying takeup of the Apple update was slower than previous years.

Apple's CEO, Tim Cook has taken thinly veiled shots at companies like Facebook and Google whose business models rely on acquiring user information.

Cook claimed that Apple is not interested in being a "treasure trove" for agencies like the NSA - and claimed he was offended by accusations that Cupertino is out to collect user data.

"Our business is not based on having information about you. You're not our product. Our product are these [devices], and this watch, and Macs, and so forth. And so we run a very different company," Cook said during a interview on The Charlie Rose Show.

"I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money. And if they're making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried. And you should really understand what's happening to that data, and the companies I think should be very transparent."

Switching to the topic of privacy, Cook claimed that this will become an increasingly important issue over the next year.

"I think people have a right to privacy For us, in the Snowden thing - we wanted instantly to be totally transparent because there were rumours in [the press] that people had back doors to our servers. None of that is true. Zero. They would have to cart us out in a box before we would do that."

Despite the CEO's strong stance on privacy, the firm is reeling from a hack on its iCloud servers earlier this month, which resulted in intimate pictures of high-profile celebrities being posted to the internet.

Apple is planning to send out security alerts to iPhone and iPad users whenever an attempt is made to change their account passwords, in the wake of this week's iCloud controversy.

The consumer electronic giant's CEO Tim Cook revealed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that plans are afoot to make it harder for hackers to access users' accounts.

Apple users will soon receive email and push notifications whenever an attempt to change their password occurs, or if a request is made to restore iCloud data to a new device.

Alerts will also be sent out whenever someone tries to login with their Apple ID from a previously unknown Apple device.

Cook also told the publication that Apple will be taking steps to encourage more users to activate two-factor authentication on their devices when iOS 8 drops in the next few weeks.

Furthermore, he said more needs to be done to raise awareness within the Apple user base about how to lockdown their devices, in light of this week's scandal about leaked celebrity photographs online.

As reported by IT Pro earlier this week, hundreds of private pictures belonging to female celebrities, including Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, were published online without their permission.

Industry watchers were quick to point the finger at Apple's online storage service iCloud for the leak, claiming the pictures ended up in the public domain because hackers managed to breach the system.

Apple went on to staunchly deny this claim, and said the leak was the result of a "targeted attack" on its usernames, passwords and security questions, not an iCloud breach.

In apparent reference to this, Cook said: "When I step back from this terrible scenario that happened and say what more could we have done, I think about the awareness piece.

"I think we have a responsibility to ratchet that up. That's not really an engineering thing."

The changes are to be introduced within the next two weeks, Apple added.

Tim Cook took control of Apple after its founder and longtime leader Steve Jobs died in 2011. He became the official CEO after serving in a temporary capacity during Jobs's illness.

Despite leading one of the most valuable companies in the world, Cook reveals little about himself. He rarely gives interviews or makes headlines. Here's what we do know about Tim Cook.

Full name: Timothy Donald "Tim" Cook

Age: 53 (1st November, 1960)

Nationality: US

Net Worth: $400 million

Salary: Cook docked himself $4 million in stock options because of Apple's poor stock performance in 2013. However, he still made $40 million last year from his salary, bonus, and stock options.

The Apple Board of Directors also gave him $378 million in stock in 2012 after he became CEO.

Education: Cook earned a bachelor's degree of science from Auburn University in 1982 and an MBA from Duke University in 1988.

Best known for: Being Steve Jobs's hand-picked successor to lead Apple after his death.

Current role: CEO of Apple.

Career history: Cook worked for IBM for 12 years as director of North American Fulfilment, chief operating officer of the PC reseller division of Intelligent Electronics, and vice president for corporate materials at Compaq.

Cook stayed at Compaq for just six months until meeting Steve Jobs. Apple's founder was been known to create a "reality distortion field" that changed people's minds and convinced them to do impossible things.

"Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor," Cook said in a 2010 speech at Auburn University. "No more than five minutes into my initial interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple.

"My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius, and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great American company."

He joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president for world operations, where he mastered the supply chain. Under his leadership, Apple kept costs down and produced devices more efficiently.

His management style became legendary within the company. Yukari Iwatani Kane, a former Wall Street Journal Reporter working on a book about Apple after Jobs, described Cook in the workplace.

"From the start of his Apple tenure, Cook set colossally high expectations," Kane wrote. "He wanted the best price, the best delivery, the best yield, the best everything."

Cook's work and Apple's premium pricing created massive revenue for the company. Despite owning just eight per cent of the desktop PC market, Apple makes 45 per cent of the profits.

In January 2007, Cook became chief operating officer of Apple. He served as interim CEO in 2004 and 2009 when Jobs took medical leave.

When Jobs died in 2011, he became the new permanent CEO of Apple. Cook's leadership style was the inverse of Jobs'

"Apple under jobs was a roller coaster, but Cook's operations fief was orderly and disciplined," Kane added.

Interesting fact: Cook is known for regularly sending emails at 4.30am and has previously held staff meetings via phone on Sunday evenings to prepare for the week ahead. He is also massively into fitness and likes visiting the gym in addition to cycling and hiking.

Apple's SVP of design Jony Ive has shed light on life at Apple and how core principles of the firm remain the same despite the loss of its co-founder Steve Jobs.

Ive discussed the philsophy behind creating products, life under current chief Tim Cook and the pressure associated with developing hit products in a Q&A with The New York Times. The SVP also teased that new materials will shortly be introduced.

Apple's ethos

The need to focus on products is ingrained into Apple's DNA and isn't something which is going to change under the stewardship of Tim Cook, according to Ive.

"Steve [Jobs] established a set of values, and he established preoccupations and tones that are completely enduring and he established those principles with a small team of people. I've been ridiculously lucky to be part of it. But Tim was very much part of that team for that last 15 or 20 years," he said.

Life under Tim Cook

While Tim Cook may not be the showman that Steve Jobs was, the current CEO has a 93 per cent approval rating among Apple employees. Cook has delegated authority to senior members of the firm's leadership team including Ive and Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering, who was a prominent figure at WWDC 2014.

"We meet on average three times a week. Sometimes those meetings are over in his space, sometimes here in the design studio," Ive explained.

"Heading on for two decades working with Tim, one of the things I have always admired is the quiet consideration he gives to trying to understand how he perceives something. He will take the time. I think that testifies to the fact that he knows it's important."

The pressure of developing the next big iThing'

With a streak of hit products under its belt, Apple has become a victim of its own success. Shareholders and consumers demand a 'wow' factor every 12 months, and this is something Ive believes will never change.

