Yahoo-AOL Marriage Does Not Solve Issues!

The latest push by an activist investor to boost Yahoo's growth — this time suggesting Yahoo acquire another growth-challenged Web portal, AOL — failed to excite investors, and an analyst said the idea wouldn't address the core growth issue.

Yahoo stock fell a fraction Monday and is within pennies of where it started the year.

"I understand some of the logic behind ... putting the two together, and you could get a lot of synergies," Rosenblatt Securities analyst Martin Pyykkonen told IBD. But "it is not addressing the growth issue."

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, above, at a conference this year, has struggled to spark revenue growth. View Enlarged Image

In a letter late Friday to Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer, Jeffrey Smith, a Yahoo investor and head of hedge fund Starboard Value, recommended the company halt the "aggressive acquisition strategy" that is weakening earnings, unlock the "substantial value" from Yahoo's stake in Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Yahoo Japan, cut expenses and merge with AOL (NYSE:AOL).

"We believe a merger of AOL and Yahoo's core business may be one of the best ways to both fully seize the cost-reduction opportunity and also to tax-efficiently monetize Yahoo's noncore equity holdings," Smith wrote.

"Clearly, Yahoo is deeply undervalued relative to the sum of its parts" Smith added, who pressed the Yahoo board to "take immediate steps in committing to remedy this valuation discrepancy."

Yahoo got upgraded on Monday to a buy by Needham & Co., but this follows several downgrades last week.

With a substantial stake in China e-commerce leader Alibaba, Yahoo stock had served as a proxy for that company until Alibaba's record-setting IPO on Sept. 19. Yahoo had a 22.4% stake in Alibaba and reaped an estimated $6 billion by selling a portion of its holdings. Yahoo retains a 15% stake in the Chinese Internet company.

The Alibaba IPO was "a negative catalyst for Yahoo stock as investors are now able to directly invest in Alibaba," FBR & Co. analyst William Bird wrote in a research note last week. Yahoo stock fell 2.7% on Sept. 19.

Investors are waiting to see what actions Yahoo takes with its Alibaba IPO windfall.

In a response Friday to Starboard's open letter, Mayer said Yahoo remains "committed ... to acting in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders." She said the company "will review Starboard's letter carefully and looks forward to discussing it with them."

Starboard didn't respond to requests for comment. Analyst Pyykkonen, however, says Yahoo-AOL doesn't make sense.

Pyykkonen points out that Yahoo's Q2 earnings and sales both missed Wall Street's expectations, with display ad pricing down 24% year-over-year.

Facebook’s Instagram Blocked in China Amid Protests in Hong Kong

Users of Facebook Inc.’s (FB) Instagram reported the photo-sharing service was inaccessible in China today, as the government sought to limit news of pro-democracy protesters clashing with police in Hong Kong.

Greatfire.org, a group that monitors Internet restrictions, said its tests showed Instagram’s website was blocked. The service went down early, said Frank Yu, the chief executive of Beijing-based online gaming company Kwestr. He described himself as a regular user of the service who also runs an forum of other users.

“I post an image or two in the morning and 3-4 during the day but now its blocked,” Yu wrote in an e-mail. “I got two off though this morning.”

With Facebook’s own service blocked in China, Instagram was one of the few overseas social-media apps that remained available on the mainland. More popular photo sharing services such as that of Tencent Holdings Ltd. (700)’s WeChat service are already tightly controlled, while social apps from Line Corp. and Kakao Corp. also face restrictions. Twitter, Yahoo! Inc.’s Flickr and YouTube are inaccessible as well.

BlackBerry Sells 200,000 Passport Phones

BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY) says it has sold 200,000 Passport smartphones, which are profitable at the current price points of $599 in the U.S. and C$699 ($627) in Canada.

The square-screened Passport sold out in 6 hours on BlackBerry’s website and within 10 hours on Amazon.com, Chief Executive Officer John Chen said today on the company’s earnings conference call.

BlackBerry unveiled the Passport two days ago, pitching it as a productivity-focused device for business users, as opposed to the iPhone’s general consumer base. Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus saw record demand, with more than 10 million sold in their debut last weekend.

The Passport is BlackBerry’s first major new device introduced globally since Chen was named CEO in November, the same day that a planned buyout of the company collapsed. With a 4.5-inch (11.4-centimeter) screen and a physical qwerty keyboard that doubles as a touch-sensitive swipe pad, the Passport is focused on work productivity.

