Apple’s new subscription policy opposed

Apples’ new subscription scheme demands that now all content providers must pay hefty cuts to the company. Content providers for Apple’s iPhone and iPad have strongly opposed the company’s move to charge them 30 percent of the revenues earned.

The move would mean that whenever a customer subscribes to music, movie, newspaper or an ebook publisher via iPhone or iPad that particular publisher which gains the customer has to pay 30 percent of what it will earn from the customer. The move is seen as an untenable one by subscription providers.

Rhapsody, a music service provider is the first one to call foul. The music service that can be accessed from Apple’s iPhones and i Pads prefers the old system of charging 2.5 credit card fees preferable to a monthly charge of 30 percent of revenue earnings. They are planning business as well as legal action against Apple’s decision.

Though Steve Jobs clearly states that they want 30 percent cut only when Apple brings a customer to the subscription and that Apple does not want anything in the case where the publishers of the content subscription bring in a customer. Yet 30 percent is perceived as very high in comparison to others, such as Wal Mart that charges only four percent. The margin is razor thin in digital content and the content providers have objected to Apple’s move.

President Obama calls on business groups to improve US economy

Washington: President Barack Obama on Saturday asked U.S business and finance groups to improve on the economic status of the country by increasing the labour force and investments.

There is an increased responsibility of the Country to improve the rate at which business is done through improving education putting in place what will encourage creativity and framework  development.

He said the businesses have a responsibility also to increase their labor force if America is made a place suitable for businesses to operate.

Obama received much resentment from influential corporate business factions in his first two years against his plans to improve Wall Street operating guidelines and also to refurbish the healthcare sector. In a move to improve things, the white house sought out to make a former executive of JP Morgan Chase the new Chief of staff.

Obama would however make the challenge by giving his first statement to chamber members and promised to address the members of the chambers that both the government and business have joint obligations.

In his recent travels around the nation, he’s been trying to sell around initiatives to improve wireless access.

We want to move ahead and the best way is what we did by giving tax credits.

Verizon sets record in sales, stops taking orders

The iPhone 4 of Verizon has set new milestones of record sales last night-. The overwhelming response to the product is the most successful first day sale in company’s history so far. The counting was continued while morning press release was published and it did not mention the actual number of iPhone sales.

At the launch of iPhone 4 in June, Apple had announced that the company took 600,000 orders for the device on the first day.

The latest launch by Verizon before iPhone was Motorola Droid for which the company sold 250,000 units in the first week. It is a Android-based smartphone.

However, iPhone’s pre-orders are predicted to have reached in millions on the very first day. From Feb 10 both Apple and Verizon will start selling iPhones of Verizon flavor. You can opt for an online purchase for a quicker access as it will start on Feb 9 from 3:01 am.

The new price of  the 16-gigabyte model is $199.99  whereas for 32 GB model it is only $299.99 for the 32 GB model. However for those who have been the customers of Verizon for last 20 months can purchase the same models on a discounted price. There is no mention of such change in policies on the company website so far and this is creating lot of confusions among the customers.

US administration toughens rules for coal mining

US environmental agency repealed permit granted to the largest surface mine, that producing 10 percent of the total coal for US.

Spruce No. 1 coal mine, which is owned by Mingo Logan Coal Co.in West Virginia. The 2300 acre- mine has been in disputes since 1998.

The Environmental Protection Agency or EPA’s new decision to revoke grant from coal mine is likely to hamper many other projects too as they come under  ‘mountaintop removal’ a concept, unacceptable under agency’s new law.

The US administration had granted permit to coal mining projects during Clinton and Bush era, however the new guidelines have been implemented in April and therefore all previous permits are under revision.

Peter S. Silva, an official from the EPA stated that Spruce No. 1 coal mine, has been engaged in destructive mining practices that had affected the health of communities living nearby in Appalachian mountain region.

Spruce No. 1 coal mine has a capacity of employing250 workers and it could produce 44 million tons of coal in next 15 years had it’s permit not been taken. But theSection 404 of the Clean Water Act – implemented by the EPA has put a barrier on it. Experts call it a hard decision of the Obama administration that is likely to hamper future investment in mining.

China skeptical over Geithner’s offer of ‘greater access to US market’

BEIJING: China is skeptical over  US offer to free up trade in high-tech goods. Chinese government advisers and economists said on Thursday that in the aftermath of the offer,  Chinese government should  reject to be involved into a negotiation  to speed up Yuan appreciation.

Timothy Geithner, treasury secretary, said that the United States wants to give China a greater access to US market and high-tech goods and in exchange for that expects Beijing to review its strictly controlled exchange rate system.

Meanwhile Chinese officials refused to comment on Geithner’s proposal that is made just ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States next week. Many analysts are of the view that it is dubious to accept this trade-for-currency proposal.

“China will not act according to US direction; as far as Yuan appreciation is concerned, it must follow a general trend and not be impacted from the US sentiments,” said Ding Yifan, an analyst of the State Council.

One of the analysts is of the view that China should not be bothered about US demands as Beijing can have a greater access to high level of high-tech goods with ease from the Western Europe.

This week China has guided the Yuan move upward 0.4 percent against the US dollar. It has been a well-known pattern of pushing Yuan value up against the dollar before any diplomatic engagements.

Analysts are of the view that more and more Yuan appreciation will be needed over the period of time as inflation has been skyrocketing for the last two years and the trade surplus touching nearly $200 billion last year.