"People felt exactly the same way when we were working on iPhone. The iPhone was broadly dismissed. The iPod was broadly dismissed. The iPad was probably more copiously written off as a large iPod.

"When working on projects, you have this determination. You just keep going. If doing anything new, you're very used to having insurmountable obstacles. At some point you have to make a call at some point you have to say, 'We've stretched this and we've come up against laws of physics, which we cannot change.'"

What's on the horizon?

Apple has already released details aboutiOS 8 and OS X Yosemite (10.10) but so far any announcements about new hardware has been lacking. Cupertino is expected to release a redesigned iPhone, refresh the look of its MacBooks and possible even introduce an iWatch by the end of 2014.

Ive declined to share details on any forthcoming products in typical Apple fashion, but did note the firm will introduce new materials, one of which is expected to be a Sapphire Crystal display for the iPhone 6.

"I would love to talk about future stuff they're materials we haven't worked in before. I've been working on this stuff for a few years now. Tim is fundamentally involved in pushing into these new areas and into these materials," he teased.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook claims Microsoft launched the iPad version of its Office suite too late and, as a result, download levels weren't as high as they should have been.

iPad use has increased exponentially in the enterprise space, with 98 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies using an iPad and 91 per cent of the activation of tablets in enterprise being iPads, Cook said during the company's latest earnings call.

"Office, I believe [Microsoft Office for iPad] does help. It's very unclear to say how much. I believe if it would have been done earlier, it would have been even better for Microsoft frankly," he said.

The reason he feels this is that there are a lot of alternative productivity suites on the App Store, some of which Apple brought to the market and others that third-party developers introduced.

He continued: "But I do see that Office is still a very key franchise in the enterprise, in particular. And I think having it on iPad is good, and I wholeheartedly welcome Microsoft to the App Store to sell Office. Our customers are clearly responding in a good way that it's available. So, I do think it helps us particularly in the enterprise area."

However, the earnings call did address the problem that although iPad sales came in at the high end of Apple's expectations, they were below analyst estimates.

Cook believes this was because of two factors.

"First, in the March quarter last year, we significantly increased iPad channel inventory, while this year we significantly reduced it," he said.

"Second, we ended the December quarter last year with a substantial backlog with iPad mini that was subsequently shipped in the March quarter, whereas we ended the December quarter this year near supply demand balance."

Apple still believes the tablet market will surpass the PC market in size within the next few years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has rubbished a newly-released book called "Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs", which claims that the iPhone maker is past its best.

"This nonsense belongs with some of the other books I've read about Apple. It fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company," the Apple CEO said in a statement to CNBC.

"Apple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their best work, to create the world's best products, to put their mark in the universe and leave it better than they found it.

"This has been the heart of Apple from day one and will remain at the heart for decades to come. I am very confident about our future. We've always had many doubters in our history. They only make us stronger."

The book was penned by former Wall Street Journal technology reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane, who claims to have conducted more thn 200 interviews with current and former Apple executives, business partners and market watchers.

Kane's most outlandish claim was that Steve Jobs told executives he didn't want Apple to enter the TV market because the "margins suck".

This contradicts statements Jobs made to his official biographer, Walter Isaacson.

"I'd like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," Jobs told Isaacson in one of his final interviews.

Apple has confirmed its long-serving CFO Peter Oppenheimer is to retire at the end of September after nearly two decades of service at the consumer electronics giant.

In that time, Apple has transformed itself from a purveyor of home computers to the technology giant of today, renowned for popularising the tablet and smartphone form factors.

In a statement, confirming his departure, Apple CEO Tim Cook paid tribute to the contribution Oppenheimer has made to the company's success.

"Peter has served as our CFO for the past decade as Apple's annual revenue grew from $8 billion to $171 billion and our global footprint expanded dramatically," said Cook.

"His guidance, leadership and expertise have been instrumental to Apple's success, not only as our CFO but also in many areas beyond finance, as he frequently took on additional activities to assist across the company."

Oppenheimer said his decision to leave was partly driven by his desire to spend more time with his family, as well as his plans to pursue acquiring a pilot's license.

"I love Apple and the people I have had the privilege to work with and after 18 years here, it is time for me to take time for myself and my family," Oppenheimer said.

"For quite some time, I have wanted to live on the central coast of California and get more involved at Cal Poly, my alma mater; spend more time with my wife and sons; travel to interesting parts of the world; and something I have wanted to do for years finish the requirements for my pilot's license."

Oppenheimer will be succeeded by Luca Maestri, Apple's current vice president of finance, in a phased manner to enable a "professional and seamless transition", said Apple.

As such, Maestri is expected to take over the CFO reins by June, before passing over the remainder of his responsibilities before his departure in September.

"Luca has over 25 years of global experience in senior financial management, including roles as a public company CFO, and I am confident he will be a great CFO at Apple," added Tim.

"His contributions to Apple have already been significant in his time with us and he has quickly gained respect from his colleagues throughout the company."

Apple's CEO Tim Cook focused on the positives during his earning conference call, despite the iPhone-maker missing Wall Street expectations for the latest quarter.

Cook was in confident mood as he claimed Apple's business is stronger than ever. He claimed the iPad-maker is dominating key markets, confirmed the iPad mini 2 will not face any delays and that future Mac OS X upgrades will be free.

Education market

The Apple CEO claimed that Apple had its best education quarter to date - breaking the $1 billion mark for the first time.

"[We] do see Chromebook's in some places, but the vast majority of people are buying a PC/Mac or an iPad. Our share of tablet in education is 94 per cent. I mean it's unheard of. I have never seen a market share that high before. So we feel like we are doing really well here and feel great to be making a contribution to education," Cook said during the conference call.

iPad mini 2 will arrive in November

Cook confirmed the tablet will "start shipping later in November". However, he did suggest that there could be a shortage of supply indicating that Apple is yet to overcome supply-chain problems for this tablet.

"It's unclear whether we will have enough for the quarter or not. We now have mini we will have but you really don't know the demand until after you start shipping and so we'll see how that goes," he continued.

Free Mac OS software

Cook confirmed that iLife and iWork and all future updates followingOS X Maverickswill be made available for free to Mac customers.

The Apple chief explained that this will allow all users access to the same features and make purchasing a Mac more appealing.

"We wanted all of our customers to have access to our very latest software, so they would have access to our best features," he continued.