Facebook Debuts New Tool for Advertisers to Track Users!

Facebook Inc. (FB) is able to track its 1.3 billion users on desktop computers, mobile devices and other websites. Now, advertisers will be able to do the same, using the social-networking service’s data.

The technology, called “people-based marketing,” is the main feature of Facebook’s revamped Atlas ad server that will be shown to marketers this week in New York. Advertisers will be able to measure how often an individual -- whose identities are kept anonymous -- sees their ads, no matter what device they’re using, and tailor promotions based on the information.

As people expand their Internet activity to include mobile phones and applications, advertisers are seeking better ways to target them and make sure that the right promotions are reaching the right people. Atlas gets data from what people reveal on the social network, and from the other sites where they log in using their Facebook credentials. It’s an improvement compared with the “cookies” that track activity within a single Web browser.

“There is just a huge shift to mobile and we’re capitalizing on it by offering personalized marketing,” Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in an interview. “Facebook has been built around people and focused on people since day one.”

Microsoft pips Sony to launch Xbox One in China

Microsoft has launched the Xbox One in China - becoming the first major console maker to enter what could be a massively lucrative market.

The first consoles were sold in Shanghai, priced at 4,299 yuan ($699, £430). Sony and Nintendo are yet to launch their respective products.

In January, the Chinese government lifted a 14-year ban on consoles, made because of worries over content.

However, many popular titles, such as Call of Duty, will still be banned.

Only 10 games were available to buy on the Xbox One's release - but Microsoft has said 70 titles are in the pipeline.

Beating its rivals to the market may give Microsoft a much-needed sales boost. Its console is currently being outsold by Sony's PlayStation 4 in all major markets.

But Piers Harding-Rolls, a games analyst from IHS, told the BBC: "There's advantages and disadvantages in being first.

'Anti-Facebook' platform Ello attracts thousands!

Social media network Ello is currently receiving up to 31,000 requests an hour from people wishing to join its platform, its founder has told the BBC.

It was initially designed to just be used by about 90 friends of its founder Paul Budnitz.

But the bike shop owner, from the US state of Vermont, opened it to others on 7 August.

It has been dubbed the "anti-Facebook" network because of a pledge to carry no adverts or sell user data.

However some experts have cautioned that it might struggle with plans to charge micro-payments for certain "features".

The site has a minimalist design and does not appear as user-friendly, at first glance, as more established networks.

Ello founder Paul Budnitz is a bike shop owner from the US state of Vermont

It has already survived a reported Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack - a targeted flood of internet traffic - which briefly knocked it offline over the weekend.

"We're learning as we go but we have a very strong tech crew and back end," founder Paul Budnitz told the BBC.

"It's in beta and it's buggy and it does weird stuff - and it's all being fixed as quickly as we can."

Mr Budnitz added that he was "flattered" by the "anti-Facebook" description, but said that was not the way he saw his service.

"We don't consider Facebook to be a competitor. We see it as an ad platform and we are a network," he explained.

The network will eventually make money by selling access to features, Mr Budnitz added.

"Like the app store, we're going to sell features for a few dollars," he said.

Members can already check out features in development on the page and register their interest.

Free likes

Ello has a minimalist design and has attracted thousands of new users

However, the traditional model of a free-to-use network has historically been the key to success, said James McQuivey, an analyst at tech research firm Forrester.

"Over all the other social media experiences from Whatsapp to Instagram to Pinterest - the reason they work is because they're free," he told the BBC.

"You don't invite your friend to connect with you if it costs your friend money. Even in the world of digital music - you can pay for services but most people don't."

"Ello is walking into a habit which consumers already have about digital services that they can't change on their own."

Mr McQuivey also suggested that people's attitudes towards advertising and data mining might not be as negative as they seem.

"We may all think we don't like advertising, we may believe we think it's wrong for companies to profit from our personal data but our behaviour suggests these companies give us what we want and we don't mind what they do in return," he said."

"The fact is nobody has ever made a significant move away from any internet provider because of advertising or data."

Bill Gates: I wear a $10 watch!

The richest man in America, who leads one of the world’s biggest and most influential philanthropies, keeps time with a 10-buck wristwatch.

