Apple’s stock has historically fluctuated widely in the days before and after three major annual events: the January Macworld showcase for fans, the mid-year Worldwide Developers’ Conference, and its September media/entertainment event.

Its share movements, however, have been relatively muted in the run-up to this year’s September extravaganza with many Apple-watchers initially expecting a no-show from CEO Steve Jobs, who had been out most of the year on medical leave for a liver transplant. Here’s a look at how Apple’s share price has fared in relation to major press events held by the company since 2007.

Key to events is below:

1 - January 9, 2007 (Macworld) - Announces (but does not launch) first iPhone

2 - June 11, 2007 (WWDC) - Latest version of Mac OS; Safari for Windows

3 - September 5, 2007 - Introduces iPod touch, cuts iPhone price, updated iPod nano, iPod classic

4 - January 15, 2008 (Macworld) - MacBook Air, iTunes movie rentals

5 - June 9, 2008 (WWDC) - iPhone 3G announced

6 - Sept 9, 2008 - Updated Nano, Touch, iTunes

7 - Jan 6, 2009 (Macworld; Jobs did not speak) - DRM-free iTunes, MacBook Pro update

8 - June 8, 2009 (WWDC) - iPhone 3Gs, new Macbook models, new Mac OS

The following is a guest column by Chris Ahearn, President, Media at Thomson Reuters.

“Do unto others”

It’s a simple standard my mom taught me when I was a kid – yours probably taught it too. It isn’t always easy, but in business it’s a good guiding light if you don’t want your company to be evil.

Recently there has been a rising crescendo of finger-pointing, shrieking, braying and teeth-gnashing about the future of the news. In the last couple of weeks there have been many comments on the AP’s proposals, Attributor’s proposals, Ian Shapira’s story and fair use.

After some of the AP commentary, I posted a tweet directed at Jeff Jarvis that prompted some members in the community to ask me to be more outspoken, asking me to be blatant about it, to post a public statement. For those who know me, I usually don’t need to be asked.

To start, yes the global economy is fairly grim and the cyclical aspects of our business are biting extremely hard in the face of the structural changes. But the Internet isn’t killing the news business any more than TV killed radio or radio killed the newspaper. Incumbent business leaders in news haven’t been keeping up. Many leaders continue to help push the business into the ditch by wasting “resources” (management speak for talented people) on recycling commodity news. Reader habits are changing and vertically curated views need to be meshed with horizontal read-around ones.

Blaming the new leaders or aggregators for disrupting the business of the old leaders, or saber-rattling and threatening to sue are not business strategies – they are personal therapy sessions. Go ask a music executive how well it works.

A better approach is to have a general agreement among community members to treat others’ content, business and ideas with the same respect you would want them to treat yours.

If you are doing something that you would object to if others did it to you – stop. If you don’t want search engines linking to you, insert code to ban them.

I believe in the link economy. Please feel free to link to our stories — it adds value to all producers of content. I believe you should play fair and encourage your readers to read-around to what others are producing if you use it and find it interesting.

I don’t believe you could or should charge others for simply linking to your content. Appropriate excerpting and referencing are not only acceptable, but encouraged. If someone wants to create a business on the back of others’ original content, the parties should have a business relationship that benefits both.

Let’s stop whining and start having real conversations across party lines. Let’s get online publishers, search engines, aggregators, ad networks, and self-publishers (bloggers) in a virtual room and determine how we can all get along. I don’t believe any one of us should be the self-appointed Internet police; agreeing on a code of conduct and ethics is in everyone’s best interests.

Our news ecosystem is evolving and learning how it can be open, diverse, inclusive and effective. With all the new tools and capabilities we should be entering a new golden age of journalism – call it journalism 3.0. Let’s identify how we can birth it and agree what is “fair use” or “fair compensation” and have a conversation about how we can work together to fuel a vibrant, productive and trusted digital news industry. Let’s identify business models that are inclusive and that create a win-win relationship for all parties.

This is not code for some hidden agenda – it is an open call for collective problem solving. Let’s do it wiki-style and edit it in the public domain. Let’s define the code of conduct and ethics we would all like to operate under.

My suggestion is we start with “do unto others” as our guiding spirit – I bet it would make all of our mothers proud.

Post your comments below (good, bad or ugly) or send me an email. You can reach me directly at chris.ahearn@thomsonreuters.com or via twitter @cjahearn.

Among all the limelight-hogging features and rock-bottom prices unveiled at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers’ conference on Monday, two underscored the potential for the consumer electronics giant to sidle up and get up-close and personal with users – whether they like it or not.

For the hundreds gathered in San Francisco for the company’s annual developers’ pow-wow, Apple previewed a new iPhone feature that will allow users to remotely locate their  device if they ever get separated from it. Executives highlighted another application that, eerily, can directly monitor a person’s vital signs.

