Deidre O'Brien to head Apple's Retail and People as SVP, as Angela Ahrendts departs

It is a bit of a bombshell shake-up at Cupertino as Apple announced that Deirdre O’Brien is taking on new responsibilities for Apple’s retail and online stores in an expanded role as senior vice president of Retail + People, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.

O'Brien will take over from Angela Ahrendts, who is leaving the company after five years of leading the company’s retail and online stores, Angela Ahrendts who was CEO of Burberry before joining Apple, was a prime acquisiton and led the company's foray into more fashionable products and retail stores.

Many insiders believed Ahrendt's was being groomed for a bigger role at Apple, possibly even as CEO of the global brand post Tim Cook.  

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Microsoft's Surface revenue surges by 39 per cent in the quarter

Microsoft which recently became the most valuable company reported  $32 billion in revenues and a net income of $8.4 billion for the quarter. While Microsoft's continued success rides on it's extensive cloud services offerings, the company's Surface division is proving to be an impressive earner for the Redmond giant.

Surface revenues grew by 39 per cent in the quarter, proving that Microsoft was right to continue refining and expanding its hardware portfolio. The recent release of the Surface Pro 6 as well as the lower-priced Surface Go, there really is a Surface device for every type of user in both enterprise and consumer markets. There's also indication that Microsoft's Surface team is working on new products, possibly even the long rumoured 'Andromeda' foldable. It will be interesting to see what's next from Microsoft not just in terms of services and productivity but also in terms of hardware.

Microsoft investing more than $1 million to help Quebec startups thrive

Microsoft Canada and LE CAMP Incubator & Accelerator in Quebec City announced a partnership that will see Microsoft invest more than a $1M in cash, product and business services to help grow the innovative startup ecosystem in Quebec.

"It is with great pride that I celebrate this partnership between Microsoft and LE CAMP today; it will fuel innovation and the creation of new businesses in Quebec City,” said Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume. “The mentorship provided will offer a solid foundation for the entrepreneurial startups at CAMP. It is not surprising that Microsoft chose Québec City for this partnership. Our city has an abundance of highly skilled tech talent and a critical mass of businesses in this sector."

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ION Audio's ode to classic the Ford Mustang is an inspired music solution

Few cars are more iconic than the 1960's era Ford Mustangs and ION Audio has brought back the glossy red paint, gleaming chrome and the tactile details of a Mustang dashboard in an all-in-one music player. This colourful ensemble features a quiet belt-drive 3-speed turntable. Sensitive AM/FM radio. Headphone jack.  The Mustang LP also comes with EZ Vynyl converter software to rip analog sources into digital files. Mustamg LP's SRT in US dollars is $129.00.