The social media company has decided to bring the Instant Article feature to the website now to make it more popular and known
The new feature that Facebook has reportedly been carrying out on its app known as the ‘Instant Article’ is now being updated by the social media company, as per the reports by Wall Street Journal. Previously, this feature was only made available on the FB app for smartphones carrying the iOS. However, the media firm has now decided to bring this feature to the website too now, in order to increase the number of articles that are being published on it every day. In the start, there were only a few publishing houses which helped the firm activate this feature in the first place. But after a little time only, the content to be published decreased and publishing eventually stopped.
Facebook, on the other hand, is in no plan to stop or discontinue the newly established feature and for that purpose, it has reportedly been looking for content that it can start releasing through the Instant Article feature, news confirmed by the WSJ. On the other hand, there are some names in the industry that have agreed to publish their content directly on the networking giant’s site through the article feature. One of them is none other than New York Times which, according to reports, is planning to shift the same feature now on the desktop website which will not only make this more active but it will also help the users on the desktops to view the daily articles being released on the web.
Along with the New York Times, The Atlantic has also shown interest in taking part in Facebook’s new venture and has decided to submit some of its content on the instant articles for an indefinite period of time. As per news released by the Wall Street journalists, it has also been informed that NBC has also agreed to work with the social media platform to speed up the new feature on the website. However, this collaboration has not yet been confirmed by the networking giant and according to the report, NBC is still waiting to receive an approval for around 30 articles that it plans to publish daily through Instant Articles.
Currently, there are other publishing houses as well who wish to release their content directly on the media company’s site but Facebook has emerged to show some restrictions on signing up with a lot of houses at the moment and plans to restrict itself to see whether the new feature is showing any success by the current number of articles being published on it. If things turn out the way the media firm has planned them out, then it is expected to appoint more published to release content through the new feature.
Case involves graphics processors used in Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices.
Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) is likely to face a reprieve from the ongoing Nvidia Corp. case as a result of patent infringement accusations, which also involves Samsung as the party accused, though Qualcomm also had a bit of a part to play in it too.The case involves the use of graphics processor by Samsung’s Galaxy line of mobile devices, and a victory in the case will result in the potential ban of mobile phones and other infringement stained processors.Staff members of ITC announced their stance on Monday as the commission began their public hearing for the case. Due to confidential information, the recommendation was put in pretrial brief under a seal.The recommendations give a significant advantage for Samsung and Qualcomm that gives them some moral boost in their quest to have the ruling overturned in their favor; though the final ruling will not be made till October.If the ruling is in favor of Nvidia, which is the largest chip makers for the computer graphics cards, then it would hold out a potential of around $2 billion of royalty payments for its technology usage.For Qualcomm, a win in this case will help it to ensure that it does not get itself entangled into another controversy. It would want to focus on its priorities on engaging itself in the Internet of Things (IoT) technology that it will venture on its own and not get involved into a partnership with the other firms who are also pursing the same, but face the risk of copyright infringement case, similar to this one.Meanwhile, Qualcomm Inc has donated almost a million dollars to the University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering for the development of its new Engineering Education and Research Centre. It will provide a new home for the UT Austin’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group, which opens by 2017.The new place will be named the Qualcomm Wireless Networking and Communications Research Neighborhood, which will house 20 faculty associates and between 130-150 undergraduates and graduates, along with a number of researchers and partners.Qualcomm’s stock price ended the day at $67.36, a gain of 0.75% from the previous day, probably as investors sound relatively bullish about the prospect of Qualcomm being ‘let off the hook’, whether the IT giant, intentionally or unintentionally, dragged itself into the case, and hoped that it served a lesson for the company to tread a careful path when it comes to partnerships.
Greece’s banking stock surged after new economic reforms close to being accepted by EU creditors.
