Adobe CTO Jumps Ship to Become Apple’s New VP of Technology::

Apple and Adobe haven’t always gotten along well in the past, especially when it comes to Flash Player (Steve Jobs was publicly vocal about his disdain for Flash Player, especially on iOS devices) – but according to CNBC, Adobe’s Chief Technology Office will be abandoning his position at Adobe in favor of a new role on Apple’s executive team.

The move was initially confirmed by an SEC filing from Adobe, and the company has since released a statement toAllThingsD confirming the news as well:

Kevin Lynch, Adobe CTO, is leaving the company effective March 22 to take a position at Apple. We will not be replacing the CTO position; responsibility for technology development lies with our business unit heads under the leadership of Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Bryan Lamkin, who has recently returned to Adobe, will assume responsibilities for cross company research and technology initiatives as well as Corporate Development. We wish Kevin well in this new chapter of his career.

Lynch has been am Adobe employee since 2005, and is responsible for helping to drive the company’s push into web publishing, and the new Creative Cloud subscription service for Adobe Creative Suite apps, as well as expanding Creative Suite to mobile devices. According to a statement provided by Apple to CNBC, Lynch will serve as Apple’s new Vice President of Technology.

$AAPL confirms: Kevin Lynch has joined as VP of Technology, reporting to SVP Bob Mansfield

— Jon Fortt (@jonfortt) March 19, 2013

It’s unclear exactly why Apple acquired Lynch – but his promising history with Adobe’s cloud services could make him a prime candidate for bringing new features and improvements to Apple’s own iCloud platform. There have been a lot of executive changes at Apple in the past several months – it will be interesting to see what Apple has up their sleeves for the future!

BlackBerry CEO: The iPhone is an ‘Outdated’ Relic of the Past::

In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins took aim at the iPhone, stating that Apple is falling behind in terms of innovation in the smartphone market. He claims that the iPhone user interface is now 5 years old, and has seen no innovation in that time.

The Australian Financial Review (via AllThingsD):

“Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market … They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that,” Mr Heins said.

“History repeats itself again I guess … the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old.”

Mr Heins said one area that the new BlackBerry phones had surpassed the iPhone was in the ability to multi-task – running multiple apps at once – meaning that users could work in the same fashion on their smartphone as they liked to on a laptop.

Heins also stated that he feels that the new BlackBerry 10 platform has out-innovated Apple in a number of areas, including multitasking, noting that BlackBerry 10 devices can run up to eight apps in the background simultaneously. Apple is famously strict about background tasks, and does not allow most types of tasks to run in the background due to battery life concerns.

Is it just me, or is it downright laughable for BlackBerry’s CEO to ding Apple for a lack of innovation just because they haven’t majorly redesigned iOS, when BlackBerry 10 devices have yet to prove themselves in the industry (and coming from BlackBerry’s currently nearly non-existent presence in today’s smartphone market)?

While it’s true that Apple could perhaps bring more innovation to their mobile platform, Heins’ comments are a bit too ballsy, and his own platform far too unproven for him to be making such radical claims. BlackBerry nearly drove themselves to extinction due to a profound lack of innovation. The same cannot be said of Apple.

Nice try, Mr. Heins.

Android Founder Andy Rubin Steps Down as Head of Android at Google::

In a surprising memo posted on Google’s blog, Google EO Larry Page has just announced that Andy Rubin has officially stepped down as head of Android operations. Rubin was a co-founder of the Android platform, and is widely considered to be the “father” of Android. He will be replaced by the current Senior VP of Chrome and Apps, Sundar Pichai.

Page also notes that Android now accounts for over 750 million device activations, and that 25 billion apps have been downloaded from the Google Play store.

From the Google blog:

Sergey and I first heard about Android back in 2004, when Andy Rubin came to visit us at Google. He believed that aligning standards around an open-source operating system would drive innovation across the mobile industry. Most people thought he was nuts. But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile experiences.

Fast forward to today. The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: we have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have now been downloaded from Google Play. Pretty extraordinary progress for a decade’s work. Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android—and with a really strong leadership team in place—Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots please!

That’s huge news – easily as significant (and perhaps more so) as Scott Forstall stepping away from Apple’s iOS platform. It’s unclear exactly why Rubin has decided to step down as the head of Android, especially considering the platform’s massive success so far – although all current indications suggest that he stepped down of his own accord, and was likely not forced out of the position. It also sounds like Rubin will remain at Google – and it will be interesting to see what role he takes in the company moving forward.

We’ve reached out to Google for additional information, and we’ll update this post with more information as soon as we hear it. But for the moment, all I can say is: Wow!

Fingerprint Sensor and NFC Chip Rumored for Next-Gen iPhone::

A new report from the Far East claims that Apple has contracted with Taiwan’s Chipbond Science and Technology to build fingerprint sensors into its next-generation iPhone. The NFC chip rumor also pops up in the report.

AppleInsider:

The details were reported on Monday by China Times, which claimed that the so-called “iPhone 5S” will include both a fingerprint sensor and a near-field communications chip for mobile payments. The two items are expected to work in concert with one another, allowing users to easily authorize a transaction with their fingerprint.

Apple has reportedly begun stocking components for the iPhone 5S, and the device is expected to launch in mid-to-late 2013.

The details in the report appear to back up the previous claim by revered analyst Ming-chi Kuo of KGI Securities. Kuo, who has an excellent track record in predicting Apple’s product pipeline, believes the new iPhone 5S will launch sometime in June or July, looking much like the iPhone 5, but with an improved camera and more powerful processor. Kuo also believes the fingerprint sensor will be included in the iPhone 5S.

Kuo believes the fingerprint sensor will reside under the home button, and users will simply place their thumb over the button when prompted. The identity of the user can then be verified for entering passwords, or purchase authorizations.

The first rumors of a fingerprint sensor in future Apple devices popped up when Apple paid $356 million for security firm AuthenTec. The acquisition was reportedly made in order for Apple to obtain the company’s “Smart Sensor” technology.

NFC rumors continue to persist, even as Apple debuted its Passbook feature in iOS 6. The feature omitted NFC capabilities, due in part to the reluctance of store owners to spend the money necessary for equipping their checkout terminals with the equipment needed to make such a system work.