In this day and age, when millions advertise not just their location but what they had for dessert via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s unclear how consumers will respond to functions that monitor their movements or their inner workings. Favorably, judging from the applause and hooting when those features were expounded upon.

Find My iPhone allows users to remotely locate their device via the Web. Logging onto Apple’s MobileMe, users can locate their phone on a map; send a text message to the phone, asking that it be returned; or play a strdient alert or alarm. The feature is intended to aid finding a phone left unattended at a restaurant or hidden under a couch cushion, developers said.

The new software also has a feature that allows users to remotely “wipe” the device of all data if it is truly lost or stolen - but allows users to reload the wiped data via Apple’s iTunes Web site — which usually offers music, applications and even video for sale — if the phone is then found, meaning data is periodically stored via a user’s iTunes account.

Besides additional uses of the phone’s GPS capability, Apple on Monday highlighted a third party app that allows doctors to monitor patients’ vital signs remotely - accessing real-time heart rate, temperature, blood pressure and other data collected by hospital devices on their iPhones - clearly helpful for on-call doctors but also very private information.

The app would allow doctors to zoom in and out, measure different parts of the data, and scroll through historical data.

The Critical Care app from AirStrip Technologies has yet to be approved by the FDA, but the company said it was in advanced testing and expects the app will soon be available.

(By Clare Baldwin)

Reuters is sending live updates via Twitter from the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference, scheduled to start at 10 am Pacific Time (1 pm Eastern). Read the updates below or follow us on Twitter.

More on Apple:

The targeted online advertising company Phorm, which has been accused of spying, breaking the law and just about everything else in the last year, has launched its latest charm offensive in its battle to prove its innocence.

The British company sparked damning headlines last year when  it signed up the three biggest Internet service providers BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse to provide adverts to Web
sites based on the surfing trends of users.

Phorm says the system is completely anonymous, does not store data on its users and will enable online publishers to make more money by showing more relevant adverts. With more interesting ads, there would also be fewer needed, they say.

Its service, which is yet to launch, has been welcomed by the media regulator and minister in charge of planning Britain's digital future.

But its critics, who have formed Web sites, campaigns and a devoted following, say the company is "snooping" on online users and selling their surfing habits to advertising companies.

In its drive to win the PR battle, Phorm held its second "Town Hall" meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the public's concerns and questions.

Far from feisty, the meeting was a mostly civil affair although the top table, led by former Chancellor and non-executive director Norman Lamont, still faced many questions on how they handle the data.

The rather tall men with wires dangling from their ears, looking suspiciously like security guards, had a quiet evening.

Chief Executive Kent Ertugrul, sounding somewhat exasperated at times, painted Phorm's opponents as a small fringe who had managed to create a lot of noise.

Phorm says customers will be given a choice as to whether they use the Webwise service and hinted that customers could be given incentives to sign up, saying reduced broadband connections or a donation to charity was being considered by the company.

They said they would gladly welcome a UN weapons "Hans Blix"-type inspector who could verify their promise of anonymity, but without that, would continue to answer as many questions as were put to them.

Would you consider using the technology to see more relevant ads or do you think Phorm is going a step too far.

Online retailer Amazon.com unveiled a slimmer version of its Kindle digital book reader on Monday, with more storage and faster page turns.

Reuters’ Franklin Paul had a chance to see the new unit in action, as Laura Porco, Director, Kindle Books, demos its text-to-speech and buy on the fly features.

DENVER - The English-language channel of the Arabic news network Al Jazeera is getting a Colorado reception as frosty as a cold Coors Light.

Al Jazeera English is broadcasting from Golden, Colo., home of the Coors Brewing Company , as part of its coverage of the Democratic National Convention, as well as from the Pepsi Center and Invesco Field.

The broadcasts from small-town Colorado are intended to show their international audience a slice of Americana, according to political program editor Julian Ingle. Only one satellite provider and a handful of cable companies carry Al Jazeera English in the United States, but the network is available in 120 million homes in 80 countries.

"We're doing something that no international network has done before," Ingle said.

But residents of Golden weren't quite as happy with their visitors. A handful said welcoming the station, known for airing Osama bin Laden's video messages, was offensive to U.S. veterans.

"It's a wrong association, it's a misconception," Ingle said, pointing out that many major media outlets broadcast bin Laden's messages.

A recent Golden city council meeting drew about twenty people who discussed Al Jazeera English's coverage.

"It was pretty fairly balanced across the board, people in favor of them coming and people who weren't," said Golden communications manager Sabrina D'Agosta.

In the end, the council did not ask the station to change its plans. "It is not for government to tell them that they can't come, for us to deny them of their constitutional rights," D'Agosta said.

But critics did win another battle: Golden City Manager Mike Bestor withdrew an invitation for the network to broadcast from his backyard barbecue.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

-- Reporting by Shannon Bond and Beth Marlowe, recent graduates of the Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, who are interning for Reuters at the Democratic National Convetion.

