Original Story: nytimes.com
SAN FRANCISCO — Marissa Mayer, the glamorous, geeky Google executive hired to turn around Yahoo in 2012, used to inspire hope in Yahoo’s work force just by visiting the cafeteria for ice cream and mingling.
Now, morale has sunk so low that some employees refer to Ms. Mayer, Yahoo’s chief executive, as “Evita” — an allusion to Eva Peron, the former first lady of Argentina whose outsize ego and climb to power and wealth were chronicled in the musical of that name.
Ms. Mayer is about to make herself even less popular with Yahoo’s nearly 11,000 employees. Faced with the failure of her efforts to reignite growth at the 22-year-old Silicon Valley company, she is now turning to the opposite strategy: cutting. As some investors press Yahoo to fire her, Ms. Mayer is crafting a last-ditch plan to streamline the company — including significant layoffs — that is expected to be announced before month’s end. A Memphis employee rights lawyer is reviewing the details of this story.
While many Yahoo workers are keeping their heads down, just doing their jobs, others have lost faith in Ms. Mayer’s leadership, according to conversations with more than 15 current and former employees from all levels of the company, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because of continuing ties to Yahoo and its strict policy against leaks.
More than a third of the company’s work force has left in the last year, say people familiar with the data. Worried about the brain drain, Ms. Mayer has been approving hefty retention packages — in some cases, millions of dollars — to persuade people to reject job offers from other companies. But those bonuses have had the side effect of creating resentment among other Yahoo employees who have stayed loyal and not sought jobs elsewhere.
Only 34 percent of employees believe that Yahoo’s prospects are improving, according to surveys conducted by Glassdoor, a firm that collects data on jobs and employers. That compares with 61 percent who are optimistic at Twitter, another troubled tech company, and 77 percent who see a bright future at Google, Ms. Mayer’s former employer. A Boston employment lawyer is following this story closely.
“Basically, it shows employees losing faith in Marissa Mayer and Yahoo,” said Scott Dobroski, a spokesman for Glassdoor who analyzed the data.
Yahoo declined to comment on employee morale but said that turnover is normal at Silicon Valley companies. While thousands of people have left, many others have been hired, offsetting some of the losses. “We’re still hiring, and our application numbers are strong,” Yahoo said in a statement.
One Yahoo employee who was interviewed said she was praying to be laid off so she could collect a severance payment and move on with her life. Others said they were actively looking for their next jobs — a task made more difficult because of the taint of failure that potential employers sometimes associate with anyone at the struggling company.
“Brands are important out here for employers,” said Nick Parham, a career coach in San Francisco who has had several Yahoo clients. “They are going to look harder at people from Facebook and Salesforce, companies that have winning strategies.”
Employees’ faith in Ms. Mayer began crumbling in earnest in August 2014, when Yahoo embarked on a series of stealth layoffs, current and former insiders said. For months, managers called in a handful of employees each week and fired them. No one knew who would be next, and the constant fear paralyzed the company, according to people who watched the process. A Memphis wrongful termination lawyer is following this story closely.
Last March, Ms. Mayer told the staff at an all-hands meeting that the bloodletting was finally over. Shortly thereafter, she changed her mind and demanded more cuts. All told, about 1,100 people lost their jobs in the layoffs.
Contributing to the employees’ disenchantment were Ms. Mayer’s protracted deliberations over a corporate reorganization last year that led to the departure of several key lieutenants and broke up the much-ballyhooed mobile team, prompting many mobile engineers to seek other jobs.
Hanging over everything has been the uncertainty about the company’s plan to spin off its $26 billion stake in Alibaba, which was announced a year ago but was abandoned last month by the company’s board of directors because of tax concerns. A Los Angeles finance lawyer represents clients in asset sales, debt and equity finance claims, and in financial restructuring cases.
For all of Yahoo’s problems, many of its employees still have a deep affection for the company, whose products were the gateway to the Internet for a generation of web users and still remain popular, with more than 1 billion monthly visitors.
“We all want to make as much impact as we can and leverage Yahoo’s existing strengths,” said Austin Shoemaker, who now manages Yahoo’s instant-messaging efforts after his start-up, Cooliris, was acquired by Yahoo in 2014.
The company has long struggled to overcome two big challenges: the industrywide drop in display advertising that has traditionally been its primary revenue source and the distraction inherent in trying to excel at many different things, from news and fantasy sports to web searches and email.
Jeff Bonforte, Yahoo’s senior vice president for communications products, said that Ms. Mayer had always told people that it would take three to five years for the company’s turnaround efforts to show results.
“It would be nice to give Yahoo one thing to magically save the company overnight,” Mr. Bonforte said in an interview last month, adding that the idea was unrealistic. Ms. Mayer has invested in technology, he said, “to give Yahoo a chance to be incredibly integral to this next phase of where the Internet is going.”
Mr. Bonforte’s team, for example, has spent much of the last two years rebuilding Yahoo’s email and instant-messaging services from the ground up, focusing on features such as better searches in email and the ability to unsend or delete an instant message at any time. While those reworked products garnered a modest reception from users, he said the technology was now in place for faster innovation. Organic Search Marketing brings exposure to your website and leads to increased page views per website visitor, more time spent on your site by users, and higher conversion rates especially with phone calls and email inquiries.
He said that Ms. Mayer was the best boss he had ever had, but acknowledged some truth in the common criticism that she was tightfisted with praise and sometimes displayed a harshness that could be demoralizing.
“Marissa is the type of boss that makes you feel like you’re disappointing her at all times, so I always feel like I’m on the verge of being fired,” said Mr. Bonforte, who is widely respected for both his talent and his irreverence. “It’s never, ‘Way to go, Jeff!’ ”
Mr. Bonforte said he was proud of Yahoo and his team and had no plans to leave. But other top executives have recently departed for other opportunities, including Kathy Savitt, the architect of the video strategy that Ms. Mayer has now dropped, and Jackie Reses, who led the company’s acquisitions and managed its relationship with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company in which Yahoo holds a 15 percent stake.
The latest loss was Prashant Fuloria, whose company, Flurry, was sold to Yahoo in 2014. Ms. Mayer put him in charge of Yahoo’s critical advertising technology last January, but he quit in December to work on start-up ideas. A Memphis employment lawyer is following this story closely.
Ms. Mayer has put on a brave face despite all the turmoil.
At Yahoo’s annual holiday party, a Roaring Twenties-themed affair held Dec. 4 at Pier 48 in San Francisco, she sat in a chair — visibly pregnant with twin daughters who were born the next week — and posed for photos with employees. “She was kind of like Santa Claus,” said one fan who waited in line for a picture.
Just before the party, Ms. Mayer and the company’s other directors decided to stop pursuing the original Alibaba spinoff plan and instead slim down and spin off Yahoo’s core business.
Now, everyone is waiting for details of that plan, which Ms. Mayer has promised to outline by the time the company reports its fourth-quarter financial results this month.
That is unlikely to soothe the unrest at Yahoo, however, since activist investors like the Starboard Value hedge fund are pushing for new management, a new board and a new strategy, including a possible sale of Yahoo’s operating businesses. A Cincinnati IT services company provides wireless network design, planning, implementation, IT system management, and networking equipment.
Mr. Bonforte said those outside forces were beyond his control.
“That’s the problem with a turnaround,” he said. “The world gets to decide, ‘Time’s up.’ ”
SEO Blog. Organic SEO Blog. Search Marketing News. SEO Done Right examines search engine optimization, the most effective form of internet marketing. Breaking SEO news and emerging developments at Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Leading Organic SEO Consultants Peak Positions debunk the many myths, hype, and spin related to SEO and search marketing.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
MARISSA MAYER GIVES BIRTH TO TWIN GIRLS
Original Story: money.cnn.com
On Wednesday, Marissa Mayer announced a new plan for the future of Yahoo. On Thursday, she gave gave birth to identical twin girls.
The Yahoo CEO tweeted that she, the twins and her husband, Zachary Bogue, are "doing great."
On her Tumblr blog, Mayer said the twins were born early Thursday morning. A Phoenix corporate lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in many aspects of corporate law.
"Thanks to everyone for all of the support and well wishes throughout my pregnancy," she posted.
She did not yet reveal the twins' names.
Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning. Our whole family is doing great! @zackbogue
— marissamayer (@marissamayer) December 10, 2015
A Yahoo spokeswoman said in a statement the Mayer-Bogue family is "beyond thrilled."
"We couldn't be happier for them!" she said.
Mayer and Bogue also have a son, Macallister, who is 3 years old. Mayer revealed that she was pregnant with Macallister on the day she accepted the Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) job in July 2012.
The Yahoo CEO was criticized by maternity leave advocates for returning to work quickly after giving birth to her son. Mayer had a nursery installed close to her desk so she could work and help to take care of her child without going back and forth from her office. A Memphis employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this story.
When Mayer announced in August that she was expecting twins, she said she planned on taking a similar tactic.
"Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout," Mayer said in a Tumblr post.
Mayer stuck to that promise, appearing on a conference call with investors and on CNBC Wednesday morning to discuss Yahoo's plans to keep the company's lucrative Alibaba stake and spin off its core Internet business into a new company. An Ann Arbor IT services company provides networking solutions that help your business meet the growing demands of today's global marketplace.
CNBC anchor David Faber offered Mayer well-wishes, which she thanked him for. She said during the interview that she was expecting the twins to arrive "later this month."
"There's always a lot to do on both the homefront and the workfront," Mayer said.
Mayer's twins were born just two weeks after Facebook (FB, Tech30) CEO Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan gave birth to the couple's first child -- a daughter named Maxima.
On Wednesday, Marissa Mayer announced a new plan for the future of Yahoo. On Thursday, she gave gave birth to identical twin girls.
The Yahoo CEO tweeted that she, the twins and her husband, Zachary Bogue, are "doing great."