And this summer, for his wife’s 50th birthday, Bill Gates and family headed to Austria for a “Sound of Music” vacation. Where he sang and, he admitted, wore Lederhosen.

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Such true confessions came Monday morning at POLITICO’s Lessons From Leaders inaugural event, which hosted Gates as the featured guest. Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen solicited the timepiece tidbit as Gates talked about the new technologies that allow people to monitor their own health. But the other intel was revealed at the end of nearly an hour of conversation.

Gates, with a net worth that Forbes on Monday estimated at $81 billion, gamely went along with the fun-facts questions.

A couple other details: He plays a lot of tennis and recommends “a full body swing” for the best game. He reads The Economist cover to cover weekly and is finishing a new book by Henry Kissinger titled “World Order.”

But the most enjoyable read he’s had lately is “The Rosie Project,” which he picked up because wife Melinda was laughing out loud over it. According to the book’s online synopsis, it’s about “a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife” and approaches this goal with a “a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late-arrivers.”

Apple Takes Biggest Slice Of Mobile Website Traffic

Apple devices accounted for a 54% share of mobile website traffic on smartphones during June, with visits to entertainment, financial services, media, retail and travel websites, according to the U.S. Mobile Benchmark report from Adobe Systems.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) accounted for 80% of such traffic on tablet devices, the report said.

Samsung accounted for 24% of smartphone visits and 7% of tablets. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) accounted for 5% of tablet traffic.

By smartphone operating system, Apple accounted for 54% of visits while the Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Android OS had a 40% share, said the Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) report.

Research firm StatCounter recently reported similar results. It said that Apple smartphone devices accounted for 51.6% of mobile Internet traffic in Q2, compared with 25% for Samsung, 4.7% for LG, 3.1% for HTC and 1.6% for BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY).

For the first time, Adobe said, more than half of Web browsing via smartphones occured on Wi-Fi, as opposed to cellular, networks. And on tablets, Wi-Fi was 93%.

Apple's Plan To Kill PayPal Has Finally Become Clear!

Apple has been quietly putting together a plan to blow open the mobile-payments industry, making major deals with credit-card companies in a move that could threaten the dominance of PayPal and other mobile-payment companies.

These deals could make Apple the go-to source for mobile payments. 

Baird Equity Research published a note saying eBay and its PayPal unit were directly threatened by Apple's impending launch of a mobile-payments system on iPhone 6:

For years, Apple was seen as the “elephant in the room” with respect to mobile and online payments, and the source of speculation around the presumed launch of a consumer payments “iWallet.” While there is no shortage of competition in payments, we view Apple as perhaps the most legitimate potential threat to PayPal’s strong position – particularly with respect to growth opportunities at point of sale.

Reports claim Apple has signed deals with three major credit-card companies: American Express, Mastercard, and Visa.

One of the biggest problems with mobile payments has been the sheer number of different apps and services needed to pay for the things you buy every day. Between the Starbucks mobile app, Venmo, Square, Amazon, and PayPal, most users need to download, install, and hand over their card data to a variety of companies. But if Apple has united three major cards together, then it could save users a ton of time by letting them go to one place to make mobile payments. 

Nearly A Billion Existing Customers

It's not just credit-card agreements that could make Apple's rumored iWallet a major player in mobile payments. The company already has a vast amount of credit card information, with Bloomberg reporting that there are over 800 million iTunes accounts, the majority of which have credit-card information associated with them. Apple has proved over a number of years that consumers trust it with their card data, and that it can manage a thriving ecosystem. Whether it's the App Store or iTunes, people are used to handing over their credit-card information to Apple.

There's a secret weapon in Apple's mobile-payments arsenal, and that's TouchID. Apple's fingerprint sensor, first introduced with the iPhone 5S in 2013, provides an extra layer of security for the iPhone by requiring users to place their finger on the home button to scan their fingerprint. It's a neat trick for everyday usage, but combine TouchID with NFC payments, and suddenly the advantage of dependable mobile security is clear: You could hand your phone directly to a thief, but without your fingerprints they couldn't spend any money.

If paying for goods with your mobile phone becomes ubiquitous (and Apple is hoping it will), then consumers will be looking to Apple to reassure them that the technology won't be open to accidental payments, or hackers.

