Apple Inc. and FBI Case Finally Over – So Who Really Won This Battle?

The technology company did not create the backdoor software itself, but someone else did.

The long legal case going on between Apple Inc. and the FBI over encryption of an iPhone has finally come closer to its end. The Feds have officially decided to drop their request of unlocking, rather forcing the technology company to unlock an iPhone of a terrorist suspect in the San Bernardino Attack in December. The government has recently stated the FBI no along needs Apple’s help of the specific device as it has managed to unlock the phone themselves with the assistance of a third party who remains to be anonymous. Hence, they have concluded that the assistance of the Silicon Valley giant is not required anymore.

A quick review of the case that during the San Bernardino was Attack, an iPhone 5C was discovered that happened to be that of one of the suspects who were involved in the incident, Rizwan Farook. However, after obtaining the device, the FBI was unable to unlock it and hence was unable to extract any information from the smartphone due to the strong encryption that Apple provided. However, they approached the CEO of the technology organization, Tim Cook, who refused to create a ‘backdoor’ for the device. Since the company refused to assist in this matter, as they did not want to break the security of their system and jeopardize the security of millions of iPhone users all across the globe. Later, the matter was taken to the court by the FBI due to which a number of other tech companies in the industry got involved as well including Google, Facebook and Microsoft – and understanding Apple’s stance, supported the company and stood by it.

However, after a number of hearings, the court was about to make the final announcement last week but since the FBI found a third party to assist them in their endeavor, the FBI abruptly cancelled the final hearing and stated: they required two more weeks to see if this works for them however, it was finally announced earlier yesterday that the method was successful and they were able to unlock the iPhone due to which the case is officially closed now.

This ultimately means that Apple has won this battle victorious, but has it really? We think not, as the whole point of not creating software to not jeopardize the privacy of millions of iPhone users all over the world. However, now apparently there is a backdoor if the FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone. Tim Cook continuously emphasized on how creating software to unlock would be back for privacy, national security etc. and that is exactly what has happened. The third party has managed to create software (backdoor) that can break Apple’s security measure which was only there to keep the privacy of its customer’s secure. This puts a big dent on the security encryption of Apple, and hence damages a bit of the company’s brand image as well.

Apple Inc. is not working on knowing how this was done and they want all the details of how the FBI and the third party managed to break the lock in order to make its security more strong. However, now the officials are getting back at the company by declining to do so. They have refused to let them know who the third party is and how they hacked the phone which leaves the company vulnerable to future hackers.

However, despite all this, the company states that it is on the government’s side and will support it no matter what. And they have further stated that they will continue to support the law enforcement with any of their investigations as they have continually tried to do so in the same case as well. 

Remember Landlines? They’re back in Fashion, Thanks to Google

The search engine company is working on providing competition to traditional phone service providers as it is about to launch its Fiber Phone service.

Alphabet Inc. is one technology company that wants to get its hand on everything. However, this time it has worked on something that would make Generation Y nostalgic as it has made an effort to make the traditional use of landline phones useful again. The local traditional service providers are going to be in on a rough ride as the search engine giant is focusing on the same technology which would be might reliable, smoother and faster.

The largest international internet service has unveils its latest Fiber Phone home facility at a price of just $10 a month. This latest service is quite similar to an initial communication service that the company initially launched by the name of Google Voice; it is a communication device that provides one phone number for all your phones. Instead of device, the number is entwined with the user and allows them to make calls, send and receive texts along with voice mails on any device that is connected to the number at any location.   

However, users need to have a google account to avail the service furthermore currently the service is only available in the United States while outside users can avail the service from Google’s Hangout app. Same is the case with the Fiber Phone, as it is currently only available in the United States along with locations that have the fiber service facility.

Fiber Phone has made Alphabet Inc. a triple play provider as now it offers TV facilities, Internet as well as phone service. In an effort to counter to counter the increased competition in the traditional broadband market, the company has made this effort to provide a complete package to its customers to counter the competition. The technology company has been facing increased competition from telecommunication organizations including Comcast and AT&T.

Furthermore, the latest traditional service is cloud based however it has to be noted that it is still not the complete packages as the users will still need to sign up for the service and then attach a Fiber Phone Box to their existing landline handset. As the person’s information will be stored on the cloud server, they will be able to use the service anywhere and on any device.

