[Quote]:

Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H’s associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

[Quote]:

A report by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of the Fortune Apple 2.0 blog drew attention to the stark contrast in media coverage on the two companies after one of Samsung Electronics’ three chief executives told reporters that the company had shipped 6 million units to carriers globally and expected shipments to hit 10 million next week, the fourth week the new phone has been available for sale.

The report cited the Korea Times as describing the shipment numbers as making the new phone the “fastest-selling selling smartphone in Samsung’s history.” The story was picked up around the world with headlines like Business Insider, which ran “Samsung’s S4 Starts Strong: 10 Million Units In Less Than A Month.”

But as Fortune pointed out, that same outlet responded to Apple’s 3 day launch weekend of 5 million units sold with the all caps headline “IPHONE 5 OPENING WEEKEND SALES COME IN WORSE THAN EXPECTED.”

[..]

On top of the disparity in slant on coverage, Apple’s announced numbers were not just channel inventory shipments to global carriers; they were actual sales to customers, and those sales were constrained by supply issues.

[Quote]:

The early reviews of Google Fiber are in from Kansas City and one of the most attractive features of the service seems to be how it makes Netflix irresistible. The buffering annoyances that consumers take for granted vanish as Google Fiber feeds movies and shows instantly to eager Silicon Prairie dwellers. What’s more, the recently launched Google Fiber TV app offers video on demand for iPad. This direction is fascinating because of the hottest trend in US consumer behavior: broadcast television audience collapse.

TV show audiences have been falling for a long time, but recently the decline has turned into a plunge. According to Goldman Sachs, ratings in the 18-49 year demo dropped by a hideous 17% last winter, the steepest drop ever. “American Idol” is losing nearly 25% of its audience in a year. Most of the big new shows have been disasters and old staples like “Survivor” and “Dancing with Stars” are in free fall.

Everyone has long known that the broadcast dinosaurs are in trouble but it is only now becoming clear just how rapidly they are losing their grip on consumers in the United States. This coincides with rapid growth of time spent on mobile apps: American iPhone owners now waste two hours per day on apps and annualized growth of daily engagement still tops 30%. But it also opens up completely new vistas for Netflix, Amazon, Google and Apple when it comes to video distribution.

[Quote]:

Yesterday we decided not to run with a story published by Bloomberg that Pegatron’s forecasted 25 percent to 30 percent drop for second-quarter revenue was due to “falling iPad mini demand.” It seemed a little far fetched that an Apple supplier would be giving up specific information on product demand, something we know suppliers in Apple’s circle typically remain tight-lipped on. Today CEO of Pegatron Jason Cheng has confirmed our suspicions in an email to Fortune claiming that Bloomberg reporter Tim Culpan made the iPad mini angle up.

[..]

“We held our Institutional Investors Conference yesterday, and gave out a guidance of our 2Q13 business outlook… The category of Consumer Electronic Product includes game consoles, LCD-TV, e-paper readers, tablet products, and some others. We put all tablet products in this category, but have never broken down to detail numbers for specific products nor customers.

“After the meeting, one reporter from Bloomberg approached me, trying to dig out detail numbers about some specific product. I clearly refused to comment on specific products, nor customers, even though he continued with other questions. I did say those words that he quotes me in the article “more on demand, while price has been stable”…, “almost every item is moving in a negative direction”…; “Not just tablets, also e-books and games consoles”. But I did not say anything associated with any specific products.

“‘No indication, nor hint for specific products or customers‘ has been our principle and guideline for any public events such as investors conference. There are always speculations after these meetings.

[Quote]:

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// Fart every 800 pixels scrolled in the document
$(document).fartscroll(800);

// Fart every 100 pixels scrolled in the body (probably a bit much)
$("body").fartscroll(100);

// Now I'm just adding more examples to make the page longer
$("body").fartscroll(50);

// SO MANY FARTS
$("body").fartscroll(5);

// I should register fart.io for this
$("div").fartscroll(500);

// I should register fart.io for this
$("body").fartscroll(400);

// Dammit, fart.io is taken
$(window).fartscroll(600);

// Alright, that's probably enough examples
$("body").fartscroll(400);blockquote>

[Quote]:

THE UK GOVERNMENT has shown it’s at the forefront of modern technology and online services with its latest form for claiming benefits online.