National Bank Of Greece’s (NYSE:NBG) stock price may have suffered from a massive decline, going down by as much as 5.75% since the previous day, but overall stock surged for the second day after Greece reportedly handed over new economic reform package that the European creditors deem to be close to being acceptable.Before that, the Greek financial holding company’s stock price had a choppy trading, settling upon at $1.40m, which was up 0.10 points at an increase of 7.70% from the previous trading day.Prime Minster, Alexis Tsipras, felt gutted when his own list of proposals fell way short of what the Greek creditors’ revised in terms of the agreement. The new set of measures was handed over the Greek government on Wednesday. Reuters reported that he had attacked the “stance” of certain creditors claiming them as strange who had rejected the budget proposals of Greece to help bridge the budget deficit gap.The clock is starting to tick for the Greek government here, as it prepares for the upcoming meeting in Brussels with the heads of three creditor institutions, namely European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi; International Monetary Fund Managing Director, Christine Lagarde; and European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker.However, Finance Ministers from the whole EU will gather later on to try and thrash out a deal before the expiration of Greece’s bailout package and the upcoming payment to the IMF on a lump sum basis by the end of this month, while hoping that the current meeting between Greece and the EU trio make a last ditch attempt to make their job convenient. Greece was supposed to pay them in installments before it convinced the IMF to go for a onetime payment to buy time to reach to an agreement.Greek banks are feeling the heat from being tethered into bankruptcy, as they are concerned about the prospect of a deadlock just as much as they are slightly bullish about the two sides reaching a last minute deal at the 11th hour. It is something at which the EU seems to have developed mastery, as the stakes are so high here that no one can rule out of the particular consequences of a total meltdown in the Greek financial system. This can poison the EU as a whole, if not the whole world. The trend of depositors withdrawing cash from the banks, particularly National Bank of Greece cannot be ruled out.
While insisting that the industry is not to blame, several oil companies agreed to contribute to the Lac-Megantic oil spill crash.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), along with Shell, Marathon and Irving, has agreed to pay part of their portion to the fund to compensate for the families of the 47 victims of the 2013 oil train accident at Lac-Megantic in the Canadian province of Quebec. The move is seen as an attempt for the oil majors and minors to avoid being dragged into litigation. The Canadian government and General Electric will also contribute their portion to the fund.Whilst the information on the individual contributions from each stakeholder is not available, it is reported that the total amount for the fund is said to be $345 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. This seems to be a lot of money, but is still less than the $400 million retirement package that Exxon Mobil’s former CEO received.The Canadian Pacific Railway has not yet agreed to the settlement, as the judge had to delay the decision on the settlement. Furthermore, the nation’s railway operator has asked to protect it from any litigation in future.It is usual for oil and gas companies to pay millions of dollars as fines instead of devoting resources to challenge lawsuits filed in courts and spend countless years in getting the verdict in its favor. However, rebuilding Lac-Megantic is likely to cost as much as less than $3 billion, and take up to less than a decade for the small Quebec City to turn itself around.The strategy has worked for the most part. In 2009, the Canadian National ethanol train derailed and collided in Cherry Hills, Illinois, causing in the death of a woman and injuring several others. The railroad organization paid the aggrieved family members around $36 million, without having to endure court battles.Following that payment, Canadian National railway continued to use the same old inadequate DOT-111 tank cars to move its crude oil and ethanol supply to Illinois, though the US Department of Transportation stated in its report that the tragedy was a result of the inadequate design of the tank cars.Despite suffering from two derailing this year, Canadian Pacific Railway is still able to clock in profits at around $700 million, despite the derailments costing around $40 million in damages. In all likelihood, ConocoPhillips is going to be no different when it comes to understanding the cost of doing business by going for monetary settlement instead of fixing the mess that oil major creates.ConocoPhillips’ stock price ended the day at $63.15, a gain of less than 1% from the previous day.
The fast food change firm is following a turnaround plan, but analysts believe that this might not be the right way to bring about a positive change in the firm.
