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Via CBS5:

CUPERTINO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― A three-alarm fire burned Tuesday night at the Apple campus in Cupertino, according to the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

The fire department received a report of smoke at about 10 p.m. at 20605 Valley Green Drive, at a building known as Valley Green 6.

The fire was contained by 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Some stubborn flames under an air conditioning unit burned for about an hour more.

No injuries were reported and the building was cleared, according to a fire dispatcher.  Officials said the fire was finally put out after about three hours.

The fire department said the fire scorched the roof and the second level at one of the six buildings on the company’s northern California campus in Cupertino. 

Senior Communications Dispatcher Rafael Salcedo says the fire was “not very big, but there is going to be a lot of smoke damage.”

Our prayers go out to everyone and hope no one got hurt in this. And hopefully all those Apple products are safe

Via electronista

The going price for a Mac notebook is now over twice that of a typical Windows model, according to data collected by The NPD Group. While the average selling price of a Windows notebook has dropped from $877 in June 2006 to $700 today, the average cost of an Apple system has remained consistently above $1,500 and has only dropped $59 in the past two years. Differences in desktop pricing are more extreme still and have Macs selling for approximately $1,000 more than a common Windows desktop, which sells for about $550.

 

Specifications often vary sharply for these systems, with Apple often focusing on faster processors than some rivals in notebooks but at the expense of memory and hard drive space. Its insistence on using mobile processors and custom designs fordesktops, however, has created feature discrepancies where a Dell Inspiron 518 tower nearing the $700 mark features two more processor cores, three times as much memory, and twice the hard drive space of an $1,199 entry-level iMac despite both coming with near-equivalent LCDs.

While the average price for Windows-based systems is described in the NPD data as having largely flattened and unlikely to drop further in the near future, the disparity between these and Macs has only widened in the last few months, according to eWeek. Apple’s general policy of refusing to alter prices until its next hardware revision has reduced the value of its systems relative to Windows competitors.

Apple has until now had little pressure to follow suit. Gartner analysis shows the company’s US retail market share having climbed to 8.5 percent despite the price gap, and the computer builder has often traded on the uniqueness of its experience. Troubles with Windows Vista and a lack of marketing response from Microsoft until recently have also driven customers to Apple, many of whom are willing to pay more for a non-Windows experience.

This may soon have to change, eWeek says. Concerns both about sustaining sales momentum as well as a renewed Microsoft campaign are thought to be motivating factors behind Apple’s mystery product transition, which will instigate a major cut in gross margins from 35 percent to 30 percent. Such steep drops ’strongly suggest’ price cuts and may reveal that Apple is aware of a point at which its traditional approach will no longer work.

“If Apple is going to continue its market share gains, or simply maintain that 8.5 percent U.S. share, prices must go down and configurations bulk up,” eWeek notes. “The math is simply undeniable.”

Via BizJournals.com

As expected, Universal Orlando increased the price of a one-day, one park ticket.

Beginning Aug. 6, Universal will charge $75 for a one-day ticket to either Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure. The new price reflects a $4, or a 5.6 percent, increase.

Universal’s price hike comes four days after the Walt Disney Co.announced a price increase for a one-day ticket to Walt Disney World. Disney increased its price to $75 from $71.

Universal spokesman Michael Lewellen said the theme park is maintaining its $64.99 price for a one-day, two-park ticket purchased online for Florida residents. Other ticket packages include:

•  A three-park, seven-day unlimited admission ticket is priced at $99.99. It includes admission to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Wet ‘N Wild water park.
•  Florida residents can get a free second day, second park free when purchasing a one-day, one-park ticket online for $75.

“We believe our pricing reflects the world-class experience we offer our guests,” Lewellen said. “It is also representative of the new content added to Universal Orlando Resort in the past 12 months with the Simpsons Ride and Disaster.”

Lewellen says the price increases allow the theme park to invest in new entertainment experiences. He noted that Universal Orlando is scheduled to open the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket roller coaster in 2009 and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010.

Orlando’s three major theme parks — SeaWorld, Universal and Disney — historically raise prices within a few days of each other. SeaWorld announced a price increase on June 30. A one-day ticket to SeaWorld now costs $69.95.

Doug Field, the chief technology officer who’s led Segway’s engineering team since day one, is leaving his post at the electric vehicle maker to become a vice president of product design at Apple.

“Doug has been the driving force in making the Segway what it is today and will be sorely missed at the company,” reads an official post made to the SegwayChat forums on Friday.

Field’s has made a long career of managing and developing new products and manufacturing processes for the automotive and medical industries.

Before joining Segway, he worked for several years beginning in the late 90’s at DEKA Research & Development, leading the prototype design and overall technical leadership for the INDEPENDENCE IBOT Mobility System.

Prior to that, he was the Manager of Process Development for Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. where he led the introduction of advanced manufacturing processes for high-volume medical device production.

Earlier in his career, Field assumed the role of vehicle development engineer and team leader at Ford Motor Company, focusing on the development of ride, handling, and noise and vibration characteristics on several car platforms.

The motives behind Apple’s move to acquire Field are unclear and somewhat interesting given the reaction by chief executive Steve Jobs to the industrial design of the original Segway in 2003.

“I think it sucks,” he said. “Its shape is not innovative, it’s not elegant and it doesn’t feel anthropomorphic.”

As of mid-afternoon on Friday, a ten-person line has been spotted by Gear Diary along the marble border that surrounds the retail store above ground.

The lineup is acknowledged by both store security and Apple employees, some of whom have already left the store temporarily to talk with those in line. Chairs and other apparel make it clear the early visitors are there for the seven-day wait.

The names of those first in line are unknown, though unlike the queue at the same store last year, the front isn’t headed up by well-known line waiter Greg Packer, who regularly queues up early to be the first in line for many high-profile events.

Also unlike last year, however, there exists more of a clear incentive to be first in line at the New York City flagship outlet. With customers required to activate iPhone in-store rather than simply walk out with their purchases, the time spent processing each customer is estimated to take at least 10 minutes — a process that will slow the line down considerably versus the original launch, in which many customers could buy their handsets and leave in just a fraction of the time.

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