Someone finally takes the fall for iOS Maps...

Interesting, Cue isn't in charge of iOS, just Maps and Siri.  Guess that shows Apples opinion on Siri...

Wow! That's a surprise!

Apparently, Scott's refusal to sign the apology letter led to exacerbation of tensions:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/29/3574022/apple-scott-forstall-ios-6-ma...

Is this the beginning of Apple's fall? Competition has never been so fierce before, & this is sending negative vibes.

Wow thats a shock, but i guess he was given a chance and he never took it so Scott payed the prise

I keep envisioning classic Bond-movie moments, when the SPECTRE agents are 'fired' - wonder what Tim Cook sounds like saying: "this organisation does not tolerate failure..."

I'm not sure, it could easily go either way.  I think this will be a positive thing though.  I caught some of the keynote, and it was very un-Appley.  Phil Schiller was going to town reaming off spec after spec, Apple don't advertise based on specs they work on features and benefits.  The new iMac is stunning, but a two month lead?  What happened to *Boom* its available today. 

I do think Jonathan Ive having more control can only be a good thing.  In creative terms he is pretty much CEO, apparently no one in Apple can over rule Ive, which makes Tim Cook COO with bells on.  The only downside is they are setting themselves up for having another Steve Jobs like figure.  If Apple lost Ive they would be well and truly boned.

Forstall was a very strong and ambitious personality, which worked under Steve, but doesn't fly with normal folk.  Apparently Ive and Mansfield both hated working with him, and would only go to meetings with him when Cook was there.  I thought it was odd when he didn't get to talk at the keynote...  now we know why.  It was interesting that Bertrand Serlet (old head of OS X) was at the keynote sat with the Apple employees, would be great if he came back.

Oh, and apparently iOS and OS X are being rolled in to one group, so merger may be happening sooner rather than later.  I hope they don't go full Microsoft, but a bit more interoperability couldn't hurt. 

I suspect, Apple's keynote was a rushed affair, trying to get some footing before the major launches by rivals (similar to what Nokia did with the Lumias in September).

The next 12 months will be the toughest period for Apple, as rivals have caught up & are offering much better values. Nexus 4 for £279 is the biggest shock for me. You can almost buy 2 of them for the price of a 16GB iPhone 5! That would shake the market significantly I think. Even I'm having thoughts about the Lumia 920, & I see a significant price drop very soon.

He did say 'Cue' was in charge!! Pay attention 007. I do miss Desmond Llewellyn. Replacing Sean Connery was easy, replacing Q, never. Those were the classic Bond-movie moments.

I have a gut feeling Apple is starting to lose its percieved brilliance and is starting to be come just another software/hardware giant. Getting normal.

In terms of software, I agree and its quite worrying.  I may even be dropping Aperture for Lightroom, and I hate Adobe.  But in terms of hardware design, not a chance.  Design innovation comes from materials and process just as much as its physical form.  No one else seems to push the boat out in that regard, I suspect mainly because of the throat cutting margins Apples competitors want to hit.