John Shriver Blake, Fiber Phone’s product manager stated in a blog post that with the advent of smartphones people have moved away from the traditional use of landline however there are still a number of families that rely on them and the traditional use of landline is still important to them. The traditional service is, no doubt, reliable, high-quality and familiar however technology has not managed to keep up.

A survey was conducted in 2013 by Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in which it was found out that over 40% of adults in the United States mentioned that they use smartphones to make calls and send text messages. So basically Google has introduced this service at a time when smartphones amongst people in comparison to landline phones. In addition to that, that survey was conducted on 2013, which means the number of people who have shifted to smartphone might have increased quite a bit now. The challenge faced by the company is that now they will to find a way to move these customers back to the old-fashioned landline use.

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General Motors To Move Into a Shared Auto Mobility

The auto-maker might be the most disruptive automaker in the industry.

Markets all over the world are going to a rapid and drastic change especially the automobile industry. Amid this technological advancement, auto-mobile companies do not want to be left behind and enjoy every chunk of these changes. Furthermore, auto-makers all over the world are working on establishing ways to make the driving environment more safe and clean and one of the solutions that they have come up with is Shared Auto Mobility.

General Motors Company has made numerous attempts to enter into the Shared Mobility space in recent time which makes us believe that it might just be the most sustainable auto-maker in the industry for the specific technology.

Mobility Services will not only reduce the heavy traffic congestion problems but also help managed the transport systems which are likely to be used as a shared service, since the population of the world is growing at a good 1.2% rate. Furthermore, analysts are concluding that in the recent future, people will avoid buying their own vehicles and rather prefer more economic ways of commuting which could include car sharing services or even public transport – that ought to reduce the congestion and transportation problems.

Numerous analysts in the industry believe that there is likely to be a drastic change in the vehicle purchasing patterns of people in the upcoming years. Last year, analysts Barclays shared their views on the future of the automaker industry in a report. As per the report by the investment bank, car ownership is likely to call by 50% in the next 35 years as they will prefer to commute via shared autonomous vehicles that are currently in the making. Every shared autonomous car is expected to replace nine traditional vehicles that are now owned by customers. This change would bring the auto demand to 9.5 million which will indicate a drop of 40%, in the United States.

Making such a concept a reality entirely depends upon automakers making technology their friend; as these automobile companies will need to partner up with technology companies to bring new features and technologies to their cars. Taking into consideration the fact that research is the first step in achieving all these goals, the research and development expenses of General Motors Company went up to $7.5 billion in 2015 to an initial $7.4 billion in 2014.

GM is not the only auto-maker that has injected a lot of cash into R&D; many others have made hefty investments in this research as well however GM is largest car seller in North America and has made the most investment in the car mobility field taking the lead in the specific research.

Launch of Tesla's Model 3 Right Around the Corner:March 31, 2016

The auto-maker plans to launch its Model 3 on March 31; investors and analysts are quite excited about the event.

Analysts and investors have been long concerned with the long-term future of the auto-maker giant, Tesla Motors Inc. As March 31, 2016 is approaching the analysts and shareholders are getting excited as the most anticipated event by Tesla will be held at Hawthorne Studios where the automobile manufacturer will be introducing its Model 3 electric vehicle (EV). This event is considered to make or break the EV maker; however many are expecting that Tesla Motors will be able to gain back the trust of its analysts with the introduction of the latest vehicle.

In case the latest model by the auto-maker turns out to be a hit, which many are predicting it will be, the short sellers of the stock will be in for a tough time. Tesla Stock is expected to witness a big jump in its share price if the event works in favor of it. As per the latest data by Bloomberg, the company short interest stands at an all-time high of 34.05 million shares for the period that ended in February.

It seems that the stock price is bound to get up since there are a high number of shares in the short position and along with the big event coming up, the share price is certain to bounce. This ultimately signifies that the stock price will not just vault due to the event or the release of Model 3 but also because of the short squeeze – this short interest is equivalent to over 34.76% of the outstanding share in the company; making the stock highly expensive.

