Steve Jobs has resigned as chief executive officer of Apple. The company has promoted chief operating officer Tim Cook to the position of CEO and said that Cook will join the company’s board of directors. Jobs will become Apple’s chairman.

Here is a copy of Jobs’ resignation letter:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple”s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple”s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

Apple board member Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech, issued the following statement on behalf of the Apple board:

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

We have no additional details yet on why Jobs is leaving, although the spot assumption is that it’s related to the liver disease for which he received a transplant in 2009. The fact that Jobs is taking over as board chairman, rather than resigning that seat too, would seem to indicate that his condition is serious but not imminently debilitating.

2112 – A move that was somewhat expected but nonetheless still hard to swallow. After seeing his condition from the iOS 5.0 press conference I wondered if his health was declining. Sadly I think he might be losing his battle or been given a time left which is hard to think about. For many of us Geeks Steve Jobs represents everything we hold dear. Lets pray that indeed his health improves and that Apple has Chiarman for many years to come.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint will start carrying the new iPhone 5 in October.

In line with recent analyst speculation, Sprint will offer the iPhone 5 in the “middle” of October, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, noting that the device will be sold at the same time as Apple’s current iPhone 4. That suggests that recent reports about the iPhone 4 being sold as a lower-priced option are accurate. Apple is expected to announce the successor to the iPhone 4 in September or October. The iPhone 5 is expected to be thinner and lighter than the iPhone 4 and recent reports have suggested that it will be a “bigger update” than expected. Other reports have also suggested that the device will offer an 8-megapixel camera and a dual-core processor.

US military scientists lost contact with an unmanned hypersonic experimental aircraft on its second test flight, officials said.

The Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) successfully separated from its rocket but lost contact shortly into its “glide phase”.

The plane is designed to travel at Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound.

The Falcon project is part of the US defence department’s plans to develop a rapid-strike weapons system.

A hypersonic plane could potentially enable the US military to hit targets anywhere in the world in under an hour.

Highly complex

The HTV-2 – shaped like the tip of a spear – took off atop a Minotaur IV rocket from Vanderberg Air Force Base in California early on Thursday.

It was propelled to the edges of space where it then separated from the rocket.

The aim by engineers was that it would glide back to Earth at 13,000mph (21,000km/h) – enduring temperatures in excess of 3,500F (2,000C) – before plunging into the Pacific Ocean.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), which is funding the HTV-2 programme and overseeing the tests, said more than nine minutes of data was collected “before an anomaly caused loss of signal”.

“Initial indications are that the aircraft impacted the Pacific Ocean along the planned flight path,” Darpa said in a statement on its website.

An HTV-2 plane was first tested last year, and ended with the craft crashing into the Pacific after the military lost contact with the glider nine minutes into the flight.

However, the flight still managed to return 139 seconds of aerodynamic data at a velocity between 17 and 22 times the speed of sound, Darpa said.

“We know how to boost the aircraft to near space,” Maj Chris Schulz, the programme manager, was quoted as saying on Darpa’s website.

“We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

Maj Shulz said a team of experts would now analyse the flight data and expand “our technical understanding of this incredibly harsh flight regime”.

Some analysts say a second uncompleted flight could force Darpa to rethink the entire project, the BBC’s Marcus George in Washington reports.

Steven VanRoekel, current managing director of the FCC and former Microsoft executive, will become the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the federal government this Thursday and be responsible for the country’s $80 billion-a-year IT budget.

The CIO is a relatively new position, created by the current Obama administration, and is primarily responsible for creating “transparency, accountability, and citizen participation in Federal Government through the use of innovative IT strategies.” This means not only managing the IT budget, but improving security practices, increasing efficiency and generally making the Federal government run more smoothly.

VanRoekel comes from the the Federal Communications Commission where he oversaw all operational aspects of the agency and helped in the agency’s adoption of new technology and media. Before that, he served as a Microsoft executive in the Windows Server and Tools division.

He’s certainly no stranger to improving efficiency through strategic technology implementation. When he was still the director of midsize business solutions strategy, he headed up the development of Windows Essential Business Server which was “designed to help midsize businesses achieve greater efficiency by simplifying the management and deployment of the company’s infrastructure, while also facilitating greater integration, security and automation of specific tasks.”

The former CIO, Vivek Kundra, has held the position since March of 2009 and introduced programs like the IT Dashboard, a publicly available site that tracks the spending vs progress of federal IT projects (through which they pared under-performing projects worth an estimated $3 billion in savings), and nudged the Feds towards The Cloud rather than relying on desktop computing.