"But we really wanted to make it a part of the experience and so we are making it free and we are going back all the way to Snow Leopard on the OS side and iWork is free for all new Macs and so I think it's a very strong offer, I think it's just another reason that everyone should buy Mac and we think it was great decision to do so but, most importantly, we think it's great for customers."

The outlier

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Yes, there really are people suggesting Tim Cook could fly the coop to join Apple's long-term rival.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations before he eventually rising to the position of COO in 2007. After a couple of temporary stints as CEO while founder Steve Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer, he took the position as CEO full time in August 2011.

Unsurprisingly, though, Cook is considered the least likely contender for Microsoft's top role, with Ladbrokes giving odds of 100/1. However, if he were to switch sides, you could turn 10 into 1,000...

The return of the king

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and non-executive chairman

Gates has repeatedly said he will never come back to Microsoft in a business role, having chosen instead to focus on philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and pledged to give away half his wealth over the course of his lifetime.

Nevertheless there are those who think he could make a comeback and his odds, at 50/1 are better than those of Tim Cook.

Farhad Manjoo, an American columnist, has said that Microsoft "must bring back Bill Gates" and claimed he is "the only man who can save [the company]".

He's not alone in thinking Microsoft would be better off in Gates' hands, at least for the time being.

Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff told CNET Gates should take over as interim head of the company.

"There is no clear candidate with the visionary skills to turn the company around other than Bill Gates. He wouldn't just be a magnet for a new vision, but for a new talent pool of leadership," he said.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of operating systems

A major heavyweight in the lineup for next CEO, Myerson has been with Microsoft since 1997, when the Redmond giant acquired Inters the web software company he had founded five years earlier at the age of 21.

Myerson became head of mobile engineering in 2008 and was promoted to lead the Windows Phone division in 2011.

He was another of the company's senior employees to receive a promotion in the July reshuffle, which led to The Verge naming him "the most important man at Microsoft".

Very few criticisms can be levelled at this rapid rising star, although some have pointed to Windows Phone not being as successful as it was expected to be, lagging significantly behind Apple's iPhone and Google's Android offerings in terms of market share.

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of cloud and enterprise

Nadella is another long-term employee of Microsoft, having joined the company from Sun Microsystems in 1992.

He has held several senior positions at the organisation, including senior vice president of R&D at the online services division, vice president of the Microsoft business division and president of the Server and tools business.

Nevertheless, it has been argued that Nadella does not have the technology vision to truly enable Microsoft to take on its nemeses Google and Apple in the consumer technology market.

Jeff Raikes, CEO of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jeff Raikes is the longest serving employee to make the list, having been recruited by Ballmer to the position of product manager in 1981.

He served in many different roles before rising to become president of the Microsoft business division. In 2008 he left Microsoft, having been hand picked by Bill Gates to run the philanthropic organisation he set up with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

His long service with the company puts him on this list, however some are concerned that his five years outside the business may mean he is less in touch with current trends than other contenders.

Eric Rudder, executive vice president of advanced strategy and research

Rudder has been with Microsoft for around 20 years and was once tipped to take over as CEO from Bill Gates, so it is perhaps not surprising to find him on this list.

Previous to his current position, he was senior vice president of Server and Tools and, prior to that, worked directly with Bill Gates as vice president of technical strategy.

However, he has never been a business unit leader and was, of course, passed over once before in favour of Ballmer.

John Thompson, board member and search committee leader, Microsoft

A controversial contender, Thompson is in fact in charge of the search for the next CEO. He is also currently CEO of Virtual Instruments and was previously CEO of Symantec, giving him leadership experience that can only be matched by Myerson and Bates.

He has also acted as an advisor to US President Barack Obama.

However, the fact he has no direct management experience within Microsoft could count against him.

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer

Who better to take over as the new CEO than somebody who is already almost top of the tree? He also has experience within Wal-Mart as CIO and president and CEO of the chain's wholesale division, Sam's Club.

Going against him is the fact he has only ever been COO at Microsoft and does not have an engineering background, having spent most of his career as a professional salesman and motivator.

The bookies' favourite

Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

At 5/1 for, Stephen Elop, the Canadian head of Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia, is the bookmakers' favourite to take over from Ballmer. The only other contender coming close is Turner, who comes in at 6/1.

Elop has extensive experience working with and for Microsoft; he was head of Microsoft's business division between January 2008 and September 2010 before taking over as the first ever non-Finnish CEO of Nokia.

The close relationship between Nokia and Microsoft is no secret either, with the two forming a close bond over Windows Phone.

However, the question remains as to whether he would want to leave his current position to head back to his former employer.

The outlier

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Yes, there really are people suggesting Tim Cook could fly the coop to join Apple's long-term rival.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations before he eventually rising to the position of COO in 2007. After a couple of temporary stints as CEO while founder Steve Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer, he took the position as CEO full time in August 2011.

Unsurprisingly, though, Cook is considered the least likely contender for Microsoft's top role, with Ladbrokes giving odds of 100/1. However, if he were to switch sides, you could turn 10 into 1,000...

The return of the king

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and non-executive chairman

Gates has repeatedly said he will never come back to Microsoft in a business role, having chosen instead to focus on philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and pledged to give away half his wealth over the course of his lifetime.

Nevertheless there are those who think he could make a comeback and his odds, at 50/1 are better than those of Tim Cook.

Farhad Manjoo, an American columnist, has said that Microsoft "must bring back Bill Gates" and claimed he is "the only man who can save [the company]".

He's not alone in thinking Microsoft would be better off in Gates' hands, at least for the time being.

Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff told CNET Gates should take over as interim head of the company.

"There is no clear candidate with the visionary skills to turn the company around other than Bill Gates. He wouldn't just be a magnet for a new vision, but for a new talent pool of leadership," he said.

John Thompson, board member and search committee leader, Microsoft

A controversial contender, Thompson is in fact in charge of the search for the next CEO. He is also currently CEO of Virtual Instruments and was previously CEO of Symantec, giving him leadership experience that can only be matched by Myerson and Bates.

He has also acted as an advisor to US President Barack Obama.

However, the fact he has no direct management experience within Microsoft could count against him.

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer

Who better to take over as the new CEO than somebody who is already almost top of the tree? He also has experience within Wal-Mart as CIO and president and CEO of the chain's wholesale division, Sam's Club.

Going against him is the fact he has only ever been COO at Microsoft and does not have an engineering background, having spent most of his career as a professional salesman and motivator.

