MacRumors is pleased to announce the third annual MacRumors Blood Drive , for the month of May 2012. We encourage forum members and site visitors to donate blood or platelets at any hospital or blood donation center in their city.

The Travis County Commissioners Court has just given official approval for a package of tax incentives designed to secure Apple's commitment to expand its Austin, Texas campus and add over 3,600 new jobs at the site. The approval comes after development officials expressed concern last week that the deal was "in peril" as concerns over loopholes in the contract delayed approval by the county.

Reuters reports that Apple has been negotiating with movie streaming service EPIX for the rights to stream content to the Apple TV set-top box. According to sources, the deal would also extend to future streaming devices such as the much-rumored Apple television set.

Advertising tracking firm Ace Metrix today shared its data on viewer reactions to Apple's new celebrity iPhone 4S ads featuring Siri and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel

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Last month, the State of Texas announced that Apple would be making a major expansion of its existing customer support and administrative campus in Austin, investing over $300 million to add 3,600 workers at the site. The move would more than double Apple's workforce in Austin. Over the past several weeks, a number of governmental agencies, including the State of Texas, Travis County, and the City of Austin have been working on tax break packages designed to secure Apple's commitment to bring the new jobs to Austin

Back in late 2010, Apple announced that it would cease supporting Java for OS X, with Steve Jobs noting that Apple was always a version behind that being distributed by Sun/Oracle, which handled Java for all other platforms. Confusion about whether Oracle would step into the Java void created by Apple's removal of support was addressed several weeks later when Apple and Oracle announced plans to expand Oracle's OpenJDK project to include OS X as a means to deliver Java SE 7 to Mac users. Oracle today announced that is taking the next step toward OS X compatibility with the release of Java SE 7 Update 4 and JavaFX 2.1 .

Since taking the helm of department store chain J.C. Penney last November, former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson has rebuilt much of his new company's executive team, in many cases bringing in associates he had worked with at Apple or in his earlier stint at Target.

Netgear today announced its first 802.11ac-compatible Wi-Fi router, capable of delivering gigabit speeds up to three times faster than current 802.11n routers. Topping out at 1300 Mbps in 5 Ghz mode and 450 Mbps in 2.4 GHz, Netgear's R6300 router will launch next month at a price of $199.99.

Among the many anecdotes about Steve Jobs included in Ken Segall's new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success , one in particular stands out for its glimpse into Jobs' character, providing evidence of his willingness to engage in playful ideas when the mood suited him. The story takes place relatively soon after the launch of the original iMac, with Jobs wanting to find a high-profile way to celebrate the sale of the millionth one to mark Apple's comeback from the dead