Those who want to claim either Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance or Overseas State Pension can simply visit the Gov.UK website, where they are then pointed to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) website to fill out a form online.

So far, so impressive, in that the government is allowing citizens to apply for benefits over the web, rather than having to fill out forms and send them in via the post or visit offices in person.

However, it seems that many of those claimants could fall at the first hurdle due to some rather outdated stipluations about the computer systems supported by the DWP.

“This service doesn’t work with some modern browsers and operating systems,” the DWP notes. “We are considering how best to provide this service in future. You may want to claim in another way.”

[..]

“The service was designed to work with the following operating systems and browsers. Many of these are no longer available:

• Microsoft Windows 98: Internet Explorer versions 5.0.1, 5.5 and 6.0, Netscape 7.2
• Microsoft Windows ME: Internet Explorer version 5.5 and 6.0, Netscape 7.2
• Microsoft Windows 2000: Internet Explorer version 5.0.1, 5.5 and 6.0, Netscape 7.2, Firefox 1.0.3, Mozilla 1.7.7
• Microsoft Windows XP: Internet Explorer 6.0, Netscape 7.2, Firefox 1.0.3, Mozilla 1.7.7.”

For the few of you out there wanting to claim benefits online who manage to dig out some old Windows machine from a basement or loft running an old enough version of IE or Firefox, there are further obstacles to getting any money out of the government.

“This service is not available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 1.00am to 1.30am because of essential maintenance work. We apologise for any inconvenience,” warns the DWP.

Perhaps that’s when their hamsters change shifts – you know, the ones that run inside wheels keeping government IT systems up and running.

[Quote]:

It would be one thing if Apple and other giant companies were borrowing in order to expand operations and create new jobs. But that’s not what’s going on. Apple, remember, is still sitting on $145 billion.

The reason big companies aren’t creating more jobs is consumers aren’t buying enough to justify the expansion. And government is cutting back on spending.

Big corporations are borrowing simply in order to push stock prices up and reward their investors.

It’s a sump pump with the Fed on one end buying up bonds to keep interest rates low, and shareholders on the other end raking in the returns.

Get it? Easy money from the Fed can’t get the economy out of first gear when the rest of government is in reverse.

Trickle-down economics is the first cousin of austerity economics. Austerity is nuts when so many millions are out of work. And as we’ve learned before, trickle-down is a fraud. Nothing ever trickles down.

[Quote]:

Apple is trading at an astonishingly low valuation, with a p/e ratio in single digits, because it has now become that animal investors like least: a slow-growing tech stock. Either one is fine on its own, and both slow-growing stocks and fast-growing tech stocks can support much higher multiples than Apple is seeing right now. But conservative investors, who like slow-growing stocks with high dividends, are constitutionally uncomfortable with the volatility inherent in the tech world. And technology investors, who are happy taking that kind of risk, want to see substantial growth. Apple, notwithstanding the fact that it’s one of the most valuable companies in the world, is falling through the capital-markets cracks.

[Quote]:

As you probably know, about two-thirds of the $145 billion in cash on Apple’s books is held in overseas subsidiaries, and Apple would have to pay U.S. income tax if it used that money in the United States. So instead of bringing back money from overseas to pay for its stepped-up stock buybacks and higher cash dividend, Apple will borrow money instead.

It’s a perfect tax arbitrage. Let’s say Apple borrows money at an interest rate of 3 percent a year (which is more than it would probably pay), and uses it to buy back stock at the current price of about $410 a share. Each share that Apple buys back will reduce its annual dividend obligation by $12.20 a share, at the company’s current dividend rate. The interest on the borrowed money would be $12.30 a share — about the same as the dividend. But interest is tax-deductible, and dividends aren’t.

At a 35 percent tax rate, the borrowed money would cost Apple $8 after taxes for each share it bought back. That’s significantly less than the $12.20 after-tax cost of its $12.20 dividend. At a 25 percent tax rate, the borrowing would cost $9.23 after taxes—but that’s still less than $12.20. So lowering the tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent doesn’t remove Apple’s incentive to play the deduct-interest-to-retire-stock tax game. It would be less lucrative than it is at 35 percent — but it’s still lucrative. And, by the way, the borrowing-to-buy-back maneuver would not only reduce Apple’s taxes but also increase its earnings per share.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple simply borrowed the money from it’s own overseas subsidiaries, and tuned the interest to be paid on it – if any – to an optimal value for both US and overseas subsidiaries.