The bookies' favourite

Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

At 5/1 for, Stephen Elop, the Canadian head of Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia, is the bookmakers' favourite to take over from Ballmer. The only other contender coming close is Turner, who comes in at 6/1.

Elop has extensive experience working with and for Microsoft; he was head of Microsoft's business division between January 2008 and September 2010 before taking over as the first ever non-Finnish CEO of Nokia.

The close relationship between Nokia and Microsoft is no secret either, with the two forming a close bond over Windows Phone.

However, the question remains as to whether he would want to leave his current position to head back to his former employer.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of operating systems

A major heavyweight in the lineup for next CEO, Myerson has been with Microsoft since 1997, when the Redmond giant acquired Inters the web software company he had founded five years earlier at the age of 21.

Myerson became head of mobile engineering in 2008 and was promoted to lead the Windows Phone division in 2011.

He was another of the company's senior employees to receive a promotion in the July reshuffle, which led to The Verge naming him "the most important man at Microsoft".

Very few criticisms can be levelled at this rapid rising star, although some have pointed to Windows Phone not being as successful as it was expected to be, lagging significantly behind Apple's iPhone and Google's Android offerings in terms of market share.

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of cloud and enterprise

Nadella is another long-term employee of Microsoft, having joined the company from Sun Microsystems in 1992.

He has held several senior positions at the organisation, including senior vice president of R&D at the online services division, vice president of the Microsoft business division and president of the Server and tools business.

Nevertheless, it has been argued that Nadella does not have the technology vision to truly enable Microsoft to take on its nemeses Google and Apple in the consumer technology market.

Jeff Raikes, CEO of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jeff Raikes is the longest serving employee to make the list, having been recruited by Ballmer to the position of product manager in 1981.

He served in many different roles before rising to become president of the Microsoft business division. In 2008 he left Microsoft, having been hand picked by Bill Gates to run the philanthropic organisation he set up with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

His long service with the company puts him on this list, however some are concerned that his five years outside the business may mean he is less in touch with current trends than other contenders.

Eric Rudder, executive vice president of advanced strategy and research

Rudder has been with Microsoft for around 20 years and was once tipped to take over as CEO from Bill Gates, so it is perhaps not surprising to find him on this list.

Previous to his current position, he was senior vice president of Server and Tools and, prior to that, worked directly with Bill Gates as vice president of technical strategy.

However, he has never been a business unit leader and was, of course, passed over once before in favour of Ballmer.

John Thompson, board member and search committee leader, Microsoft

A controversial contender, Thompson is in fact in charge of the search for the next CEO. He is also currently CEO of Virtual Instruments and was previously CEO of Symantec, giving him leadership experience that can only be matched by Myerson and Bates.

He has also acted as an advisor to US President Barack Obama.

However, the fact he has no direct management experience within Microsoft could count against him.

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer

Who better to take over as the new CEO than somebody who is already almost top of the tree? He also has experience within Wal-Mart as CIO and president and CEO of the chain's wholesale division, Sam's Club.

Going against him is the fact he has only ever been COO at Microsoft and does not have an engineering background, having spent most of his career as a professional salesman and motivator.

The bookies' favourite

Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

At 5/1 for, Stephen Elop, the Canadian head of Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia, is the bookmakers' favourite to take over from Ballmer. The only other contender coming close is Turner, who comes in at 6/1.

Elop has extensive experience working with and for Microsoft; he was head of Microsoft's business division between January 2008 and September 2010 before taking over as the first ever non-Finnish CEO of Nokia.

The close relationship between Nokia and Microsoft is no secret either, with the two forming a close bond over Windows Phone.

However, the question remains as to whether he would want to leave his current position to head back to his former employer.

The outlier

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Yes, there really are people suggesting Tim Cook could fly the coop to join Apple's long-term rival.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations before he eventually rising to the position of COO in 2007. After a couple of temporary stints as CEO while founder Steve Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer, he took the position as CEO full time in August 2011.

Unsurprisingly, though, Cook is considered the least likely contender for Microsoft's top role, with Ladbrokes giving odds of 100/1. However, if he were to switch sides, you could turn 10 into 1,000...

The return of the king

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and non-executive chairman

Gates has repeatedly said he will never come back to Microsoft in a business role, having chosen instead to focus on philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and pledged to give away half his wealth over the course of his lifetime.

Nevertheless there are those who think he could make a comeback and his odds, at 50/1 are better than those of Tim Cook.

Farhad Manjoo, an American columnist, has said that Microsoft "must bring back Bill Gates" and claimed he is "the only man who can save [the company]".

He's not alone in thinking Microsoft would be better off in Gates' hands, at least for the time being.

Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff told CNET Gates should take over as interim head of the company.

"There is no clear candidate with the visionary skills to turn the company around other than Bill Gates. He wouldn't just be a magnet for a new vision, but for a new talent pool of leadership," he said.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of operating systems

A major heavyweight in the lineup for next CEO, Myerson has been with Microsoft since 1997, when the Redmond giant acquired Inters the web software company he had founded five years earlier at the age of 21.

Myerson became head of mobile engineering in 2008 and was promoted to lead the Windows Phone division in 2011.

He was another of the company's senior employees to receive a promotion in the July reshuffle, which led to The Verge naming him "the most important man at Microsoft".

Very few criticisms can be levelled at this rapid rising star, although some have pointed to Windows Phone not being as successful as it was expected to be, lagging significantly behind Apple's iPhone and Google's Android offerings in terms of market share.

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of cloud and enterprise

Nadella is another long-term employee of Microsoft, having joined the company from Sun Microsystems in 1992.

He has held several senior positions at the organisation, including senior vice president of R&D at the online services division, vice president of the Microsoft business division and president of the Server and tools business.

Nevertheless, it has been argued that Nadella does not have the technology vision to truly enable Microsoft to take on its nemeses Google and Apple in the consumer technology market.

Jeff Raikes, CEO of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jeff Raikes is the longest serving employee to make the list, having been recruited by Ballmer to the position of product manager in 1981.

He served in many different roles before rising to become president of the Microsoft business division. In 2008 he left Microsoft, having been hand picked by Bill Gates to run the philanthropic organisation he set up with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

His long service with the company puts him on this list, however some are concerned that his five years outside the business may mean he is less in touch with current trends than other contenders.

Eric Rudder, executive vice president of advanced strategy and research

Rudder has been with Microsoft for around 20 years and was once tipped to take over as CEO from Bill Gates, so it is perhaps not surprising to find him on this list.

