TechEye |  |
- Icahn plans Apple changes
- Foxconn considers solar panel move
- Jetpack gets flying permit, to appear in shops by 2015
- Ebay's biggest troll unmasked
- Larry Ellison signals Apple's doom with topsy-turvy finger motion
- LG G2 promo stunt rushed by sharp shootin' BB gun mob
- London's stalker rubbish bins scrapped - for now
| Posted: 14 Aug 2013 04:51 AM PDT Apple investors ploughed more cash into the beleaguered toy maker after it was revealed Carl Icahn was planning to do a number on the company. Investors thought that Icahn shoving lots of cash into the company was a good thing indicating that all was well. But Icahn has a track record of buying up shares in troubled companies and forcing them to improve profits for shareholders. Note the difference here. While it might be good for an IT company to release new products, often what is best for shareholders is for companies to release more dividends. This sometimes means giving up long term projects and profits in favour of a quick buck. Icahn planning to do some kind of shareholder stirring sent stocks to a six-month high and boosted the company's market value by $12 billion to $444.8 billion. Icahn, who was dubbed a "fox in the henhouse" by former Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang, said his firm had taken a "large position" in the company. The word on Wall Street is that Icahn has about a $1 billion stake in Apple. This means that Icahn would have made about $50 million with him just announcing his involvement. He said he believed the company was extremely undervalued and he had a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday afternoon. Sure enough, he said that he was going to press Apple to increase its stock buyback, in which the company purchases its own shares in a bid to boost its value. But it is not as if Apple has not been buying back its own stock. In April the outfit pledged to spend $60 billion buying back its stock until 2015. So far it has bought $18 billion. Apple also plans to pay out more than $10 billion in shareholder dividends each year. But Icahn said Apple "has the ability to do a $150 billion buyback now by borrowing funds at three per cent". In other words, get itself into debt to boost the share price. He thinks that if it does that then shares should trade at $700 each. This sort of mentality is not what made Apple’s shares overvalued in the first place. That was managed by hype and an expectation that Apple would continue to make record profits. Last September there was talk of the shares being worth $1,000 each. That was before common sense took over. Still getting yourself into debt to boost share prices is not something that Apple would have traditionally done. In the long term it will mean that Apple has less cash to invest in new projects and will become much more pedestrian in its approach. |
| Foxconn considers solar panel move Posted: 14 Aug 2013 04:09 AM PDT Foxconn, the popular company that has to put nets under its taller buildings to stop workers from jumping, has decided that its contract with Apple might not be worth as much in the long term. The company, which makes Apple's iPhones, is mulling over a branch off into making solar panels. The solar panel market has been plagued by overcapacity and panel prices have tumbled by more than two-thirds over the past two years. The move might be jolly clever - as the sector is showing some signs of stabilising. Foxconn has been testing the market for two years but has revealed little about its Fox Energy solar unit. It currently has a small solar panel factory in eastern China, and has also held talks with the southwestern province of Guangxi about building solar power plants. Foxconn's Simon Hsing told Reuters that the company will decide wheter it wants to enter the market by the end of this year. Hsing remarked that renewable energy is a "potentially good trend", adding it's "an industry we probably need to know more about". The company does feel that it needs to cut its reliance on Apple, which accounted for an estimated 60 percent of Hon Hai revenue that exceeded $100 billion last year. As demonstrated by its Apple contract, Foxconn has assembly efficiency, cost-control and an international reach on its side, which it could probably apply to solar production too. |
| Jetpack gets flying permit, to appear in shops by 2015 Posted: 14 Aug 2013 03:45 AM PDT A Kiwi company has said that it will have a viable working jet pack in the shops in two years. Jetpacks have been the fodder of sci-fi comics for decades, but had been a symbol of a future which never arrives – a bit like Duke Nukem Forever. But Duke Nukem Forever eventually did arrive, and so too will the jetpack - which will hopefully be less of a disappointment. New Zealand-based company Martin Aircraft became certified to take what it calls "the world's first practical jetpack" out for a series of manned test flights. These are limited to testing over uninhabited lands and the pilot must not fly higher than 20ft above ground or 25ft above water, the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority said. Glenn Martin, the inventor, had been working on the jetpack in his Christchurch, New Zealand garage over 30 years ago, inspired by TV shows like Thunderbirds. Chief exec at Martin Aircraft, Peter Coker, thinks the jetpack will be available for first responders, such as firefighters, by 2014, and to the general public by 2015. According to AFP, it won't come cheap - with early models expected to sell for a minimum of $150,000. Included in the price will be a parachute in case of disaster. if it works the company will start selling a consumer version of the jetpack in 2015. They will not be cheap. When the first production models come off the line they will start at $150,000.. |
