AppleMagazine #171

Whose Internet is it anyway? Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, says he's keeping that question in mind as he pitches the biggest regulatory shake-up to the telecommunications industry since 1996, when people still used noisy modems and referred to the "information superhighway" as a fun way to buy books or check the weather. Wheeler has not publicly released his plan yet, and might not for a few weeks. But he has suggested that Internet service has become as critical to people in the United States as water, electricity or phone service and should be regulated like any other public utility. Wheeler told reporters this past week that he wants "yardsticks in place to determine what is in the best interest of consumers as opposed to what is…

Samsung lost the battle of the big phones last quarter as Apple's copycat large !Phone lured buyers in the crucial Chinese market. The South Korean company said Thursday its October-December profit sank, with an improvement in its semiconductor business insufficient to mask its mobile problems. It was in China, the world's largest market for smartphones, where Samsung's dramatic decline was most evident. Its weakness there is a key reason why Samsung's share of global smartphone sales dropped to about one quarter last year from a one-third share in 2013. Apple Inc. contributed to Samsung's latest reversal in fortune, launching !Phones with bigger screens that robbed Samsung's Galaxy phones of a key selling point. Samsung was already battling competition in low-end phones from upstart manufacturers such as China's Xiaomi. Samsung is…

'SECRET SCREENING' DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS It should be no great surprise to see the considerable number of column inches devoted to the latest cinematic creation of sibling directorial duo Lana and Andy Wachowski, otherwise known as the Wachowskis. After all, these two have quite the history as directors, screenwriters and producers, particularly for The Matrix. However, much of the talk surrounding their next epic - Jupiter Ascending - seems to have been decidedly negative. Given the praise that has already been forthcoming from critics as the film is released in North America today (February 6), that certainly is a surprise... at least, if you aren't aware of the back-story. You see, in a unusual move for a movie bidding to be a Hollywood blockbuster, Jupiter Ascending - which boasts such…

Amazon.com Inc. s fourth-quarter earnings roundly beat analyst expectations, sending the Seattle e-commerce giant's stock soaring 11 percent in premarket trading Friday. Here's a closer look at what investors applauded and hope continues. SMART SPENDING Operating expenses rose 15 percent to $28.74 billion but that was less than some analysts had expected Amazon would spend. Investors have long wanted Amazon to show some restraint as it invests in its business, and this metric seemed to be a sign that Amazon is willing to do that. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said the lower-than-expected costs were related to flat fulfillment expenses - what the company spends on its distribution centers and deliveries -during the holiday season even though Amazon shipped 100 million more free items. The company also spent less on…

Google has turned into a stock market laggard as the shift to mobile devices has lowered the Internet search leader's digital ad prices and the company's expensive investments in far-out technology has trimmed its profit margins. Those factors have left some investors wondering what Google might do to boost its stock price, especially after the company's latest financial report. The earnings released late Thursday missed analyst targets, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that has happened. That discouraging trend is one reason Google's stock price ended Thursday's trading session 8 percent below where it stood 13 months ago. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed by 9 percent during the same stretch. POTENTIAL CATALYSTS One way to lift the stock would be to slash expenses to boost earnings, something that…

REACTION TO ASTONISHING REVENUE AND EARNINGS FIGURES The news on January 30 that - following the release three days earlier of Apple's latest quarterly earnings report - the Cupertino firm's stock had topped $120 after the opening bell, amid talk of shares potentially reaching $160, goes some way to showing the immense market optimism that surrounds the company at the minute. Indeed, the Californian giant enjoyed stellar profits in the holiday quarter. However, that word "stellar" could never explain just how stellar the figures actually were, so let's quote some of them. For the fiscal 2015 first quarter ending December 27, 2014, Apple posted records for both quarterly revenue and quarterly net profit, of $74.6 billion and $18 billion respectively, equating to $3.06 per diluted share. Such figures compare to…