When the markets closed last Friday, Apple’s stock price was up over 8 points, finishing the day at $218.95 a share – the highest share price in Apple’s entire history.

For investors, fueled by favorable news from financial analysts, and a quiet, almost serene shareholder’s meeting – Friday became a rallying point for Apple.  News that the long-awaited iPad would ship the beginning of April, and soaring iPhone sales also bouyed the uptick.

But deeper analysis shows ‘the rest of the story’ behind Apple’s fortunes.

The meteoric rise of Apple’s share price now puts Apple’s market cap at just under $200 billion, making it the fourth largest publicly traded company in the US behind Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart.

Apple is the only company in the monied elite that actually makes something.

If you drive a car – oil purchases are a necessity. Wal-Mart, America’s ubiquitous and oft-despised retailer resells low-end off-shore goods to folks trying to save a buck.  Microsoft trades on legacy code, excuses, and onerous licensing schemes that have [thus far] entrapped most American consumers and enterprise in OS hell, with no hope of escape.

Then there’s Apple – visionary leader in hardware, technology, software, services, and support.

A company rooted not just in capitalist ideals – but the American dream of build a better product, and consumers will beat a path to your sparkling retail stores, or camp out for days awaiting your latest, industry-changing product.  Apple’s manta of ‘Think Different’, and ‘it just works…’ resounds with consumers weary of cheap solutions [like Dell] that cause nothing but frustration, waste time, and end up costing more in the long run.

Apple is using its wealth, as Steve Jobs defty noted last week, to take ‘big bold, risks.’

Those risks have largely recast the way we purchase and listen to music.  If the promise of the iPad is fulfilled – network television, the film industry, publishing, and newspapers may find a powerful, new force invigorating their now bleak fortunes.

Bold leaps in technology require investments in R&D, and people. They also require visionaries and leaders willing to take ‘big, bold risks’ – people like Steve Jobs – and his dedicated and talented team at Apple.

It’s easy to sit back and count imaginary profits, and second-guess true visionaries.  Apple fans have fueled an online community of boosters, blasters, and rumor-mongers.  They all miss the point.  For those who pay close attention to Apple’s dreams and accomplishments – there are important lessons to be learned.

For the sake of our national economy – and our future – Apple is an important teacher.

For comparison, here are the Market Cap’s for a few other tech giants:

• Google – $179.41B
• IBM – $165.30B
• Hewlett-Packard – $122.69B
• Intel – $114.84B
• Amazon – $57.31B
• Nokia – $52.40
• RIM – $38.72B
• Sony – $36.47B
• Dell – $27.16B

In the interest of full-disclosure, I own as much stock as finances will allow – and have no interest in selling at any price. Like Apple, my eyes are on distant horizons.

Even though Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told Reuters a few months ago that Netflix wasn’t going to work on an iPhone app for a while, it seems that Netflix has been feeling the water about it. A RWW article notes that:

Recently, Netflix sent out a survey to select subscribers in order to determine interest in an iPhone application for streaming movies via mobile phones. According to the survey’s wording, the proposed app would be Wi-Fi only and would offer the same content that the Netflix “Watch Instantly” service provides.

Hacking Netflix has the full text of the survey:

Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their iPhone. The selection availability to instantly watch includes some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee.

Whenever you want to instantly watch content on your iPhone, your iPhone must be connected to a Wi-Fi network (such as one you might have at home or at work, or in public places like coffee shops, book stores, hotels, airports, etc.)

If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?

As a long-time Netflix customer, I have to say that I’ve been waiting for an iPhone app pretty much since the iPhone came out. It does make sense for Netflix to be present on mobile devices, especially the iPhone.

Now there are two problems. First issue is technological. Flash is not going to happen, so what technology could Netflix use to make itself available on the iPhone? Well apparently, Microsoft has been working with Apple on porting Silverlight to the iPhone and it seems to be working well. That would be a solution. I personally think Netflix would develop its own format but it’s just a guess.