Previous to his current position, he was senior vice president of Server and Tools and, prior to that, worked directly with Bill Gates as vice president of technical strategy.

However, he has never been a business unit leader and was, of course, passed over once before in favour of Ballmer.

Terry Myerson, executive vice president of operating systems

A major heavyweight in the lineup for next CEO, Myerson has been with Microsoft since 1997, when the Redmond giant acquired Inters the web software company he had founded five years earlier at the age of 21.

Myerson became head of mobile engineering in 2008 and was promoted to lead the Windows Phone division in 2011.

He was another of the company's senior employees to receive a promotion in the July reshuffle, which led to The Verge naming him "the most important man at Microsoft".

Very few criticisms can be levelled at this rapid rising star, although some have pointed to Windows Phone not being as successful as it was expected to be, lagging significantly behind Apple's iPhone and Google's Android offerings in terms of market share.

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of cloud and enterprise

Nadella is another long-term employee of Microsoft, having joined the company from Sun Microsystems in 1992.

He has held several senior positions at the organisation, including senior vice president of R&D at the online services division, vice president of the Microsoft business division and president of the Server and tools business.

Nevertheless, it has been argued that Nadella does not have the technology vision to truly enable Microsoft to take on its nemeses Google and Apple in the consumer technology market.

Jeff Raikes, CEO of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Jeff Raikes is the longest serving employee to make the list, having been recruited by Ballmer to the position of product manager in 1981.

He served in many different roles before rising to become president of the Microsoft business division. In 2008 he left Microsoft, having been hand picked by Bill Gates to run the philanthropic organisation he set up with his wife, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

His long service with the company puts him on this list, however some are concerned that his five years outside the business may mean he is less in touch with current trends than other contenders.

Eric Rudder, executive vice president of advanced strategy and research

Rudder has been with Microsoft for around 20 years and was once tipped to take over as CEO from Bill Gates, so it is perhaps not surprising to find him on this list.

Previous to his current position, he was senior vice president of Server and Tools and, prior to that, worked directly with Bill Gates as vice president of technical strategy.

However, he has never been a business unit leader and was, of course, passed over once before in favour of Ballmer.

John Thompson, board member and search committee leader, Microsoft

A controversial contender, Thompson is in fact in charge of the search for the next CEO. He is also currently CEO of Virtual Instruments and was previously CEO of Symantec, giving him leadership experience that can only be matched by Myerson and Bates.

He has also acted as an advisor to US President Barack Obama.

However, the fact he has no direct management experience within Microsoft could count against him.

Kevin Turner, chief operating officer

Who better to take over as the new CEO than somebody who is already almost top of the tree? He also has experience within Wal-Mart as CIO and president and CEO of the chain's wholesale division, Sam's Club.

Going against him is the fact he has only ever been COO at Microsoft and does not have an engineering background, having spent most of his career as a professional salesman and motivator.

The bookies' favourite

Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

At 5/1 for, Stephen Elop, the Canadian head of Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia, is the bookmakers' favourite to take over from Ballmer. The only other contender coming close is Turner, who comes in at 6/1.

Elop has extensive experience working with and for Microsoft; he was head of Microsoft's business division between January 2008 and September 2010 before taking over as the first ever non-Finnish CEO of Nokia.

The close relationship between Nokia and Microsoft is no secret either, with the two forming a close bond over Windows Phone.

However, the question remains as to whether he would want to leave his current position to head back to his former employer.

The outlier

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Yes, there really are people suggesting Tim Cook could fly the coop to join Apple's long-term rival.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations before he eventually rising to the position of COO in 2007. After a couple of temporary stints as CEO while founder Steve Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer, he took the position as CEO full time in August 2011.

Unsurprisingly, though, Cook is considered the least likely contender for Microsoft's top role, with Ladbrokes giving odds of 100/1. However, if he were to switch sides, you could turn 10 into 1,000...

The return of the king

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and non-executive chairman

Gates has repeatedly said he will never come back to Microsoft in a business role, having chosen instead to focus on philanthropic work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and pledged to give away half his wealth over the course of his lifetime.

Nevertheless there are those who think he could make a comeback and his odds, at 50/1 are better than those of Tim Cook.

Farhad Manjoo, an American columnist, has said that Microsoft "must bring back Bill Gates" and claimed he is "the only man who can save [the company]".

He's not alone in thinking Microsoft would be better off in Gates' hands, at least for the time being.

Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff told CNET Gates should take over as interim head of the company.

"There is no clear candidate with the visionary skills to turn the company around other than Bill Gates. He wouldn't just be a magnet for a new vision, but for a new talent pool of leadership," he said.

Consumer electronics giant Apple claims to upped the number of workplace inspections it carries out at its production sites across the globe over the past year.

The company said it carried out 393 workplace audits in 2012, which is 72 per cent higher than the previous year, which include environmental and safety assessments of its production facilities.

In addition to this, the company claims to have bolstered the amount of education it offers to managers around local labour laws, workers rights and occupational health.

Apple made the claims in the 2013 edition of its annual Apple Supplier Responsibility Progress Report.

In the past, the company has come under fire for the working conditions at the factories it uses to manufacture parts for its gadgets across the globe.

This is something the company has been working to address over the past seven years by publishing its Supplier Responsibility Report, while CEO Tim Cook has since taking over the company reins in 2011 has taken steps to investigate.

The company states in the document that, as of last year, it achieved 92 per cent compliance with its rules banning staff from working more than an average of 60 hours a week.

It also confirmed that none of its final assembly suppliers were found to be using underage labour, but it is an issue it is determined to stamp out from other parts of its supply chain.

"While we are encouraged by these results, we will continue regular audits and go deeper into our supply chain to ensure that there are no underage workers at any Apple supplier," said the report.

"Many suppliers tell us that we are the only company performing these audits, so when we do find and correct problems, the impact goes far beyond our own suppliers."

As an example of how deeply it delves into the use of underage labour within its supply chain, Apple cited the cases of two third party labour agencies, which prompted the firm to stop dealing with them.

In both cases, the children involved were returned to their families.

Apple's late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs threatened the head of Palm with a patent suit if he did not agree to an arrangement banning the two firms from poaching each other's staff.

The revelation came as part of an on-going US civil court case, in which seven tech companies, including Apple, Adobe systems and Intel, are accused of colluding to keep wages artificially low by agreeing not to recruit people from their companies.

If you choose the litigation route, we can respond with our own claims

The threat was allegedly made by Jobs to Edward Colligan, who was CEO of Palm at the time, in 2007.