On her Tumblr blog, Mayer said the twins were born early Thursday morning. A Phoenix corporate lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in many aspects of corporate law.
"Thanks to everyone for all of the support and well wishes throughout my pregnancy," she posted.
She did not yet reveal the twins' names.
Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning. Our whole family is doing great! @zackbogue
— marissamayer (@marissamayer) December 10, 2015
A Yahoo spokeswoman said in a statement the Mayer-Bogue family is "beyond thrilled."
"We couldn't be happier for them!" she said.
Mayer and Bogue also have a son, Macallister, who is 3 years old. Mayer revealed that she was pregnant with Macallister on the day she accepted the Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) job in July 2012.
The Yahoo CEO was criticized by maternity leave advocates for returning to work quickly after giving birth to her son. Mayer had a nursery installed close to her desk so she could work and help to take care of her child without going back and forth from her office. A Memphis employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this story.
When Mayer announced in August that she was expecting twins, she said she planned on taking a similar tactic.
"Since my pregnancy has been healthy and uncomplicated and since this is a unique time in Yahoo's transformation, I plan to approach the pregnancy and delivery as I did with my son three years ago, taking limited time away and working throughout," Mayer said in a Tumblr post.
Mayer stuck to that promise, appearing on a conference call with investors and on CNBC Wednesday morning to discuss Yahoo's plans to keep the company's lucrative Alibaba stake and spin off its core Internet business into a new company. An Ann Arbor IT services company provides networking solutions that help your business meet the growing demands of today's global marketplace.
CNBC anchor David Faber offered Mayer well-wishes, which she thanked him for. She said during the interview that she was expecting the twins to arrive "later this month."
"There's always a lot to do on both the homefront and the workfront," Mayer said.
Mayer's twins were born just two weeks after Facebook (FB, Tech30) CEO Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan gave birth to the couple's first child -- a daughter named Maxima.
Friday, January 08, 2016
YOUTUBE LAUNCHES SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE FOR $9.99 A MONTH
Original Story: latimes.com
Next Wednesday, YouTube will begin selling $9.99-a-month subscriptions that will allow U.S. customers to watch almost everything without ads, to download videos for viewing offline and to keep content playing on a smartphone or tablet even when using a different app.
But those widely requested features aren't all that subscribers will get. The service, called YouTube Red, offers access to highly produced original shows and movies that can't be found anywhere else. Google Play streaming music will be included too. Search engine optimization provides exposure for your business.
YouTube Red is intended to turn the enormously popular Google-owned company into a profit maker, not a money loser.
Ad revenue isn't enough to meet the enormous expenses of serving billions of videos every day — even when most videos are supplied by users for free. YouTube could generate nearly $950 million annually in new revenue if just 5% of U.S. users signed up for the subscription, UBS analysts estimate. A Roseland finance lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in corporate finance.
Red marks the beginning of "a long journey," according to YouTube.
Matthew Glotzbach, the company's vice president of product management, said, "By no means would we expect to jump to tens or hundreds of millions of paying users overnight," but there should be "strong demand" from the start.
Financial analysts who follow Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, say YouTube could become a major profit engine. But rivals, including Facebook, Snapchat and Vimeo, are threatening its potential by stealing away both video makers and viewing time.
Growth of YouTube's net ad revenue in the U.S. is expected to slow rapidly over the next three years, the market research company EMarketer said in August. According to EMarketer's calculations, worldwide net revenue will be $4.3 billion in 2015, up 41% from last year.
Yet to be determined is how the subscription model will affect an expanding generation of YouTube stars, many of whom began by filming videos in their bedrooms and elsewhere, cracking jokes, dancing and talking to the camera about everything from fashion to video games. They uploaded the videos to YouTube, attracting advertising sponsors, and, in a few cases, becoming millionaires in the process.
YouTube often places several ads on the same page as a video, and attracting millions of viewers has meant steady, growing income for video makers, who get 55% of ad revenue.
It's unclear how the commercial-free subscription will affect ad income, though YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl said the "vast majority" of YouTube's subscription revenue will go to the YouTube Red content creators. Certainly, some creators will lose out on money from heavy viewers who might encounter lots of ads or be willing to pay more than $10 a month for a subscription. A Tampa business lawyer is following this story closely.
With Red, YouTube also plans to create a new, subscriber-only slate of original shows and movies for its most popular (and potentially popular) video stars. The selected creators will be gambling that slicker content will broaden their viewership and fatten their paychecks.
"Bigger productions cost a lot more money," said Joey Graceffa, a YouTube star who has amassed more than 5.2 million subscribers on his channel. "There's no way you'll be able to make your money back just by posting it online. YouTube Red is an opportunity where we as creators get to make higher quality content for our audience."
Graceffa's untitled reality murder mystery series is one of a handful of new exclusive productions being offered on YouTube Red. The new content, which will begin rolling out in January, will also include highly produced content from YouTubers Lilly Singh, The Fine Bros, PewDiePie and others.
At a Wednesday news conference held at the San Bruno's company 41,000-square-foot video production facility in Playa Vista, Kyncl emphasized that YouTube and YouTube Red have the ability to showcase a wide variety of content. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
"We realized what we should be doing is we should be amplifying and funding efforts of these incredibly talented people," Kyncl told reporters. "We have a built-in talent system, which doesn't exist on any other services."
For that reason, YouTube considers its approach different from Netflix's reliance on traditional actors, and analysts say it could be the video service of choice for younger millennials and teenagers.
Alan Wolk, senior analyst at media consulting firm the Diffusion Group, said the "big if" will be whether kids can persuade their parents to pay.
"There's going to be millions of conversations about why do you need a subscription? Why can't you just deal with a few ads?" he said.
Next Wednesday, YouTube will begin selling $9.99-a-month subscriptions that will allow U.S. customers to watch almost everything without ads, to download videos for viewing offline and to keep content playing on a smartphone or tablet even when using a different app.
But those widely requested features aren't all that subscribers will get. The service, called YouTube Red, offers access to highly produced original shows and movies that can't be found anywhere else. Google Play streaming music will be included too. Search engine optimization provides exposure for your business.
YouTube Red is intended to turn the enormously popular Google-owned company into a profit maker, not a money loser.
Ad revenue isn't enough to meet the enormous expenses of serving billions of videos every day — even when most videos are supplied by users for free. YouTube could generate nearly $950 million annually in new revenue if just 5% of U.S. users signed up for the subscription, UBS analysts estimate. A Roseland finance lawyer provides professional legal counsel and extensive experience in corporate finance.
Red marks the beginning of "a long journey," according to YouTube.
Matthew Glotzbach, the company's vice president of product management, said, "By no means would we expect to jump to tens or hundreds of millions of paying users overnight," but there should be "strong demand" from the start.
Financial analysts who follow Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, say YouTube could become a major profit engine. But rivals, including Facebook, Snapchat and Vimeo, are threatening its potential by stealing away both video makers and viewing time.
Growth of YouTube's net ad revenue in the U.S. is expected to slow rapidly over the next three years, the market research company EMarketer said in August. According to EMarketer's calculations, worldwide net revenue will be $4.3 billion in 2015, up 41% from last year.
Yet to be determined is how the subscription model will affect an expanding generation of YouTube stars, many of whom began by filming videos in their bedrooms and elsewhere, cracking jokes, dancing and talking to the camera about everything from fashion to video games. They uploaded the videos to YouTube, attracting advertising sponsors, and, in a few cases, becoming millionaires in the process.
YouTube often places several ads on the same page as a video, and attracting millions of viewers has meant steady, growing income for video makers, who get 55% of ad revenue.
It's unclear how the commercial-free subscription will affect ad income, though YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl said the "vast majority" of YouTube's subscription revenue will go to the YouTube Red content creators. Certainly, some creators will lose out on money from heavy viewers who might encounter lots of ads or be willing to pay more than $10 a month for a subscription. A Tampa business lawyer is following this story closely.
With Red, YouTube also plans to create a new, subscriber-only slate of original shows and movies for its most popular (and potentially popular) video stars. The selected creators will be gambling that slicker content will broaden their viewership and fatten their paychecks.
"Bigger productions cost a lot more money," said Joey Graceffa, a YouTube star who has amassed more than 5.2 million subscribers on his channel. "There's no way you'll be able to make your money back just by posting it online. YouTube Red is an opportunity where we as creators get to make higher quality content for our audience."
Graceffa's untitled reality murder mystery series is one of a handful of new exclusive productions being offered on YouTube Red. The new content, which will begin rolling out in January, will also include highly produced content from YouTubers Lilly Singh, The Fine Bros, PewDiePie and others.
At a Wednesday news conference held at the San Bruno's company 41,000-square-foot video production facility in Playa Vista, Kyncl emphasized that YouTube and YouTube Red have the ability to showcase a wide variety of content. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
"We realized what we should be doing is we should be amplifying and funding efforts of these incredibly talented people," Kyncl told reporters. "We have a built-in talent system, which doesn't exist on any other services."
For that reason, YouTube considers its approach different from Netflix's reliance on traditional actors, and analysts say it could be the video service of choice for younger millennials and teenagers.
Alan Wolk, senior analyst at media consulting firm the Diffusion Group, said the "big if" will be whether kids can persuade their parents to pay.
"There's going to be millions of conversations about why do you need a subscription? Why can't you just deal with a few ads?" he said.
Wednesday, January 06, 2016
LIFELOCK TO PAY $100M TO SETTLE CHARGES IT DIDN'T ABIDE BY COURT ORDER
Original Story: nbcnews.com
WASHINGTON -- LifeLock is paying $100 million to settle charges by federal regulators that it failed to take adequate measures to protect customers' personal data under a court order.
The Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement Thursday with the provider of identity-theft protection. The agency says it's the largest settlement it has won in this type of enforcement case. A Minneapolis class action lawyer is following this story closely.