The second problem facing Netflix is… Apple itself. Would Apple allow video streaming when it has the same plans in mind for iTunes? While I doubt Apple will be particularly excited about having a Netflix app, I believe it will have to allow it in the App Store to avoid being taught a lesson by the FTC.

At any rates, I’m very excited about having Netflix on my iPhone. You know what? I’m even more excited about having Netflix on my iPad!

What say you?

"Netflix On the iPhone? Yes Please!" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

I wasn’t in line at the Apple Store when the iPhone came out in 2007. I actually didn’t care much about it. That was until my best friend bought an iPhone.

The first day I actually got to play with my friend’s iPhone, I really fell in love with it. I loved the design and how it fit in my hands. I was so impressed that just about 5 minutes after playing with it, I got up and told my friend “hey, I’m going to the AT&T store, I’ll be right back”.

I came back to my friend’s house an hour later with my brand new iPhone. That was probably the quickest buying decision I ever made, considering the price of this product.

The first day I bought my first iPhone, I literally spent hours just looking at it. I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever designed. To this date, even though the first gen iPhone is completely outdated, I still think it was a radical design that changed the way we’ll look at phones forever.

Mind you, I bought my first iPhone about a month after it first came out. The following year, I was in line at a local AT&T store. Last year, I got smarter and pre-ordered my iPhone 3GS. I didn’t live the “whole experience” of waiting in line for it, but at least… I didn’t have to wait in line for hours…

Do you remember the first day you had your iPhone? Was it a very particular moment or just another day?

Photo Credit: iPhone Savior

"Do You Remember the First Day You Had Your iPhone?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Apple today announced that Wi-Fi models of the iPad will go on sale in the United States on Saturday, April 3rd. 3G-capable models in the U.S., as well as both Wi-Fi + 3G models for a number of other countries, will be available in late April.

Steve Jobs added: “iPad is something completely new. We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

Beginning March 12, US customers can pre-order both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple’s online store [www.apple.com] or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

All models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Join us at Apple Barton Creek and Apple Domain on April 3rd — as CapMac members share the excitement of launch day for this amazing new product!

Milk Crater generates a large grid created from your iPod collection. It uses cover art to generate the tiles, or if no cover art is available for a song, then it uses the song title.

The first time you run the app, it starts a “Dial Rebuild” process which can take anywhere from 10 seconds to a couple of minutes. It does this in order to generate a giant “dial” (which is more like a grid of cover art and song titles). This is where the fun begins. After generating this “dial”, you can move around it by sliding your fingers.

What really sets Milk Crater apart from other music apps (including the iPod app itself) is the fact that it switches audio in real-time as you slip and slide around the grid with your fingers.

Once you get the hang of it, you can start doing more interesting things like building playlists on-the-fly as you browse. It’s also possible to export these playlists back into your iPod, through an e-mail export (the only way possible).

Another worthwhile feature is its search capability, which begins highlighting results on the “dial” as you type.

At this point, it’s tough to say if it will replace the iPod app itself, but it may give it a run for its $1.99.

"Milk Crater: A Different way to Browse Your iPod Music Collection (sponsored)" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

In words likely to strike fear into the hearts of any iPhone user – AT&T’s CEO promised [threatened] that the iPhone would be part of the AT&T product portfolio for ‘quite some time’.  The comments were made yesterday at a Morgan Stanley financial meeting.

That coupled with Apple COO Tim Cook’s gushy comments during the lastest financial call that AT&T was a ‘great partner’, and that Apple was ‘pleased’ with their performance has got to trigger visceral dread in iPhone users.

With the iPad launch nearing, and Apple giddily gloating over the ‘amazing pricing plans’ that AT&T will offer, one has to truly wonder ‘what’s up with that?’.  The answer is complex, and unsettling.