Analysts in the food industry are still looking at McDonald’s Corporation as one of the biggest successes seen by the businesses being carried out in the United States of America keeping in mind it started in the 1940s from just a mere burger stand. Currently, the food giant has around 35,000 outlets all over the world which can be seen as nothing but sheer success. It has also been seen by the analysts that no matter what, the firm is represented America in countries all over the globe with the kind of food it sells. However, there are some issues that groped McDonald’s business in a much disastrous manner which has resulted in the firm experiencing a difficult position in the financial market. The fact that the increasing competition in the industry in which the customers of the food company showed more interest in other food chains which were offering a more healthy deal became quite an undoing that was not expected by the firm to take place. Also, more and more brands have lately been emerging in the markets that have taken away most of the attention of the customers which was previously only confined to the burger joint.Things have reportedly become quite bad, so much so that McDonald’s restaurants recently announced that they will be closing down stores all over the globe in order to cut down on expenditures and face the current difficult time on the stock index. According to a recent press release, it was informed that the firm declared in April that it has plans of closing down around 700 stores worldwide, and the task will be completely probably by the end of the current year. As per a report published by Associate Press, the current year was recorded as the first year in the history of the fast food chain in which it has to cut down on so many stores altogether.Recent news showed that the rival companies in the industry seem to be doing better than McDonald’s business by a mile which is something to be reckoned with, considering the new CEO has applied a turnaround plan to be followed by the firm. Analysts, on the other hand, believe that currently the food chain needs to go back to what it is best at selling and decrease the prices of those food products and deals. Also, in analysts’ opinion, by adopting the idea of customization, the firm is not going in the right direction and it should just focus on something that it knows best.
Fitbit has growth potential that can make them sail swiftly in the long run.
Fitbit Inc. has become a favorite stock of several investors whose shares have now experienced a 50 percent surge when they traded on the first day. Many anticipate that the company has the potential to become the next GoPro Inc. the action camera giant considering how the company’s stocks have been performing.Fitbit in a short span of time has intrigued its audience. The company is known for producing fitness gadgets that are used to keep a track of user activity like food, health habits, weight etc. that will help users to improve their health.The company was established in FY07 and since then it has been growing significantly. In FY14, the company recorded a net income of $131.8 million that has helped them offset a loss of $51.6 million in FY13; moreover Fitbit’s revenue has also improved substantially having an impressive growth trajectory. It has been “recorded at $745.4 million in 2014, a growth of 175% from $271.1 million in 2013.”The market cap for the company is $6.69 billion along with the stock price to be $32.5. However, GoPro resides at $7.8 billion. Fitbit at this point needs to be consistent with its service since it has to face several major competitors that are extremely well established like Samsung Group, Apple Inc., and Microsoft Corporation etc. The reason why these firms are a massive threat to the integrity of Fitbit is that these organizations have better infrastructures, facilities, brand image that Fitbit lacks currently.It is mere injustice to compare Fitbit with industry giants but it needs to be judged on another threshold that governs its standing. Fitbit has a strong hardware offering along with a strong data platform that ensures business to business collaboration.As reported, after the IPO for the company was being priced at $2, which is commendable , a jump of $32.50 is pretty great considering the limited resources they have and keeping in mind the constant flux of new products, researches and innovations the company often faces. The company has an impressing $7billion market cap from the end of the tech wearable market being about $20 billion.GoPro when it was launched observed an extremely positive response and its stocks saw a 100 percent increase in the first week only. This is merely because hardware products tend to penetrate at a faster pace making them highly sought after.Hence in a nutshell, Fitbit does have potential and can follow the trajectory of GoPro all it needs to do is consistently offer top notch services.
Factory built will be the fourth in Palestine when operational in October; Coca-Cola New Zealand to open up its factory at The Landing Business Park near Auckland airport.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) will set up a factory in Gaza by October this year, making this the fourth such factory to be built by the multinational beverage company in Palestine. The $20 million will jack up the number of employees from half a thousand to over 800 people. The idea of opening up a factory was initially planned in late 2014, but the location was not revealed at that time. It was also pending on securing permits for the necessary supplies to enter the strip.The question of opening a factory in Gaza, where the Hamas-controlled group runs the government, sounds quite risky compared to the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is based. Imad Hindi says that a company has been a long-term investor in the region and is well known amongst the populace including the region’s leader over its contributions to the society – including the Hamas group.Coca-Cola currently has factories in the area of Ramallah, Jericho, and Tulkarim, and has a less than 90% market share, which is by far the largest in the region. Plan details show that the expansion will occur in two phases. The first phase will be operational from later this year, which the company announced, followed by a second one in either late 2016 or early 2017, and will expand to produce juices as well as other non-carbonated sodas. Each will require an investment worth $10 million each.Meanwhile, Coca Cola’s New Zealand division, Coca-Cola Amatil will open up a factory at The Landing Business Park located near Auckland International Airport. The warehouse will be 12000 square meters in length and will assist the beverage company in expanding its existing operations. It already possesses another warehouse in Oasis at Mt Wellington and manages to churn out a soft drink every minute.Auckland International Airport will play its part in developing the land and the building, whereas Coca-Cola, will occupy the building on a long-term lease. The location serves as a perfect spot to meet the requirement of security, connectivity, and necessary civic amenities.Mark Thomson, Auckland Airport’s general manager for the property, stated that they wanted to create a lucrative business environment to cater to a wide scope of users of the airport. Currently, the latest stage of ‘The Landing’ is currently undergoing development. The new commercial hub is expected to be 100 hectares, once completed.Coca Cola's stock price ended the day at $40.41, a loss of 0.60% from the previous day.
