Peter Burrows
I've covered the high-tech industry since 1989. Since joining Business Week's Silicon Valley bureau in 1995, I've covered Apple, Cisco, Microsoft and a broad range of markets, companies, people and technology trends.
Photograph by Tim Robberts
Questions remain about the feasibility of what to some extent seems to be freeloading on hotspots.
Can Republic Wireless Take the Headache Out of Finding Wi-Fi?
Republic Wireless drew lots of attention last year when it announced an unlimited data and calling plan for $19 a month, with no contract. How’s that possible in a world where $80 bills are the norm and unlimited data plans...
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Photograph by FarleyFilms via YouTube
Google hired a team of skydivers to jump from a zeppelin a mile or so above San Francisco.
Google’s Demo With Skydivers One-Ups ‘One More Thing’
Google pulled off what may well be the most thrilling and gutsiest product demo in history. To show off prototypes of its augmented reality goggles, being developed by an internal initiative called Project Glass, Google hired a team of skydivers to jump...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Apple's Craig Federighi described the new Mountain Lion operating system during the developers conference in San Francisco on Monday.
What Apple’s Small Announcements Add Up to in the Big Picture
At Apple’s keynote earlier this week, no new TV or iPhone was announced. The company did introduce a new high-end laptop. Big whoop, by Apple standards. The real headline was that there were lots of little whoops, said developers and...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Attendees line up to enter the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Monday.
FaceTime, Passbook And Other Items of Note From Apple’s Event
Here are some observations from today’s keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco: Hot ticket: This show was packed, and the numbers suggest this was a particularly enthusiastic group of attendees: The conference sold out in a record 1 hour...
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Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Ben Verwaayen, chief executive officer of Alcatel-Lucent SA, speaks during an interview in New York in March.
Silicon Valley: Stronger Than Ever?
Here’s one thing I didn’t expect to hear from the chief executive officer of one of Europe’s largest tech companies: “Everything happening today shows you have to be in Silicon Valley to really know what’s going on.” That was Ben...
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Photograph by Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
Jon Holtzman said there was internal fighting at Apple over his idea to do a promotional tie-in with 'Mission: Impossible.'
Meet the Man Who Put Apple Into ‘Mission: Impossible’
Back in 1996, Apple was in trouble – far worse than the public even knew. So when Jon Holtzman pitched management on a sweeping promotional tie-in with the new movie “Mission: Impossible,” some executives scoffed. “It was a big fight...
Read more »In Patent Wars, Apple’s Cook Prefers to ‘Settle Versus Battle’
Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked on yesterday’s earnings call whether it would be in the company’s best interests to clear the decks of all its various patent suits. Back in 2009, when asked about the mobile competition on a...
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Photograph by Jeff Pachoud/Getty Images
Apple has sold 67 million iPads in the two years it’s been on the market.
Apple CEO: You Can Merge Toaster, Fridge, But It Won’t Be ‘Pleasing’
On today’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked by Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi whether Apple would come up with some kind of tablet-laptop hybrid, so consumers would only need to carry one device. Cook, who is known...
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Photograph by Paul Edmondson/Corbis
Greenpeace gave Apple low marks for its failure to use clean energy to power the massive data centers that run its iTunes store and iCloud synchronization service.
Greenpeace Says Apple, Amazon Clouds Are Dirty, But They Disagree
In 2009, as Apple tried to prove its green credentials with environmentalists, Steve Jobs said he thought the company had made big strides to win over its loudest critic: Greenpeace International. After years of withering attacks, the group had tempered...
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Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
The ability of companies to use what we say for their own commercial purposes is increasing.
Say What? The Potential, Pitfalls of Data-Mining What We Tell Devices
Some of what we type into our digital devices is data-mined and used to help advertisers send us more targeted ads. But how about the queries or commands we say into our smartphones? Is that the next frontier for data-mining?...
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