Hints have been everywhere – yet none of the trade press and blogs have been willing to report the obvious – for now, the iPhone is fully captive to AT&T until someone else [anyone else] can belly up to the bars and put in place a network to support the technology, the traffic, and the backshop access Apple requires to activate phones and deliver unique content.

Sure, Apple has courted, and been courted by other carriers – notably T-Mobile and Verizon – but no deals have solidified. Why?  Because as strange as it sounds – AT&T is doing an ‘okay’ job.   Despite blogs, anti-AT&T websites, customer outrage, and press scrutiny and blather – AT&T fumbles along as the only game in town, why else would we [and Apple] tolerate:

• Routinely dropped calls, poor voice quality, and sluggish data rates
• Belated adoption of 4G LTE technology – ‘we’re in no hurry’ as Stephenson said
• Perpetually promised – and delayed – tethering
• Subtle hints that tiered data plans are in our future
• Shoddy and unresponsive customer service

AT&T sucks. Apple knows it – and AT&T certainly knows it.  So why the mutual love-fest?  Necessity.

Apple needs AT&T as a supple, compliant partner – at least for now. And, AT&T needs iPhone customers and revenue. Even with the iPhone cash-cow, ATT stock is hurting badly. Without the needed infusion of customers [with two-year contracts], and added income [iPhone customers produce the fattest bills] – AT&T’s stock would be so unattractive that no one would want it.

Stephenson’s comments yesterday were only to reassure investors that AT&T is ‘on it’ and still not only in the game – but for now – the only game.  Anything else is wishful thinking.

What will it take to change the game?  Greater iPhone customer outrage at AT&T and Apple.

I’m not going to suffer AT&T in silence – and now, with Tim Cook defending the indefensible – Apple is in my cross-hairs too.   Thoughts?

Power Downloader [iTunes link] – This is a free app that lets you download a host of files to your iPhone like JPG, GIF, HTML, MP3, MP4, 3GP and more.  But, what I like to use it for is downloading YouTube videos for later viewing at full resolution.  However, you can only watch the video from within the app and there’s no way to get the video off your iPhone.  Obviously, Apple wouldn’t have an app that would pirate YouTube videos.  Since YouTube videos don’t stream on 3G at full resolution on the iPhone, this helps to watch your videos more cleanly. There doesn’t seem to be a size limit when downloading on 3G.

Which location-based app has more than double the amount of users of Foursquare and Gowalla combined and is free?  If the answer is MyTown [iTunes link] you’d be correct!  Unlike other location-sharing apps, MyTown plays much more like a real game.  When you check in to places, you have the option of buying them for your virtual town.  The properties you buy give you constant income and to upgrade them you need money.  To level up, you need points and you get that by checking in to more places.  I have to admit I’m kind of addicted to this.  However, the GPS locating on this app is not very good and I have to type in my location most of the time.

I used Beejive for the longest time to instant message on my iPhone.  I loved it for the most part but the app loading time was horrendous.  Plus, I paid $9.99 for the app.  Then came Meebo [iTunes link].  It’s free and I believe it does load a little faster than Beejive.  I’m sure it’s even more magnified for me since I have the older 3G.  3GS users may or may not see that much of a difference.  Sure, Beejive has a lot more features.  But, I don’t use most of them.  I just want to IM.  Meebo supports push notifications and when you bring up Meebo on your desktop, push notifications are disabled on your iPhone.  Nice touch.

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock [iTunes link] – Apparently, we sleep in cycles of light and deep sleep.  Every night, we set our alarm to go off at a certain time in the morning but many times it is when we are in a deep sleep cycle.  So, we’re very groggy when it’s time to get up.  The Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock is app designed to change that.  The app will sound a soothing alarm when you’re in a light sleep cycle and then you can gradually get up.  Just as a warning, sometimes your light sleep cycle could come 30 minutes before you actually want to get up.  The accelerometer tracks the movement on your bed and knows if you’re in a light or deep sleep cycle.  So, yes, you will have to sleep with your iPhone on your bed.  And, yes, I have knocked my iPhone off my bed a couple of times.  What I really like the $.99  app for is tracking how long I’m in light and deep sleep.  I posted a sample of one of my night’s sleep.  I have a lot of peaks and valleys.  I am a light sleeper.