The 2010 order by a federal court required LifeLock Inc. to secure customers' data, such as credit card and Social Security numbers, and to avoid false advertising claims. The order resulted from an action brought by the FTC and attorneys general in 35 states, alleging that LifeLock used false claims to promote its services. The company paid $12 million in that settlement, which went mostly to customer refunds, and agreed to make changes to its business practices.
The FTC said that LifeLock violated the order by failing to maintain "a comprehensive information-security program" and to avoid deceptive advertising.
LifeLock is based in Tempe, Arizona. Company co-founder and CEO Todd Davis used to put his own Social Security number on business cards and company trucks to advertise LifeLock's services.
LifeLock noted Thursday that it neither confirms nor denies the government's allegations under terms of the new settlement. Once it is approved by the court, the settlement will help bring to a close the FTC case as well as a class-action lawsuit, the company said. A Newark class action attorney is reviewing the details of this case.
"The allegations raised by the FTC are related to advertisements that we no longer run and policies that are no longer in place," LifeLock said in a statement. "The settlement does not require us to change any of our current products or practices. Furthermore, there is no evidence that LifeLock has ever had any of its customers' data stolen, and the FTC did not allege otherwise."
In the latest action, the FTC alleged that LifeLock violated the 2010 order in 2012-14. For example, the company falsely advertised that it would send alerts to customers "as soon as" it saw signs of possible identity theft, the agency said.
Of the $100 million LifeLock is paying consumers, $68 million may be used to reimburse consumers for fees paid to LifeLock under the class-action suit. The remaining $32 million will go to the FTC and also could be used to reimburse customers as ordered by any of the state attorneys general who participated in the action. An Atlanta class action lawyer provides legal counsel in many types of class action suits.
LifeLock's shares fell 30 cents, or 2.1 percent, to end at $13.99 in trading Thursday.
WASHINGTON -- LifeLock is paying $100 million to settle charges by federal regulators that it failed to take adequate measures to protect customers' personal data under a court order.
The Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement Thursday with the provider of identity-theft protection. The agency says it's the largest settlement it has won in this type of enforcement case. A Minneapolis class action lawyer is following this story closely.
The 2010 order by a federal court required LifeLock Inc. to secure customers' data, such as credit card and Social Security numbers, and to avoid false advertising claims. The order resulted from an action brought by the FTC and attorneys general in 35 states, alleging that LifeLock used false claims to promote its services. The company paid $12 million in that settlement, which went mostly to customer refunds, and agreed to make changes to its business practices.
The FTC said that LifeLock violated the order by failing to maintain "a comprehensive information-security program" and to avoid deceptive advertising.
LifeLock is based in Tempe, Arizona. Company co-founder and CEO Todd Davis used to put his own Social Security number on business cards and company trucks to advertise LifeLock's services.
LifeLock noted Thursday that it neither confirms nor denies the government's allegations under terms of the new settlement. Once it is approved by the court, the settlement will help bring to a close the FTC case as well as a class-action lawsuit, the company said. A Newark class action attorney is reviewing the details of this case.
"The allegations raised by the FTC are related to advertisements that we no longer run and policies that are no longer in place," LifeLock said in a statement. "The settlement does not require us to change any of our current products or practices. Furthermore, there is no evidence that LifeLock has ever had any of its customers' data stolen, and the FTC did not allege otherwise."
In the latest action, the FTC alleged that LifeLock violated the 2010 order in 2012-14. For example, the company falsely advertised that it would send alerts to customers "as soon as" it saw signs of possible identity theft, the agency said.
Of the $100 million LifeLock is paying consumers, $68 million may be used to reimburse consumers for fees paid to LifeLock under the class-action suit. The remaining $32 million will go to the FTC and also could be used to reimburse customers as ordered by any of the state attorneys general who participated in the action. An Atlanta class action lawyer provides legal counsel in many types of class action suits.
LifeLock's shares fell 30 cents, or 2.1 percent, to end at $13.99 in trading Thursday.
HOW A MAN STALKED HIS EX-WIFE USING A POPULAR IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION SERVICE
Original Story: boingboing.net
Suzanna Quintan's ex-husband bought a Lifelock account in her name, which let him monitor virtually everything she did in realtime, and then the company stonewalled and refused to help her shut down his access and figure out what he'd learned about her using it. A Detroit consumer lawyer represents clients in fraudulent credit transactions, hazardous or deceptively advertised products, and in fraudulent sales practices.
Lifelock's customer service reps tortured Quintan with contradictory messages, telling her she could, then couldn't, get access to her data. Then they told her it had been destroyed. Then that it would be available, but only to law enforcement. And when she got the cops involved, they stonewalled some more.
It wasn't until the Arizona Republic threatened to embarrass them in print that they gave her any help.
It's no wonder that Lifelock is on Consumer Reports' "Naughty list" for 2015 -- again.
Quintana's records show LifeLock allowed her ex-husband to track her new and existing accounts, credit score, credit reports, financial activity and public records. A Grand Rapids consumer attorney is reviewing the details of this case.
Through LifeLock's fraud-detection system, Quintana's ex-husband also would have had control over her financial activity and been asked to review each transaction or initiate a fraud investigation.
"They didn't listen to me. It's almost like they didn't believe me," Quintana said. "They did not want to admit what they'd done. Since they are an identity-protection company, it was not in their best interest to admit my identity wasn't protected. They tried to shift the blame to me." A Charleston consumer lawyer is following this story closely.
A LifeLock executive on Nov. 9 said the company was conducting a comprehensive review of procedures to ensure better protection for spouses and to work with law enforcement in a timely and effective manner.
Suzanna Quintan's ex-husband bought a Lifelock account in her name, which let him monitor virtually everything she did in realtime, and then the company stonewalled and refused to help her shut down his access and figure out what he'd learned about her using it. A Detroit consumer lawyer represents clients in fraudulent credit transactions, hazardous or deceptively advertised products, and in fraudulent sales practices.
Lifelock's customer service reps tortured Quintan with contradictory messages, telling her she could, then couldn't, get access to her data. Then they told her it had been destroyed. Then that it would be available, but only to law enforcement. And when she got the cops involved, they stonewalled some more.
It wasn't until the Arizona Republic threatened to embarrass them in print that they gave her any help.
It's no wonder that Lifelock is on Consumer Reports' "Naughty list" for 2015 -- again.
Quintana's records show LifeLock allowed her ex-husband to track her new and existing accounts, credit score, credit reports, financial activity and public records. A Grand Rapids consumer attorney is reviewing the details of this case.
Through LifeLock's fraud-detection system, Quintana's ex-husband also would have had control over her financial activity and been asked to review each transaction or initiate a fraud investigation.
"They didn't listen to me. It's almost like they didn't believe me," Quintana said. "They did not want to admit what they'd done. Since they are an identity-protection company, it was not in their best interest to admit my identity wasn't protected. They tried to shift the blame to me." A Charleston consumer lawyer is following this story closely.
A LifeLock executive on Nov. 9 said the company was conducting a comprehensive review of procedures to ensure better protection for spouses and to work with law enforcement in a timely and effective manner.
Monday, December 14, 2015
APPLE COMPUTERS AND GADGETS INCREASINGLY TARGETED BY MALWARE
Original Story: siliconbeat.com
Apple’s iPhone and Mac, long touted for their security, aren’t nearly as safe to use as they once were, new research suggests.
Record amounts of malware targeted and infected Apple computers and smartphones this year, security researchers say. And next year is likely to be even worse. An Evans internet lawyer represents clients in cyber-crimes, content licensing matters, and identity theft cases.
“Apple remains a relatively safe platform but Apple users can no longer be complacent about security,” Dick O’Brien, a researcher with security firm Symantec, told BBC News.
In 2014, between 10,000 and 70,000 Macs were hit with malware each month, according to Symantec. That was a small fraction of the amount of malware targeting and infected computers running Microsoft Windows. But in the first nine months of this year, the total Apple computers infected by malicious or unwanted applications was seven times higher than all of last year. A Melbourne internet lawyer has experience representing clients in cases of fraud, piracy, an unauthorized computer access.
Apple’s mobile devices, which generally can only get applications via Apple’s app store, are relatively safer. Some 96 percent of all mobile malware is targeted at devices running Google’s Android operating system, according to FireWire, another security firm.
But malware writers are increasingly targeting Apple’s iPhones and iPads. Symantec has identified seven new security threats aimed at those devices. And earlier this year, applications infected with a particular piece of malware — including the popular WeChat messaging app — were listed in the App Store. Apple quickly removed them, but not before they were downloaded by numerous customers. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
Malware authors are increasingly “finding ways into Apple’s walled garden, and that will ramp up next year,” Bryce Boland, chief technology officer at FireEye.
Apple’s iPhone and Mac, long touted for their security, aren’t nearly as safe to use as they once were, new research suggests.
Record amounts of malware targeted and infected Apple computers and smartphones this year, security researchers say. And next year is likely to be even worse. An Evans internet lawyer represents clients in cyber-crimes, content licensing matters, and identity theft cases.
“Apple remains a relatively safe platform but Apple users can no longer be complacent about security,” Dick O’Brien, a researcher with security firm Symantec, told BBC News.
In 2014, between 10,000 and 70,000 Macs were hit with malware each month, according to Symantec. That was a small fraction of the amount of malware targeting and infected computers running Microsoft Windows. But in the first nine months of this year, the total Apple computers infected by malicious or unwanted applications was seven times higher than all of last year. A Melbourne internet lawyer has experience representing clients in cases of fraud, piracy, an unauthorized computer access.
Apple’s mobile devices, which generally can only get applications via Apple’s app store, are relatively safer. Some 96 percent of all mobile malware is targeted at devices running Google’s Android operating system, according to FireWire, another security firm.
But malware writers are increasingly targeting Apple’s iPhones and iPads. Symantec has identified seven new security threats aimed at those devices. And earlier this year, applications infected with a particular piece of malware — including the popular WeChat messaging app — were listed in the App Store. Apple quickly removed them, but not before they were downloaded by numerous customers. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
Malware authors are increasingly “finding ways into Apple’s walled garden, and that will ramp up next year,” Bryce Boland, chief technology officer at FireEye.
