Amazon goes after Roku and Chromecast with $39 Fire TV Stick

Amazon goes after Roku and Chromecast with $39 Fire TV Stick

Daniel Cooper

Engadget 

Amazon's Fire TV is doing very well for itself, but it's hard to justify that $99 price-tag when you can pick up devices from Google and Roku that do the job for a lot less. That's why the company has whipped out the Amazon Fire TV Stick that can be snagged for as little as $19 if you're a Prime customer. Like its rivals, the stick connects to your TV's HDMI port and comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB of storage alongside dual-band WiFi and, surprisingly at this price, a remote control. You can also use it do connect to services like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video, as well as mirroring your smartphone and tablet display to your TV. Gaming-wise, the Fire TV controller will work with the device, but given that the company chose to mention Flappy Birds Family over Fire TV exclusive Sev Zero, it's not clear if Fire TV titles will work on the smaller device. If you're not a Prime customer, then the device will set you back $39, and you can add voice controls to your remote for an additional $30, but either way, the hardware will begin shipping on November 19th.
Source: Amazon

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Apple hops on board Obama program to wire up schools

Apple hops on board Obama program to wire up schools

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc plans to dole out $100 million in grants to U.S. schools as part of the Obama administration's "ConnectED" program, targeting those that lack access to education technology and reliable broadband Internet.

Obama's ConnectED initiative aims to bring stable Internet to 99 percent of U.S. students by 2017 and direct federal funds to enhance the use of technology in classrooms. Microsoft and Adobe have pledged support to the program in the form of free or discounted software.
Apple will divide the funds between 114 schools in 29 states, CEO Tim Cook said on Monday after being inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, an organization that recognizes natives of the state for their achievements.

The iPhone maker has long highlighted the use of Macs and iPads in schools, and the growth opportunities they present. It has partnered with educational publishers such as Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as well as cellular and Wi-Fi networks providers such as AT&T, on school programs.

Apple said it will work with schools where the majority of students are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Ninety-two percent of the eligible students are also of Hispanic, Black, Native American, Alaskan Native or Asian heritage, it said.


But its push into education has not gone without a hitch. In August, reports surfaced that the Los Angeles schools superintendent had suspended a $1 billion contract with Apple to provide iPads to schools.

Cook also took the opportunity on Monday to criticize his home state for its lack of commitment to civil rights, particularly its slow progress to ensure equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

(Reporting By Christina Farr; Editing by Ken Wills)

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Amazon sitting on $83 million of unsold Fire Phones

Amazon sitting on $83 million of unsold Fire Phones

Lee Hutchinson

Ars Technicia

Amazon’s financial results for the third financial quarter of 2014 didn’t do the company any favors when they were announced late last week; the retail giant posted a quarterly net loss of $437 million, up dramatically from last year’s 3Q loss of $41 million. The biggest single contributor to the bad news? Amazon’s Fire Phone.

We had mostly positive things to say about the Fire Phone when we reviewed it a few months back. We were especially impressed with the device’s "Firefly" feature, which quickly and (mostly) accurately recognizes things you point the phone at (and links you to the item's Amazon product page). However, in spite of this and other bits of whiz-bang wizardry, consumer adoption of the Fire Phone has lagged behind Amazon’s production of the device, and the company is now sitting on $83 million worth of unsold Fire Phone inventory.

Further, Amazon’s 3Q results included a $170 million write-down due to "Fire Phone inventory valuation and supplier commitment costs."

Amazon CFO Tom Szkutak explained the losses by noting that the company was still operating in something of an "investment mode," looking past the quarterly bottom line and aiming instead at delivering "returns on invested capital." And he’s not wrong—the company certainly has been buying things this year, most notably Internet video streaming mega-site Twitch.tv, for which Amazon paid $970 million in August.

Things aren’t looking financially rosy for Amazon investors for the next quarter, either. In spite of the holiday buying season’s rapid approach and the huge role Amazon will play in many folks’ gift-giving plans, the company expects an operating loss of between $430 million and $570 million in the final quarter of 2014.

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Apple CEO fires back as retailers block Pay

Apple CEO fires back as retailers block Pay

By Deepa Seetharaman

Reuters

LAGUNA BEACH, California: Apple Inc (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook fired back at CVS (CVS.N) and Rite Aid (RAD.N) on Monday after the drugstore chains blocked the iPhone maker's mobile payments service, saying there were plenty of other retailers around the world to sign up.
Apple Pay launched about a week ago and saw more than a million credit cards registered over the first 72 hours. It already totes up more transactions than all other "contact less" payment methods combined, Cook said, citing Visa and Mastercard data.