Google Nest is back in business with several product upgrades.
Nest, the Google Inc. owned platform for the Internet of Things had been out of the picture since a while now but has now come up with a series of modifications and updates. The company recently revealed several upgrades on its Nest platform recently. Many skeptics were concerned about the search engine giant might abandon Nest since it was not really contributing to the ecosystem. However, this turned out to be a delusion when upgrades were revealed.The upgrade includes a new application that is designed to consolidate all of Nest’s products together. So now the company has devised ways through which their camera, thermostat and smoke detector can be controlled by using a single application instead of different applications for each to perform all the work.The Google acquired company has revealed the Nest Cam which is said to be an upgrade over Dropcam which they had acquired the previous year. The camera has the potential to record 1080p high definition videos along with the ability to report suspicious activity. The cost of this camera is $199 and will be available in seven countries which comprise of United States, several European countries including Germany.The new device by the company namely Nest Protect, acts like a carbon monoxide and smoke detector with the ability to measure how rapidly the fire is spreading through its sensors. Users can switch off the alarms when they are not present through the mobile application of Nest. The device is priced at $99. The recent upgrade is a good add on since the device will not automatically shut down which was caused earlier because of an anomaly in the wave feature.Earlier, the device was pulled off from the market because of this wave feature. The purpose of this feature was to shutdown the alarm through hand gesture but it also stopped the alarm from going off at certain occasions which caused problems.The report was put forward by the Wall Street Journal according to which Mr. Tony Fadell, the head of Google’s Nest ecosystem expressed his desires to consolidate the Nest devices in order to ensure safety. The company took a great amount of time to enforce these changes since the devices are rather complicated with complex hardware developments that resulted in a lag. According to Mr. Tony Fadell, “I would love to speed up the process, but atoms are much harder than bits.”So now Nest is back in business and is here to stay.
Flipboard, the news app, has been declared as more efficient with better options than the new Apple News App by analysts.
At the Worldwide Developer’s Conference that was held recently by Apple Inc, the software giant was seen to launch quite a few products and services that it had previously been working on. Among all the products and apps that the iPhone 6 makers released at the conference, the one app that got some significant attention was Apple News App, which has revealed itself to be quite a similar app to Flipboard, which is also a software made for showing latest news. The software and tech giant has always followed a pattern of bringing something great to the industry in competition with other rivals and has always managed to score more than anyone.Therefore, when the announcement for the news app was made, it was informed that it created quite a stir at Flipboard, whose management starting digging out reasons for which they can claim to be better than the iPhone makers. The Apple News app has shown to be quite a similar app to Flipboard which is being taken by the analysts as a step to cut back down the business that the news app has already been doing in the industry. Analysts, however, are of the opinion that Flipboard needs not to worry about the competition yet since the app that has been released by the MAC producers is still not up to mark.Flipboard services regarding the news publishing have been taken by the analysts as quite up to date and with new technology, something that Apple is apparently now experimenting with yet. The news cum magazine app was created five years back in 2010 by Mike McCue along with Evan Doll, who designed it in such a manner that it took news from all over the internet and displayed it on its app in a pattern that looked like it is from a magazine.The users who use Flipboard are equipped with news from the all over the country and all they have to do to view more news is to flip and slide their screens on the app. The news app has also provided a station for the users to connect themselves with the other social media websites that they are logged into, through the news app.The famous app made by McCue and Doll also has news from the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times which is also taken as a plus point from the analysts, who believe that this app is much more established and with better features and options than news app that Apple is apparently working on.
Apple succeeds in selling 2.7 million units of Apple Watch.
