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Tag: asia

  • Buyers line up for troubled Jack Wills

    Buyers line up for troubled Jack Wills

    Prospective suitors are lining up to bid for troubled fashion retailer Jack Wills.  Among those on the list are Marquee Brands – the parent of Ben Sherman – Sports Direct and Philip Day, who owns Edinburgh Woollen Mill and who recently took a controlling interest in distressed women’s-wear retailer Bonmarche.

    Among other prospective buyers identified by Retail Gazette as in “the early stages of assessing a possible offer” for Jack Wills are Crew Clothing, restructuring firm Hilco and investment firm Alteri.

    BlueGem began canvassing for prospective buyers for Jack Wills early this month after engaging advisory firm KPMG to prepare a review of the business’ prospects. According to companies office records, Jack Wills lost £29.3 million for the year to January 31 last year, and a £28 million cash injection from BlueGem in January this year has been almost exhausted.

    BlueGem has said it would retain a minority stake in the business, which it clearly still believes in.

    “The current investors believe the business can benefit from being part of a larger platform and would welcome the opportunity to retain a minority stake, which allows them to realise value from their investment to date,” the KPMG document reads.

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  • Mainland China retail sales surge in June

    Mainland China retail sales surge in June

    Motor vehicles and the 6.18 shopping festival spurred a healthy increase in Mainland China retail sales in June.

    Official government figures show a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase for the month, higher than the 8.6 per cent of May and 8.4 per cent for the first half year.

    Summer Wang, an equity analyst at Jefferies, said auto sales surged due to deep discounts on older models ahead of stricter State VI emission standards which took effect on July 1, and the 6.18 Shopping Festival  which drove cosmetics, jewellery and appliance sales. Small-ticket items like food and daily goods also outperformed.

    Urban Mainland China retail sales grew 9.8 per cent, ahead of the 8.3 per cent year-to-date figure, reaching RMB2.896 trillion (US$421 billion) in June, while rural retail sales grew by 10.1 per cent, ahead of 9.1 per cent for the half year.

    Cosmetics sales grew by 22.5 per cent, cars by 17.2 per cent and daily goods by 12.3 per cent.

    “We believe the beauty category is continuing to benefit from functional premiumisation, as consumers – both women and metrosexual men – are willing to pay a premium for a tangible improvement in appearance,” said Wang.

    “Most discretionary categories saw improvement as well, including gold and jewellery (up 7.8 per cent), home appliances (up 7.7 per cent) and apparel and footwear (up 5.2 per cent).”

    By channel, online retail goods sales kept momentum with a robust 21.6 per cent year-on-year growth during the first half of the year, accounting for 19.6 per cent of Mainland China retail sales.

  • Apple’s Tim Cook has a clear replacement

    Apple’s Tim Cook has a clear replacement

    August 24th marks eight years since Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple and Tim Cook assumed the position’s full responsibilities. The company has since more than doubled its market value and sold products to millions of customers across the globe. But with growth now slowing, Bloomberg suggests a clear successor to Tim Cook has begun emerging, even though the latter is unlikely to step down anytime soon Chief Design Officer Jony Ive was often considered to be the most important person at Apple after Tim Cook. But following the announcement last month that he was departing the company to start up.

    a design studio, this position appears to have been filled by Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams who is currently seen as the perfect Tim Cook replacement. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, many current and former colleagues described Williams as a “modest, disciplined, demanding leader in the current CEO’s style.” Since taking over the role of COO – a title once held by Tim Cook – he has prioritized operational efficiency and worked closely with suppliers across the globe. Williams has also adopted a more hands-on role when it comes to product development and schedules weekly reviews for future products to track progress and brief CEO Cook of developments. These meetings are officially called New Product Reviews but some employees now call them “Jeff Reviews.”

    The COO, just like Cook, is very good at watching and listing to other employees. He has built up the reputation of being soft-spoken but when required, Williams isn’t afraid of asking sharp questions or insisting on further improvements until Apple’s standards are met. This is especially the case when it comes to the design teams. Williams “comes from the operations side, and the metrics being applied there often have very little meaning in design.” Because of this, he isn’t always as understanding when things aren’t up to scratch, although colleagues say he doesn’t quite have the temper of Steve Jobs. Back when Apple was developing AirPods, the executive purposely continued wearing wired EarPods until he was happy with the fit of their wireless counterparts to get his point across rather than creating a storm inside the company.