| Posted: 14 Aug 2013 03:29 AM PDT ebay's biggest troll, who outbids all customers, refuses to pay and then leaves bad reviews, has been outed as a man who rarely leaves his house. Charles 'Chuck' Fitch of Canton, Michigan apparently hates eBay so much that he is doing his best to undermine the system by targeting its best sellers. Fitch calls himself Ebayisajoke and harasses not only the ecommerce website and PayPal but also those who use it. Local TV reporter Rob Wolchek hired private investigators to track down Fitch and they found he was a recluse who lived alone. He did not deny accusations that he was Ebay's worst troll. Ebayisajoke ran his own YouTube channel, which has now been removed, where he dedicated his time trying to 'expose' the internet auction site. Wearing an anonymous mask, he accuses eBay of various crimes and wrongdoings, and how sellers should use alternative sites. He is also fond of accusing sellers on eBay of malpractice. Ebayisajoke's method is to target small business owners, outbid everyone else and then refuse to pay. He then gives the seller a bad review, something sellers on eBay, where reputation is everything, fear above all. According to Wolchek, Ebayisajoke set his sights on Joe DeMarco, claiming he abused eBay's Significantly Not As Described buyer's claim, which is said to let users get a free refund on anything they buy if it is not what they were expecting. He threatened DeMarco, saying he was going to ruin him in every conceivable manner, firstly by going after his eBay account. |
| Larry Ellison signals Apple's doom with topsy-turvy finger motion Posted: 13 Aug 2013 08:11 AM PDT Friend of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, flamboyant Oracle chief exec Larry Ellison has suggested Apple's in trouble without its arch salesman. In a CBS interview, Ellison gives Apple without Jobs the thumbs down and finds room to say Google CEO Larry Page did "evil". Google and Oracle had a long running patent spat with a jury ultimately declaring Google innocent of violating Java patents in Android. He believes what Google did was "absolutely evil" and that he blames Larry Page "100 percent". "I don't see how he thinks you can just copy someone else's stuff," Ellison said, adding "it really bothers me". |
| LG G2 promo stunt rushed by sharp shootin' BB gun mob Posted: 13 Aug 2013 08:01 AM PDT The company formerly known as Lucky GoldStar, LG, has cancelled a series of promotional events after a "surge of people" stormed a Korean park with BB guns and "knives on sticks". LG let 100 helium balloons loose at the G in the Cloud event in Seoul. Each balloon had a voucher for a free G2 smartphone inside, worth as much as £550. But the park was stormed by people armed with BB guns who then tried to shoot down the balloons. One person reportedly showed up with a "pointed staff," according to the BBC. Another attendee had a net on a stick [pictured]. Initial reports say 20 people were injured and some were hospitalised. LG promised to cover any medical costs. The company later said other events were to be cancelled, citing safety concerns. A local TV station said the incident was reminiscent of 'World War G', a reference to the apocalyptic zombie novel and film 'World War Z'. It doesn't look like much of a surge to us, but we weren't there, man. The stunt, which some say went "horribly wrong", will have certainly generated some awareness of the G2. |
| London's stalker rubbish bins scrapped - for now Posted: 13 Aug 2013 07:40 AM PDT The City of London Corporation has ordered that rubbish bins stop spying on its citizens. A provider of recycling bins in London, Renew, was using its bins to monitor the phones of passers-by for targeted advertising purposes. According to the Daily Telegraph after concerns over privacy emerged, the City of London asked Renew to halt the trial, and has referred the case to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Renew CEO Kaveh Memari has stopped the trials until there is a comment from the ICO. Writing in his blog, he said that during the initial trials a limited number of pods had been testing and collecting anonymised and aggregated MAC addresses from the street and sending one report every three minutes concerning total footfall data from the sites. Those trials have been stopped. "A lot of what had been extrapolated is capabilities that could be developed and none of which are workable right now. For now, we no longer continue to count devices and are able to distinguish uniques versus repeats," he wrote. Some of the extrapolation was mostly because of Renew's own marketing materials on the trail. For example, Renew said that the test measured "variables in market share between mobile handheld providers within the City's Square Mile", but also promises to measure the speed and movement of individual phones. It also claimed this could help shop and bar owners to map the total footfall percentage within a 3-4 min walking distance of the shop. Renew has now promised to consult on future developments: "Come the time we discuss creating the future levels of protection, we can move to an improved service where we can bring better content to people," Renew said. The company said that its "firm intention" is to discuss progressions publicly first, and it pledged to collaborate with privacy groups like the EFF, but said it is still committed to leading the charge on the implementation of such technology. |
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