Apple Ups Employee Salaries; Apple's Competition from Microsoft

Every week,  makes news with technology developments, business deals and, more often than not, controversies.

That’s where our weekly "Core Bytes" column on Apple comes in. We’ll relay the past week’s news highlights from our favorite backyard tech giant.

Controversies
Kodak smacked Apple with a lawsuit over patents it's planning to sell as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. The former camera giant claims that Apple is trying to “delay and derail” its efforts to sell a collection of patents related to digital imaging. In a lawsuit filed Monday, they stated that Apple falsely claims it owns 10 patents stemming from the work the companies did together in the 1990s.

A Georgia Apple store clerk reportedly refused to sell an iPad to two Iranian-Americans. The reason, she cited, was Apple’s embargo against Iran. The customer later received an apology from an Apple consumer relations person, but the Council on American-Islamic Relations has "called on Apple to change its policy following reports of Farsi-speaking customers being denied service."

New Products
Once again, Apple is facing competition from Microsoft. This week, Microsoft unveiled the “Microsoft Surface”, a tablet boasting a 10.6 inch screen that runs on the company’s new Windows 8 Operating System. The basic version is equipped with 32 or 64 GB of memory, while the powerful Pro has 64 or 128 GB.

Business Deals and Developments
Apple is upping salaries for its retail store employees by as much as 25 percent. Based on performance, the raises will roll in mid-July. The company employs 36,000 employees at more than 350 retail stores around the globe, two-thirds which are in the U.S. It’s Apple store employees make anywhere from $9 to $30 an hour, the highest reserved for its “Genius tech support” teams.

Apple employees, you’re in luck again. On Wednesday, Apple jumpstarted its “Employee Purchase Plan”, offering an extra $500 discount on eligible Macs and $250 off the Mac to employees on top of the 25 percent discount they normally receive. Still, it doesn’t apply to the Mac mini or the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Apple continues to expand its global reach. On Thursday, it launched its App Store in 32 countries, bringing the total to 155 nations. The world is in an app downloading frenzy, according to data Tim Cook released in early June: there have been over three billion app downloads to date.

Get Core Bytes in your email inbox every week by signing up for Cupertino Patch's newsletter.

Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Get our daily newsletter| Blog for us