According to a sworn statement from Colligan, Jobs "also suggested that if Palm did not agree to such an arrangement, Palm could face lawsuits alleging infringement of Apple's many patents."

Colligan claims he told Jobs the plan was likely to be illegal and that Palm was not intimidated by the threat.

"If you choose the litigation route, we can respond with our own claims based on patent assets, but I do not think litigation is the answer," Colligan told Jobs.

The current civil suit is being brought by employees of the companies, who claim to have been adversely affected by these no-poaching agreements.

It follows a 2010 antitrust case brought by the US justice department against Google, Apple, Adobe Systems, Intel, Intuit and Pixar, which also centred on an alleged no-call policies.

The case was settled, but the companies are now prohibited from agreeing not to recruit each others' employees.

Last week, US district judge Lucy Koh, who is hearing the case in San Jose, ordered current CEO Tim Cook to give a deposition in the case.

Cook, Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Intel CEO Paul Otellini will all be deposed before the end of February, before Koh decides whether or not the case will be heard as a class action suit.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered to give a deposition in an antitrust case brought against the Cupertino giant and several other big names in tech.

The case has been brought privately on behalf of the employees of Google, Intel, Adobe Systems, Pixar, Intuit and Lucasfilm, as well as Apple.

The suit alleges the defendants violated antitrust laws by entering into agreements not to recruit each other's staff.

The employees, whose roles range from sous chefs to engineers and administrators, argue their wages were kept artificially low because of such agreements.

However, lawyers for the companies claim the employees' representatives have not been able to demonstrate all staff members' pay had been affected by the practice.

The organisations faced similar accusations from the US justice department in 2010, which was settled out of court.

US District Judge Lucy Koh, who is hearing the case in San Jose, California, told Apple's lawyers that founder Steve Jobs was copied in on e-mails at issue in the case.

She said she also found it "hard to believe" Cook, who was Apple's COO at the time, would not have been consulted about this type of agreement.

Koh said she was disappointed senior executives at the companies involved had not been deposed prior to the case entering her court, where she will decide whether it will be heard as a group lawsuit.

In addition to Tim Cook, Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Intel CEO Paul Otellini will also be deposed before the end of February.

An Australian police force has warned motorists not to use Apple Maps, claiming the software has led to a number of people becoming stranded in one of the country's national parks.

An alert sent out by police in the state of Victoria claims motorists are regularly being misdirected by the software, which Apple has been offering up to users as an alternative to Google Maps since the launch of iOS 6 in September.

This has resulted in motorists becoming stranded within the Murray-Sunset National Park, the police claims, where water supplies are scarce and daily temperatures often peak at 46 degrees.

Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water.

"Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception," said the statement.

According to tests carried out on the software by the police, the problem is that Apple Maps lists the Victorian city of Mildura as being in the middle of the national park, when it is approximately 70km away.

"Police have contacted Apple in relation to the issue and hope the matter is rectified promptly to ensure the safety of motorists travelling to Mildura," said the police statement.

"Anyone travelling to Mildura or other locations within Victoria should rely on other forms of mapping until this matter is rectified," it also advised.

Since its launch, Apple Maps has come in for a fair amount of criticism from users who have poured scorn on the software's problems locating major landmarks.

As a result, Apple CEO Tim Cook was [a href="https://www.itpro.com/643198" target="blank"]forced to apologise for the poor quality of the service within days of its release.

Apple has fired the man in charge of its Maps application after the software caused huge embarrassment for the iPhone-maker and resulted in the CEO having to make a public apology.

Richard Williamson, who oversaw the mapping software was axed at the behest of Eddy Cue, senior vice president at Apple, according to Bloomberg.

Although in-house engineers have been working to fix problems, Cue has reportedly reached out to seek help from TomTom to speed up the process.

Apple has yet to name a successor to Williamson.

The Apple Maps software was made available with the iOS 6 update and replaced Google Maps as the default navigation tool. However, the system was plagued with glitches most notably misplacing key landmarks and giving inaccurate directions.

Apple Maps quickly became the butt of jokes on social media sites such as Twitter and this forced the firm to make a public apology, much like it had to with the infamous antannaegate saga.

Tim Cook posted an open letter on the firm's website, noting that Apple had fallen short of its usual "high standard".

"We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better," he said.

The move could cause concern for investors as Cook has already triggered a massive management shakeup. Scott Forstall, a long-time lieutenant of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was asked to leave following years of friction with other top executives.

Forstall also refused to take responsibility for the bungled Apple Maps software and did not sign a public apology, which Cook ended up signing himself.

Apple also noted that it was going to part company with John Browett, despite him being with the firm just seven months. Browett was hired as the company's retail chief after serving as CEO of UK electronics retailer Dixons.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is confident that Microsoft's Surface RT tablet will not challenge the dominance of the iPad.

Despite having yet to test the 10.6in Windows RT, Cook claimed that Microsoft tablet tries to do too many things.

"I haven't personally played with the Surface yet, but what we're reading about it is that it's a fairly compromised, confusing product...I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don't think it would do all of those things very well," he said during a conference call about Apple's Q4 earnings.

"[When people] look at the iPad versus competitive offerings, [they] are going to conclude, they really want an iPad and I think people have done that to-date and I think they will continue to do that."

Microsoft has launched the Windows RT device today, after it was introduced in an enthusiastic keynote by head of department, Panos Panay, in New York last night.

Panay gave a detailed breakdown of the key features of Surface RT.

He explained why Microsoft had chosen the 10.6in screen size, showcased unique features such as the Touch Cover and even carried out a successful drop test on stage.

It remains to be seen how the RT will fair against the iPad, as both devices have the same 399 starting price. Initial reaction to the Microsoft tablet has been positive, with praise for the hardware in particular.

However, Apple does have a two and half year headstart. The firm has sold 100 million iPads to date and offers 275,000 apps specifically designed for use on the tablet. Apple also announced a smaller version of the device in the form of the iPad mini to give users more choice.

Whilst Microsoft has help from OEMs to offer a choice of devices and a strong relationship with developers, it will take time for the Windows Store to catch up.

Apple's iOS 5 and iCloud products will be released on 12 October, the Cupertino company announced today.

The OS, announced earlier this year during Apple's Wordwide Developer Conference, comes with a host of additions.

Of over 200 new features, the Notification Centre, where users will find all of their notifications in one place, greater integration with Twitter including a single sign-on, and iMessage (Apple's version of BlackBerry Messenger) were the most significant.