    Williams currently overseers Apple’s entire supply chain, fitness and health research and app development, AppleCare customer support, and the development of all hardware products including the next-gen iPhones. Before taking over as COO, however, Williams primary focus was the first Apple Watch which quickly became his biggest test at the company. Mere months before the original’s release in April 2015, some employees testing the wearable began reporting allergic reactions to the type of nickel Apple had used. This is a common issue in the watch industry but Williams chose to scrap the thousands of devices that had already been produced in favor of restarting production from scratch with a different metal.

    Around this time, the now-COO also had to deal with another issue regarding the company’s Taptic Engine. The feature, which was a priority for Williams and allowed the Watch to vibrate more quietly than the counterpart used inside phones, was prone to corrosion which ultimately led to long-term failure. Instead of shipping the wearables, Williams decided to gift the affected models to employees and fix the issue ahead of release.

    The move led to delays and made the Apple Watch difficult to find shortly after launch. Nevertheless, it avoided potentially defective units hitting shelves and was ultimately the right move for consumers.

    Over the past few years, Apple has completely transformed the way it operates with the help of Tim Cook. Product design used to be the priority but the company’s operations team now appears to be running the show and influencing every other department. According to a former senior Apple executive, Jeff Williams is “the closest thing at the company to Tim Cook, and you’ll get more of that. If you think Cook is doing a good job, then it’s a good choice.” Another person who knows him said, “Jeff is 95% operations and 5% product.”

    This strategy has worked incredibly well for the company over the past few years but, with growth slowing, many now wonder if it’s sustainable. Michael Gartenberg, a former Apple marketing executive, believes “one doesn’t necessarily need a visionary as CEO of Apple as long as there’s a visionary in the company that the CEO can work with. had Jony Ive. The question is, with Ive gone, who is the visionary at the company that can guide the next big thing?”

  • Apple reportedly is close to buying Intel’s modem chip business

    Apple reportedly is close to buying Intel’s modem chip business

    By April of this year, Apple was desperate. It was embroiled in a fight with Qualcomm that was playing out in numerous lawsuits including one that was taking place in San Diego with billions of dollars at stake. With Qualcomm apparently unwilling to sell it 5G modem chips, Apple was relying on Intel, the company that supplied it with the 4G LTE modem chips used on the 2018 iPhones. But there were questions about whether Intel could deliver a 5G modem chip in time for Apple to release a 5G iPhone by 2020.

    On April 7th, Intel said that it would be able to supply Apple with its 5G modem chip in time for the first 5G iPhone to be launched next year. But just nine days later, while closing arguments were taking place during the trial in San Diego, a blockbuster announcement was made; Apple agreed to pay Qualcomm an undisclosed amount (believed to be $4.5 billion) and in return Qualcomm gave Apple a six-year license (with an option for two additional years) and a multi-year chip supply agreement. All lawsuits were dropped. Intel could see which way the wind was blowing and later that same day, the chipmaker announced that it was quitting the 5G smartphone modem business. And last month, the rumors started about Apple buying Intel’s smartphone modem business. Such an acquisition, if completed, would help Apple achieve its goal of producing its own modem chips.

    The talks between Apple and Intel have heated up to the point where they are now classified as “advanced.” The deal, said to be valued at $1 billion or more, could be announced as soon as next week. This would be a big transaction for Apple as the company usually makes small purchases. For example, in 2012 Apple bought biometrics firm AuthenTec for $356 million and Touch ID debuted a year later on the iPhone 5s. In 2015, Apple paid a reported $20 million for imaging firm LinX. The acquisition helped Apple immediately step up its camera game.  The most money that Apple has ever shelled out to buy another company was the $3 billion it spent to buy Beats Audio in 2014. While most of these deals had almost immediate payoffs for Apple, even with Intel’s smartphone modem chip business, it might not be until 2022 or 2023 before Apple is able to be self-sufficient in this area.

    Apple has been hiring engineers, including some from Intel, and plans on opening an office in San Diego with 1,200 employees. If a deal is reached, Intel will be getting rid of a business that has been losing $1 billion a year. And while it will no longer be producing chips for smartphones, it will still work on 5G based components for other devices. Meanwhile, Apple is looking to move in-house as much of the iPhone’s supply chain as possible. Last year it spent $600 million to purchase facilities and engineers from Dialog Semiconductors so that it could start producing internally the battery-management chips that it had been buying from Dialog in the past.