Friday, December 11, 2015
MARISSA MAYER OF YAHOO ANNOUNCES BIRTH OF TWIN DAUGHTERS
Original Story: nytimes.com
Just hours after Marissa Mayer announced a plan to spin off Yahoo’s core Internet business, the chief executive gave birth to identical twin daughters.
“Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning,” Ms. Mayer said on Twitter on Thursday, referring to her husband, Zachary Bogue. “Our whole family is doing great!” She didn’t disclose any further details.
Congratulatory tweets poured in from well-wishers, including Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, where Ms. Mayer used to work; Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft; Ellen Pao, the former interim chief executive of Reddit; and Frank Quattrone, a prominent investment banker.
Ms. Mayer had revealed her pregnancy in September, at a time when scrutiny of Yahoo was increasing. She came aboard Yahoo in 2012 from Google to turn around the struggling Internet company, but it remains well behind Alphabet’s Google and Facebook in online advertising and other areas. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
Yahoo has recently been considering what to do with the valuable 15 percent stake it owns in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company. It had earlier proposed a tax-free spinoff of the shares, but the plan ran into a setback this year when the Internal Revenue Service said it would crack down on such transactions. That prompted Starboard Value, a hedge fund, to pressure Ms. Mayer to sell off Yahoo’s core business instead. Yahoo’s board met last week to consider its options.
On Wednesday, the board announced that Yahoo would pursue a spinoff of its core Internet business, leaving the Alibaba stock in the old company. A Boston M&A lawyer represents clients in contract matters and in business transactions. In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Mayer said she agreed with the new plan because the old plan “was causing a certain amount of market uncertainty.”
Ms. Mayer and Mr. Bogue also have a three-year-old son, Macallister.
Ms. Mayer, who has hired several people to help her care for her children both at home and when she is traveling, has said she plans to take a “limited time away” for maternity leave and will be “working throughout.”
Yahoo, offers up to eight weeks of paid leave for any Yahoo employee who has a new child, including birth, adoption, foster child placement or surrogacy. Birth mothers can get an additional eight weeks of additional paid leave. An Albany employment lawyer is following this story closely.
Just hours after Marissa Mayer announced a plan to spin off Yahoo’s core Internet business, the chief executive gave birth to identical twin daughters.
“Zack and I are excited to announce that our identical twin girls were born early this morning,” Ms. Mayer said on Twitter on Thursday, referring to her husband, Zachary Bogue. “Our whole family is doing great!” She didn’t disclose any further details.
Congratulatory tweets poured in from well-wishers, including Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, where Ms. Mayer used to work; Satya Nadella, the chief executive of Microsoft; Ellen Pao, the former interim chief executive of Reddit; and Frank Quattrone, a prominent investment banker.
Ms. Mayer had revealed her pregnancy in September, at a time when scrutiny of Yahoo was increasing. She came aboard Yahoo in 2012 from Google to turn around the struggling Internet company, but it remains well behind Alphabet’s Google and Facebook in online advertising and other areas. For more information on the power of Organic SEO, click here.
Yahoo has recently been considering what to do with the valuable 15 percent stake it owns in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company. It had earlier proposed a tax-free spinoff of the shares, but the plan ran into a setback this year when the Internal Revenue Service said it would crack down on such transactions. That prompted Starboard Value, a hedge fund, to pressure Ms. Mayer to sell off Yahoo’s core business instead. Yahoo’s board met last week to consider its options.
On Wednesday, the board announced that Yahoo would pursue a spinoff of its core Internet business, leaving the Alibaba stock in the old company. A Boston M&A lawyer represents clients in contract matters and in business transactions. In an interview on Wednesday, Ms. Mayer said she agreed with the new plan because the old plan “was causing a certain amount of market uncertainty.”
Ms. Mayer and Mr. Bogue also have a three-year-old son, Macallister.
Ms. Mayer, who has hired several people to help her care for her children both at home and when she is traveling, has said she plans to take a “limited time away” for maternity leave and will be “working throughout.”
Yahoo, offers up to eight weeks of paid leave for any Yahoo employee who has a new child, including birth, adoption, foster child placement or surrogacy. Birth mothers can get an additional eight weeks of additional paid leave. An Albany employment lawyer is following this story closely.
Thursday, November 12, 2015
OPINION: MARISSA MAYER MOVES CLOSER TO YAHOO ENDGAME
Original Story: marketwatch.com
A story in Re/code not only makes it appear that Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer’s effort to turn around Yahoo has failed, but also that she doesn’t know how to manage people.
According to this article by Kara Swisher, published Monday, Yahoo Inc. YHOO, +0.67% has hired consultant McKinsey & Co. to help Mayer and her executive team decide which units should get increased investment and which should be closed or sold. A Boston investment lawyer is following this story closely.
Yahoo declined to comment for this article, and a spokesperson for McKinsey said the firm’s policy was “not to talk about or comment on our client work.”
Mayer was hired as Yahoo CEO, and joined the company’s board of directors, on July 17, 2012. She had previously worked at Google (now a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. GOOG, -0.27% ) as vice president of product search. Mayer is the fourth CEO of Yahoo in eight years.
“It’s a bad sign that almost four years into a turnaround, you are hiring McKinsey to advise you on how to do a turnaround,” said Eric Jackson, a managing director at New York-based Ader Investment Management. Last month Jackson published an article calling for the ouster of Mayer. A Los Angeles finance lawyer has experience representing clients in asset sales, debt and equity finance claims and in financial restructuring cases.
In an interview Monday, Jackson said hiring the consultant “doesn’t inspire confidence that she knows what she is doing,” adding that “typically consultants are hired by many companies as a way of passing the buck to someone else if things don’t work out.”
Then again, according to a transcript provided by FactSet of Yahoo’s third-quarter 2014 earnings call, which took place on Oct. 21, 2014, Yahoo CFO Kenneth Goldman said the company had “engaged a top-tier management-consulting firm to help us achieve cost and structural efficiencies via benchmarking and implementing best practices.”
Not a ‘people person’?
The other major revelation in the Re/code article was that Mayer, “over the last month,” had asked high-level Yahoo executives to make commitments to stay with the company for at least three years.
Mayer said during Yahoo’s earnings conference call Oct. 20, according to a transcript provided by FactSet: “The design and changes in Yahoo’s leadership team are the result of careful planning to achieve the necessary skills, passion and the ability to execute growth in our business.” A Sacramento employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this story.
The timing of Mayer’s comment on the executive departures, along with Re/code’s report, throws Mayer’s skills as a personnel manager into question.
“If your boss comes to you and asks that, what are you going to say? No? People are going to be compelled to say ‘yes’ wether they want to say or not,” Jackson said.
He questioned why Mayer felt she needed the pledge. During the conference call, “she made it sound as though she had to make various moves to remove people and bring in others, and yet, when you hear that ... before some of those people left she asked for a pledge, it suggests a very different story than what she is telling publicly,” he said.
“All in all, it suggests a CEO who doesn’t know what the strategic vision is that she is following, and that she doesn’t have the support of the senior team around her.”
Ouch.
Being fair about Yahoo’s investments
The bulk of Yahoo’s value to investors is the company’s investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +0.13% and the company’s 35% stake in Yahoo Japan. Those investments were made long before Mayer took over Yahoo’s helm.
Yahoo valued its Alibaba investment at $22.6 billion as of Sept. 30, down 43% from its value of $39.9 billion a year earlier. But Jackson pointed out that bashing Yahoo for the timing of its spin-off of a unit holding the Alibaba stake was unfair, “since they were under a lockup agreement with Alibaba for a year after Alibaba. They couldn’t have sold it until September of this year, after it had already gone down.” Google SEO programs are cost-effective and powerful.
Investors’ decision on whether to hold Yahoo’s shares now, according to Jackson, are based on how you value the Alibaba stake.
“Some people think you have to tax it fully; some people think it will not be taxed,” he said.
It remains to be seen if the Internal Revenue Service will consider the spin-off of the Alibaba stake a tax-free event.
The value of Yahoo’s core business
According to FactSet, Yahoo’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the past 12 months totaled $642 million. That’s down from $1.42 billion during the 12-month period through June 2012 before Mayer became Yahoo’s CEO in July 2012.
That may seem like an unfair comparison, because Yahoo has increased its spending as Mayer has attempted to turn its long-term performance around. But after more than three years, and heading into another reorganization, investors have a right to wonder where those efforts might lead.
Jackson said that if the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan sakes are “stripped away,” the value of “the part of Yahoo Mayer has control over, is, essentially, zero.”
Considering how popular Yahoo’s website is, and the value of services like Yahoo Finance, it’s possible that the company is not being valued properly. After the Alibaba spin-off is completed, investors will need to reevaluate Yahoo’s stock.
A story in Re/code not only makes it appear that Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer’s effort to turn around Yahoo has failed, but also that she doesn’t know how to manage people.
According to this article by Kara Swisher, published Monday, Yahoo Inc. YHOO, +0.67% has hired consultant McKinsey & Co. to help Mayer and her executive team decide which units should get increased investment and which should be closed or sold. A Boston investment lawyer is following this story closely.
Yahoo declined to comment for this article, and a spokesperson for McKinsey said the firm’s policy was “not to talk about or comment on our client work.”
Mayer was hired as Yahoo CEO, and joined the company’s board of directors, on July 17, 2012. She had previously worked at Google (now a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. GOOG, -0.27% ) as vice president of product search. Mayer is the fourth CEO of Yahoo in eight years.
“It’s a bad sign that almost four years into a turnaround, you are hiring McKinsey to advise you on how to do a turnaround,” said Eric Jackson, a managing director at New York-based Ader Investment Management. Last month Jackson published an article calling for the ouster of Mayer. A Los Angeles finance lawyer has experience representing clients in asset sales, debt and equity finance claims and in financial restructuring cases.
