Business

Amazon’s puzzling Kindle Unlimited program

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Amazon has unveiled a new subscription service called Kindle Unlimited, designed to give Kindle readers unlimited access to a limited library of eBooks, all for $9.99 a month.

I think this is a bit of a stumble for Amazon, a money grab. I’m an insatiable reader and I would go for this if all of Amazon’s book library was included. But as is, no thanks.

Chinese entrepreneur buys a Tesla, finds no charging stations, creates 20 of them

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Mashable:

While Tesla Motors has charging stations throughout the United States and Europe, there are none in China outside of Beijing and Shanghai. Zong’s charging road, which includes 20 charging stations in 16 cities across the 5,750-kilometer (about 3,570-mile) stretch between the two cities, attempts to fix that problem.

Have Tim Cook and Ginni Rometty cornered Android in enterprise?

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ZDNet:

The biggest challenge for team Android is that Google and Samsung, two partners with enterprise ambitions, will have to herd cats to reach corporations. Android will need channel, integration and services support and there are few players that can match IBM’s reach.

Microsoft said to be planning massive layoffs, possibly starting this week

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The reductions — which may be unveiled as soon as this week — will probably be in areas such as Nokia and divisions of Microsoft that overlap with that business, as well as marketing and engineering, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The restructuring may end up being the biggest in Microsoft history, topping the 5,800 jobs cut in 2009, two of the people said.

Sad for the people who lose their jobs, but good news for Microsoft if it helps get their ship back on course.

Apple’s new iTunes Pass and another magical way to add money to your account

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9to5mac:

Apple today has launched an interesting new service for iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore users in Japan with iPhones and iPod touches. The new service, called iTunes Pass (no, not that iTunes Pass), allows users to go to an Apple Store in Japan, purchase credit in-store for the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, and have that money immediately applied to the Apple ID account instead of needing to receive a gift card and enter a redemption code.

Here’s another magical way to add money to your iTunes account:

Declared dead just a month ago, Gameover Zeus botnet reanimated using Android and Windows

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From Apple Insider:

Last July, a U.S. Government report titled “Threats to Mobile Devices Using the Android OS” warned that Android “continues to be a primary target for malware attacks due to its market share and open source architecture,” and stated that this “makes it more important than ever to keep mobile OS patched and up-to-date.”

A year later, Google still reports that more than 53.4 percent of active Android users accessing Google Play are still using an “Ice Cream Sandwich,” “Gingerbread” or other editions of Android prior to 4.2 that still “have a number of security vulnerabilities that were fixed in later versions.”

A good read with lots of follow-up links.

Automated news stories – Robots replacing journalists

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This is a true story.

The AP announced last month that it would use Automated Insights’ software, called Wordsmith, to produce up to 4,440 robot-written corporate-earnings reports per quarter, more than ten times the number its human reporters currently produce.

This is just an example of what’s coming. As intelligence modeling becomes steadily more sophisticated…

Former Apple retail chief recalls early days

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[VIDEO] Back in January 2000, Ron Johnson joined Apple as Senior Vice President of Retail Operations with a mission to create and roll out Apple’s retail operations.

Back in May, Johnson appeared, one-on-one, on Stanford Business School’s View From the Top interview series. The video of that interview is embedded below.

China labels iPhone a security threat

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WSJ:

China’s influential state broadcaster on Friday called a location-tracking function offered by Apple Inc.’s iPhone a “national security concern,” in the latest sign of a backlash in the country against U.S. technology firms.

In its national noon broadcast, state-run China Central Television criticized the “frequent locations” function in Apple’s iOS 7 mobile operating system, which records time and location for the owner’s movements. The report quoted researchers who said that those with access to that data could gain knowledge of China’s economic situation or “even state secrets.”

Talent-starved Silicon Valley now recruiting high school kids

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Businessweek:

While teens aren’t overrunning Silicon Valley yet, talent-starved tech companies are reaching out to kids to fill spots in their internship programs. Facebook says it has just begun to recruit teens before their freshman year of college. LinkedIn (LNKD) opened its summer program to high schoolers two years ago; Airbnb has had interns as young as 16. “Talent is our No. 1 operating priority and our most important asset,” LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said on his company’s most recent earnings call, welcoming this summer’s crop of interns.

This same competitiveness has come to tech. Tech companies and government agencies are visiting (and sponsoring) science fairs, looking to identify and bring on board blossoming talent before their competitors.

Apple releases their 2014 Environmental Responsibility Report

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Last June, Tim Cook hired Lisa Jackson, former administrator of the Environment Protection Agency, as Apple’s Vice President of Environmental Initiatives. This report is the first under her leadership.

Here’s a link to the report. And here’s a link to an FAQ that highlights some of the major environmental questions addressed by the report. Finally, here’s a link to the updated environment section of Apple’s website.

Samsung faces fresh allegations over child labor

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Wall Street Journal:

According to investigations by the New York-based watchdog [China Labor Watch], the Shinyang factory hires children and underage students during busy periods and when in “urgent need of labor.” Shinyang makes cellphone covers and parts for Samsung.

The alleged underage workers are usually employed for three to six months, work for 11 hours a day and are only paid for 10 of those hours, the watchdog said in a statement.

Chinese company threatens Apple’s ability to sell Siri in China

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BBC:

Apple has failed in its attempt to get a Chinese company’s voice-recognition patent ruled invalid.

The verdict threatens Apple’s ability to offer its voice-controlled virtual assistant, Siri, in the country.

Shanghai-based Zhizhen Network Technology has sought to block Apple from selling products with the app installed, saying it infringed its rights.

Apple will appeal the verdict and had this to say:

“Apple believes deeply in protecting innovation, and we take intellectual property rights very seriously,” said a spokesman.

Apple is a company made of people

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Allen Pike writes on the cultural shift within Apple:

With the WWDC NDA lifted, other Apple employees, from the creator of Swift to various API maintainers, took to Twitter to gather feedback on all the goodies they’d dumped on developers. In the web community this would be expected behaviour. In the Apple community, it’s a delight.

Terrific read.

Samsung posts earnings, well below expectations

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Samsung is getting it from all sides. Earnings are down for the third straight quarter. Their operating profit missed expectations by almost a billion dollars (7.2 trillion won vs expected 8.1 trillion won). Apple is rumored to be releasing competitive products (larger screen phone/iWatch) in the fall. And Chinese electronics manufacturers are eating into Samsung’s highest unit sales’ sector, the cheap smartphone.

Washington Post rolls out secure, Tor-based mechanism to protect their sources

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The Washington Post is taking steps to isolate their sources from their normal means of data collection, protecting both the Post and the source from any audits that might pick up their IP address or other identifying information.

Nearly all digital communications can leave a trail. The Washington Post’s SecureDrop is designed to minimize these digital trails using best practices, such as…

High resolution scan of Disneyland prospectus

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Boing Boing:

Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, Boing Boing is pleased to present the first-ever look at the original Disneyland prospectus. These extremely high-resolution scans were made from one of the three sets of pitch-documents Roy and Walt Disney used to raise the money to build Disneyland.