Such services, through which a user pays by holding a smartphone close to a specially designed terminal, have failed to catch on in the United States despite the backing of Google Inc (GOOG.O) and other influential players.

News emerged over the weekend that the two retailers had opted out of Apple Pay in favor of a rival system that roughly 50 chains, including Wal-Mart and Best Buy, are developing for in-house use. "We've got a lot more merchants to sign up, we've got a lot of banks to sign up and we've got the rest of the world," Cook told the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, in the company's most extensive comments on the blockade so far.

In launching Apple Pay, the iPhone maker hopes to lock in more customers for its mobile devices by enhancing their overall utility. Industry experts say it stands a chance of becoming the first widely used payments feature on smartphones.
CVS and Rite Aid have not explained their surprise move.

But the driving force behind developing a retailer-owned mobile payment solution is to avoid paying credit card transaction fees to card companies like Visa (V.N) and Mastercard (MA.N), analysts said. Fees range between 2 percent and 3 percent of costs per transaction.

Rite Aid stopped accepting Apple Pay last week at its 4,572 stores. Spokeswoman Ashley Flower said the company was evaluating various forms of mobile payment technologies.

CVS did not respond to queries seeking comment but a visit to two of its stores showed that the NFC (Near Field Communications) reader on which Apple Pay was used had been deactivated.
It remains to be seen, despite early signs of success, whether mobile payments will become widely adopted.

Cook argued on Monday that Apple Pay offered better security and privacy than competing services, and that retailers risked alienating customers by limiting choices at checkout.

"It's a skirmish," Cook said in response to a question about the retailers' moves.
"Merchants have different objectives sometimes. But in the long arc of time, you only are relevant as a retailer or merchant if your customers love you."

(Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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LG Electronics says to end production of plasma TVs

LG Electronics says to end production of plasma TVs

Reuters

South Korea's LG Electronics Inc said that it will end the production of plasma display televisions by end-November in order to focus its efforts on liquid crystal display and OLED televisions.
LG Electronics said in a regulatory filing the decision reflects a decline in demand for plasma televisions. The move was widely expected as LCD TVs have become the mainstay product in the global market.
Samsung SDI Co Ltd, sister company of LG's TV rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, also said in July that it will shut down its plasma panel production business by Nov. 30 due to the decline in overall demand.

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 Is Harry Styles Playing a Movie Character Based on Himself?

Harry Styles may not be leaving One Direction to start a solo career, but rumors have been swirling that he's prepping to become a movie star. Turns out, he might have a shot at an upcoming film role! Author Anna Todd recently spilled that she would love the singer to play the leading role in her book-turned-movie, After.

Since the online novel originally started as 1D fan fiction — and the main character's role is based off of the singer — it's not too surprising that he's her first choice.

"I would love Harry to do it," she told E! Online.

However, she doesn't think he'll get the part!

"I can't imagine him getting into that kind of role. He is too sweet to play him," she said.

Still, since we know that Harry wants to get into acting, we wouldn't be shocked if he were in the running for the role. But we also think he might not want to get his start playing a character that's based off a bad boy version of himself. That might be a bit weird!

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Taylor Swift Will Headline 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'!

Taylor Swift Will Headline 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'!

Taylor Swift is set to entertain millions of people in New York City’s Times Square when she performs live on theDick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2015 broadcast on December 31!

The 24-year-old singer just released her new album 1989 in stores TODAY and it is most likely going to have a record-breaking sales week.

“Each year New Year’s Rockin’ Eve continues its iconic legacy by delivering incredible performances from the year’s hottest artists, and this year is no exception. We already have secured an unprecedented number of music acts, culminating with a Times Square performance by Taylor, the biggest superstar in music today,”

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Taylor Swift Named NYC's 'Global Welcome Ambassador'

Taylor Swift Named NYC's 'Global Welcome Ambassador'

The 24-year-old singer wore a cute black dress during her appearance on the morning show, where she talked about her new role as the Global Welcome Ambassador for the Big Apple.

“I’m still learning but I’m so enthusiastic about this city that I feel like when I love something, I’m very vocal about it,”Taylor said. “I just go around going like, ‘Everybody, New York is amazing.’ So I think they just picked up on that and they gave me, like, a title.”