In an interview Monday, Jackson said hiring the consultant “doesn’t inspire confidence that she knows what she is doing,” adding that “typically consultants are hired by many companies as a way of passing the buck to someone else if things don’t work out.”
Then again, according to a transcript provided by FactSet of Yahoo’s third-quarter 2014 earnings call, which took place on Oct. 21, 2014, Yahoo CFO Kenneth Goldman said the company had “engaged a top-tier management-consulting firm to help us achieve cost and structural efficiencies via benchmarking and implementing best practices.”
Not a ‘people person’?
The other major revelation in the Re/code article was that Mayer, “over the last month,” had asked high-level Yahoo executives to make commitments to stay with the company for at least three years.
Mayer said during Yahoo’s earnings conference call Oct. 20, according to a transcript provided by FactSet: “The design and changes in Yahoo’s leadership team are the result of careful planning to achieve the necessary skills, passion and the ability to execute growth in our business.” A Sacramento employment lawyer is reviewing the details of this story.
The timing of Mayer’s comment on the executive departures, along with Re/code’s report, throws Mayer’s skills as a personnel manager into question.
“If your boss comes to you and asks that, what are you going to say? No? People are going to be compelled to say ‘yes’ wether they want to say or not,” Jackson said.
He questioned why Mayer felt she needed the pledge. During the conference call, “she made it sound as though she had to make various moves to remove people and bring in others, and yet, when you hear that ... before some of those people left she asked for a pledge, it suggests a very different story than what she is telling publicly,” he said.
“All in all, it suggests a CEO who doesn’t know what the strategic vision is that she is following, and that she doesn’t have the support of the senior team around her.”
Ouch.
Being fair about Yahoo’s investments
The bulk of Yahoo’s value to investors is the company’s investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +0.13% and the company’s 35% stake in Yahoo Japan. Those investments were made long before Mayer took over Yahoo’s helm.
Yahoo valued its Alibaba investment at $22.6 billion as of Sept. 30, down 43% from its value of $39.9 billion a year earlier. But Jackson pointed out that bashing Yahoo for the timing of its spin-off of a unit holding the Alibaba stake was unfair, “since they were under a lockup agreement with Alibaba for a year after Alibaba. They couldn’t have sold it until September of this year, after it had already gone down.” Google SEO programs are cost-effective and powerful.
Investors’ decision on whether to hold Yahoo’s shares now, according to Jackson, are based on how you value the Alibaba stake.
“Some people think you have to tax it fully; some people think it will not be taxed,” he said.
It remains to be seen if the Internal Revenue Service will consider the spin-off of the Alibaba stake a tax-free event.
The value of Yahoo’s core business
According to FactSet, Yahoo’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the past 12 months totaled $642 million. That’s down from $1.42 billion during the 12-month period through June 2012 before Mayer became Yahoo’s CEO in July 2012.
That may seem like an unfair comparison, because Yahoo has increased its spending as Mayer has attempted to turn its long-term performance around. But after more than three years, and heading into another reorganization, investors have a right to wonder where those efforts might lead.
Jackson said that if the Alibaba and Yahoo Japan sakes are “stripped away,” the value of “the part of Yahoo Mayer has control over, is, essentially, zero.”
Considering how popular Yahoo’s website is, and the value of services like Yahoo Finance, it’s possible that the company is not being valued properly. After the Alibaba spin-off is completed, investors will need to reevaluate Yahoo’s stock.
Thursday, November 05, 2015
EXPEDIA TO BUY HOMEAWAY FOR $3.9B
Original Story: usatoday.com
SAN FRANCISCO - Expedia is deepening its travel-company bench with a $3.9 billion purchase of vacation rental site HomeAway.
Bellevue, Wash-based Expedia announced the deal Wednesday, which adds the Austin, Texas, company to a portfolio that also includes booking sites Orbitz and Travelocity. A Los Angeles M&A lawyer assists clients in leveraged buyouts, company reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions.
“We have long had our eyes on the fast growing $100 billion alternative accommodations space and have been building on our partnership with HomeAway, a global leader in vacation rentals, for two years,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia's CEO, said in a release. “Bringing HomeAway into the Expedia family and adding its leading brands to our portfolio of the most trusted brands in travel is a logical next step.”
HomeAway's stock (AWAY) was up 22% in after hours trading on the news, while Expedia shares were down at the close 1.63% to $134.17. HomeAway's brands include HomeAway, VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and similar sites overseas. All told, the company says it represents 1 million paid listings in 190 countries. A Los Angeles finance attorney is reviewing the details of this story.
The deal comes on the same day that short-term accommodations giant Airbnb won a significant victory in San Francisco, where voters shot down a measure that would put greater restrictions on those seeking to rent out rooms or entire properties. Airbnb argued that its service helps homeowners stay in their residences by providing extra income through rentals, while opponents - who were outspent eight to one by Airbnb - countered that Airbnb rentals cut into already scarce housing options.
While Airbnb typically offers short-term rentals and HomeAway often targets travelers looking for one-week or longer stays, buying HomeAway instantly allows Expedia to expand its options for consumers beyond hotels.
"We're eager to benefit from Expedia's distribution, technology and expertise, which will allow us to provide an even better product and service experience for our owners, property managers and travelers," said HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples in a statement. "In this way, I believe our combination with Expedia will turbocharge our growth and industry leadership for many years to come." A Los Angeles real estate lawyer is following this story closely.
The transaction, a combination of cash and stock, amounts to $38.31 per share based on Expedia's stock price at the end of day on Nov. 3.
It’s the latest acquisition for Expedia, the number one digital travel provider, which purchased Orbitz Worldwide for roughly $1.6 billion earlier this year. In January, it bought Travelocity for $280 million. Hotels.com, and Hotwire are some of the other sites that fall under Expedia's umbrella.
Expedia chief financial officer Mark Okerstrom said during the investors call that "this acquisition is a bit different,'' from the other deals forged this year. "Specifically we anticipate that HomeAway will continue to be run relatively autonomously out of Austin.''
HomeAway, which sees $15 billion in bookings from its vacation rental listings, expects its online transactions to grow significantly because of its tie-up with Expedia. "Maybe about a fourth to third of revenue is through (the) online booking channel,'' Sharples said in a call with investors on Wednesday. But in the next two to three years, "we hope to have most of our transactions running through.''
Sharples added that “this is a place where everyone's going to have to be. . . It’s just too big for people who are in this business to ignore.’’
The HomeAway deal is expected to become final during the first three months of next year.
SAN FRANCISCO - Expedia is deepening its travel-company bench with a $3.9 billion purchase of vacation rental site HomeAway.
Bellevue, Wash-based Expedia announced the deal Wednesday, which adds the Austin, Texas, company to a portfolio that also includes booking sites Orbitz and Travelocity. A Los Angeles M&A lawyer assists clients in leveraged buyouts, company reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions.
“We have long had our eyes on the fast growing $100 billion alternative accommodations space and have been building on our partnership with HomeAway, a global leader in vacation rentals, for two years,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia's CEO, said in a release. “Bringing HomeAway into the Expedia family and adding its leading brands to our portfolio of the most trusted brands in travel is a logical next step.”
HomeAway's stock (AWAY) was up 22% in after hours trading on the news, while Expedia shares were down at the close 1.63% to $134.17. HomeAway's brands include HomeAway, VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and similar sites overseas. All told, the company says it represents 1 million paid listings in 190 countries. A Los Angeles finance attorney is reviewing the details of this story.
The deal comes on the same day that short-term accommodations giant Airbnb won a significant victory in San Francisco, where voters shot down a measure that would put greater restrictions on those seeking to rent out rooms or entire properties. Airbnb argued that its service helps homeowners stay in their residences by providing extra income through rentals, while opponents - who were outspent eight to one by Airbnb - countered that Airbnb rentals cut into already scarce housing options.
While Airbnb typically offers short-term rentals and HomeAway often targets travelers looking for one-week or longer stays, buying HomeAway instantly allows Expedia to expand its options for consumers beyond hotels.
"We're eager to benefit from Expedia's distribution, technology and expertise, which will allow us to provide an even better product and service experience for our owners, property managers and travelers," said HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples in a statement. "In this way, I believe our combination with Expedia will turbocharge our growth and industry leadership for many years to come." A Los Angeles real estate lawyer is following this story closely.
The transaction, a combination of cash and stock, amounts to $38.31 per share based on Expedia's stock price at the end of day on Nov. 3.
It’s the latest acquisition for Expedia, the number one digital travel provider, which purchased Orbitz Worldwide for roughly $1.6 billion earlier this year. In January, it bought Travelocity for $280 million. Hotels.com, and Hotwire are some of the other sites that fall under Expedia's umbrella.
Expedia chief financial officer Mark Okerstrom said during the investors call that "this acquisition is a bit different,'' from the other deals forged this year. "Specifically we anticipate that HomeAway will continue to be run relatively autonomously out of Austin.''
HomeAway, which sees $15 billion in bookings from its vacation rental listings, expects its online transactions to grow significantly because of its tie-up with Expedia. "Maybe about a fourth to third of revenue is through (the) online booking channel,'' Sharples said in a call with investors on Wednesday. But in the next two to three years, "we hope to have most of our transactions running through.''
Sharples added that “this is a place where everyone's going to have to be. . . It’s just too big for people who are in this business to ignore.’’
The HomeAway deal is expected to become final during the first three months of next year.
Monday, November 02, 2015
SMARTPHONES REACHING SATURATION AMONG MILLENNIALS
Original Story: usatoday.com
SAN FRANCISCO — If it seems like every young person you see has a smartphone in their hand, you’re not far from wrong.