If the stock of the automobile giant continues to rise, more investors with short position are expected to borrow the stock which will lead to a rise in stock prices. Tesla Stock had been underperforming since the beginning of the year however it managed to bounce back after February 10 after announcing its fourth quarter financial results. Even since the announcement, the stock of the auto-maker has jumped by as much as 57% which blew up in the fact of those Wall Street analysts that had a bearish stance towards it.

Due to the lag in production and less deliveries of Model X, investors became quite confused with the performance of the company. It managed to sell 208 units of Model X which was lower than the company’s and analyst’s estimation. Because of the slow production of the electric crossover sports utility vehicle the stock price was affected. However, the CEO Elon Musk admitted that they made will making the vehicle and stated that they simply put too much technology and features into one vehicle.

As the event approaches, teaser picture of the latest car have started to surface. The company and its executive officer have chosen Twitter as the perfect platform to share these images, to create the necessary hype for the electric car in the market. For the first time, the organization is relying on Buzz Marketing as previously word of mouth strategy worked best for the giant. Furthermore, as per the report, Tesla has sent of 650 invites of the event to its customers.

Jack Dorsey Denies The Accusation That Twitter Censors User Data

The CEO of the micro blogging site is denying the accusation that the platform censors users and even the rumor of the 140 character limit going away

The CEO and co-founder of Twitter Incorporation, Jack Dorsey is denying the accusations that were made of the platform censoring users at an interviews on the Today show, this Friday. He also denied and silenced the rumors once and for all regarding the uplifting of the limitation of 140 characters on tweets. The rumors states that the micro blogging site might remove the 140 character limit and make to 10,000 instead, but he informed the TODAY show that nothing of that sort is going to happen.

The social media network is sticking to its roots when it comes to the 140 character limit on tweets that it has had since it was launched. The rumors of uplifting this limitation have finally come to a sad ending for users who like to post longer tweets without limitations. Since this is not going to happen and the 140 limit is going to stay according to the CEO of the social media platform’s interview. But there were users who were not happy about the rumors and thought that the company should stick to the limit, these users must be happy to hear that that is not going to happen, at least for now.

The social media site was being accused of censoring users, which Jack Dorsey denied strongly by saying, ‘Absolutely not’. He informed that the company is about controlling, but users can follow whoever they please and all the platform does is make these users see what the important things are on the site.

A high profile user of the site, Breitbart Milo Yiannopoulos recently lost his verification tick from his account, which made him accuse Twitter Inc. of ‘gearing up to purge conservatives’. The tick mark was lost due to violations of the policies of the micro blogging site, however none of these violation specifically made public or are known. Milo tweeted his reaction to losing the verification symbol by tweeting, ‘I have been sat on the naughty table!’ and many more.

Dorsey on the other hand informed that no one has personally ever been blocked by him on the social media network, since he believes in freedom of speech and is always interested in what users say. But Milo is not convinced and believes that this removal of the verification mark is simply a warning that his account is about to get blocked by the social media advertising company.

According to the CEO of the company, freedom of speech is highly important but the 140 character limit is staying meaning, that whatever users want to express they ‘freely’ can but staying in the limitation of 140 characters.

Tesla Motors; More Charging Stations in Manhattan than Gas Stations

The auto-maker is increasing the number of charging facilities in Manhattan than their are gas fueling stations as the launch of its Model S comes closer.

By the end of the month, there will be more Tesla charging stations than gas stations in Manhattan. According to a post by the New York Post, Tesla Motors Inc. has decided to increase the number of charging stations up to 106 by the end March in New York City. The automobile giant is aiming at creating a network of charging stations as fast as it can, at least in the urban cities.

As the automobile organization plans to reveal its latest Model 3 Electric Vehicle, this project of increasing EV charging infrastructure is highly essential to the auto-maker. With its latest move, it can be observed that the number of electric charging stations in Manhattan is likely to double the number gas stations in the city. This move by Tesla is being backed by the CEO Elon Musk, as he is aware of the fact that they will be launching their EV Model 3 on March 31 and before that happens there need to be charging stations available at every nook and corner.

It should be noted that both electric vehicles and charging stations go hand in hand, with one the other is completely pointless hence the auto-maker has decided to make as many stations available as possible. Besides since the company has already decided to transition itself from high-end sellers to mass market vehicle providers, it need to make sure that it makes all the necessary accouterments available with it.