As reported by Reuters, a renowned research company “Slice Intelligence” that is known for mining email receipts mentioned about Apple Inc. massive profits governed through the sales of Apple Watch and accessories. Slice has evaluated the email receipts of more than 2 million customers and has deduced that the company has been successful in selling almost 2.79 million Apple Watches by June, FY15.17 percent of the customers who bought the device preferred to opt for more than one band. The pattern adopted by customers has become an additional “grab” for Apple users. Moreover, the research firm also reported that the Apple’s black sports brand is the most desired choice when buying an Apple Watch. Also, it is said to be the most sought after band choice. Customers are more inclined towards opting for a luxurious band.Reuters also mentions IHS, another renowned research firm reported that the entry level band is being retailed for $49 but in reality it has a manufacturing price of $2.05. These costs, however, do not include the packaging and shipping costs. However, Mr. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple claims that the manufacturing costs which have been estimated by various research firms are extremely inaccurate.Slice research also indicates that the Apple Watch Sports edition being priced at $349 is the most desired version of the wearable device. The quilted leather loop to go with this edition is priced at $149 whereas the stainless steel link bracelet is priced at $449 which boosts the shopping budget on the whole.According to Carolina Milanesi, the research chief at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech stated, “It's just a psychological thing. I start with the least investment, and then I spend more money, but [eventually] I get something else.”The several options provide the consumers with various band options that can be paired according to the attire. This gives the product a customized feeling. The associated accessories are likely to become a must-have for wearable devices. Mr. Kevin Keller, an analyst at HIS expressed his feeling and mocked over the issue by saying, “Of course because it's Apple, it's selling the razor, sell the blade.”Apple products are highly sought after and have a relatively loyal consumer base that is ready to buy any product that has an Apple logo over it. So till the time, the company has its loyal consumers they can work according to their own business model where all their products will become an eye candy no matter what.
Microsoft to ensure the security of users through traffic encryption.
Microsoft Corporation is trying its best since a long period of time to bolster its search engine platform Bing. The company wishes to work on the security of this platform by encrypting all the traffic obtained from the search engine. The company through this initiative has again proved that it wishes to keep its data safe ensuring the security of consumers.Bing was initially offering its HTTPS encryption to its clients through an added feature. But now the company has made a decision to have the HTTPS encryption as a default features for all their users using their Bing search engine.So the new layer will add an extra layer of protection and security to its Bing consumers by ensuring that the traffic is being safeguarded. Google Inc previously launched a similar encryption service back then in FY11. Later, the search engine behemoth has transformed its traffic to a safer HTTPS platform.Microsoft since a relatively long span of time has been investing its time and money to boost its search engine platform. The company has now realized the loopholes in its strategy and now wishes to work on the security of it. The company is targeted to making the user experience better and makes the overall experience worthwhile.Currently, there is immense competition in the market where Google is dominating a great sphere. However, if MSFT continues to invest its time in Bing then they might just bounce back.Microsoft is trying its best to manipulate the way webmasters and marketers play with information through searches that help them path the traffic to the web pages. So now instead of http://ww.bing.com the traffic will originate from https://www.bing.com. The company since a fairly long span of time has invested the great chunk of its time to ensure the safety of its clients and this is another initiative directed towards the same cause.According to BidnessETC, “The software giant has announced that it will continue to offer referrer strings that will help several marketers along with web operators to identify traffic generated from Bing. However, due to the latest development, marketers will not be provided with the exact search result that can ultimately lead users to the page.”According to news by the company, the Microsoft Cortana Key will be amalgamated with the computer technology allowing the users to ask about any query pertaining to Windows. Microsoft stocks have gone down by 0.69 percent at $45.16.MSFT has come up with a good venture that will help them bolster Bing.
The tech company has made incredible releases in the recently held E3 conference which has attracted quite a lot of attention of the gamers.