    While Apple appears to have this deal locked up, when Intel first announced that it was exiting the business, it received indications of interest from other companies. Should Apple and Intel fail to come to an agreement, another buyer could step in to take Apple’s place. Meanwhile, investors rightly regard this as potentially bad news for Qualcomm. When the story broke after the 4 pm EDT close of the NYSE, Qualcomm’s shares dropped 1.8% to $74.55.

    If Apple ends up buying Intel’s smartphone modem chip business, it can easily afford it. After accounting for debt, Apple had $113 billion of cash available as of March 30th when its fiscal second-quarter came to an end.

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  • Singapore’s CapitaLand Mall Trust boosts property revenue

    Singapore’s CapitaLand Mall Trust boosts property revenue

    CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT), has achieved net property income (NPI) of S$273.3 million for the half year to June 30.

    That represents a 10-per-cent increase on the same period last year, boosted by the 100-per-cent contribution of Westgate, of which the trust acquired the balance 70 per cent interest during the fourth quarter of last financial year.

    Tony Tan, CEO of CapitaLand Mall Trust Management Limited (CMTML), which manages CMT, said the trust would receive a further boost from the second half of this year from the opening of the new Funan mall on June 28.

    “The contributions from Westgate and Funan are expected to anchor CMT’s steady financial performance while we embark on the rejuvenation of Lot One Shoppers’ Mall starting from the third quarter of 2019,” said Tan.

    “Proposed works include expanding the footprint of the public library to enhance the mall’s community focus and reformatting the cinema to house smaller screens that better serve moviegoers’ demands for variety.”

    Tan said that against a backdrop of a slowing Singapore economy, the trust remains cautious in its outlook.

    “Competition for the consumer wallet is expected to stay keen with the progressive opening of new malls, although the supply of new retail space is projected to taper off from 2020. As a proactive REIT manager, we will continue to review our portfolio for possibilities to create value through acquisition and development opportunities.”

    For the second quarter, CMT’s gross revenue and NPI rose 10.6 per cent and 10.2 per cent respectively year-on-year. The improvement in gross revenue was mainly due to the completion of the acquisition of the Westgate stake on November 1, which contributed $18.4 million to gross revenue. Funan’s reopening on 28 June 2019, after a three-year redevelopment, contributed $900,000 to the total gross revenue of the group. The increase was partially offset by lower gross revenue from Sembawang Shopping Centre, which was divested on June 18 last year.

    CMT owns and invests in 15 shopping malls, primarily in Singapore: Tampines Mall, Junction 8, Funan, IMM Building, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, JCube, Raffles City Singapore (40-per-cent interest), Lot One Shoppers’ Mall, 90 out of 91 strata lots in Bukit Panjang Plaza, The Atrium@Orchard, Clarke Quay, Bugis+, Bedok Mall and Westgate. As at June 30, CMT owned 12.3 per cent of CapitaLand Retail China Trust.

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  • Luckin Coffee plans expansion into India and Middle East

    Luckin Coffee plans expansion into India and Middle East

    China’s Luckin Coffee wants to expand into India and the Middle East.

    The company has signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture with Kuwait-based Americana Group which will open stores across the Greater Middle East and India. No further details have been released, according to Reuters.

    Luckin, which sells coffee by app from a fast-growing network of stores and pick-up points across China’s main cities, raised US$561 million by listing in the US in May. It says it will open 2500 stores this year.

    Americana Group operates 1800 restaurants and 29 restaurants and food factories in the Middle East. It has franchises for a raft of fast-food and quick-service restaurant brands including KFC, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, Hardees, Baskin Robbins, Costa Coffee, Krispy Kreme, Red Lobster, Grand Cafe, Maestro, Longhorn Steakhouse and Chicken Tikka.

    It operates in 20 markets and boasts a payroll of 60,000. Besides the Middle East, the company has KFC and Pizza Hut stores in Kazakhstan and KFC stores in Morocco.

    “This collaboration represents Luckin Coffee’s first step toward bringing its leading products from China to the world,” said Luckin Coffee founder and CEO Jenny Qian Zhiya in a statement.

    Earlier this month, the hitherto coffee-focused company announced it would launch a tea brand, Xiaolu.

