Apple CEO Tim Cook’s full NBC Rock Center interview [Video]

NBC posted a couple official clips of its exclusive interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier today. The interview aired at 10PM ET tonight and now the full video of the interview has already made its way to YouTube. In the interview Cook talks about product design, Apple’s plans to bring production of some Macs back to the U.S. in 2013, his thoughts on Apple and being CEO post-Steve Jobs, and his “intense interest” in TV. We’ll update this post when the official, high quality versions hit the web. Part 2 of the interview continued below:
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Reminder: NBC posts two new preview clips of Tim Cook interview airing at 10PM ET [Video]

NBC’s Tim Cook interview is set to air at 10PM EST tonight, a conversation we already know will include talk of bringing manufacturing of at least some Macs back to the US, a future Apple TV, and more. NBC just posted two more clips ahead of tonight’s airing, including the one above where Cook notes he uses an iPad 80% of the time, and another below where he is asked about Jobs.
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Apple and T-Mobile USA partner up to sell products in 2013

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T-Mobile USA has announced that it has struck an agreement with Apple to begin supporting Apple products in 2013. Deutsche Telecom Rene Obermann made the announcement to analysts today.

The company also confirmed the announcement in a press release today:

In addition, T-Mobile USA has entered into an agreement with Apple to bring products to market together in 2013.

Deutsche Telecom also notes that this new agreement with Apple would affect the company’s cash flow:

The Group’s free cash flow is expected to decrease to around EUR 5 billion in 2013 (scheduled figure for 2012: around EUR 6 billion), primarily as a result of the increased capital expenditure and the systematic implementation of the Challenger strategy in the U.S. market, including the agreement with Apple. The Group’s free cash flow is expected to be around EUR 6 billion in 2015 (including MetroPCS).

It is currently unclear which products this deal will cover. Apple currently sells both the iPhone and the iPad on either Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint on the U.S., but it is unclear if T-Mobile USA will get both the iPhone and iPad, or only one of those products.

Late last month, Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig claimed that T-Mobile USA would announce an iPhone deal with Apple on either December 6th or 7th.

In the middle of last month, T-Mobile had alluded to the iPhone being too expensive to carry:

Make no mistake about it: We would love to carry the iPhone. However, we want the economies to be right for us, said T-Mobile COO Jim Alling, who, according to Fierce Mobile, spoke candidly during a discussion at the Morgan Stanley Twelfth-Annual Technology, Media, and Telecoms Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Throughout the year, we have been reporting that T-Mobile had been lighting up iPhone-compatible 4G networks. Notably, T-Mobile used the Moscone West Center as a testbed for this network during Apple’s early-June Worldwide Developers Conference.

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Following Tim Cook’s announcement that Apple will bring Mac manufacturing to the U.S., Foxconn says it plans to expand U.S. operations

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Following Tim Cook’s announcement that Apple will exclusively produce one of its Mac computer product lines next year in the United States, Foxconn has said that it will be expanding its North America-based operations.

A Foxconn spokesperson spoke to Bloomberg on the matter, explaining that its customers are pushing for its products to be built in the U.S.:

“We are looking at doing more manufacturing in the U.S. because, in general, customers want more to be done there,” Louis Woo, a Foxconn spokesman, said in a phone interview. He declined to comment on individual clients or specific plans.

In terms of challenges for moving more production to the U.S., the Foxconn spokesperson explained the there would be supply chain challenges related to the workers:

“Supply chain is one of the big challenges for U.S. expansion,” Woo said. “In addition, any manufacturing we take back to the U.S. needs to leverage high-value engineering talent there in comparison to the low-cost labor of China.”

Foxconn’s statements are not necessary tied to Apple, so this may mean that companies other than Apple are also pushing for more U.S.-based manufacturing.

As Tim Cook explained in his interviews today, some of Apple’s products are already partially built in the United States. For example, the latest Apple A-Series chips are built in Texas while Corning builds its iOS device glass in Kentucky.

Cook said Apple plans to invest $100 million in more U.S.-based production in 2013. The Apple product production in the U.S. news comes soon after reports about increased iMac production in the U.S. emerged.

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Apple launches 12 Days of Christmas app internationally for 2012

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Apple has launched a new version of its 12 Days of Christmas app for the 2012 holiday season. The application works on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

The app will begin functioning on December 26th, the day after Christmas, and will provide a free iTunes gift each day until January 8th.

Apple says the free gift selection will range from applications, songs, music videos, TV episodes, and books.

The app is available for free outside of the United States.

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Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour, Google Shopper 3.0, Evernote, SoundCloud, Snapseed, more

Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour: A few big games are hitting the App Store today. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City started hitting the store last night, and today we get the latest instalment from Gameloft’s Modern Combat series, “Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour”.

The #1 FPS is back on smartphone with a new chapter to push the boundaries of mobile gaming even further. In the wake of a nuclear disaster, the only chance to avoid global devastation is in the hands of the few elite soldiers who must track down and rescue the world’s leaders from a frighteningly familiar terrorist group.

Google Shopper iOS app 3.0Google Shopper version 3.0: Google has released a brand new version of its Google Shopper app today bringing a new, faster UI with larger images, a new sales screen, more effective search for apparel “with image-centric search results,” and much more:

* New UI with faster navigation and bigger images.
* Discover sales and special offers in your area from the new sales screen.
* Search for apparel and accessories more effectively with image-centric search results.
* Make more informed buying decisions with GoodGuide product ratings.
* Get great deals online with retail promotions.
* Find out about new features and content with push notifications.

SoundCloud version 2.4: A few nice improvements and new features to the SoundCloud iOS app:

- Introducing Reposts: sounds you repost will appear in your stream.
- New search with suggestions and more relevant results
- Improved Facebook integration
- Visually enhanced welcome screens for new users
- Streaming improvements and bug fixing

Evernote version 5.1: Version 5.1 of the Evernote iPhone and iPad apps brings Evernote Business support a business themed notebook design, the ability hide the premium view, and more:

- Evernote Business support, including new Business Notebook design
- Sort by created date and note counts in all note lists
- Premium users can hide the Premium View
- Numerous bug fixes and stability improvements

Snapseed version 1.5: As we told you earlier, the Google-acquired Snapseed iOS has gone free to celebrate the introduction of version 1.5 and new Android app. The update also includes the following improvements: Read more