Meet Apple's 'Rising Star,' Head Of Software Craig Federighi
by Joe White
June 12, 2013
New software and services weren't the only introductions made by Apple throughout Monday's keynote. During the two-hour event, the Cupertino, Calif. company also introduced its audience to Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Software Engineering and Apple's "rising star," according to The Wall Street Journal.
Indeed, while Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced and concluded the event, with marketing head Phil Schiller also making an appearance, a large bulk of WWDC 2013's keynote was allotted to Federighi, who discussed OS X Mavericks and iOS 7. What's more, Federighi appeared to make the transition from his "behind the scenes" role to the keynote spotlight with ease, joking with the crowd while on stage, and introducing Apple's new products with both excitement and charisma.
As such, The Wall Street Journal offers an in-deepth piece on Federighi, in which it is claimed that "a new frontman for Apple is emerging."
After joining the company in 1997 with Apple's acquisition of NeXT, Federighi left soon after but was recruited back in 2009. The 44-year-old engineer then assumed his present role in October 2012 after chief executive officer Tim Cook fired Scott Forstall. "Scott and Craig are incredibly bright but Craig is more compatible with Tim," a person familiar with both men told the publication.
The Wall Street Journal continues:
Dressed in jeans and a blue button down, he strolled across the Moscone Center stage in San Francisco showing off everything from new ways to use multiple screens with a Mac to upgrades to the Safari Web browser. Mr. Federighi appeared at ease responding to the audience and paused to say he, too, liked certain features when they cheered. He also took aim at the old iOS designs Apple is ditching, including an oft-maligned "Game Center' app with a backdrop that resembles a felt-covered poker table. "We completely ran out of green felt and wood," he said, in describing the updated look, which is sparser and has a white backdrop. Earlier, in explaining the rationale for switching the nomenclature of Apple's new Mac OS X software to California themes from cats, he said: "We do not want to be the first software release in history to be delayed by a lack of cats." Developers said they were impressed with the performance.Apple offered a reinvention of its software (and, commentators claim, itself) during Monday's keynote, and it would appear that one prominent face of this "new Apple" is indeed going to be Federighi's. We'll keep you updated with further news on the executive as we receive it. If you missed Apple's live stream of Monday's keynote, remember that a video of the event is available to view online or download in iTunes. For more WWDC 2013 related news, see: Redesigned Photos App In iOS 7 Zooms Into View In This Hands-On Video, It's A Beautiful Day: Hands-On With Apple's Impressive iOS 7 Weather App, and Hands-On With iOS 7's Messages App, Featuring Contact-Blocking.