Smartphone ownership is reaching saturation levels among people in their 20s, a survey out Thursday found. As more and more people are remaining connected to the internet, it's important to focus on Google SEO services to reach your target audience.
A whopping 86% of people aged 18 to 29 have a smart phone, the survey by the Pew Research Center found.
That compares with 83% of those ages 30 to 49.
All told, 68% of adults have a smartphone.
The only group more likely to have a smartphone than Millennials was people living in households earning $75,000 or more annually, Pew found. There, 87% had them.
Overall, cellphone ownership has become the norm. A stunning 92% of U.S. adults own a mobile phone of some sort. That’s up from 64% just 11 years ago. Organic SEO allows your company to secure top keyword placements as an endorsement of your company, products, and services.
Americans seem to be folding many of the things they once did on task-specific devices into their smartphones — and ditching the other device.
In 2014, 32% of adults had an e-reader. That number has fallen to 19%.
In 2010, about 75% of people aged 18 to 29 owned an MP3 player. Today, just 51% do.
“We don’t ask people why they do not use a particular device, but these data suggest how the rise of smartphones has been a major story in the universe of connected gadgetry,” said Lee Rainie, director of Internet research at the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. “These changes in device ownership are all taking place in a world where smartphones are transforming into all-purpose devices that perform many of the same functions of specialized technology, such as music players, e-book readers or even gaming devices.”
Computers are what's not hot, the survey found.
Ownership of desktop and laptop computers has stalled out at 73% of adults, Pew found. That's about where things were 11 years ago and slightly down from the 80% who owned them in 2012. Google SEO services are cost-effective and powerful.
Tablet computers are still popular but seem to be plateauing out at lower rates of adoption. Currently, 45% of U.S. adults say they own a tablet computer, up from just 4% five years ago.
The poll is based on telephone interviews conducted March 17 through April 12 among a national sample of 1,907 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older.
SAN FRANCISCO — If it seems like every young person you see has a smartphone in their hand, you’re not far from wrong.
Smartphone ownership is reaching saturation levels among people in their 20s, a survey out Thursday found. As more and more people are remaining connected to the internet, it's important to focus on Google SEO services to reach your target audience.
A whopping 86% of people aged 18 to 29 have a smart phone, the survey by the Pew Research Center found.
That compares with 83% of those ages 30 to 49.
All told, 68% of adults have a smartphone.
The only group more likely to have a smartphone than Millennials was people living in households earning $75,000 or more annually, Pew found. There, 87% had them.
Overall, cellphone ownership has become the norm. A stunning 92% of U.S. adults own a mobile phone of some sort. That’s up from 64% just 11 years ago. Organic SEO allows your company to secure top keyword placements as an endorsement of your company, products, and services.
Americans seem to be folding many of the things they once did on task-specific devices into their smartphones — and ditching the other device.
In 2014, 32% of adults had an e-reader. That number has fallen to 19%.
In 2010, about 75% of people aged 18 to 29 owned an MP3 player. Today, just 51% do.
“We don’t ask people why they do not use a particular device, but these data suggest how the rise of smartphones has been a major story in the universe of connected gadgetry,” said Lee Rainie, director of Internet research at the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. “These changes in device ownership are all taking place in a world where smartphones are transforming into all-purpose devices that perform many of the same functions of specialized technology, such as music players, e-book readers or even gaming devices.”
Computers are what's not hot, the survey found.
Ownership of desktop and laptop computers has stalled out at 73% of adults, Pew found. That's about where things were 11 years ago and slightly down from the 80% who owned them in 2012. Google SEO services are cost-effective and powerful.
Tablet computers are still popular but seem to be plateauing out at lower rates of adoption. Currently, 45% of U.S. adults say they own a tablet computer, up from just 4% five years ago.
The poll is based on telephone interviews conducted March 17 through April 12 among a national sample of 1,907 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older.
Tuesday, October 06, 2015
ABANDONED IT PROJECTS COST DUTCH GOVERNMENT UP TO €5 BILLION A YEAR
Original Story: amsterdamherald.com
More than a third of major IT projects in the Netherlands never see the light of day, costing the government up to €5 billion a year, according to a highly critical report by a Parliamentary inquiry.
A commission headed by Liberal (VVD) MP Ton Elias, called for an independent regulator to be set up so that IT specialists can monitor the progress of large-scale projects. An Amsterdam IT lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
Projects often failed because those commissioning them lacked the technological knowledge, said Elias. “Things go wrong on every level and at every stage.
“It is one great unsightly mass, with no clear objectives, direction or cost control.” He noted that the lost money “could have been spent on healthcare or defence”.
Elias’s panel looked at a range of IT projects, including the OV chipcard used to pay for public transport and the A73 motorway tunnels. An Amsterdam IT attorney is following this story closely.
It found that 36 per cent of large projects – those with a budget of €7.5 million or more – were aborted before they were put into service. More than half (57%) either went over time or over budget, or did not meet expectations. Just 7% were judged to be successful.
Elias also said Parliament was failing in its duty to oversee projects funded by the public purse.
He said lack of interest and expertise by MPs meant they were not scrutinising the process properly. “Moreover, the provision of information to Parliament by the cabinet is frequently insufficient,” he said.
The commission’s work was hampered by problems obtaining the relevant information from ministers, according to Elias, who urged MPs to be more stringent. “Parliament needs to use its powers and take its scrutiny role seriously.”
The commission recommended that all projects costing more than €5 million be scrutinised by the Office for IT Testing (Bureau ICT Toetsing), which would measure their progress against 10 basic standards.
“The experts would act as a gatekeeper for IT projects. In addition it would drive it into the heads of IT departments that things could, and should, be done differently,” Elias said.
More than a third of major IT projects in the Netherlands never see the light of day, costing the government up to €5 billion a year, according to a highly critical report by a Parliamentary inquiry.
A commission headed by Liberal (VVD) MP Ton Elias, called for an independent regulator to be set up so that IT specialists can monitor the progress of large-scale projects. An Amsterdam IT lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
Projects often failed because those commissioning them lacked the technological knowledge, said Elias. “Things go wrong on every level and at every stage.
“It is one great unsightly mass, with no clear objectives, direction or cost control.” He noted that the lost money “could have been spent on healthcare or defence”.
Elias’s panel looked at a range of IT projects, including the OV chipcard used to pay for public transport and the A73 motorway tunnels. An Amsterdam IT attorney is following this story closely.
It found that 36 per cent of large projects – those with a budget of €7.5 million or more – were aborted before they were put into service. More than half (57%) either went over time or over budget, or did not meet expectations. Just 7% were judged to be successful.
Elias also said Parliament was failing in its duty to oversee projects funded by the public purse.
He said lack of interest and expertise by MPs meant they were not scrutinising the process properly. “Moreover, the provision of information to Parliament by the cabinet is frequently insufficient,” he said.
The commission’s work was hampered by problems obtaining the relevant information from ministers, according to Elias, who urged MPs to be more stringent. “Parliament needs to use its powers and take its scrutiny role seriously.”
The commission recommended that all projects costing more than €5 million be scrutinised by the Office for IT Testing (Bureau ICT Toetsing), which would measure their progress against 10 basic standards.
“The experts would act as a gatekeeper for IT projects. In addition it would drive it into the heads of IT departments that things could, and should, be done differently,” Elias said.
Monday, October 05, 2015
EXPERIAN DATA BREACH HITS MORE THAN 15M T-MOBILE CUSTOMERS, APPLICANTS
Original Story: cnbc.com
Global information services group Experian announced Thursday that one of its business units had been hacked. The breach occurred on a server that contained data on behalf of one of its clients, T-Mobile.
The data includes personal information for a combination of about 15 million customers and applicants in the U.S. who at one point may have applied for T-Mobile service. The company said that the incident did not impact its own consumer credit database.
The data also included applicants requiring a credit check for service or device financing from Sept. 1, 2013 through Sept. 16, 2015, Experian North America said in a statement.
The ADRs of Ireland-headquartered Experian closed Thursday up nearly 1.7 percent to $16.38, while shares of T-Mobile were down more than 1 percent in extended trading.
In a letter to consumers, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said the following:
"Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, but right now my top concern and first focus is assisting any and all consumers affected. I take our customer and prospective customer privacy VERY seriously. This is no small issue for us. I do want to assure our customers that neither T-Mobile's systems nor network were part of this intrusion and this did not involve any payment card numbers or bank account information."
Legere also said that any customers concerned that they may have been impacted can sign up for two years of free credit monitoring and identity resolution services at Experian's "Protect My ID" program.
Experian said it took immediate action upon finding the breach: it secured the server, initiated a comprehensive investigation and notified U.S. and international law enforcement.
The data stolen included names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers. No payment card or banking information was acquired, the company said.
"We take privacy very seriously and we understand that this news is both stressful and frustrating. We sincerely apologize for the concern and stress that this event may cause," said Craig Boundy, CEO of Experian North America. "That is why we're taking steps to provide protection and support to those affected by this incident and will continue to coordinate with law enforcement during its investigation."
Global information services group Experian announced Thursday that one of its business units had been hacked. The breach occurred on a server that contained data on behalf of one of its clients, T-Mobile.
The data includes personal information for a combination of about 15 million customers and applicants in the U.S. who at one point may have applied for T-Mobile service. The company said that the incident did not impact its own consumer credit database.
The data also included applicants requiring a credit check for service or device financing from Sept. 1, 2013 through Sept. 16, 2015, Experian North America said in a statement.
The ADRs of Ireland-headquartered Experian closed Thursday up nearly 1.7 percent to $16.38, while shares of T-Mobile were down more than 1 percent in extended trading.
In a letter to consumers, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said the following:
"Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, but right now my top concern and first focus is assisting any and all consumers affected. I take our customer and prospective customer privacy VERY seriously. This is no small issue for us. I do want to assure our customers that neither T-Mobile's systems nor network were part of this intrusion and this did not involve any payment card numbers or bank account information."