Samsung also produces phones with fingerprint sensors, although the iPhone's more affluent demographic and larger developer community will likely make TouchID a more attractive prospect. 

The Rise Of NFC Payments

Smartphone makers are making a big gamble on NFC. The technology allows smartphones to emulate credit cards, allowing users to tap their phones on terminals in retail outlets to pay for purchases. The speed and convenience of NFC is making it an attractive idea for customers.

Apple isn't early to NFC payments by any means. The first NFC-enabled smartphone was the Nokia 6131 in 2006, and NFC came to Android in 2010 with the Samsung Nexus S. It had been speculated that the iPhone 5 would ship with NFC technology, but so far it's been absent from the Apple product line.

So why did Apple leave its entrance into NFC so late? The company waited for the technology to spread before entering the market. According to Berg Insight, 3.9 million NFC terminals shipped in 2012, double the amount shipped in 2011. And 300% more NFC smartphones were sold in 2012 than in 2011.

It's clear to credit-card companies and retailers alike that NFC technology is spreading. Historically, Apple has been late to new technology, preferring to let the market develop while it perfects its entrance. Apple is arriving to NFC at a time when major retailers are seeing the appeal of the technology, with Nordstrom already reported to have pledged their support to the iWallet. The Sept. 9 press event could involve the reveal of a large network of card companies and retailers ready to allow iPhone 6 users to pay with just a tap.

Competition

Apple will be facing serious competition for its iWallet system. The global market for mobile payments is predicted to reach $1 trillion by 2017, according to IDC data, and the industry is filled with companies looking to gain their share.

PayPal launched its own mobile-payment system in 2012 with PayPal Here. With no contracts, and free sign-up, it's seen as a competitive option for businesses. Like Apple, PayPal already has an expansive customer base.

Retailers have also been drawn to Amazon's mobile credit-card technology. Amazon Local Register's charges dramatically undercut its competitors, making it an attractive prospect for U.S. retailers looking to introduce mobile payments at a cheap cost.

Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey's mobile-payments company Square has been quick to introduce new technology; its card swipe device can be plugged into iPhones and iPads to turn Apple devices into a mobile retail counter. Despite a recent valuation of $6 billion, the company is plagued by negative press. Rumors of severe losses and defensive blog posts have seen Square battle to keep up in mobile payments.

Airlines Given All-Clear For Mobile Phones

Airlines across Europe have been cleared to allow passengers' use of mobile phones and portable electronic devices (PEDs) throughout flights.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said there would be no restrictions in place from a safety perspective - a long-held reason for devices to be turned off or placed in "airplane mode".

EASA says mobiles, smartphones and PEDs can be used after airlines follow a safety assessment process.

PEDs are defined as including any kind of electronic device brought on board the aircraft by a passenger such as a tablet, laptop, smartphone, an e-reader or a MP3 player.

"As a result, passengers will be able to use their PEDs just like in any other mode of transport - throughout the trip," EASA said.

But travellers must still wait for airlines to decide their policy, as specialist communications packages must be installed to allow phone connections at cruising altitude.

"It is up to each airline to decide to allow the use of PEDs. In order to do this, the airline will have to go through an assessment process, ensuring aircraft systems are not affected in any way by the transmission signals from the PEDs," EASA said.

"For this reason, there may be differences among airlines whether and when PEDs can be used."

This is the latest regulatory step towards enabling the ability to offer so-called gate-to-gate telecommunication or wifi services for air travellers.

However, it remains unclear if all airlines will embrace the new freedom as they need to juggle business travellers' desire for non-stop communications or the existing blackout once aircraft are out of cell tower range.

Some airlines may even segregate seating similar to that in train carriages with 'quiet zones'.

The new freedom does not yet give travellers unfettered use of devices.

EASA said: "Passengers must at all times follow the airline crew instructions. Safety always comes first onboard of an aircraft."

A British Airways spokeswoman told Sky News: "We have led the way in the adoption of the use of personal electronic devices during flight. We have allowed their use on-board, with certain restrictions since December last year.

"We will be reviewing our current policies in the light of this change in advice.

"We already allow the use of voice calls after landing. We have no plans to permit the use of mobile phones for voice calls on our flights as our feedback from customers has shown the majority of them find them an intrusion and disruptive."

She added that some services offered internet connection during flights.

