Apple Weekly News Roundup: Study Correlates iPhone Use with Education, Apple Execs' Earnings Revealed and More

Targeted search advertising firm, Chitika, last week released the results of an iPhone usage study that showed a positive correlation between iPhone usage and education level - states with a higher percentage of the population holding a Bachelor's or higher degree had a higher percentage of iPhone users. No geographic correlation was uncovered, but the study also showed a positive correlation with population density.

iPhone usage by state.

Apple last week released its executives' 2014 earnings. Newcomer Angela Ahrendts topped the list with $73.3 million, with the majority of it coming from a $70 million stock award. Tim Cook received a compensation increase and more than doubled his earnings from the previous year, going from $4.2 million to $9.5 million. To be clear, Tim Cook is the better compensated of the two. He received a $70 million stock award in 2013, and when he took over as CEO, he received a $378 million payout package plus $373 million in stock options.

According to 9to5Mac, sources close to the Apple Watch say that Apple is aiming for 2.5 hours of battery life under "heavy" application use such as gameplay and 3.5 hours of normal application use. Apple ultimately wants 19 hours of mixed use per full charge so, as Tim Cook said, you'll need to charge it daily.

On Tuesday, Apple was granted a patent for "systems and methods for counteracting a perceptual fading of a movable indicator." This refers to dealing with Troxler's fading, a visual perception phenomenon in which, when a subject focuses on a point, unchanging visual stimuli in the periphery fade from view. It looks like Apple is serious about eye movement tracking, perhaps we will see "eye gesture" control in future devices.

Apple provided an updated aerial photo of its Campus 2 to the City of Cupertino's website last Monday. The massive project is expected to finish in 2016 and serve as Apple's new headquarters.

According to a report from Bloomberg last week, Apple has noticeably increased its lobbying activity in Washington recently. In 2014 it lobbied the White House, Congress and 13 departments and agencies, including the FDA and FTC. In comparison, five years ago Apple lobbied Congress and six agencies. According to Larry Nobel, senior counsel of a Washington non-profit that watches money in politics, "They’ve learned what others before them have learned -- that Washington can have a great effect on their business."

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