The designer behind Apple's world-changing devices is rising to a new role that frees him to put his creative vision to work across the breadth of the company.

Jony Ive was promoted to a newly minted positon of chief design officer, essentially taking on a big-picture responsibility and authority once held by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

"In this new role, he will focus entirely on current design projects, new ideas and future initiatives," Apple said in an email response Tuesday to an AFP inquiry.

Ive's sphere of influence will include Apple products, software, and shops.

Day-to-day responsibilities that Ive held in his former position will be divided between his "longtime collaborators" industrial design vice president Richard Howarth and Alan Dye, vice president of user interface design.

The transition is slated to take place July 1, according to a copy of an internal memo posted online.

British native Ive rose to design stardom at Apple after the return of Jobs to the California-based company in 1997.

The relationship Ive had with Jobs has been described as close and collaborative, with Ive heading the team behind devices including the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

"His new role is a reflection of the scope of work he has been doing at Apple for some time," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in the memo to employees.

"Design is one of the most important ways we communicate with our customers, and our reputation for world-class design differentiates Apple from every other company in the world."

Periscope streaming app spreads to Android smartphones
San Francisco (AFP) May 26, 2015 - Twitter launched its Periscope application on Android-powered devices on Tuesday as the battle for live-streaming video spread to the world's leading smartphone platform.

A version of Periscope tailored for Android, the KitKat version or newer, debuted at the Google Play shop as Twitter stepped up its offensive on rival video-streaming application Meerkat.

"When we started Periscope, we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation -- by providing users with the best way to start or watch a live video broadcast," the Periscope team said in an online post.

"Our initial launch was limited to just (Apple's) iOS, but we've been working really hard to craft an experience that feels special on Android, yet still unmistakably Periscope."

A version of Periscope for Apple iPhones was released in late March.

The Periscope app, like Meerkat, allows anyone to stream live video to a wide audience with their smartphone.

Meerkat became a virtual overnight sensation on its debut earlier this year. But Twitter soon blocked access to a function that allowed the video to spread further within the social network.