yARN: Tim is Cooking up a storm at Apple

Ever since Steve Jobs passed away late last year, there has been plenty of discussion about whether or not Apple could survive without its enigmatic CEO. And with new boss Tim Cook having a limited interaction with media since he took the top job, that discussion amplified. But at the All Things D conference last week, Cook explained that Apple was in good hands.

After talking extensively about his relationship with Jobs - including Jobs’ missive to “do what’s right” - Cook dropped some indications about where the company was headed in the near future. While he refused to confirm or deny certain rumours, like a proper Apple-branded television set or proper Facebook integration, he did offer plenty of fuel for the rumour sites to burn.

“It’s very uncharacteristic of us: We’ve stayed in the Apple TV product business, and we’re not a hobby kind of company, as you know. Our tendency is to do very few things, put all of our wood behind a few arrows, and if something creeps in and isn’t a big success we get it out of the way and move on,” Cook said at the conference.

“I love the product, but I think Apple TV is more something that you keep pulling the string to see where it goes,” he added, indicating that we’ll be seeing more in the Apple TV space in the future.

He also indicated a better integration with Facebook across all Apple products is on its way.

“I think the [Apple-Facebook] relationship is very solid. We have great respect for them. I think we can do more with them. And so, just stay tuned on this one,” Cook announced.

Siri is set for some solid improvements, with Cook announcing that Apple has a lot of people working on it with some cool developments coming later this year.

“Customers love it. It’s one of the most popular features of our most popular phone. But there’s more that it can do. And we have a lot of people working on this,” he said.

Combined with a better social conscience - the company will now match any charity donation from an employee - and better transparency about its supplier responsibility, it’s clear that Cook has truly taken the reins of the company.

He may not be out of Jobs’ shadow completely, but there’s no denying that the Apple products and services he’s cooking up in Cupertino smell delicious.

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