Photo: A tourist listens to a tour guide speak about beer at the Coors brewery in Golden, Colorado October 16, 2007. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Sort of like Walter Mondale’s 1984 political slogan, “Where’s the Beef?,” the 2008 political campaign is all about pork- pork barrelling, that is.

John McCain’s campaign last week launched a video game on Facebook called “Pork Invaders,” a spoof on the 1978 arcade favorite “Space Invaders” that takes aim at pork barrelling, or government spending that aims to satisfy a group of voters in exchange for their political support. 

In the game, players use arrow keys to shift a McCain logo across the screen to shoot red “vetoes” at a herd of pigs looming above.  But watch out, the pigs are ready to aim at and, well, soil, the Arizona Senator’s logo.  The more pigs players “veto,” the larger the amount of dollars saved in the budget. 

The low-tech game is a “unique way to get the Senator’s message out there about pork barrelling and earmarks,” according to Rick Gorka, a spokesman for the McCain campaign.  

Facebook users can add the video game application to their profiles.  This is one of the first online strategies McCain’s campaign has used on Facebook, a social online network popular with the young voters who have flocked to support McCain’s rival, Democrat Barack Obama.

“Folks on Facebook tend to get news in non-traditional means, whereas our grandparents would sit down and watch the news with Tom Brokaw,” said Gorka.  “Facebook is yet one avenue we can use to target voters in this election.”  

But will the game really be popular with young voters?  The majority of high school and college-aged Facebook users weren’t even born back when “Space Invaders” was popular and could miss the humor of the campaign’s spoof. 

McCain’s campaign describes the game as “very popular” with users, yet it’s only drawn 433 daily active users out of the 80 million on Facebook.  Obama doesn’t have his own video game (for now), but he still overwhelmingly leads McCain in terms of pledged Facebook supporters.  Over a million Facebook users list themselves as Obama fans, easily trumping McCain’s tally of 152, 619 supporters. 

– Posted by Jennifer Martinez

The “Business Call to Action,” hosted by the British prime minister, drew some 80 CEOs of the world’s biggest companies including Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Vodafone as well as top politicians to discuss how big business can stamp out global poverty.

The lure? Big profits. Ghana’s President John Kufuor said it will be easier for U.S. and European businesses to make their next million in Africa rather than anywhere else. The credit crunch has made a few more believe this might be true.

“Three billion of the world’s 6 billion people have mobile phones,” Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said. “And three-quarters of the new customers are in the developing world. This is a huge opportunity.”

Two companies laid out how they were using technology to tackle issues unique to developing nations in a race to win market share. British telecom company Vodafone has made some headway, while Telefonica O2 is launching new products to allow migrant workers to send money home using their mobiles.

Vodafone CEO Sarin:

• Vodafone already has 2 million Kenyan and Tanzanian customers, out of 10 million in total, signed up to M-PESA, which allows customers to send much-needed money to loved ones using their mobile phones.
• The company operates in Afghanistan. To get around the problem of illiteracy, the firm has developed voice recognition software. Luckily you don’t have to shout out your bank details or the amount you’re sending - you give voice instructions and plug in the numbers.

O2 CEO Matthew Key:

• Telefonica has plans to for a similar service in Latin America, where many leave for the United States and send part of their wages home.
• Telefonica wants 200 million people to sign up for “a new suite of banking products,” Key said.
• The company estimates there are 650 million money transfers back to Latin America each year, and its mobile phone products will slash the average $10 cost per transfer.

–Reporting by Chris Wills in London

From Reuters reporter Gavin Haycock: 

Enid Blyton ’s Famous Five books are getting a Disney-style makeover.

The Disney Channel will launch an animated version of the Famous Five in Britain on May 5. English youngsters George , Julian, Anne and Dick become Anglo-Indian Jyoti, Max, Allie from California and Dylan, an 11-year-old who harbors dreams of being an international business tycoon. Timmy the dog keeps his name.

The original stories, written during the 1940s-1960s, tell of a simpler life when kids would hike or bicycle along a coastline for hours by themselves enjoying camping and picnics with non-alcoholic ginger beer. They would play and solve mysteries against a backdrop of caves, lighthouses and secret tunnels.

Now, Dylan brandishes a laptop. One child detective remarks that “cellphones are human kind’s greatest invention,” and gone are the quaint exclamations, “simply smashing,” “golly gosh” or “mummy.”

One episode involves a bootlegging operation with subliminal signals embedded in DVDs, which brainwash kids. The bootleggers are foiled by the kids, who manage to crack down on media piracy .

Crikey! Is this a case of Disney pushing its own digital anti-piracy agenda? “It’s complete coincidence. If we had thought of that we could have made some big points,” Steve Aranguren, vice president of Disney Channel’s global original programming division told Reuters.