[Quote]:

WWDC has sold out increasingly quickly in recent years, and this year in particular saw a massive rush of developers ready to purchase at the launch time due to Apple having announced the on-sale time a day in advance. Previously, Apple had begun sales at the moment it announced details on the annual conference, but with last year’s tickets selling out in under two hours, some developers found themselves out of luck before they had even woken up for the day.

[Quote]:

The evidence has been clear for a while that Apple (AAPL) is no longer the singular dominant force in mobile. But the alarm bells have grown shriller. Supplier results suggest “lackluster iPhone demand.” Anonymous supply chain sources say that iPad mini unit sales could drop 20 percent to 30 percent this quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Those last words are telling. The Mini was not for sale the same period last year. So 20 to 30 percent less that last year is simply impossible.

What is it about Apple that make reporters insist on creating bad news? Fucking idiots.

Another example:

[Quote]:

Twitter made their new music service official this morning with an announcement and then release on…iOS. As you can tell, and should be no surprise if you look at Vine, Twitter still doesn’t realize that Android is just as, if not more important than iOS in the mobile game these days.

No, actually it isn’t. Let me tell you again what app developers see: on iOS you see about 10 times the sales/download numbers compared to Android. Twitter knows exactly what it is doing. Unit sales are irrelevant.

[Quote]:

Google, which relies on advertising for some 95 percent of its revenue, doesn’t want ads on its hotly anticipated Google Glass eyewear.

The blanket prohibition came in the fine print of a policy made public this evening, which says “Glassware” developers may not “serve or include any advertisements” and they “may not charge” users to download apps for the device.

So there’s no money either way for developers. Tell me again why I should bother ever developing for Glass?

[Quote]:

The results of Piper Jaffray’s 25th bi-annual teen survey came in Tuesday afternoon. Once again, it showed Apple (AAPL) to be the most desired brand among American teenagers who care about things like smartphones and tablets, although Google’s (GOOG) Android did make some gains.

[Quote]:

I’m sure that’s true to some extent, but let’s consider the fine print.

The following companies have been investment banking clients of Piper Jaffray during the past 12 months: Miller Regan: BAGL, DFRG, IRG, SBUX ; Wissink: KORS, TLYS; Naughton: BDE, NGVC; Tamminga: EXPR, GMAN, RH, ULTA; Munster: AAPL

(Emphasis mine.)

[Quote]:

“Swarming,” writes Mal Spooner, a Canadian money manager and financial columnist, “is the term now applied to the crime where an unsuspecting innocent bystander is attacked by several culprits at once… Because swarming at street level involves violence, it is criminal. However in financial markets it is perfectly legal.”

[Quote]:

Internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration complains that messages sent with Apple’s encrypted chat service are “impossible to intercept,” even with a warrant.

Quote

01 Apr 2013: Apple has issued an apology to Chinese consumers for warranty confusion after state media attacked its repair policies in a two-week-long campaign.

Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, apologised on Monday in a statement posted in Chinese to Apple’s website, saying the complaints had prompted “deep reflection” and persuaded the company of the need to revamp its repair policies, boost communication with Chinese consumers and strengthen oversight of authorised resellers.

State broadcaster CCTV and the ruling party’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily had led the charge and portrayed Apple as the latest Western firm to exploit the Chinese consumer, although Chinese Apple fans mocked the attacks.

Apple is revising its warranties for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S and simplifying its explanation of warranties and ways for customers to provide feedback, Cook said in a letter on Apple’s China website.

Didn’t someone say that Apple didn’t do April Fool’s Day?

[Quote]:

April Fool’s Day gags from Google: half a dozen.

April Fool’s Day gags from Apple: zero.

I suspect one’s preference for which company they admire more breaks strongly along the lines of how one feels about the above stats.

[Quote]:

Just two letters meant so much.