"Safety is always our top priority and our cabin crew will offer clear instructions to our customers regarding the use of personal electronic devices and mobile phones," she said.

Apple's Value Drops $23bn Over Software Glitch

Almost $23bn (£14bn) has been wiped from the value of tech giant Apple, as it releases a second software patch for its troubled iPhone 6.

The drop in market capitalisation on Wall Street came just hours before the tech giant released iOS 8.0.2 on Thursday night.

The company said the patch promised to "fix an issue that affected iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who downloaded 8.0.1" on Wednesday.

Apple also repeated an earlier apology to owners of its newest iPhones who were affected by bugs. Some iPad users had also reported complaints.

Apple's one week share price to the end of trading on 25th September

Social media was awash with disgruntled users, who complained about a loss of wireless coverage and being locked out by the Touch ID system.

The problems came amid warning from Apple's OS X operating system had a security flaw which could be more serious than the notorious Heartbleed bug.

The have also been complaints from iPhone 6 Plus owners, who said their smartphone had bent substantially after being placed in a tight pocket.

Some users said the new iPhone 6 Plus was too flexible

But Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said: "With normal use, a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."

It said its iPhones feature stainless steel and titanium inserts to reinforce high-stress locations and use the strongest glass in the smartphone industry.

Last Friday Apple fans queued to get the new iPhone

More than 10 million of the new devices were sold in the weekend after its launch last Friday and Apple said the bug-ridden release affected less than 40,000 users.

Apple shares closed down 3.81% at $97.87 on Thursday. Over the last week it has lost more than 4% of its value and earlier this month it hit an all-time high of $103.74.

On Friday morning, its share price bounced back, recovery some lost ground.

Google urged to change privacy rules by data regulators

European data privacy regulators have put renewed pressure on Google to alter its privacy policy.

It follows changes to the policy two years ago which regulators felt breached European rules.

Among other things, it says Google must tell users exactly what data is collected and with whom it is shared.

Google said it was working with regulators to "explain its privacy policy changes".

The dispute has been running since March 2012 when Google consolidated its 60 privacy policies into one and started combining data from YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps.

Users were given no means to opt out of the changes.

Although Google has not been directly accused of acting illegally, it has been accused of providing "incomplete and approximate" details raising "deep concerns about data protection and the respect of the European law".

Google did make some changes to its privacy policy in March this year, linking to individual services from its main privacy document.

"It has made some changes but our investigation won't end until we believe it is fully compliant," said a spokesman for the UK's information commissioner's office (ICO).

In a letter addressed to Google's chief executive Larry Page, the European Union's data protection working party wrote: "Google must meet its obligations with respect to the European and national data protection legal frameworks and has to determine the means to achieve these legal requirements."

A spokesman for Google told the Reuters news agency that it was looking forward to discussing the new guidelines.

"We have worked with different data protection authorities across Europe to explain our privacy policies," he said.

'Shameful'

Regulators in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands have launched investigations into Google's privacy policies and, in January, France fined Google 150,000 euros (£117,000) for failure to comply with its privacy rules.

"It is disappointing that two years of deliberation has led to the preparation of a document that is the equivalent of selling cucumbers to the gardener," said Anna Fielder, chairwoman of trustees at campaign group Privacy International.

"The guidelines are fundamental basics that Google should have implemented years ago, and the weakness of the language used in framing this will mean Google will do nothing to comply.

"These guidelines are doing nothing more than stating the obvious, and it is shameful that it took the Article 29 Working Party two years to come up with something that Google should already have been complying with," she said.

iPhone 6 bendgate, U2's 'Songs of Innocence', iOS 8 glitches and $20bn wiped off its stock – can this launch get any worse for Apple?

Apple shares fell more than 3 per cent on Thursday, wiping close to $23bn off its stockmarket value, as investors reacted to the "bendgate" and iOS 8 bug double whammy.

Yesterday, Apple made a rare apology over the iOS 8.0.1 software glitch, launching a second update to restore full functionality to the tens of thousands of affected phones, while playing down concerns about the "bendy" iPhone 6 Plus. But the statement failed to appease investors.

The stock closed at $97.87- below the psychological barrier of $100- after hitting a new all-time high of $103.74 earlier this month in anticipation of what some described as "Apple's next super cycle" following the launch of the iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch.