The departure of Scott Forstall, the VP of iOS, saw Jony Ive take up the role of Human Interface Manager for the entire company (Apple), which is obviously inclusive of iOS as well. After several months following the reshuffle, Apple’s software and hardware design teams seem to be collaborating in order to bring about a change in the user interface. For a company known to preserve its internal secrets, this news has certainly turned a few heads. Wall Street Journal reports that Greg Christie is currently leading the iOS human interface team. Given Ive’s position as the manager of human interface, the two teams are now sharing work amongst each other.
Although Ive’s influence on iOS seems to be minimal in the last couple of years, sources are indicative of the fact that he is pushing for a more modern approach; ‘flat design’ to be precise. This is a similar model which has been adopted by Google recently. Although this may come as a disappointment for those expecting radical changes in the iOS interface, Apple seems to be sticking to a conservative strategy by choosing not to alienate iOS users familiar with the platform. This new strategy seems to be working in CEO Tim Cook’s favour; given this is what he had in mind when Forstall left last year.
Also revealed were details pertaining to the possibility of uniting OSX and iOS. Teams dedicated to this objective are supposedly working under VP Craig Federighi. Federighi continues to keep the engineering teams for iOS and OSX separate. However, with the expectations of possible organizational changes this summer, the two groups could be working closer together in due time. Although it is still too early to see the results of the re-organization initiated by Cook, the first effects are slowly beginning to take shape earlier than expected.
In other news, BlackBerry co-founder Mike Lazaridis has now set his sights on quantum technology after being ousted from the mobile industry. Having been fascinated by this technology, Lazaridis along with fellow BlackBerry co-founder Doug Fregin has launched a $100 million investment fund to support commercial breakthroughs that this branch of science has to offer. Lazaridis terms Star Trek as an inspiration behind his interest in quantum technology. He further added that the new fund will not operate as a conventional venture capital fund.
