Freddie Geier plans to leave his post as Elgato chief executive at the end of the month to join Apple as managing director of Apple Germany, Elgato said in a statement Tuesday.
"Apple Germany is going to be led by a true entrepreneur; we congratulate them, and we're very happy for Freddie," Elgato President Markus Fest said in a statement. Elgato said the company "will continue to operate under the leadership" of Fest, who is also Elgato's founder.
Elgato is best known for its EyeTV line of products which adds TiVo-like functions to the Macintosh. Apple has long resisted adding TV-recording capabilities to the Mac. Last week, the company announced that its new iMacs would ship with Front Row software and a remote control for playing music and videos from a distance.
Rather than supporting a direct TV connection, though, as Elgato does and as Microsoft does with its Windows XP Media Center Edition, Apple has focused its remote control software on playing music, viewing photos and watching video that is downloaded to the computer.
An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment on the naming of Geier.
The hiring marks a return to Apple for Geier, who has headed Elgato since July 2003. Prior to joining Elgato, Geier was a senior director of business development for Apple in California and also was a general manager for Astarte, the company that created the CD burning application Toast.