Freshly crowned CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to make his first big announcement in charge of Apple, but it was left up to Scott Forstall to make the iOS 5 announcement.

"We've already seeded more than 100k developers and they love it," Forstall said during Apple's special event in Cupertino.

"We can't wait to get it into everyone's hands."

Little new about the iCloud was revealed, except from the release date and a number of related applications.

Apple announced a number of new apps for iOS users that hook up to the iCloud, including Find my Friends, which essentially does what it says on the tin. It also allows users to stop location sharing functionality when they want.

"Now when I'm at Disneyland, I can easily see where my family is. Or I can see if my son made it to school today," said Apple's Eddy Cue.

Read on for our Need to Know cheat sheet on Apple iOS 5.

COMMENT For those of us accustomed to Apple as it now - one of the world's largest, most profitable and most influential technology companies - it's hard to imagine what it was like immediately before Steve Jobs returned to the company in late 1996.

The company was suffering severe financial losses as its muddled line of beige Macs was reduced to single digit market share of a personal computer market dominated by Windows PCs. Attempts at new products, such as the Newton, were ill-conceived and poorly received. Rumours of a takeover were rampant involving suitors as diverse as Oracle, Sun, IBM and Sony.

It's a big mock turtleneck jumper to fill.

In retrospect, the key to Apple's recovery lay in two things: Steve Jobs himself and the technology Apple acquired when it bought his failed computer company NeXT. The classic MacOS was antiquated and ill-equipped for modern computing, while Apple's own attempts to develop a replacement burned through money with little to show for it.

The NeXT OpenStep OS would be overhauled to become its replacement Mac OS X. In addition to being a critical component of all modern Macs, OS X would also form the basis of iOS the operating system behind the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and the current AppleTV.

The influence of Jobs himself is easy to exaggerate. But nor should it be cast aside. As a single person, Jobs obviously couldn't have worked on every single aspect of all of the key products released during his reign, from the various iPods and iPhones to the iTunes Store, yet each bear his unmistakable influence. None of them were innovations in themselves - MP3 players, smartphones and online music stores all existed before their arrival.

Each creation dramatically reinvented each of their respective product categories through better industrial design and ease of use with as much emphasis on what's missing as what is included. For example, unlike some competing MP3 players, the iPod doesn't allow users to edit ID3 tags or delete music. What it loses in flexibility, it makes up for in a much simpler and arguably more elegant user experience. One that continues to be copied to this day.

This is even more dramatically illustrated in the iMac, Apple's leading line of consumer desktop computers. The original iMac launched back in 1998 with a striking appearance. Just as importantly, it did away with floppy drives and all of the Mac's legacy ports at the time. This was merely the start of a pattern that continues now with the DVD-less MacBook Air - deliberately removing what is seen as obsolete technologies, even if the rest of the industry is reluctant to follow suit.

This minimalism is due in no small part to Jobs' own ideas and preferences on what technology should be like. It's no surprise that Apple's computers following Jobs' return look and work less like the classic Macs made before his second tenure and more like the NeXT Cube computers made by NeXT.

Apple obviously isn't just a collection of technologies and products it's also an organisation of people and processes. Jonathan Ives, now Apple's vice president of industrial design, was already a mid-level employee before Jobs' return but had relatively little influence. Upon his return, Jobs soon formed a close working relationship with the quiet Brit and the beige, boxy towers of the old Apple were soon phased out in favour of Ives' curvy and colourful - and later sleek - minimalist designs.

Throughout the 1990s Apple had trouble getting third-party retailers to stock and promote its products. Jobs circumvented this not only by concentrating on online sales, but also by opening Apple's own chain of retail stores.

The architecturally striking stores were masterminded not just by Jobs, but also by former Target retail chief Ron Johnson who apparently had been handpicked by Jobs. Initially derided by critics as an expensive experiment doomed to failure, the stores are not only financially successful, but a crucial component of Apple's attempts to control its public image. A major Apple product launch now isn't complete without images of customers lining up outside Apple Stores all over the world many of whom will return for the free Wi-Fi and technical support.

All of Apple's products may be marked as 'Designed by Apple in California', but they're also 'assembled in China'. Jobs' choice of Tim Cook as his chief operating officer, a former Compaq executive, turned out to be critically important. Indeed, Cook has been instrumental in securing favourable long-term contracts with component suppliers and outsourced manufacturers.

Apple now gets priority access to Asia's manufacturing lines and the world's supply of flash memory, LCD screens and other important parts, giving it huge economies of scale to the detriment of its competitors who are left scrabbling for alternatives. Compared to the handful of bespoke American factories Apple maintained before Jobs' return, it's a remarkable difference.

Tim Cook now steps up to take Jobs' role as Apple CEO and his allegedly cool, measured manner will stand in marked contrast to Jobs' famously fierce and mercurial temperament. Unlike his first departure back in 1985, Jobs is more or less stepping down on his own terms with his chosen successor in place. Cook will have to continue what Jobs started by maintaining and expanding Apple's strong positions in the smartphone and tablet markets. He'll also have the chance to make his own mark first of all by appointing a replacement for the recently departed Howard among others.

It's a big mock turtleneck jumper to fill.

ANALYSIS Taking over a company which is richer than the US Government must be a fairly daunting task.

It's one that Tim Cook is facing as of today. Now Steve Jobs has gone, Cook has some pretty big shoes/shiny white trainers to fill.

For those wondering whether Cook has the acumen to maintain Apple's place at the top of the consumer tech world, quite simply, he does.

Having been acting CEO during Jobs' previous time outs, Apple has continued to grow into even more of an indomitable behemoth. The company's recent results showed just how well the firm has done under the leadership of Cook. In what can only be described as a spectacular second quarter, Apple saw a 93 per cent rise in profits.

Steve Jobs has provided both strategic vision and personal leadership...Tim Cook will not step easily into either of these roles, as a safe pair of hands but hardly a visionary or a charismatic figure.

Even before those stellar results, Cook proved himself more than capable of leading the iPhone creator. The year he joined Apple, the company reported a $1 billion loss. By the following year, thanks to Cook's improvements to operational efficiencies amongst other factors, the company was in profit. He went on to become chief operating officer (COO) during the company's years of growth throughout the 2000s.

It would be unwise to suggest Jobs is completely out of the picture, even though he will step away from the limelight. His influence will no doubt be felt in the coming years until he completely resigns from his role as chairman.

Nevertheless, Cook will have to do a few things to ensure he isn't responsible for any mishaps. At Apple, being number one is the only option. Here's five ways Cook can help ensure it remains there...