What are your favorite apps of the month?

"Favorite Apps of the Month" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

I’m curious to see what App Store or stock apps you use on a daily basis.

Here are my 5 most used apps, in no specific order:

• Tweetie 2
• Byline
• Mail
• Safari
• Camera

I usually don’t use the camera app much but since I started traveling a few months ago, I now use it several times a day.

Please take a few seconds to share your most used apps by leaving a comment.

"What Are Your 5 Most Used iPhone Apps?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Publishing giant Condé Nast has announced its first wave of magazines being redesigned for release on Apple’s new iPad. GQ, their leading men’s magazine is the first to get the paper-to-pixel makeover, with the inaugural issue expected in April. Vanity Fair and Wired are expected in June; with Glamour and The New Yorker following later.

Condé Nast’s editorial director, Thomas Wallace said the titles were chosen because of their broad representation. “GQ is men. Glamour is women. Vanity Fair is a dual audience. The New Yorker is unique with its periodicity, and therefore it’s also more news- or text-heavy, and it’s a slightly older audience,” says Wallace.

The initial releases are critical in that the debut magazines are meant to test prices, designs and advertising formats in an experiment running through to the fall. A key problem, a result of iTunes-based distribution, is a lack of trackable reader demographics which will make marketing harder. Condé says it intends to compensate by forcing readers to register for some content access.

Whether or not other magazines will be ported to the iPad is dependent on the success of the experiment. “If we are happy with the results that we get, we’ll be ready to go in the fall,” adds Wallace.

The publications are being redesigned to take full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities. The publisher already offers a GQ iPhone app.

I’ve been doing a little bit of research online and the information I got is not reassuring. Apparently you have to be a Cambodian citizen to be able to buy a SIM card. Not much of a problem as you can always pay someone to go get a SIM card for you.

The real bad news for me is that it seems you only get coverage in larger cities.

I’ve been expressing my concern to my fiancee about this several times during the past day and I think she’s getting over it. Today she said to me: “you’re nothing without your iPhone, aren’t you?”

It made me think about it for a minute and I came to realize that it’s not really my iPhone that I need most, it’s the mobile Internet access I get anywhere, anytime.

So no, I am not nothing without my iPhone. However, I’m totally miserable without a connection to the Internet that fits in my pocket.

Do you feel the same?

"You’re Nothing Without Your iPhone" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

In what may become a defining moment for traditional media, the legendary Associated Press has launched a landmark campaign to bring the power and reach of the traditional press to Apple’s new iPad.

The Associated Press, a New York-based news agency founded in 1846, has announced a bold initiative by offering it’s wealth of content – text, images, sound, and video – by paid subscription for users of Apple’s upcoming iPad.

The AP’s content is currently used by over 1,700 newspapers and more than 5,000 TV and radio stations and is described as their “backbone.”

The move into a paid subscription format comparable to more specialized outfits like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times would mean heavier promotion of the Associated Press brand itself.

“For publishers, [2010] likely is the defining moment,” AP chief executive Tom Curley said at the Colorado Press Association’s annual meeting. “We must seize this opportunity to re-invigorate our business models as well as our journalism.”

The AP already offers limited access to their vast content through a free app available for iPhone users.

Evidently, ‘manly men’ are the key to DROID’s marketing plan.  According to a Myxer study on mobile entertainment consumption habits, iPhone dominates states across the country, but Android users have closed the gap and actually surpassed iPhone users in eight states – seven of them coming from West and Midwest states including Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

The results were compiled from Myxer’s BoomBox report for January 2010, which also revealed the latest demographic and consumption habits based on more than one million unique Myxer users from Android and iPhone operating system.

