Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference LIVE BLOG
Apple is expected to announce a fix for the iPhone 4′s reception problems, rather than a recall, at a surprise press conference on the device on Friday. The event, which comes only days before Apple reports its quarterly results, may find the company offering hardware or software tweaks, ranging from a rubber bumper case to something more drastic. Or perhaps no fix at all.
Reuters is live at the event, and we are hosting a live blog with updates as fast as we get them. Stay tuned for more, and please post your comments about Apple’s decisions.
from Russell Boyce:
The politics of bowing in Japan – How low do you go?
By Michael Caronna, Chief Photographer Japan
In Japan nothing says I'm sorry like a nice, deep bow, and lately there's been a whole lot to be sorry for. Ideally the depth of the bow should match the level of regret, allowing observers to make judgements about how sincere the apology really is. Facing massive recalls Toyota President Akio Toyoda and Toyota Motor Corp's managing director Yuji Yokoyama faced journalists at separate news conferences.
Toyota Motor Corp's managing director Yuji Yokoyama (R) bows after submitting a document of a recall to an official of the Transport Ministry Ryuji Masuno (2nd R) at the Transport Ministry in Tokyo February 9, 2010. Toyota Motor Corp is recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems, a third major recall since September and a further blow to the reputation of the world's largest automaker. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda bows at the start of a news conference in Nagoya, central Japan February 5, 2010. Toyota Motor Corp President Toyoda apologised on Friday for a massive global recall that has tarnished the reputation of the world's largest car maker. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Can Toyota Digg its way out of recall crisis?
This story by Thomas Mucha originally appeared in GlobalPost.
As Toyota careened from one recall crisis to the next, the contrast was almost funny.
In one corner, we had pure Kabuki theater — a highly-stylized corporate drama playing out on the world stage.
At a hastily-called news conference in Nagoya on Feb. 5, Akio Toyoda — Toyota president and grandson of the company’s legendary founder Kiichiro Toyoda — bowed deeply in remorse before a gaggle of Japanese photographers. He then, dutifully, uttered phrases like “personal responsibility,” “deeply regretted,” and “very sorry.”
Finally, Toyoda announced a new “taskforce” under his control to look into quality problems, and skedaddled.
It was everything you’d expect from a Japanese mea culpa (minus the ritual suicide) — stoic, very public and, of course, entirely predictable.
Toyota might take a page out of Jaguar’s book. Several years back Jaguar offered its lease owners the opportunity to obtain a brand new Jaguar at the same monthly cost and no extra money required. I asked them why? and they said that sales were not good and they wanted to keep production up. The new and used cars were given a two-year complete service contract (no service charges for two years). This might help Toyota over its current problem. Bob Baker, Playa del Rey, California, USA
dsafa