1. Become the rockstar

PR is something Apple has become awfully adept at over the past decade. Steve Jobs was part of that PR beast, the figurehead and the rockstar who became synonymous with the company and what it stood for. Some believe Cook will find it hard to keep that part of Apple alive.

"Steve Jobs has provided both strategic vision and personal leadership at the top of the company, as arguably the most visible and well-known CEO of any technology company today," said Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson.

"Tim Cook will not step easily into either of these roles, as a safe pair of hands but hardly a visionary or a charismatic figure."

Cook, who is known primarily as a supply chain master, would do well to become one of the rockstars of Silicon Valley. Although doing so in a non-cringing way will be harder to do than many would expect. Perhaps bringing in another one of Apple's star players, such as Jonathan Ives, to become the face of the company might be a better option.

2. Appear to be first to market

Despite what Apple may want you to believe, it hasn't always been the first to new markets. It didn't create the first smartphone, nor did it produce the first tablet.

What has done is create products that were of such high quality, and were advertised so well, that it seemed like Apple was first to market. Then the wannabes followed, as we now see with the abundance of iPhone and iPad look-alikes flooding the market. All that did was entrench Apple's position as leader.

Cook has to continue this form. With competitors starting to realise that following Apple rather than innovating isn't the best way to operate right now (look at Windows Phone 7 as an example of how to create a more unique mobile OS), Cook will want to ensure the iPad maker isn't left looking like a copycat itself.

One repeated criticism of Apple has been its lack of openness, its so-called "walled garden" approach. This manifested itself in the battle with Adobe and the lack of compatibility between Flash and iOS.

There are some areas where Cook would be wise to open up, however. In particular, Apple will have to keep developers interested.

"As they move forward, Apple will have to open up elements but not so they spoil what they've got," Rob Bamforth, principal analyst at Quocirca, told IT Pro.

"They have to define the layers where they allow open connections to stimulate the ecosystem. They don't want to make developers feel hamstrung. Perhaps they will want to look at APIs and how much they take from developers' share of sales."

4. Keep it simple, keep it quality

Apple's rise relied heavily on having a slim lineup of products, none of which were really aimed at the lower-end of the market. As time has gone on, Apple has entered new markets, most recently with the iCloud. Up until now, every move Apple has made into a new space has been an astute one.

Recent rumours of an entry-level iPhone will be cause for concern amongst some, however. If Apple does diversify into new areas, it will not only risk its image as a company which values quality over quantity, it will be pandering to the market something it has never openly done. Would it be a mistake to introduce a low-end phone?

"It would be a mistake if it was just regarded as a cheaper version of the iPhone," Bamforth said. "It would have to be a new category device, not a cheaper iPhone lookalike. Consumers can find those elsewhere."

Jobs was known as the man who took on Wintel and won with his own brand of simple, workable, classy technology. Cook will want to continue in that vein, otherwise Apple won't appear to be as unique or as powerful as it does.

5. Keep the A team together

Despite Jobs' evident impact on Apple and its success, Cook was proof having the right team in place is vital to any company wanting to become a real force.

There are some big names who will need to be kept on board, including Scott Forstall, the force behind iOS, and marketing man Phil Schiller.

Jonathan Ive will truly be key. The British designer behind some of Apple's most significant technologies the iPhone being one will be invaluable as the tech giant looks to keep ahead of the curve.

Cook will have to find a top quality COO too one with the same passion for operational efficiency and supply chain management that the new CEO has evinced since 1997.

If Cook can do all this and more, Apple will be just fine. More than that, it'll ensure the firm remains insanely profitable and a true innovator something Steve Jobs always wanted.

Despite rumours of delays, Apple will release the iPad 2 on 2 March.

So claims a report by Reuters, which - citing sources close to the matter - said Apple will hold an event on that date to show off the second iteration of the world's best-selling tablet, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source rubbished suggestions the device release had been pushed back to June.

The news comes just days after a Taiwanese brokerage firm claimed the iPad 2 would be delayed due to manufacturing issues.

Subsequently, Apple shares fell by three per cent.

Tim Cook, chief operating office of Apple, will most likely take to the stage in Steve Jobs' absence to introduce the next iPad.

Jobs recently announced he would be taking medical leave, saying he hoped to be back as soon as possible.

This year will see a host of tablets hit the market, including Samsung's new Galaxy tab, which some analysts believe will offer genuine competition to the iPad.

"Taken as a whole, shipments of Samsung's Android tablets look set to give the iPad a strong run in terms of overall volumes over the course of 2011 and will help cement the Korean vendor's status as the second-ranked supplier of "lite OS" mobile internet devices moving forward unless another vendor proves itself capable of delivering similar devices to multiple segments," said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1's high specification and larger size should see it tapping into different market segments to both the original Galaxy Tab and Apple's iPad."

Read on for our look at what the iPad 2 could offer business users.

Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs is to take a six month medical leave of absence, after learning that his health problems were "more complex" than previously thought.

Last week, Apple's head finally opened up about his much speculated-upon health, with Jobs admitting that he had a hormone imbalance that caused him to lose weight.

Yesterday, Apple confirmed that Jobs had sent an email around to his employees, explaining that he'd be back by the end of June. "In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June," he wrote.

During that time, Tim Cook will handle Apple's day-to-day management, but Jobs stressed that he would "remain involved in major strategic decisions" while on leave. Cook previously took over that role when Jobs was diagnosed with cancer in 2004.

Jobs also suggested in the letter to his staff that he wasn't just temporarily leaving over health concerns, but partially because of the attention it was receiving. "Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well."

Despite the plan for Jobs to return this summer, this will likely fire speculation about Apple's as-of-yet unknown succession plan.

"It's the classic blind man feeling around the elephant. We are all dealing on partial information," said Collins Stewart LLC analyst Ashok Kumar. "There's no individual or even a management team that can fill his shoes."

Another analyst suggested Cook is likely to be the choice. "The next six months are going to be basically a trial period for Tim Cook to be CEO," said Brian Marshall at Broadpoint Amtech."If that period goes well, my expectation is that Steve will pass the baton over to Tim in June and basically Steve will be his senior adviser."

But others warned that Apple could face trouble without Jobs. "Apple is more dependent on its CEO than most other companies," said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies. "Steve is a critical judge of the company's business, and that maestro role that he performs is what makes Apple great. But there is no maestro-in-training to take over Steve's role."

Additional reporting by Reuters.