  • Germany’s Continental, Jungheinrich Hit Brakes As Auto Sector Slows

    Germany’s Continental, Jungheinrich Hit Brakes As Auto Sector Slows

    A slowing auto sector prompted profit warnings from supplier Continental and paint systems producer Duerr late on Monday.Jungheinrich also lowered its outlook citing a downturn in the forklift truck  sector. It marked a fourth profit warning from Continental in 16 months, while French rival Faurecia on Tuesday stuck to its guidance. “The main reason is the continued decline in the global production of passenger cars and light vehicles,” Continental said, adding that car production will likely drop by 5% rather than remain flat.

    Despite the negative news Continental shares were up 4.6% at 0925 GMT.”The market is telling us that in the short run, the worst has been priced in,” said Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst.

    “The magnitude of the cut is worse than we were expecting and bodes poorly for the remainder of earnings season and 2020 outlooks.”

    Continental is due to release earnings on August 7.

    Duerr, which produces woodworking equipment and paint systems for the auto industry, said lower payment receipts from the auto sector had eaten into its free cashflow in the first half.

    The company, which is due to release first-half results on August 7, said its EBIT margin guidance of 7%-8% for 2020 is under review.

    Jungheinrich said there had been a sharp drop in customer investment.

    “This is due to the gloomier macroeconomic environment and the related current developments in the market for material handling equipment,” said Jungheinrich, which is due to release results on August 8.

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  • AirAsia X opens up on Hawk-less pair of A330neos

    AirAsia X opens up on Hawk-less pair of A330neos

    When the first AirAsia X Airbus A330neo was unveiled at the Paris Air Show amid much discussion about Airbus’ ‘sub-economy’ ultra-narrow seating strategy, two surprises awaited on board — or, rather, didn’t await.

    At last year’s Farnborough Air Show, AirAsia X Group Chief Executive Officer Kamarudin Meranun (now chairman of AirAsia) confirmed to Runway Girl Network that the airline planned to take Mirus’ Hawk long-range version and Collins’ Minipod for its A330neos. Yet on board the two seating products were neither of those.

    It turns out this first aircraft is one of a pair of leased jets from Avalon that Thai AirAsia X is taking earlier than the hundred that will come directly from Airbus. “AirAsia currently has 66 Airbus A330neo aircraft on order. In addition, AirAsia’s fast-growing long-haul affiliate AirAsia X Thailand will take delivery of an additional two leased aircraft in the coming months,” AirAsia X Group CEO Nadda Buranasiri explained to RGN.

    The airline’s head of group communications later followed up to confirm that those 66 aircraft are firm orders, with the additional 2018 Farnborough Air Show order of “34 currently MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] and under review”.

    Mirus confirmed to RGN that the seat on the Avalon aircraft was not the long-range version of the short-range Hawk seat that AirAsia uses on its Airbus A320s, and Buranasiri confirmed that “The two Airbus A330neo aircraft on lease from Avolon have been fitted with the Zodiac UK Aura Lite in Premium Flatbed and Geven Piuma AQ in economy.”

    But Buranasiri also flagged potential evolution in AirAsia X’s passenger experience. “The seating and cabin configuration for AirAsia’s Airbus A330neo aircrafts on order is subject to change. We are currently reviewing cabin space and configuration options on the new Airbus A330neo. This includes options for a new premium and economy class seat.”

    AirAsia X’s Thai operation will put its first A330neo into service at the end of July, with routes expected to include Japan, Korea and Australia, although schedules have not yet been published.

    But starting next year, more A330neos will arrive with AirAsia X, and the company has been expansive with its promises of “new and exciting destinations such as to Eastern Europe and North Asia”, according to Buranasiri.

    Within Europe, the airline previously flew to London Gatwick and Stansted as well as Paris Orly with elderly A340-300 aircraft, but with both countries charging relatively high departure tax rates, and costs higher in Western Europe, an Eastern Europe strategy could make good sense for AirAsia. Indeed, a partnership with an airline like Wizz Air to provide feed on the European end of the longhaul flight would make much sense.

    “Our current network strategy is focused on medium haul — five to nine hours — meaning nine-abreast is a comfortable option. Nine abreast on the A330neo gives very similar levels of personal comfort for each guest even compared to other aircraft options with full service carriers,” Buranasiri argued, and with AirAsia’s reasonable legroom combined with the decision of many full service airlines to go nine-abreast on their 787s and ten-abreast on their 777s, this is a fair suggestion.

