The hidden upside here is that the early buyers are mostly going for the 5s, which means there is great potential for 5c sales down the line. I am not bullish on Apple and see share loss but they always execute well.
“It was another banner opening weekend for Apple’s new iPhone. The company says 9 million iPhone 5s and 5c handsets were sold. One mobile analytics firm pegs the breakdown around 7 million of the 5s with 2 million of the 5c sold.”
Eurozone PMI growth signals growing recovery – Telegraph
“Eurozone business activity hit a 27-month high in September, adding to growing signs that the region is recovering from the longest recession in its history. “
BBC News – Angela Merkel celebrates after German election win
“Her conservative bloc took about 41.5% of the vote – but her liberal partners failed to make it into parliament.
It is thought she is likely to seek a grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) who won 26%.”
ekathimerini.com | Merkel vows to keep up reform pressure on Greece after historic election win
““We should not stop exercising pressure for the agreed reforms to be carried out,” said Merkel after a major election win for her CDU party and its Bavarian partner, the CSU.
Merkel also insisted that she told the truth about Greece’s predicament and the possible need for a third bailout, which was brought up during the election campaign by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.”
German private sector expands in September at fastest rate since January: PMI | Reuters
“Germany’s private sector grew in September at its fastest rate since January, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting Europe’s largest economy will grow again this quarter, albeit less than in the previous three months.
Markit’s preliminary composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks growth in both the manufacturing and services sector and covers more than two-thirds of the economy, edged up to 53.8 in September from 53.5 in August.”
Hackers claim to have foiled Apple’s new Touch ID system | The Verge
“Apple hyped its new Touch ID fingerprint scanning security system as a “convenient and highly secure way to access your phone,” but if a new report is accurate, the system may not be as secure as the company claims. Hackers from the Chaos Computer Club claim to have successfully bypassed Touch ID “using easy everyday means.”
“In reality, Apple’s sensor has just a higher resolution compared to the sensors so far,” a hacker nicknamed Starbug said. “So we only needed to ramp up the resolution of our fake.””
German election: Merkel’s conservatives just short of majority | Toronto Star
“Chancellor Angela Merkel wins a personal victory, a rare third term as chancellor, but her bloc just misses winning a historic absolute majority. “
LinkedIn sued by users who say it hacked their e-mail accounts | Ars Technica
“Four plaintiffs filed a class-action suit in US district court in San Jose on Friday claiming that LinkedIn used its member’s identities without consent and broke into their third party e-mail accounts to send promotional e-mails to the members’ contact lists. The 46-page complaint details many instances in which users complained to LinkedIn about this practice, especially in instances where LinkedIn sent e-mails to “the addresses of spouses, clients, opposing counsel, etc.”
LinkedIn, the plaintiffs claim, “provides no functional way to stop multiple subsequent advertising e-mails from being sent.” The plaintiffs say that the extent of the data-gathering was not adequately conveyed in the Terms of Service.”
Poverty rate 15%, median income $51,017
“Years after the Great Recession ended, 46.5 million Americans are still living in poverty, according to a Census Bureau report released Tuesday.
Meanwhile, median household income fell slightly to $51,017 a year in 2012, down from $51,100 in 2011 — a change the Census Bureau does not consider statistically significant. “
House Passes Bill to Cut Food-Stamp Spending – WSJ.com
Pretty amazing that they want to cut aid to the poor while preserving aid to farmers in the form of subsidies.
“The House on Thursday narrowly passed a bill curtailing spending on food stamps, setting up a battle with the Senate, which backs far smaller cuts. The vote was 217-210.
The bill would cut nearly $40 billion over a decade, or about 5% in expected spending, from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs.”
India raises interest rates amid inflation worries – FT.com
“Industrialists and business groups were predictably critical of the rate increase, which they said would suppress investment and further damage economic growth.
“This is an unwise move, and I don’t know why he [Rajan] has sided with the hawks and given growth no chance at all,” said Rajiv Kumar, an economist and a former secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
“Given where we are, this ensures that the recovery doesn’t begin for a while . . . It is a major misstep, and it means that any talk of a recovery in the real economy in the second half is now not going to happen.” “
Monte Paschi seeks to avert nationalization with turnaround plan | Reuters
“Italy’s scandal-hit Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) will next week unveil a drastic turnaround plan for the bank to meet European Union demands and try to lure investors in a make-or-break attempt to avoid nationalization.”
Microsoft won’t make Office editing free on iOS/Android, so Google does | Ars Technica
This problem highlights the dilemma for Microsoft and the problem regarding the Internet and mobile. Microsoft simply derives too much income from Office to stop charging for it. They need to protect their incumbent revenue streams and that makes them vulnerable strategically.
EconoMonitor : EconoMonitor » The End of Australia’s Boom Economy
“In the post-war era, there is the strong relationship between economic and electoral success. Despite having steered the nation through the 2007/8 crisis, Australia’s left of centre Labour Party was defeated at the 7 September election 2013, primarily for other political reasons.