Android’s recent television ad series seemed to pander to the same demographic – cattle, pickup trucks, a hee-haw mentality – and distain for products with style, class or functionality. AT&T service is unavailable, or unreliable, in most of the same areas.

So, if  you have a hyper-masculine persona, and sleep with sheep – there may be an Android phone in your future.

• Is GeoHot working on unlocking baseband 05.12.01 on iPhone 3.1.3?
• F0recast: find out if you can jailbreak, unlock, downgrade
• What is unlocking an iPhone?
• Hey Apple, ban this!
• Pocket Blu: control your Blu-Ray from your iPhone
• Who said the iPhone camera sucks?
• Traveling with an iPhone: my experience in Thailand
• Is Steve Jobs using a jailbroken iPhone?

"iPhone News You Missed This Week" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Why would Steve Jobs use an iPhone with 3.1.2? Well, my guess is that he simply has a jailbroken iPhone and he doesn’t want to update to 3.1.3 because he knows it brings nothing more than 3.1.2, except the few usual “bug fixes”.

Additionally, I believe Steve doesn’t want to lose the ability to unlock his iPhone so he can use it with T-Mobile.

Any other reason why you think Steve Jobs would still be using an iPhone on 3.1.2?

"Is Steve Jobs Using A Jailbroken iPhone ?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Before even going to Thailand, I had done a little research on the web about possible options. Turns out that there are only 2 mobile carriers in Thailand. Additionally, I learned that there is no 3G in Thailand as the communication infrastructures to support 3G haven’t been put in place yet.

As soon as we went through the customs at Bangkok airport, I turned on my iPhone, which was still under my Balinese carrier. I received a text message telling me to switch to the Balinese partner in Thailand called DTAC. So I did just this, hoping that I’d be able to get on Edge to at least check my emails. No luck for me. While I was able to make calls, I couldn’t get on the Internet.

Easily enough, there was a DTAC store right inside the airport. I went to the counter and inquired about prices. The guy was super friendly and spoke a better English than I do, which is always nice.

So he told me that for $3 I could buy a SIM card, and that they had various plans for talk time and data. Since I’m more interested in data than talk time, I asked him if it was possible to have unlimited Internet for a month.

He gave me a pricing sheet that showed me the various options. For unlimited Internet for 30 days, the price was about $30. So I chose this plan and added $10 worth of talk time so we can call hotels and stuff.

In about 5 minutes from the time I walked in to the time I walked out, I had a brand new Thai phone number with unlimited Internet and about 2 hours of talk time. That was without a doubt the most painless experience ever!

Edge is not very fast but I’m used to it now. And to be honest, it feels like Edge in Thailand is as fast as 3G in Bali or Australia.

The coverage is amazing too! We’ve been traveling to remote little islands and I’ve always been able to get coverage. Heck, even on ferries while island hopping, I was still able to tweet and email.

Next stop for us is Cambodia. Hopefully my experience getting a plan for my iPhone there will be as pleasant and easy as it was here in Thailand. To be continued…

"Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Thailand" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

If you don’t know CameraBag, basically it’s an app that allows you to apply some cool filters to your pictures.

Here are a few images I tweaked with Camerabag (pix from my Australia and Thailand trip)

While CameraBag can’t improve the quality of the images, I think it does a great job at getting the most out of them.

CameraBag is available from the App Store for $1.99. I know there are other apps in the Store that pretty much do the same job but I’m too lazy to look for them. If you know any, please let us know by leaving a comment.

"Who Said the iPhone Camera Sucks?" is an article by the iPhone Download Blog sponsored by the iPhone Store. Feel free to leave a comment or discuss this topic in the forum. For the latest iPhone info, don't forget to follow me on Twitter.

Today, at Apple’s [AAPL] shareholder meeting, Steve Jobs defended Apple Inc’s decision to maintain a $40 billion cash reserve – saying it was better to save the money for bold risks, like acquisitions – than spend it on stock buybacks or cash dividends.

Facing shareholders’ questions over his intentions for the company’s cash balance, equal to about one-fifth of its market capitalization, the chief executive said buy backs and dividends would not have a lasting impact on the Apple’s share value:

“We’re a large enough business now, that in order to really move the needle, we’ve got to be thinking pretty bold, pretty large. And who knows what’s around the next corner,” Jobs said.

“When we think about big, bold things, we know that if we needed to acquire something, a piece of the puzzle, to make something big and bold a reality, we could write a check for it,” he said.

Lately much of Apple’s risk-taking with new product lines like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the long-rumored iPad, have been funded by the strategic use of Apple’s cash reserves.  To Apple’s credit, so far, those risks have paid of handsomely.

Apple has also used it’s reserve capital to purchase strategic partners known for their innovative technology, intellectual property, and key technical staff.

Apple’s more recent acquisitions include: semiconductor firm PA Semi, mobile ad company Quattro Wireless, and music subscription service Lala. All were relatively small deals.

Most notable was news that nearly 60 percent of Apple’s revenue came from international markets in the December quarter.  That revenue potential will drive Apple’s intense focus on markets in China.

Apple now has just one store, in Beijing – but will open 25 more in the next two years, Jobs promised.  That initiative will bring Apple products and a superior retail experience, to technology-hungry China.

Analysts offered that while somewhat risky – the move could pay huge rewards for Apple.

Shares of Apple rose 0.67 percent to close at $202.00 on the Nasdaq.

Apple today marked the download of the 10 billionth song from the iTunes store.  Begun in 2003, the store recorded it’s first billion songs in 2006, five billion in 2008, and today at 3:32 pm CST, it’s ten billionth song download.

The person who downloaded the milestone song will be presented a $10,000 gift card for the iTunes store by Apple.

For Steve Jobs, it was a fitting way to celebrate his 55th birthday. His vision and tenacity in forging landmark licensing ageements with music publishers is credited with reinvigorating the music industry.

Thursday morning, Apple revealed that the winner of its “Countdown to 10 Billion Songs” contest is Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who purchased “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash to push Apple to the milestone. Sulcer will receive a $10,000 iTunes gift card.

“We’re grateful to all of our customers for helping us reach this amazing milestone,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “We’re proud that iTunes has become the number one music retailer in the world, and selling 10 billion songs is truly staggering.”

The iTunes Store currently offers a catalog of over 12 million songs, over 55,000 TV episodes and over 8,500 movies including over 2,500 in high definition format.

Birthdays are special days – even for folks who don’t normally celebrate them.

This one is even more special for Steve Jobs, besides being able to order ’senior’ sushi specials at Kitsho – he is alive, well,  and thriving.  Soon his decades long quest for a truly inspirational media device, the iPad, will launch.

For Apple fans, and Steve, life is good – and getting better every day.

From all of us, and the millions like us, who feel an extra sense of delight at seeing ‘Designed by Apple in California’ on our visionary new products and technologies –– Happy Birthday Steve –– and many, many more.

The Apple Inc. shareholder meeting tomorrow will feature a new face in a leading role. Andrea Jung, CEO Avon Products, is Apple’s [AAPL] newest director and only woman serving on the seven-member board, will officially become co-lead director, a role she assumed quietly in December.

She succeeds former Apple executive Bill Campbell, one of the company’s longest-serving board members and a personal mentor to CEO Steve Jobs.

It’s expected that Jung’s elevation to co-lead director gives the board a more independent voice.  Many had criticized the closely-cloistered and secretive board during the Apple’s CEO’s lengthy illness and subsequent liver transplant.

Jobs has attended every one of Apple’s shareholder meetings since he returned as CEO in 1997 — except for last year, when he was on medical leave. Jobs is expected to be present for the shareholder meeting tomorrow.