Cupertino

Apple Inc. will spend an unprecedented $100 billion to buy back shares and increase its dividend - a not-so-subtle attempt to appease jittery investors who have seen the company's stock plunge by nearly half in recent months. Although the announcement was intended to send a signal of how strongly executives believe in Apple's future, it came on the heels of an earnings report that included the company's first profit drop in a decade. The mixed messages about Apple's prospects left investors torn about how to feel about everything they learned Tuesday.

Apple Inc. will spend an unprecedented $100 billion to buy back shares and increase its dividend - a not-so-subtle attempt to appease jittery investors who have seen the company's stock plunge by nearly half in recent months. Although the announcement was intended to send a signal of how strongly executives believe in Apple's future, it came on the heels of an earnings report that included the company's first profit drop in a decade. The mixed messages about Apple's prospects left investors torn about how to feel about everything they learned Tuesday.

The city of Cupertino, Calif., has posted online numerous floor plans and rendering of Apple's proposed Campus 2 building. The additional images of Campus 2 show more sides and aspects of the building Apple is hoping to build to house an additional 13,000 employees The city posted the floor plans and renderings Thursday. Apple hopes to begin construction later this year and move into the building, which has been described as looking like an object from outer space, by 2015.

Cupertino, we have a problem. Apple's spaceship-like headquarters will likely not open its doors before mid-2016. That's because earlier this month, the tech company submitted an updated version of its proposal to the City of Cupertino. The company, which hoped to break ground on the new campus sometime this year, will likely not begin work on the proposed facility until at least 2013, according to a report by Bloomberg . “They could conceivably break ground in 2013, but only if everything goes smoothly,” David Brandt, Cupertino's city manager, said, according to Bloomberg.

In early June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made what amounted to an extended architectural sales pitch when he appeared before the City Council in Cupertino to present the details of a planned new headquarters for the company he co-founded in 1976. Jobs showed renderings of a sleek, glimmering building, ring-shaped and four stories high, set gently into a lush green landscape. The members of the council found the pitch persuasive, to say the least. ("The word 'spectacular' would be an understatement," one said.)

Cupertino, we have a problem. Apple's spaceship-like headquarters will likely not open its doors before mid-2016. That's because earlier this month, the tech company submitted an updated version of its proposal to the City of Cupertino. The company, which hoped to break ground on the new campus sometime this year, will likely not begin work on the proposed facility until at least 2013, according to a report by Bloomberg . “They could conceivably break ground in 2013, but only if everything goes smoothly,” David Brandt, Cupertino's city manager, said, according to Bloomberg.

A Superior Court judge let stand a six-year prison sentence for former Sunnyvale Mayor Brian O'Toole, who had pleaded no contest to a charge of child molesting. O'Toole, 35, was accused of lewd and lascivious conduct with a Cupertino boy from August, 1984, to January, 1989. He resigned his office last August.

No need to pity Trent Martin, who personifies the enviable rut the Newbury Oaks American Legion baseball team finds itself in. Martin, the team's first baseman and cleanup hitter, suffered a twisted ankle Tuesday after drilling a run-scoring double in the seventh inning. While rounding first, he stumbled over the lip of the grass--for the second time in the state tournament. "I guess that's been a bad area for me," said Martin, who was not injured seriously and remained in the game.

Want to fool merchants with a fake ID? Hack someone's text messages? Or how about tracking where your co-workers are, without their knowing it? There's an app for that. The explosion in smartphone and tablet applications that enable people to check the weather, follow their stocks and play Words With Friends has a dark side: apps that facilitate questionable if not outright illegal behavior. Apple's App Store, for example, offers Drivers License software that promises "unlimited access to realistic-looking licenses" for all 50 states.

The city of Cupertino, Calif., has posted online numerous floor plans and rendering of Apple's proposed Campus 2 building. The additional images of Campus 2 show more sides and aspects of the building Apple is hoping to build to house an additional 13,000 employees The city posted the floor plans and renderings Thursday. Apple hopes to begin construction later this year and move into the building, which has been described as looking like an object from outer space, by 2015.