Google’s Android may lose customers as Verizon sells iPhone

Google Inc’s business may be affected as Verizon Wireless begins selling Apple Inc’s iPhone, given the customers a fresh option to smart phones operating on the Android Operating System.

Verizon Wireless is all set to make an announcement regarding the inclusion of iPhone to its network in New York on Tuesday, according to a familiar source. Dan Hays, partner at management consultant firm PRTM, said that Verizon is expected to replace 2 million Android iPhone shipments order in a year.

Thousand of Verizon customers will prefer to go for iPhone over Android phones, and even its own Android users may switch over, said Gene Munster, an analyst in Minneapolis.

Apple Inc is expected to ship around 9 million iPhones in 2011 in collaboration with Verizon; apart from 11 million units through AT&T, the analyst said.

Android has emerged as a top-seller in the United States and accounts for 26 percent of the smartphone market as compared to 25 percent of the iPhone. RIM’s Blackberry is leading the race with 33 percent of the market.

In the first half of the year, several Android-based LTE-compatible phones are expected to be launched in the market. However, an iPhone with LTE network will take some time to be available, according to analysts.

Analysts view that Apple may perform better than Google as far as attracting Verizon users toward smartphones for the first time.

Microsoft redesigns Table Computer, reduces price

Microsoft Surface that had a hefty base with a large touch screen has shrunk now into a smaller version.

The new redesigned version of  the Surface is less costly and more convenient to use, to access applications that are interactive in nature and can also be used in shopping malls, banks and hotels.

The very first sample of the new Surface computer  has been demonstrated by the company on Wednesday.

The earlier version of Surface computers cost around $15,000.  Vodafone and Hard Rock Café were some Microsoft’s long term clients that used Surface computers however; it did not generate much income for the company.

The newer version of same model has been designed with a thickness of 4 inches and is very similar to a simple table commonly available. It is less costly than the larger model by $7600 and thus is expected to attract more customers. Microsoft has also added extra features in the new Surface computer that has a high definition screen of 40 inches.

Surface Computer’s new touch screen is like a camera that can be used to recognize, bar or inform passengers at airports or help in recognizing customers that visit regularly or very often to a particular shopping store.

Social network giant Facebook plans to publish finance news

The most popular social network Facebook is all set to report financial results from 2012.

The company has informed its prospective shareholders regarding its proposed venture. However it would certainly make it public provided the network aims to get beyond 500 shareholders.

According to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, any company which wants large number of investors needs to disclose its proposals in details in public.

Facebook has recently become a popular avenue for investors due to its increasing number of users and advertising income.

Facebook has already released data about its sales and profits. It earned $1.2 billion in total out of which net profit was of $355 million in the very first nine month period in  2010.Facebook earn its revenue mainly from ads displayed on its pages. Also affiliate marketing and game applications add a major part of the total earnings for Facebook.

Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, a client of Facebook alone invested $450 million in the network. The investing company expects to sell its shares of $75 million to other clients for its stakes in Facebook. A Russian firm Digital Sky Technologies has estimated Facebook as worth $50 billion and invested $50 million itself.

According to a report published in Wall Street Journal, Facebook has achieved highest quarterly earning recently.

Travel agencies remove American Airlines from online listings

Expedia Inc. (EXPE) removes American airlines tickets from its latest list. The company stated that the travelers need to check other websites now to compare prices of tickets for American airlines with other service providers. The move and statement came following a dispute between the airlines and online travel agencies.  Fort Worth, a part of American airlines suggested Kayak.com or priceline.com Inc. (PCLN)  for alternatives.

American airlines ignited the dispute with travel agencies by removing its listing from OWW- Expedia competitor Orbitz Worldwide Inc. to divert traffic to their own websites.

The American airlines own website do not charge passengers for online booking in addition. Expedia, in retaliation to American airlines’ actions removed the airlines from lists.

American removed Orbitz when they could not get a deal for encouraging online sellers for establishing a direct connect system with travelers instead of going through different agent sites.

At present, Expedia’s existing agreement with American airlines is about to expire. Through the new deal, the airlines wanted to reduce their cost on what they are obliged to pay to the global distribution services and make their tickets more lucrative to passengers.

However, the airlines reported that there was no decrease in their sale of tickets due to these disputes and travelers continued buying tickets through other alternative sites like Kayak and priceline.com.

Republicans to fight with Obama over budget

A new scenario is waiting in Washington for US President Barack Obama after vacations. Republicans with more prominence in Senate now will prepare to make it a tough time for Obama over budget while the countdown for 2012 elections is already started.

Democrats expect Obama to deal with the new political disputes with a more confident stand.

This new phase of Obama’s administration will witness Ruling party’s bipartisanship with the Republicans that may change the tone and strategies of present government and would definitely affect ballot boxes in 2012 presidential polls.

However, despite the compromises made on tax issues, nuclear treaty with Russia and same-sex relationship in military, Obama still occupies an increasingly focal place in his party.

The President acknowledges the challenges coming ahead and expressed hopes to continue to be in tune with common Americans needs and purposes.

The status of Democrats has changed with Republicans overtaking them in the House after November polls. Obama’s land mark steps on Health care bill and $800 billion package were taken much before when the Democrats dominated so only time will tell whether the President will be able to continue with same impact in making decisions or not.

There is a strong probability of confrontations between the two parties over key issues like budget deficit of 1.3-trillion-dollar and government budget for 2011.