2112 – Hmmmm wonder if the staff of the White House will still be using iPad’s? I say screw it throw em all out and put Steve Jobs & Steve Ballmer in along with Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and make Steve Wozniak the next President.

Sony’ next-generation portable video game console will not launch in the U.S. until early 2012, Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai told The Associated Press on Thursday. Sony’s PlayStation Vita will become available later this year in Japan, but it will miss the all-important holiday shopping season here in the U.S. and in Europe as well. Some, such as Daiwa Securities Capital Markets analyst Koki Shiraishi, believe Sony’s sales will take a huge hit as a result. “That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” Shiraishi told the AP. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.” When it finally does launch next year, the PlayStation Vita will start at $249 for a Wi-Fi-only model and a 3G-equipped version will be available for $299.

FULL ARTICLE BELOW

TOKYO (AP) — Sony’s next-generation portable game machine, the PlayStation Vita, won’t be available in the U.S. or Europe in time for Christmas — a crucial sales period for game console makers.

Expectations had been high the machine would be ready worldwide for the year-end holiday shopping season. Sony earlier promised a “phased global rollout” starting late this year.

Sony Corp. Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai said Thursday the PlayStation Vita will go on sale by the end of the year in Japan, and early next year in the U.S. and Europe.

Koki Shiraishi, electronics analyst for Daiwa Securities Capital Markets in Tokyo, said missing Christmas was a serious setback, especially overseas.

“That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” he said. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.”

Hirai did not characterize the timing as a delay, but said Sony wants to be prepared with solid game software offerings timed with the hardware launches.

He did not give specific dates, meaning that it was still unclear whether the gadget — a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld that outdoes Sony’s PlayStation Portable — would be ready for Christmas even in Japan.

He was far more clear in flatly denying that any price cut for the PlayStation Vita was in the works, brushing off a decision by rival Nintendo Co. last week to slash the price of its 3DS, less than a half year after it went on sale — stunningly quick in the industry.

“We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable,” Hirai told reporters at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters. “There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

The PlayStation Vita will cost $249 in the U.S., and 24,980 yen in Japan for its Wi-Fi-only version, and $299 in the U.S., and 29,980 yen in Japan for the version that will also have a cell phone service.

Under its latest price cut, the 3DS will cost 15,000 yen in Japan starting Aug. 11, down from 25,000 yen. In the U.S., the price drops to $169.99 from $249.99 on Aug. 12.

Although game fans may be disappointed by the Vita’s slow arrival, delays are rather common in the gaming industry.

Sony delayed the introduction of the PlayStation 3 home console a couple of times. Nintendo also delayed the launch of the 3DS, which meant it wasn’t ready for Christmas.

But the Vita delay comes at a difficult time for Sony.

Sony, which reported a 15.5 billion yen ($199 million) loss for the April-June quarter, has suffered supply problems because of the March disasters in northeastern Japan.

It was also hit by a massive online security breach around the world, affecting more than 100 million online accounts.

Analysts say the maker of Bravia TVs and Walkman players needs to restore its reputation for innovative gadgets as Apple Inc. powers ahead with its iPod, iPad and iPhone.

Sony’s TV operations have lost money for seven years straight amid price plunges, an oversupply of panels and intense competition.

Hirai — widely considered a future chief executive of Sony to succeed Howard Stringer — said the TV business is so crucial to an overall strategy that manufacturing must be kept in-house.

Ryosuke Katsura, analyst for Mizuho Securities Co., said the money-losing TV business was Sony’s biggest problem, and stressed Hirai must turn that around to solidify his candidacy as the next leader.

“He isn’t exactly a shoo-in, unless he can properly carry out the restructuring of the TV business,” said Katsura.

Hirai promised Sony will no longer pursue sales volume and market share as it had in recent years, and will instead go for profitability with higher quality TVs to prove its products aren’t mere commodities that compete only on price.

One thing Sony won’t do is turn over the manufacturing to cheaper companies, an option some makers are adopting to cut costs while continuing to sell such TVs under their own brand. Hitachi Ltd. said this week it may stop making TVs in-house in Japan, following a similar move overseas.

While acknowledging he still didn’t have all the answers, Hirai said keeping manufacturing, which he called “an art,” as well as design and research within Sony was key for quality.

“For Sony, what we stand for and the user experience that we want to bring to all of our customers, the TV is an important and fundamental platform,” he said.