    More crucially, perhaps, “Nine abreast on the A330neo drives the aircraft economics to allow us to maintain the lowest CASK [cost per available seat kilometre] and therefore deliver the lowest fares to our guests. This brings more guests the opportunity to fly and this mission will continue for our long haul market strategy,” Buranasiri said.

    Given that the passenger experience will be relatively similar to its existing widebody fleet, the efficiency of the A330neo AirAsia X expects is impressive. “The aircraft will reduce our fuel burn by 11% on every trip, and with extended range help us to open up new and exciting destinations,” compared with the existing A330ceo fleet, Buranasiri said.

    AirAsia X has always been very up front about what it offers, and with one-way fares for the 6h20m Bangkok to Tokyo even a few days out at an impressive 79€ (US$89), AirAsia X’s simple way to purchase a second seat for passengers who would want or need to, and the angled lie-flat seats up front at around a 3-4x multiplier of economy, it’s hard to criticize the value for money of its ultra-narrow seats — whoever makes them.

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  • World AI Leaders from Dell Technologies, Rolls-Royce and Kryon, among others, discuss AI Strategies in Singapore

    World AI Leaders from Dell Technologies, Rolls-Royce and Kryon, among others, discuss AI Strategies in Singapore

    Given its infrastructure capacity, education system and investor-friendly laws, Singapore has all the right ingredients to nurture a robust AI ecosystem that could be the cornerstone for the small island’s economic upswing. According to a recent report by Accenture, AI could add up to US$215 billion in gross value across 11 industries in Singapore by 2035. With the Singapore government’s vehement efforts to foster initiatives in the AI space, the nation was the ideal location to host the 9th edition of the global World AI Show series that had hit the ground running for the second time in Singapore on 24 July 2019. The show was organised by international business events and consulting firm, Trescon.

    “Singapore is one of the top locations for AI and Robotics investments. Our mission was to fuel Singapore’s AI startup ecosystem by bringing in some of the world’s best AI innovators, solution providers, startups and investors to foster business opportunities for the Singapore government as well as regional and international companies”, said Mohammed Saleem, CEO of Trescon.

    300+ top industry leaders from the AI community came together to share their insights on how AI is transcending as a core enabling technology that can power multiple sectors.

    Top speakers for the event included Dr Terence Hung, Chief of Future Intelligence Technologies, Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte Ltd; Sutowo Wong, Director, Analytics & Information Management Division, Data Analytics Group, Ministry of Health; Dragana Beara, Portfolio Messaging Director, Asia Pacific and Japan, Dell Technologies; Prof Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Director (IMI), NTU, Singapore and Founder & Director, Miralab of University of Geneva, Switzerland and Guido Jouret, Chief Digital Officer of ABB among other top speakers.

    In her keynote speech, Dragana Beara quoted, “Most of the AI development right now is done to create collaborative AI to augment us and give us an ability to leverage our humanity. Everything tedious, difficult or that we are not good at, like computing or getting insights from huge data sets is something we are going to outsource to the AI system.”

    The show also featured a workshop session from Warren Ledingham from Kryon who took the audience through a technical deep-dive session on ‘How to Save 80% of Your Automation Implementation Time’, and an almost human-like Robot interaction between Professor Nadia Magnenat Thalmann and her female humanoid social robot Nadine, that can remember past conversations.

    The global pitch competition for startups in the future-tech space, Startup Grand Slam, was the highlight of the show. Opu Labs, Inc, a digital solutions provider for skin health analysis won the Startup Grand Slam pitch competition and Trsts as runner-up.

    World AI Show – Singapore 2019 was sponsored by Lead Partner, Dell Technologies Platinum Partner, Kanerika; Workshop Partner, Kryon; Gold Partner, Darktrace, Silver Partner, DDN Storage; Badge Partner, QualityKiosk Technologies, Premier Bronze Partner, ADVANCE.AI

     

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  • Former Citigroup MD James Perry joins Zilingo as the Company’s First CFO

    Former Citigroup MD James Perry joins Zilingo as the Company’s First CFO

    Leading fashion technology platform Zilingo announces today the appointment of James Perry as its first Chief Financial Officer (CFO). The former Managing Director and Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia Pacific at Citigroup has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, having helped clients raise over US$150 billion, including 40 IPOs in the US and Hong Kong; and advised technology companies on over US$80 billion in M&A transactions across six continents.