Later in the morning, Taylor went to Target to pick up her new album 1989.

“The deluxe #TS1989 is at @Target & I just got my copy! 3 voice memos + 3 extra songs, 13 Polaroids. Anddddd hi Dad,” Taylor captioned a photo on Instagram.

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Ashley Argota Shocked By Taylor Swift's "1989" Album!

Ashley Argota, who currently stars on ABC Family's "The Fosters," is a big supporter of her fellow celebrities! Any new movie, TV show or album that comes out Ashley is sure to check out and share her thoughts, so it's no surprise that she was quick to tell her Twitter followers what she thinks ofTaylor Swift's latest CD "1989."

Taylor's album arrived late last night, and Ashley posted shortly after its arrival

"omg every single song on Taylor Swift's new album is so freaking good what even is this."

Congratulations to Taylor on yet another successful album release!

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Selena Gomez Gives Love to Taylor Swift & '1989' and It Makes Taylor's Day!

Selena Gomez Gives Love to Taylor Swift & '1989' and It Makes Taylor's Day!

Selena Gomez just posted a sweet message for her bestie Taylor Swift in honor of her new album 1989, which is available for purchase now.

“From hotel room album listening parties, kitchen dance floor album listening parties to driving on the pch, windows down album listening parties. -The best part is we were the only ones there. Each time. So happy, honored and proud to know you and your diaries. 

@taylorswift #1989 BUY IT!!! -now I’ll listen live from drowning in my bed sheets.” the 22-year-old entertainer wrote on her Instagram.

Taylor responded to Selena, “This post made my day. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have friends like this.”

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See Taylor Swift's Most Glam Retro Styles Ever

See Taylor Swift's Most Glam Retro Styles Ever

Credit: Tumblr

We are literally beyond excited for Taylor Swift's new album, 1989, which just dropped today. Not only is the new release full of some of Tay's best songs ever, but she has been really changing around her look while working on her new music.

Taylor has turned the streets on NYC into her own personal runway while trying out fun retro styles and throwback outfits inspired by the 80s and 90s, and she has even captured some of her most stunning styles in artistic Polaroid photos! We've got to say, we're loving the way her new fashion sense is tying into her new album's sound.

Credit:  Splash News

Credit:  Vogue UK

Credit:  Splash News

Credit:  Splash News

Credit:  Tumblr

Credit: Getty

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CEO says no gender pay gap at Microsoft

CEO says no gender pay gap at Microsoft

Reuters

Satya Nadella, the Microsoft Corp Chief Executive who ignited a firestorm of protest earlier this month by suggesting women should not ask for pay raises, said overnight that men and women are paid equally at his company.

Nadella's statement, made at a presentation on cloud computing in San Francisco, runs counter to some limited data made public by employees, but is unverifiable given that Microsoft does not release details of its pay structure.

"I checked that it is something that we are enforcing," said Nadella, when asked about equal pay. "We are in fact in good shape. Men and women get paid equally at Microsoft."
Nadella said he was "humbled" by his experience on Oct. 9, when he told a conference celebrating women in computing that women should not ask for pay raises but trust in "karma" to give them the salary they deserve. The remarks generated negative headlines and widespread criticism on social media.

Nadella's latest comment is not backed up by numbers from job site Glassdoor, which show that men tend to earn more doing a similar job than women at Microsoft, although the data is based on a very small sample size of employees who choose to give pay figures to Glassdoor.

A male Microsoft senior software development engineer makes about $137,000 per year, according to Glassdoor, compared with about $129,000 for women. Only 29 percent of Microsoft's more than 100,000 employees are female, according to figures recently released by the company.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that men earn 24 percent more, on average, than women in the tech sector. The American Association of University Women found that women were paid 78 percent of what equally qualified men received across the board last year.

However, one tech hiring site believes women are paid on a par with men. According to Dice, last year the average tech salary for men was $89,468 while women earned $81,214.
"On face value, it appears there's a gap, however when we compare for equal levels of experience, education and parallel job titles, the compensation gap disappears," said Courtney Chamberlain, a spokeswoman at Dice.

Maria Klawe, a Microsoft board member who has pushed the company to hire and promote more women, has said that the issue of equal pay is now likely to be discussed in Microsoft's boardroom.
Nadella acknowledged that there was room for improvement on the issue within Microsoft. "We have made some progress," he said. "We have a lot more to do."

* Microsoft publishes MSN and the Bing Daily News and Finance apps

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