[Quote]:

[Quote]:

So if you want to know when Google Keep, opened for business on 21 March 2013, will probably shut – again, assuming Google decides it’s just not working – then, the mean suggests the answer is: 18 March 2017. That’s about long enough for you to cram lots of information that you might rely on into it; and also long enough for Google to discover that, well, people aren’t using it to the extent that it hoped. Much the same as happened with Knol (lifespan: 1,377 days, from 23 July 2008 to 30 April 2012), or Wave (1,095 days, from May 2009 – 30 April 2012) or of course Reader (2,824 days, from 7 October 2005 to 1 July 2013).

[Quote]:

As if three weren’t already a crowd, the latest rumors now say LG is also working on a smartwatch, joining a crowded field that includes tech giants Apple, Google and Samsung.

The South Korean electronics maker is rumored to be working on a smartwatch product to compete with that of its rivals, according to a report Friday by the Korea Times that cites an unnamed source.

[..]

Apple was the first to be rumored to be working on its own smartwatch when a report surfaced late last year saying the Cupertino company was focused on wearable tech. Although Apple hasn’t confirmed an iWatch is on its way, the rumor has been perpetuated by other outlets.

Samsung was then thrown in the mix when one of its executives told Bloomberg this month that it too was working on smart products for users’ wrists.

And more recently, Google was tied to the smartwatch market by a report from the Financial Times, which pointed out that the tech giant has a patent for a smartwatch device.

If there were a rumor Apple has started working on an iDildo, would all the other companies follow suit as well? I see some potential for Apple to leak some really weird ideas..

[Quote]:

BlackBerry just shipped a new phone that almost nobody has tried. But lots of people already have an opinion about it! Some people think it is great! Others are already making fun of it! That’s pretty typical behavior. People love to fight and fight about phone platforms; to toss around the term fanboi and other insults and invective. People love to lob polemic after polemic in the most boring argument since Mac vs. Windows ever.

Do you like Android? You should, it’s amazing. iOS? Wow, what a great platform, no wonder it started a revolution. Windows Phone? Seriously, it’s got a remarkable and beautiful interface. BlackBerry? There are plenty of great reasons people love it. And no matter which platform you adore, it’s shockingly possible to both have a preference and respect that other people may prefer an entirely different device. I know. Totally weird. But true.

Or, you can just call anyone who expresses a contrary opinion a jerk, or a fanboi, or butthurt, some other un-clever and deeply unoriginal pejorative that ends with the suffix “tard” and ultimately makes you look dumber than the person you’re trying, vainly, to insult.

The phone wars, the platform wars, should be left to people who work for Apple and Samsung and Google and Microsoft and Nokia and BlackBerry. Do you work for Apple? Do you work for Samsung? No? Then shut up.

[Quote]:

Who’s the person you’d least expect to discover is a BlackBerry user? How about the executive chairman of the company whose software has been crucial in eroding the Canadian company’s position in the consumer market?

That’s right: Eric Schmidt uses a BlackBerry.

[Quote]:

Every day we all see, hear or think of things we need to remember. Usually we grab a pad of sticky-notes, scribble a reminder and put it on the desk, the fridge or the relevant page of a magazine. Unfortunately, if you’re like me you probably often discover that the desk, fridge or magazine wasn’t such a clever place to leave the note after all…it’s rarely where you need it when you need it.

To solve this problem we’ve created Google Keep. With Keep you can quickly jot ideas down when you think of them and even include checklists and photos to keep track of what’s important to you. Your notes are safely stored in Google Drive and synced to all your devices so you can always have them at hand.

From the same guys that brought you Google Reader, so good luck if you don’t mind being bitten again.

[Quote]:

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave Google. During my time there I became fairly passionate about the company. I keynoted four Google Developer Day events, two Google Test Automation Conferences and was a prolific contributor to the Google testing blog. Recruiters often asked me to help sell high priority candidates on the company. No one had to ask me twice to promote Google and no one was more surprised than me when I could no longer do so. In fact, my last three months working for Google was a whirlwind of desperation, trying in vain to get my passion back.

The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus.

Technically I suppose Google has always been an advertising company, but for the better part of the last three years, it didn’t feel like one. Google was an ad company only in the sense that a good TV show is an ad company: having great content attracts advertisers.