Microsoft Corporation was seen to hold the much anticipated E3 conference in which it made announcements that took the investors and analysts by quite a lot of surprise. The software firm was seen announcing some of the most interesting gaming features that it has been working on which included backwards compatibility in the Xbox One, something that got the whole industry talking.The software giant has planned to come up with a set of 100 titles that belong to the Xbox 360, however making them compatible with the new Xbox One. These games that are going to be released by the end of the current year of 2015 will be available for the users of Xbox One to obtain without any charges and they will work fine with their new gaming gadget, despite the fact that they belong to the previous gaming device launched by the company.This move of Microsoft business has been taken well by the analysts who believe that since the Xbox One will now be able to have a hundred more games on it, the users will not only enjoy but for those who are still using the Xbox 360, it will become a necessity to upgrade. This is also being taken by the analysts as an attempt to prove itself better than rival companies like Sony, which was recently seen to sell its PS3 games to the users of PS4 with charges.Microsoft plans also included the idea of making developing games to the gamers before the launch so that the excited games can get a look on the upcoming games before and test them to their satisfaction. As for Minecraft, which has been announced by the tech firm as a headset for HoloLens, a demo was provided to the attendees at the conference.According to the New York Times, it was seen that Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella expressed his views about taking over Minecraft. It was recorded that Nadella believed that to enhance HoloLens, the presence of Minecraft was essential which is why it was bought for around $2.5 billion. New technology games are also being developed by the firm along with help taken by companies like Mass Effect in order to make HoloLens experience better for the users.According to the press release that was made following the conference, it was seen that Microsoft is planning to launch Minecraft in a specialized version for HoloLens in the upcoming times, after it is launched for the very first time in the market. As per the rumors, the HoloLens is expected to be valued at around $1000.
It comes as additional headache after Greece and EU report to being too far in their deal.
The news regarding Greece and the European Union that are still far off from a potential deal is not bad enough, there is another pressing matter for Greece to handle bundling its interest payments to the IMF that are due this month. The Greek government has notified to the IMF that all of the June payments will be bundled up, which means that the IMF and other creditors are not to expect any dues to be paid to them until the end of this month.This means that a total of around less than $2 billion would have to be paid in bundles. Previously, the payments were due by a series in June 5, June 12, June 16, and June 19. This, in a way, means that it will not result in a technical default since it is allowed under the rules, and it gives an indication that the Greeks are trying to buy time as much as they can to give them advantage in negotiation process.That is why National Bank of Greece (NYSE:NBG) American Depositary Share (ADS) was down to a low of 3%, trading at $1.41 at the NYSE, once the news broke out. However, it only made progress from bad to worse at this moment, and at a 52 week average, stock price closed down more than 8% at $1.34, ranging between as high as $4.16 to as low as $0.98.It must be noted for investors that the negotiations are not likely to end by this month. This is expected to drag on for months if not years. A no confidence call, which will trigger new elections, does not guarantee that the new regime will abide its commitment to the IMF’s contract and documents – that raises the serious risk that Greek financial holding company might get nationalized if the ugly situation of a Greek default occurs.The ‘mysterious’ threat of nationalization, even if many do not realize the situation of it, is already resulting in more deposits being withdrawn and that is wearing the bank down significantly. Data from the European Central Bank shows that Greek deposits fell from 145 billion euros to less than 140 billion euros, compared to over 170 billion euros in late 2014. Many Greek depositors know that the bank will be seized and no chance that their deposits will be made a whole into it. This is really stretching the crisis into dangerous territory.
Study to decide where to drill for oil in South Australia; French contractor, Technip, to install new equipment in deep U.S. waters.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has completed its seismic survey, as it figures out where to drill for oil located in the untapped corner of South Australia. The survey was carried out by Norway’s TGS Nopec Geophysical Co. covered an area of approximately more than 22000 km square in the Great Australian Bight.The area that is currently to be explored is a deepwater basin region that is dubbed by the UK energy giant, BP, as probably the last unexplored frontier on Earth. Chevron has won the rights to the acreage in 2013 and has committed itself to invest less than $390 million for exploration.Ion Geophysical is planning to start its seismic program around November this year in the areas bordering South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria, once it secures the green light from the nation’s offshore regulator.BP completed its own seismic activity three years ago and looks all set to commence drilling by October next year. It is trying to hook up with local partners to save money, in turn, making their operations even more efficient.Meanwhile, Chevron has handed out a contract to the French company, Technip, to have the existing installation of equipment removed and replace it with an updated version in the deep-water location in the Gulf of Mexico. Technip has confirmed the news that it has received the contract.The terms of the agreement, which does not disclose the sum that will be invested, indicate that the French company will install new equipment to support the floating production system in the deep waters of the Mississippi River. Through its operations coordinated from its Houston office, Technip will use the Deep Blue vessel to help lay down the foundations for Chevron’s offshore oil operations.In other news, as part of its strong push in the LNG sector, the US oil major has said that it will build six new LNG ships out of the 13 ships that are planned to be built, which the company says, will be the largest in the company’s corporate history. Samsung Heavy Industries Shipyard in South Korea has been given the contract to build those super tanker ships. The company currently has its presence in nearly all continents for its LNG business and plans to boost its portfolio to approximately 40% from 35% in the next five years.Chevron’s stock price ended the day at $100.12, a decline of more than 1% from the previous day.