The electric cars run out of juice quite frequently, to save customers from range anxiety, the company will need to put these charging stations in close vicinities. Initially, Tesla had to face this problem in China when they introduced their EVs and there weren’t enough charging stations in the city. Such problems are likely to happen in big cities such as New York as they are high density cities where a large number of people live in apartments.

In an effort to tackle the problem in China, the management came up with Destination Chargers which were placed closed to hotels and restaurants as setting up Supercharger facilities in such dense cities is quite difficult. However, it worked out well for the auto-mobile manufacturer in China but in the United States, Tesla plans to build these chargers at garages as well.

Since it is difficult to put the Supercharger Facilities in these populated cities, EV manufacturers are now partnering up with local garages companies to set up their Destination Chargers. These are over 1,500 Tesla car owners in the NYC region and it’s the company’s responsibility to make sure that these customers are provided with the necessary arrangement to charge their rides.

The local garage charging facility program was launched in August 2015 and according to the New York Post, Tesla got into a partnership with a dozen of those local garage companies in the city. Some of the local garage companies that were on board with Tesla last year in August include Prime Parking System, iPark, ParkIt, and a number of hotels.

Walmart Diary Plant In Indiana Will Bring 200 Jobs In Area

Walmart is constructing a milk processing plant in Indiana which might benefit the area by bringing 200 jobs next year

Walmart is opening a milk-processing center in Indiana, bringing 200 jobs in the area next year. The strategy of increasing milk supply was set out by Indiana a year ago which is being implemented by the giant retailer now, according to its announcement.

Walmart Stores is opening its very own dairy plant in the State of Indiana, Fort Wayne. The ISDA director, Ted McKinney, believes that this move will help the state to add value to its dairy product through more processing opportunities as 4 million pounds of milk leave Indiana unprocessed each day, which could change in the future. The construction of Walmart’s plant is expected to begin this year occupying land of 250,000 square feet. Upon completion it will be the biggest one in the entire industry.

This dairy plant of Walmart Stores Inc. will consist of the most innovative and latest tech to ensure the efficiency of the production. Products that will be manufactured in this plant include chocolate milk, which will be supplied to the company’s 600 stores and to Sam’s Club stores in Ohio, Indiana, Northern Kentucky and Illinois. The production will begin upon the completion of the plant, which is estimated to be in summer next year.

Walmart Wholesale dairy plant in Allen County will even benefit the locals with 200 jobs upon its completion, according to the announcement of the retailer on Friday. The project is going to be worth $180 million and will be receiving almost $1 million in incentives and utility extension from Indiana. The grocery chain specifically chose Indiana for its plant because of its dairy industry. This promises the plant an efficient supply of milk, which exists in the area. Some of the milk will be attained from Michigan and Ohio.

The company’s own plant for the production of dairy products is going to prove to be very successful for profit and business as it will reduce the operating costs. The company is seeking for efficiencies in its supply chain and is making success so far by creating its own produce delivering affordable product to customer of higher quality. Walmart already has 38,000 workers in just Indiana that are working in 10 distribution centers of the retail chain, it spent $1.7 billion providing support to 33,000 jobs.

Indiana already has 21 milk processing plants and 14 farmstead operations. This new addition of is going to help the economy of the area even more in the future.

Apple Inc. Employees Might Quite if They Are Forced to Create a 'Backdoor'

Apple might start to lose its employees if the government keeps pushing them to build 'GovOS'

F.B.I. has been on Apple, Inc.’s case for way too long even if the Federal Authority manages to win against the technology giant in the court fight, it’s safe to say that it won’t be able to win from the company’s engineers. Forcing a private organization to break its own security system might not be as easy as the FBI thinks it is.

As per a report by the New York Times, even if the authorities win at the court fight against the Silicon Valley organization, the engineer who will be working on the ‘backdoor’ software might quit or leave the company entirely – because they would rather leave their jobs than be forced into doing something that they don’t want to do. If all the employees associated with this task take action against it, it will be next to impossible for FBI to convince them otherwise.

As per a recent filing released by the iPhone maker, it will take up to two to four weeks to create a backdoor which they are calling ‘GovOS’ and six to ten engineers will be assigned to perform the devious task. This timeline is likely to fulfill provided the team is consistent and motivated to work on it. If anyone on that specific team lags, there’s a possibility that the creation of the software could take an indefinite time.