Reporting from Cupertino, Calif.; Oakland and San Jose; and Los Angeles -- A truck driver for a quarry near Cupertino went on a shooting rampage early Wednesday, killing three people and wounding seven others, then leading police on a manhunt across normally placid Silicon Valley, authorities said. Shareef Allman, 47, of San Jose remained at large late Wednesday. The search was concentrated on the border between Cupertino and Sunnyvale, where Allman was last seen. Police said they had found four weapons but believed Allman remained armed and dangerous.

In early June, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made what amounted to an extended architectural sales pitch when he appeared before the City Council in Cupertino to present the details of a planned new headquarters for the company he co-founded in 1976. Jobs showed renderings of a sleek, glimmering building, ring-shaped and four stories high, set gently into a lush green landscape. The members of the council found the pitch persuasive, to say the least. ("The word 'spectacular' would be an understatement," one said.)

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs has revealed plans for a new headquarters for the company that "looks a little like a spaceship. " The presentation about the proposed campus, designed to hold 12,000 employees, was made before the City Council in Cupertino, Calif., Apple's present home. The company hasn't formally submitted plans to the city, but the fact that Jobs — who is on medical leave from Apple but still participating in decisions — showed up in person for the presentation Tuesday surprised many in attendance.

Hewlett-Packard Co. is continuing its recent spending spree by buying ArcSight Inc., a Cupertino, Calif., security software company, in a deal worth about $1.5 billion, the two companies confirmed Monday. HP said it would pay $43.50 a share for the company, which makes software that detects intrusion attempts on big computer networks. The deal will help HP beef up its line of software for commercial computer systems, as it increasingly tries to sell a full range of hardware, software and tech services.

He's back. Steve Jobs returned to work Monday at Apple Inc.'s Cupertino, Calif., campus, company spokesman Steve Dowling said. Jobs took a medical leave of absence in January, saying he would return to the computer maker at the end of June. "He's at Apple a few days a week and working from home the rest of the week," Dowling said. "We are very glad to have him back." Neither Jobs nor Apple revealed the nature of the chief executive's illness while he was gone.

Apple probably won't release its next iPhone until this summer or fall, but that isn't stopping tech blogs and news sites from speculating about what we could expect in the next Apple smartphone. There are plenty of rumors on the Web about the next iPhone, which many believe will be called the iPhone 5S, but you should trust only a few of them. Most rumors online turn out to be nothing but wishful thinking, but a few do get it right sometimes. Here is what we think about these rumors.

Check off another milestone for Apple Inc. — it's now the most valuable company of all time. The technology behemoth achieved that distinction with the latest jump in its seemingly irrepressible stock price. Apple shares have been on a steady uptick for years, and investors now value the company at $623.5 billion. That surpassed the previous high of $616.3 billion, not adjusted for inflation, notched by rival Microsoft Corp. at the end of the late-1990s dot-com boom. To put that in perspective, Apple is now worth 17 times as much as Ford Motor Co., seven times as much as McDonald's Corp.

A San Jose federal court judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Cupertino schoolteacher who accused his principal and other officials of illegally forbidding him from teaching about the religious context of America's founding. U.S. District Judge James Ware dismissed the suit, filed by fifth-grade teacher and avowed "orthodox Christian" Stephen Williams, after both sides in the case agreed to a voluntary settlement. Details of the agreement were not available.

After high school, while his parents lived in Europe for several years, Matthew G. Axelson of Cupertino, Calif., saw a chance to learn about the world and eagerly took advantage of it. Using his parents' overseas homes as his base, he traveled to Italy, Switzerland, Spain, France, England, Poland, Holland and Germany. As a political science major in college, he had a penchant for comparing other countries to the U.S., recalled his father, Cordell, who was a telecommunications manager in Europe.