The new conservative Liberal-National Party government faces a country with altered prospects. As the old racing saying goes, a change in jockey does not necessarily change the horse or the race track.”
RSA Tells Its Developer Customers: Stop Using NSA-Linked Algorithm | Threat Level | Wired.com
“Amidst all of the confusion and concern over an encryption algorithm that may contain an NSA backdoor, RSA Security released an advisory to developer customers today noting that the algorithm is the default in one of its toolkits and strongly advising them to stop using the algorithm.
The company is the first to go public with such an announcement in the wake of revelations by the New York Times that the NSA may have inserted an intentional weakness in the algorithm — known as Dual Elliptic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generation (or Dual EC DRBG) — and then used its influence to get the algorithm added to a national standard issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.”
LinkedIn – News Releases – A Letter To The LinkedIn Community
“LinkedIn strongly believes that all data, whether analog or digital, whether stored on personal computers or in the cloud, is subject to full U.S. Constitution Fourth Amendment protection, no less than documents stored in a file cabinet or in a desk drawer. By way of example, if the U.S. government wants to access a rolodex of contacts located in physical form on an individual’s desk without notice to the person, that can be obtained only via a search warrant, which requires the government to demonstrate “probable cause.” But when that same rolodex of contacts is stored electronically in the cloud (for instance, your LinkedIn connections), current statutes provide that the U.S. government can access that data without notice to the individual via a subpoena to LinkedIn, which requires the government to show only that the data sought is “relevant” to its investigation, a much lower standard than probable cause. It makes no sense that the technological advancement of our society should reduce the protections offered under the Fourth Amendment. Based on this constitutional principle, we require the government to use the higher standard and obtain a search warrant for access to a member’s connections.
Today we are filing a petition in the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court seeking the ability to publish the specific number of national security-related requests we receive (if any) under each of the various provisions of FISA. In addition, we are asking that the Court hold its hearing on our petition in public, rather than in secret as is its normal practice. Our petition echoes requests made to Congress and the President by industry members and public interest organizations earlier this year.
We are also filing today an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit urging affirmance of the district court’s ruling in the case of “In Re National Security Letter”, No. 11-02173 SI (N.D. Cal.), which held that national security letter disclosure restrictions (aka “gag orders”) violate the First Amendment and, in particular, that the prohibition on disclosure of the number of such letters received is not required by national security interests. If the Ninth Circuit affirms the district court’s opinion, then we anticipate we will be allowed to include in our Transparency Report the actual number of national security letters we receive, if any, rather than having to do so in buckets of 1000.”
Lavabit Email Founder Goes to Great Lengths to Avoid Email – Liz Gannes – News – AllThingsD
““Anything that I consider sensitive, I try to talk about it to people in person, with my cellphone off, in an area where I know that nobody’s pointing a parabolic mic at me,” Levison said. “If you’re fighting the government that’s what you need to do.”
“I’ve had to switch from becoming a small business owner worrying about making payroll, to overnight becoming a political activist,” Levison said.”
Sprint makes One Up early upgrade program official, starts at $65 per month — Tech News and Analysis
This move was started by T-Mobile in order to win share. The fact that all four carriers have matched T-mobile shows you how important competition is in keeping prices down. Clearly, an AT&T-T-Mobile merger would have been negative for competition and prices then. As I have been saying to subscribers, I expect erosion of average revenue per customer across the board in the US.
Senator asks if FBI can get iPhone 5S fingerprint data via Patriot Act | Ars Technica
“Since Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) arrived in the United States Senate, he’s become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law. He’s made it his mission to raise questions about tech issues that he feels are improper, unjust, or just downright questionable.
The debut of the new iPhones 5S, replete with a fingerprint reader, has now also gotten Franken’s attention. On Thursday, the Minnesota senator published a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, raising questions about the logic in making fingerprint readers more mainstream.”
Google knows nearly every Wi-Fi password in the world | Computerworld Blogs
“If an Android device (phone or tablet) has ever logged on to a particular Wi-Fi network, then Google probably knows the Wi-Fi password. Considering how many Android devices there are, it is likely that Google can access most Wi-Fi passwords worldwide.
Android devices have defaulted to coughing up Wi-Fi passwords since version 2.2. And, since the feature is presented as a good thing, most people wouldn’t change it. I suspect that many Android users have never even seen the configuration option controlling this. After all, there are dozens and dozens of system settings to configure. “
Japan Condo Sales Running High on Abenomics – Real Time Economics – WSJ
“Consumers are buying condos in the Tokyo area at the fastest pace in a year as Japan’s new economic policy boosts confidence and raises expectations of higher prices ahead – a sign that “Abenomics” is beginning to reprogram consumers’ deflationary mindset.”
India unexpectedly raises rates; trims rupee support steps | Reuters
“Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan surprised markets in his maiden policy review on Friday by raising interest rates to ward off rising inflation, while scaling back some of the emergency measures recently put in place to support the ailing rupee.”