The CEO, Tim Cook has been constantly emphasizing on the fact that he or his lawyers are not anti-law; they are on the government’s side but they just don’t believe in creating a backdoor for something that could be destructive to millions of iPhone users all across the globe. Cook further explained that in the case of the San Bernardino suspect’s iPhone, he does not have the key to that iPhone and at this point, the government simply wants a key for iPhones to use for unknown purposes in the future. He added during an interview with the Time that he was not trying to annoying the FBI; he was simply trying to protect thousands of his customers.

Apple has mentioned in its legal documents that the government’s demands are taking speech freedom awake from the people by asking for something that is offensive for millions of iPhone users. A venture capitalist, Jean-Louis Gassee stated that the culture followed at the most valuable company in the United States is an independent and rebellious one. Jean once worked as an engineer at the technology company and says if the government forces the engineers to go forward with creating this software, they are pretty much on their own.

Tim Cook even mentioned in one of his telegraphs last month to its customers how the engineers are likely to respond to this request; he stated that these are the workers who create strong encryptions for the protection of its customers and now they are being ordered to go against their work and weaken those protections which would ultimately make users less safe.

Netflix Inc.'s Competitors are Filling the Gap's in its Product Portfolio

The streaming media giant has some serious competition coming its way as company collaborate to expand sports streaming service.

Netflix, Inc. has managed to stand its ground in the face of increased competition from both domestic and foreign competitors, with its 75 million subscriber base in over 190 countries. Competitors of the company have been looking for loopholes to overtake its success in the video streaming media market and it seems that two of them namely Fox and Sky, largest sports broadcasters, have already achieved to do so.

21^st Century Fox along with Sky have invested $15 million in FuboTV, one of the fastest growing MVPD in the United States. The investment will be used to expand FuboTV’s sports streaming video offering along with developing new features and further market the service to increase the user base. The multichannel video programming distributor was established in 2015 and has over 40,000 subscribers currently. Its prime focus is on the sports and entertainment sector – some of the channels available on the network are Univision Network, beIN Sports and BenficaTV.

This news came right after Sky Plc bough t a $45 million stake in an Asian streaming service, iFlix. The British telecommunication company provided on-demand service all across the European countries. And the recent stake indicates its first foray into the Asian market in an attempt to heat its battle up with the streaming media giant. iFlix was founded last year in May and has over 1 million subscribers currently in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia.

Netflix, Inc., Hulu and Amazon have managed to attract most of the streaming media consumers in the market along with attracting top creators of Hollywood movies and TV shows; while FuboTV aims at attracting younger viewers as most of these consumers like to watch big sport events live on television.

The company stated that they offer their programming services for a month subscription of $9.99 which is mostly catered at the young viewers who are not so fond of paying for cable along with men of Latin American descent. As per a statement, the company has managed to raise as much as $20.6 million to date. Others who have provided the sports media company include Edgar Bronfman Jr. Chris Silberman and David Stern along with DCM Ventures and LionTree Partners.

The executive vice president of business operations and development for 21^st Century Fox operating unit Fox Networks Group, Ravi Ahuja stated in the press release that they were quite impressed with the management team of FuboTV and the amount of progress they have made in the short span of time that the company’s been around for. He added that they believe that services like FuboTV will drive innovation further and create a situation which is a win-win for consumers as well as the programmers.

Pfizer Receives FDA Approval For Xalkori

Pfizer has received the approval of the FDA for its drug, Xalkori for lungs cancer treatment

Pfizer Inc. has received good news this Friday from the Food and Drug Administration, who has approved xalkori, which is meant for non-small rare type of lung cancer. The medicinal company can now create this drug, which will be the first one ever for this genetic and rare non-small lung cancer.  

The pharmaceutical company might be capable to make change by giving patients a treatment choice that they did not have before though manufacturing and researching xalkori. This drug consists of MET, ROS1 and ALK and was initially approved for curing ALK-positive NSCLC back in 2012. The desperate need for the treatment of this type of cancer is why the FDA reviewed the drug and gave the approval rapidly. A second name for xalkori is crizotinib, and is going to provide treatment to conditions that did not have any cures before.