Legere also said that any customers concerned that they may have been impacted can sign up for two years of free credit monitoring and identity resolution services at Experian's "Protect My ID" program.
Experian said it took immediate action upon finding the breach: it secured the server, initiated a comprehensive investigation and notified U.S. and international law enforcement.
The data stolen included names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers. No payment card or banking information was acquired, the company said.
"We take privacy very seriously and we understand that this news is both stressful and frustrating. We sincerely apologize for the concern and stress that this event may cause," said Craig Boundy, CEO of Experian North America. "That is why we're taking steps to provide protection and support to those affected by this incident and will continue to coordinate with law enforcement during its investigation."
Thursday, October 01, 2015
11 LOOPHOLES THE WORLD'S BIGGEST CORPORATIONS USE TO SKIRT THE RULE OF LAW
Original Story: mic.com
For all its majesty, the law is imperfect, and, if you're willing to pay a room full of corporate lawyers seven-figure salaries, they're likely to come up with all kinds of clever (and legal) ways of circumventing the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. Such corporate loopholes have allowed multi-billion dollar corporations to do things like circumvent campaign finance law, stiff the IRS and get generous tax subsidies for criminal malfeasance. Here are 11 of the worst legal loopholes corporations have come up with:
1. Tax havens and transfer pricing
Multinational corporations don't have to pay taxes on overseas profits; that is, until they transfer those profits back home. This would make sense, if it weren't for a practice known as "transfer pricing," where a multinational corporation can transfer the profits of a U.S. subsidiary to a subsidiary in, say, the Cayman Islands. There the money sits, allowing corporations to defer taxes on those profits indefinitely. By its own accounting, the U.S. government loses $10 billion to this loophole every year. A Binghamton patents lawyer is following this story closely.
2. Antitrust loopholes
Ordinarily, when one big company acquires another, they have to notify the Department of Justice, which decides if the merger violates anti-monopoly regulations. However, companies can avoid those regulations if the company they buy a company that is both foreign and itself owns less than $70 million in U.S. assets. When Google bought Israel-based Waze for over $1 billion last June, which was considered to be Google's real competition in the development of mapping software, many cried foul. But according to existing law, the Justice Department couldn't touch them.
3. Punitive damages deduction
When an ordinary person gets a speeding ticket, they don't get to write that off as a tax deduction at the end of the year. But when corporations are found criminally liable and hit with punitive damages, they get to claim those damages as a "necessary and ordinary" business expense. For example, Exxon's $1.1 billion fine for the Valdez oil spill ended up costing the company less than half that figure, after taxes. Essentially, taxpayers were left picking up the rest of the tab. A Fresno patents lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of patents lawsuits as related to inventions and their inventors.
4. Patent injunctions
Patent injunctions are corporations' favorite tools for bullying and intimidating rising competitors. Ideally, when a patent-holding corporation believes another company's product is violating their copyrights, they can ask a judge for an injunction, essentially blocking the violator from selling the infringing product. However, because injunctions were so easy to get, in many cases corporations were using the mere threat of one to force smaller companies into shelving their products or paying them exorbitant fees, even when only a weak claim of copyright infringement could be made. When the Supreme Court rewrote the rules to make injunctions harder to get, many thought the loophole was closed, but when government closes a door, corporate lawyers open a window. Instead of going through the courts, corporations are now going through the U.S. International Trade Commission.
5. Volcker Rule: Government debt exception
The long-awaited Volcker Rule, a provision in the Dodd-Frank bill that aims to finally get commercial banks out of the risky trading business, was meant to finally clamp down on the kind of financial practices that led to the recession — that was the idea anyway. Now that it's been watered down by lobbyists, big banks will have plenty of loopholes to access. The biggest loophole seems to be the exemption allowing banks to buy government debt. Although there's no danger when banks buy relatively low-risk treasury bonds, they are free to bet your money on Detroit and Puerto Rican debt, which, you know, isn't so secure. A Warsaw patents lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
6. Volcker Rule: foreign bank exemption
One of the financial sector's loudest arguments against the Volcker Rule was that the restriction against proprietary trading reduced U.S. banks' competitiveness vis-à-vis foreign banks, which face no such restrictions. Thanks to their lobbying, they've won an exception. Banks under the Volcker Rule can do all of the risky trading they want, so long as it's through their "foreign banking entities." Because, you know, financial crises are always local anyway.
7. Carried interest
Some hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs manage pay to drastically lower taxes on their income by calling it something else: carried interest. Carried interest, which refers to the return over a predetermined profit, allows these executive to claim their compensation as capital gains and not income. Capital gains are taxed lower to encourage investment and stimulate economic growth. However, for corporate executives who are compensated mainly through stock options and carried interest, it's a loophole that lets them pay half of what they' d otherwise owe to the IRS.
8. Unlimited and anonymous campaign donations
Most people are familiar with why super PACs are bad, namely their complete abrogation of any limits on campaign donations. For a brief moment, there was a silver lining: super PACs would be required to reveal their donors. If one extremely wealthy individual or corporation tried to outright buy an election, at the very least the public would know. That is, until corporations started exploiting a loophole that allowed them to funnel their donations through 501(c)4, "social welfare" organizations that are not required to make their donors public. Now, when you look at a super PACs donor list, all you see are other non-profits. A Zurich patents lawyer advises clients in the commercialization and utilization of intellectual property rights.
9. Last-in, first-out accounting
Lifo is a pretty standard accounting practice that lets companies track the value of their inventory by what the last piece of product sold for, sparing them the need of tracking changing values over multiple quarters when tax time comes. Conceivably, it is an important tool for small businesses across the country, but when Exxon Mobil uses it, it's nothing more than legalized tax evasion. Basically, Exxon Mobile can spend a year selling $20 gas for $50 but still claim a $10 profit per transaction, so long as the price of oil at some point gets to $40 by the end of the year, saving them billion in tax liabilities.
10. Agribusiness
During the early 20th century, a slew of federal agricultural policies were instituted to insure small farmers from changing weather and preserve a dependable food supply for the American people. Almost a century later, many of those policies are still in place, except the beneficiaries no longer small farmers, but big agribusiness, which receives 75% of the subsidies. Over the past decade, subsidies have cost the American taxpayer over $168 billion.
11. Corporate Lobbying
After the Jack Abramoff scandal, lobbying reform was passed that made it impossible for a lobbyist to buy a lawmaker so much as a sandwich. At least, that was the idea. A series of loopholes have meant that nothing has even slowed down the practice of flying congressmen to Brazil in return for a few favors. Now, instead of paying for the trips directly, lobbyists and corporations set up 501(c)(3)s to do the work for them. As recently as 2011, the International Conservative Caucus Foundation spent $100,000 sending four congressmen and their families on an African safari, finding time along the way to tour a Volkswagen factory (an ICCF donor).
For all its majesty, the law is imperfect, and, if you're willing to pay a room full of corporate lawyers seven-figure salaries, they're likely to come up with all kinds of clever (and legal) ways of circumventing the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. Such corporate loopholes have allowed multi-billion dollar corporations to do things like circumvent campaign finance law, stiff the IRS and get generous tax subsidies for criminal malfeasance. Here are 11 of the worst legal loopholes corporations have come up with:
1. Tax havens and transfer pricing
Multinational corporations don't have to pay taxes on overseas profits; that is, until they transfer those profits back home. This would make sense, if it weren't for a practice known as "transfer pricing," where a multinational corporation can transfer the profits of a U.S. subsidiary to a subsidiary in, say, the Cayman Islands. There the money sits, allowing corporations to defer taxes on those profits indefinitely. By its own accounting, the U.S. government loses $10 billion to this loophole every year. A Binghamton patents lawyer is following this story closely.
2. Antitrust loopholes
Ordinarily, when one big company acquires another, they have to notify the Department of Justice, which decides if the merger violates anti-monopoly regulations. However, companies can avoid those regulations if the company they buy a company that is both foreign and itself owns less than $70 million in U.S. assets. When Google bought Israel-based Waze for over $1 billion last June, which was considered to be Google's real competition in the development of mapping software, many cried foul. But according to existing law, the Justice Department couldn't touch them.
3. Punitive damages deduction
When an ordinary person gets a speeding ticket, they don't get to write that off as a tax deduction at the end of the year. But when corporations are found criminally liable and hit with punitive damages, they get to claim those damages as a "necessary and ordinary" business expense. For example, Exxon's $1.1 billion fine for the Valdez oil spill ended up costing the company less than half that figure, after taxes. Essentially, taxpayers were left picking up the rest of the tab. A Fresno patents lawyer is experienced in the effective resolution of patents lawsuits as related to inventions and their inventors.
4. Patent injunctions
Patent injunctions are corporations' favorite tools for bullying and intimidating rising competitors. Ideally, when a patent-holding corporation believes another company's product is violating their copyrights, they can ask a judge for an injunction, essentially blocking the violator from selling the infringing product. However, because injunctions were so easy to get, in many cases corporations were using the mere threat of one to force smaller companies into shelving their products or paying them exorbitant fees, even when only a weak claim of copyright infringement could be made. When the Supreme Court rewrote the rules to make injunctions harder to get, many thought the loophole was closed, but when government closes a door, corporate lawyers open a window. Instead of going through the courts, corporations are now going through the U.S. International Trade Commission.
5. Volcker Rule: Government debt exception
The long-awaited Volcker Rule, a provision in the Dodd-Frank bill that aims to finally get commercial banks out of the risky trading business, was meant to finally clamp down on the kind of financial practices that led to the recession — that was the idea anyway. Now that it's been watered down by lobbyists, big banks will have plenty of loopholes to access. The biggest loophole seems to be the exemption allowing banks to buy government debt. Although there's no danger when banks buy relatively low-risk treasury bonds, they are free to bet your money on Detroit and Puerto Rican debt, which, you know, isn't so secure. A Warsaw patents lawyer is reviewing the details of this case.