The launch of BlackBerry was the first step towards their failure.
BlackBerry Ltd, former co-founder Mr. Jim Balsillie recently made his public appearance where he talked to mainstream media first time in several years after his departure in 2012. In his interview, he talked about how the Apple iPhones were responsible for the demise of BlackBerry smartphones.This interview was conducted in front of the audience where Mr. Balsillie talked about how iPhones completely transformed the mobile fraternity. The interviewers Silcoff and McNish recently compiled a book that dealt with the downfall of BBRY named as called “Losing the Signal: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of BlackBerry”. The explanation provided by the co-founder was extremely similar to the content published in the book.Back in 2007, Apple Inc. the tech behemoth launched its first flagship smartphone. The launch of this product caused immense disruption in the industry where there were extreme reviews regarding the future of this product. BlackBerry at that time called it Research In Motion. Mr. Balsillie narrates a story where his co-chief executive offer Mr. Lazaridis was on his daily workout routine when he saw a television report that showed a small box in the hands of Mr. Steve Job with the potential to play, download videos, music through touch.At that time, Mr. Balsillie had an idea that Apple was about to come up with something that could be a threat to their existence. The company did not just make its debut alone but joined hands with AT&T to support them in bringing the change. BlackBerry was now required to do something that could help them maintain their position. The company thus made a hasty decision to launch BlackBerry Storm by establishing a partnership with Verizon.Storm then made its way despite several insecurities it had against Apple’s smartphone. The phone was touch enabled, allowed users to play, download apps etc. and also had a QWERTY keypad. The company did not have the time to provide perfection and they eventually launched something loaded with glitches.Mr. Balsillie then narrated his experience with Storm and reasons behind his failure by stating: "With Storm we tried to do too much. It was a touch display, it was a clickable display, it had new applications, and it was all done in an incredibly short period of time and it blew up on us. That was the time I knew we couldn't compete on high-end hardware."Hence haste and losing on its USP caused BlackBerry to stumble from which it has not been able to revive to date.
Apple Watch has immense potential to act as a gaming platform.
Apple Inc. is captivating the market with its top notch products and now with the launch of Apple Watch their game is likely to get stronger. The company is likely to become the next big thing for advertisers and smartphone users since the device has immense gaming potential. Advertisers are also keen to bolster and adapt their apps. However, Mr. Maximo Cavazzani, the mastermind behind Trivia Crack believes that the adaptation for application on Apple watch is relatively complicated.Many developers believed that the adaptation for this Apple product would resemble the iPad apps with the feasibility to cater to several advertisements. However, quite different to this perception, the watch has a small sized screen along with a compact processor that changes the dynamics of the application to a great extent.Tim Cook, the chief executive officer of Apple is the man behind the removal of several features that dealt with in-app purchases on the watch considering the hardware constraints. However, the best way to start churning revenues on this device is via gaming applications. Considering the statistics obtained from App Annie, almost 10 percent of total 5,600 applications that are devised for Apple Watch is related to gaming. This shows that this platform is a great opportunity for developers for developing gaming application that can boost sales and downloads.On the other and, certain developers are still skeptical regarding this product's future in gaming. These skeptics believe that they would be required to consider the broader implications regarding an app that holds onto users and ensures engagement along with road hazards and safety of consumers.The fan of Watch apps have more good in store for them and a lot more to anticipate during the company’s annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is almost ready to happen. Apple is likely to come up with a Tool Kit that will help developers to come up with their own apps for this product.Developers at this point are most likely to design such Watch apps that are perfect for a screen sized 38 by 42 millimeters. Likewise the Runeblade developers, a popular fantasy game have modified the features of the game so that they can easily move from actual gaming to that decision that impacts the game story line in the long run.The developers start need to take the gaming aspect of this apple product seriously as this is the relatively great platform to ensure monetary developments. Once the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is over, the developers will have more option to play around.