ROS-1 gene problem can cause abnormal cells to develop in the body, and happens mainly because of attachment of ROS1 to other genes of the human body, causing malfunction in the functionality of other genes.  Approximately 1.5 million People are diagnosed with NSCLC each year and only 15,000 are caused by ROS1. The director of Hematology and Oncology Products at FDA, Dr. Richard Pazdur believes that his manufacturing and usage of xalkori is going to help provide a solution to patients who are diagnosed with this rare ROS1 gene mutation and lung cancer.

This life saving drug, xalkori is from the class, kinase inhibitors and got the first approval in 2011, but for treating metastatic NSCLC. This approval was the first one ever for the ALK in the United States and was used to treat almost 8,000 patients. The recent approval received by Pfizer Inc. for xalkori was attained earlier than expected, which was April this year.

A study was conducted by a center, single-arm initial phase on approximately 50 patients in order to determine the response rate of the drug such as the amount that was given to the patients of the drug and monitoring the moves of the cancer upon consumption as to whether it was shrinking completely or at a minor level. The study showed impressive results with 66% of the patients showing complete or shrinkage to a certain extent of the tumors.

Xalkori is going to cost Pfizer an amount of $14,336 each month with sales of $488 million annually, which is going to be an asset for the profits of the company. Many analysts believe that it might become a blockbuster product of the pharma giant by 2020 and has forecasted to make $2 billion in yearly sales. The FDA has approved three inhibitors including xalkori, Zykadia and Alecensa. Xalkori is already undergoing reviews by the European Medicines Agency for expansions of labels and approval of ROS1 mutation. This drug might just become the bread and butter of the pharmaceutical organization in the future. 

Yahoo! Inc Appoints Two New Board Members

It seems as Yahoo Inc. is going against the will of its activist investors as the company just appointed two new members on its board

Yahoo Inc. saga is getting ridiculous lately. No one knows what the company is up to and what the board of directors is up to. One day, the separation of Asian assets from the core internet business is finalized then the mounting pressure from the activist shareholders force the firm to officially launch an auction process for the sale of its core business. The story is all twisting and turning and no analyst knows what the final result would be.

Until last week, the sale was imminent and Yahoo was approaching bidders. But the week is not closing with the same news. It is believed that the company now opposes what it activist investors and shareholders demand of. Yahoo has appointed two new members in its board of directors which means that is has certainly safeguarded itself from any outside control. With the two appointments, it is said that a new board battle has taken life and it will ‘invoke’ discontent and disagreement among its activist investor specifically Starboard Value LP.

Starboard previously wrote in letter to sell the company’s core business and dismiss the currently appointed CEO Marissa Mayer. The activist investor was seeking control of the board in a bid to dismiss the CEO who has failed to turn around the fate of company in her three years’ tenure, according to the investor. In the past year, Yahoo stock has declined by a massive 20 percent and for all these reasons the firm is looking to sell its core internet and advertising business instead of spinning off the entire business. It will also be changing the top hierarchy.

But Marissa Mayer was asked by the Wall Street Journal analyst if she would still be in charge of the firm a year from now. She replied, “Yes, I think that, again, like I would love to, I would love to be running Yahoo. We have a three-year strategic plan. I can see how it will work and how we can actually get to a successful turnaround of Yahoo, but I think that, you know, it`s about our users and it`s about our employees and what`s happening with all of them, and I certainly hope that our services are here a year from now and that they run even better than they do today. I can see that that should easily be the outcome.”

However there were rumors speculating that Marissa Mayer, on the back end, is preparing a packaged deal which would still see her being in charge of the company even if it splits or changes hands.

The two newly appointed board members are Catherine Friedman who was former investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Eric Brandt the CFO of Broadcom Corporation. This increased the total members of board to nine but the departure of two former directors Charles Schwab and Max Levchin who is also the co founder of PayPal reduced the total figure to seven. Out of seven, four board members were appointed by Yahoo whereas the other three members were from the activist investors.

In order to take the control, Starboard Value is already in search of two board members to increase its figure to five members on the panel. This would also contribute in taking control of the management without the need of a proxy battle as five out of nine members would be in its favor.