6. Volcker Rule: foreign bank exemption
One of the financial sector's loudest arguments against the Volcker Rule was that the restriction against proprietary trading reduced U.S. banks' competitiveness vis-à-vis foreign banks, which face no such restrictions. Thanks to their lobbying, they've won an exception. Banks under the Volcker Rule can do all of the risky trading they want, so long as it's through their "foreign banking entities." Because, you know, financial crises are always local anyway.
7. Carried interest
Some hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs manage pay to drastically lower taxes on their income by calling it something else: carried interest. Carried interest, which refers to the return over a predetermined profit, allows these executive to claim their compensation as capital gains and not income. Capital gains are taxed lower to encourage investment and stimulate economic growth. However, for corporate executives who are compensated mainly through stock options and carried interest, it's a loophole that lets them pay half of what they' d otherwise owe to the IRS.
8. Unlimited and anonymous campaign donations
Most people are familiar with why super PACs are bad, namely their complete abrogation of any limits on campaign donations. For a brief moment, there was a silver lining: super PACs would be required to reveal their donors. If one extremely wealthy individual or corporation tried to outright buy an election, at the very least the public would know. That is, until corporations started exploiting a loophole that allowed them to funnel their donations through 501(c)4, "social welfare" organizations that are not required to make their donors public. Now, when you look at a super PACs donor list, all you see are other non-profits. A Zurich patents lawyer advises clients in the commercialization and utilization of intellectual property rights.
9. Last-in, first-out accounting
Lifo is a pretty standard accounting practice that lets companies track the value of their inventory by what the last piece of product sold for, sparing them the need of tracking changing values over multiple quarters when tax time comes. Conceivably, it is an important tool for small businesses across the country, but when Exxon Mobil uses it, it's nothing more than legalized tax evasion. Basically, Exxon Mobile can spend a year selling $20 gas for $50 but still claim a $10 profit per transaction, so long as the price of oil at some point gets to $40 by the end of the year, saving them billion in tax liabilities.
10. Agribusiness
During the early 20th century, a slew of federal agricultural policies were instituted to insure small farmers from changing weather and preserve a dependable food supply for the American people. Almost a century later, many of those policies are still in place, except the beneficiaries no longer small farmers, but big agribusiness, which receives 75% of the subsidies. Over the past decade, subsidies have cost the American taxpayer over $168 billion.
11. Corporate Lobbying
After the Jack Abramoff scandal, lobbying reform was passed that made it impossible for a lobbyist to buy a lawmaker so much as a sandwich. At least, that was the idea. A series of loopholes have meant that nothing has even slowed down the practice of flying congressmen to Brazil in return for a few favors. Now, instead of paying for the trips directly, lobbyists and corporations set up 501(c)(3)s to do the work for them. As recently as 2011, the International Conservative Caucus Foundation spent $100,000 sending four congressmen and their families on an African safari, finding time along the way to tour a Volkswagen factory (an ICCF donor).
GOOGLE UNVEILS EVERYTHING APPLE LAUNCHED, ONLY CHEAPER
Original Story: marketwatch.com
Apple: iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Refreshed Apple TV. Enterprise-focused iPad Pro.
Google: Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. Refreshed Chromecast. Enterprise-focused Pixel C tablet.
Those lineups show the similarities between the new products Google Inc. GOOG, -0.01% GOOGL, +0.00% announced Tuesday and those Apple Inc. AAPL, -1.05% announced earlier this month. The big difference between the two companies’ new offerings is price, with Google undercutting Apple across the board.
Smartphones
Google introduced two new Android smartphones, the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, at a product event on Tuesday. Both phones — manufactured by LG and Huawei, respectively — will be sold as unlocked devices, meaning they can be purchased directly through Google’s digital store or at partner bricks-and-mortar retailers and used with a wide variety of carriers. They will also be compatible with Project Fi, Google’s new WiFi program, part of a trend among Google, Apple and others to take over parts of the wireless business previously reserved for carriers. Google SEO deliver top organic keyword rankings in all of the major search engines.
The 5.2-inch Nexus 5X will retail for $379 and up, while the 5.7-inch Nexus 6P will start at $429. Both devices will come equipped with fingerprint technology similar to Apple’s TouchID, though the sensor is on the back of its phones, and will operate on Android’s upcoming Marshmallow operating system.
Apple’s AAPL, -1.05% 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, unveiled at Apple’s product event earlier this month, can also be purchased as unlocked phones directly through Apple for $549 and $649, respectively. Apple also is offering a monthly pricing plan that allows consumers to upgrade every time a new iPhone hits the market.
Also Read: Apple breaks another iPhone record, but China was included this time
Google is sweetening the deal by offering a $50 credit for use at the Google Play app store and a free three-month trial subscription to Google Play Music. Apple also offered a free three-month trial for Apple Music.
Enterprise tablet
Tablets for the workplace are all the rage this year. Google on Tuesday launched its answer to the iPad Pro and Microsoft Inc.’s Surface Pro with a new tablet called Pixel C that will start at $499, versus $799 for the iPad Pro. Pixel C will also come with a detachable keyboard, which can be purchased separately for $149; Apple’s keyboard costs $169. Microsoft’s MSFT, +0.75% Surface Pro 3 starts at $699 and offers a $129.99 keyboard.
Unlike both tablets from Apple and Microsoft, Google is not marketing the Pixel C with a stylus.
Video streaming
Google launched its second-generation Chromecast device that will retail for $35. It will receive support for Showtime content immediately, and Sling TV and Spotify will join within a few weeks. The device already supports Netflix NFLX, -0.14% , Google Play Movies, HBO Now, Hulu, Pandora P, -0.07% and many other streaming services. Google also launched a $35 Chromecast Audio device with a plug-in that can turn a user’s existing speaker into a conduit for music streaming.
Earlier this month, Apple unveiled its fourth-generation Apple TV, which comes with a remote control, Siri compatibility, and content from similar streaming services for $149, though Apple’s TV streaming device does not natively support Apple Music’s rival streaming services.
The only place where Google is not trying to undercut Apple by price is music streaming. Both Apple and Google offer music streaming services for $9.99 a month. Google unveiled a six-person family plan on Tuesday that will cost $14.99 a month, matching the price of Apple’s six-person family plan launched earlier this month.
Shares of Google rose ahead of its product event but declined slightly after it kicked off, ultimately closing down 0.3% at $622.61. Apple’s stock declined throughout the day, with the fall accelerating after the Google event, and shares ultimately closed down 3% at $109.06.
Apple: iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. Refreshed Apple TV. Enterprise-focused iPad Pro.
Google: Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. Refreshed Chromecast. Enterprise-focused Pixel C tablet.
Those lineups show the similarities between the new products Google Inc. GOOG, -0.01% GOOGL, +0.00% announced Tuesday and those Apple Inc. AAPL, -1.05% announced earlier this month. The big difference between the two companies’ new offerings is price, with Google undercutting Apple across the board.
Smartphones
Google introduced two new Android smartphones, the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, at a product event on Tuesday. Both phones — manufactured by LG and Huawei, respectively — will be sold as unlocked devices, meaning they can be purchased directly through Google’s digital store or at partner bricks-and-mortar retailers and used with a wide variety of carriers. They will also be compatible with Project Fi, Google’s new WiFi program, part of a trend among Google, Apple and others to take over parts of the wireless business previously reserved for carriers. Google SEO deliver top organic keyword rankings in all of the major search engines.
The 5.2-inch Nexus 5X will retail for $379 and up, while the 5.7-inch Nexus 6P will start at $429. Both devices will come equipped with fingerprint technology similar to Apple’s TouchID, though the sensor is on the back of its phones, and will operate on Android’s upcoming Marshmallow operating system.
Apple’s AAPL, -1.05% 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, unveiled at Apple’s product event earlier this month, can also be purchased as unlocked phones directly through Apple for $549 and $649, respectively. Apple also is offering a monthly pricing plan that allows consumers to upgrade every time a new iPhone hits the market.
Also Read: Apple breaks another iPhone record, but China was included this time
Google is sweetening the deal by offering a $50 credit for use at the Google Play app store and a free three-month trial subscription to Google Play Music. Apple also offered a free three-month trial for Apple Music.
Enterprise tablet
Tablets for the workplace are all the rage this year. Google on Tuesday launched its answer to the iPad Pro and Microsoft Inc.’s Surface Pro with a new tablet called Pixel C that will start at $499, versus $799 for the iPad Pro. Pixel C will also come with a detachable keyboard, which can be purchased separately for $149; Apple’s keyboard costs $169. Microsoft’s MSFT, +0.75% Surface Pro 3 starts at $699 and offers a $129.99 keyboard.
Unlike both tablets from Apple and Microsoft, Google is not marketing the Pixel C with a stylus.
Video streaming
Google launched its second-generation Chromecast device that will retail for $35. It will receive support for Showtime content immediately, and Sling TV and Spotify will join within a few weeks. The device already supports Netflix NFLX, -0.14% , Google Play Movies, HBO Now, Hulu, Pandora P, -0.07% and many other streaming services. Google also launched a $35 Chromecast Audio device with a plug-in that can turn a user’s existing speaker into a conduit for music streaming.
Earlier this month, Apple unveiled its fourth-generation Apple TV, which comes with a remote control, Siri compatibility, and content from similar streaming services for $149, though Apple’s TV streaming device does not natively support Apple Music’s rival streaming services.
The only place where Google is not trying to undercut Apple by price is music streaming. Both Apple and Google offer music streaming services for $9.99 a month. Google unveiled a six-person family plan on Tuesday that will cost $14.99 a month, matching the price of Apple’s six-person family plan launched earlier this month.
Shares of Google rose ahead of its product event but declined slightly after it kicked off, ultimately closing down 0.3% at $622.61. Apple’s stock declined throughout the day, with the fall accelerating after the Google event, and shares ultimately closed down 3% at $109.06.
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