Twoogle will benefit both the companies.
Since a while now, rumors about the acquisition of Twitter Inc. by Google Inc. have been in the air. The idea of Google acquiring Twitter has created immense disruption in the market where many social media enthusiast have been talking about the major disruption that awaits them. The concept behind Twoogle is not only enriching but extremely captivating too.Mr. Chris Sacca, the investor at Twitter mentioned during an interview that the social media platform can readily benefit the search engine giant and is apparently an “instant fit”. Google’s portfolio is extremely dynamic and boasts of several great features, but it still lacks a potential social media platform which Twitter become.Mr. Sacca who himself is a Twitter investor has been extremely critical about the company’s performance and considers it to be a disappointment that they have not been able to cope up with the expectation of Street analysts.Twitter’s monthly user base in the fiscal year of 20015 during Q1 compounded to 302 million which is almost one-fifth of the total consumer base of Facebook. Moreover, Mr. Sacca also acknowledged that 1 billion of Twitter users stopped using the platform which indicates that the company has several shortcomings to deal with.Mr. Sacca also understands that this market is currently dealing with a lot of competition. If Twitter does not come up with a better mechanism then other tech behemoths will soon take over the firm without leaving any room for redemption.Apart from this Mr. Sacca also gave another interview to Bloomberg. Mr. Joshua Topolskt the digital editor at Bloomberg and Mr. Om Malik the web and tech writer considers Twoogle to be a massive breakthrough and are positive about this new rumored endeavor. According to Mr. Topolsky, the merger of Twitter and Google is extremely strategic and makes sense financially. Twitter at this point needs a safe haven along with financial cushioning which Google can provide. Simultaneously, Google can cash an active social media platform Mr. Malik expressed his opinion regarding the merger by stating, “The most viable option [for both companies] from an investor standpoint.”BidnessEtc commented on the issue by stating Mr. Malik’s approach further, “The site needs more ways to create human interactions using better data-mining techniques and take on more risks. He maintained that Twitter’s product value has not gone down and just needs a little revival.”On the other hand, Ms. Marrisa Mayers of Yahoo Inc. also believes that this endeavor will be a milestone for Google.
Fast Food chain increases rate by at least three percentage points by as much as 16% of sales.
In a move that does not make absolute sense and is likely to simmer discontent, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) has stated that it has increased the rental rate, which it charges to its franchises, by at least an extra 3% for over the last seven years to as high as 16% of sales, based on the information provided by an accountant, who is responsible for the financial management of more than 150 McDonald’s franchise.The said rate is far higher for the industry, in which fast food chains normally charge franchises a rent of somewhere between 6-10%. The fact that McDonald’s has bumped the already partially overcharged rate to one that looks unsustainable comes as franchises are struggling with falling sales. That move might have made sense during better times, but this is not one of them. The company has not responded to queries from the Wall Street Journal, which had reported about the price and the decision itself.Part of the movement may be attributed to McDonald’s same-store operations in which sales have been falling down for the last six straight quarters in the US. With traffic on the downward trend, the company responded by executing the turnaround, which calls on operators to pay up for more undertaking costly upgrade.Adding further woes, franchises are feeling the heat from civil rights activist to bump up minimum wages for employees, following McDonald’s decision to increase pay for its company-owned stores. Operators of the franchises say that whilst the decision to boost wages only affected 10% of the stores operated by McDonald’s, they vented their anger by not taking them into account of the potential impact.It is no wonder that the relationship between the operators of McDonald’s corporate sector is at its lowest since the past decade, since Kalinowski, a research agency, was handed the task in survey industrial relations. Analysts say that for the company to work successfully, it has to repair its relationship with the franchises before giving the turnaround strategy a shot, since McDonald’s cannot do this alone.McDonald’s is known for its brand recognition among other competitors in the market. It faced various issues and challenges. One former franchisee said that not all is too late to turn around, if McDonald’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook, is able to secure cooperation with the franchise, since according to him, "They don’t work for him, and he cannot order them around."McDonald’s stock price ended the day at $96.52, a gain of 0.24% from the previous day.