    Earlier this year, Zilingo closed a US$226 million Series D funding round and the company has seen a meteoric rise over the last few years on the back of its technology platform that powers the fashion value chain end to end and provides fashion business with unprecedented access to the technology and services needed to scale efficiently.

    As Zilingo continues its growth in markets including the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and the US, James will be part of the experienced management team that drives the business to scale rapidly and sustainably.

    Ankiti Bose, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Zilingo commented:

    “We are thrilled to welcome James into our leadership team as we expand our horizons and take the company global. It’s a very exciting time for us.”

    James Perry, Chief Financial Officer, Zilingo said:

    “I’m excited to join the Zilingo team. I have seen hundreds of technology companies over my years in banking, Zilingo stands out as an innovator bringing technology and transparency to an industry that has changed little since the industrial revolution. Zilingo is led by one of the most energetic and visionary teams I’ve come across and I look forward to being a part of this journey.”

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  • Tinder swipes left on the Google Play Store’s payment platform

    Tinder swipes left on the Google Play Store’s payment platform

    Dating app Tinder has a UI designed to allow users to make quick decisions on whom to meet. In fact, it has become part of pop culture. Swiping to the right on a profile indicates that you are interested in that person while swiping to the left means that you have no interest. According to Bloomberg, which cited research done by Macquarie analyst Ben Schachter, Tinder’s parent company is swiping left on the Google Play Store’s in-app subscription platform. Similar to music streamer Spotify’s complaint against Apple, Tinder’s parent company, the Match Group, objects to Google taking a 30% cut of in-app revenue generated in its app storefront.

    Spotify took its complaint to the European Union’s competition commission which has opened an antitrust investigation against Apple. But there is a huge difference between iOS and Android. Those using the former are essentially forced to use the App Store while Android users can easily sideload apps. That could be the difference between being called a monopoly or just an opportunist.

    Apple responded by noting that the 30% cut that Spotify CEO Daniel Ek keeps mentioning actually drops to 15% after a year. As a result, Apple claims that a cut of 15% is being applied to only 680,000 Spotify members. These are subscribers who upgraded from the free tier to the premium tier of service between 2014-2016. After that time period, Spotify stopped allowing iOS users to upgrade through Apple’s in-app payment system (iAP). Instead, payments for upgrades must be through Spotify’s website.

    Similarly, those using Tinder are being asked to enter their credit card information directly into Tinder’s own payment platform. While Tinder is free, you are limited to 100 right swipes a day. With Tinder Plus and Tinder Gold, you get unlimited swipes and a few other perks as well. Tinder Gold also allows users to see who has swiped right on their profile. The latter costs $12 per month for a six-month subscription or $10 per month for a year’s subscription. And Match Group has included an ingenious plan to keep subscribers wedded (see what we did there) to its own platform. After the first payment is made through Match Group, every subsequent payment will automatically take subscribers to the platform bypassing the Google Play Store’s payment system.

    If all of this sounds familiar, and for reasons other than Spotify’s complaints against Apple, it could be that what is happening with Tinder reminds you of what Epic Games did with Fortnite. One of the most popular video games ever, Fortnite had to be sideloaded from Epic Games’ own website to be installed on Android devices. This was done to avoid the 30% cut of revenue that Google would have taken on in-app subscriptions.

    More companies are looking to avoid both the App Store and Google Play Store in-app payment systems. Last December, Netflix stopped allowing new and returning subscribers using iOS to pay for their subscriptions using the App Store. And even Apple’s own customers are concerned that the tech giant is forcing them to pay more for apps because of its 30% cut. In fact, a large number of iOS users are part of a class-action suit that claims Apple’s role as a monopoly is forcing them to pay more for apps. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that the suit can continue. Apple argued that it merely distributes apps sold to iOS users by third-party developers. That position helped it win a unanimous verdict from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. But the Supreme Court decided that Apple is actually more than just a distributor of apps and cited the contracts it signs with these developers as proof of that.

    Both Google and Apple argue that they are providing a high-profile storefront for developers to sell their apps and that they aren’t being unreasonable for asking them to make contributions to the eco-systems that allow their apps to thrive.

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  • Render shows that Vivo could be taking the next step toward a full-screen design

    Render shows that Vivo could be taking the next step toward a full-screen design

    Ever since phone manufacturers started to find alternatives for the placement of the selfie camera on their phones, the industry has been moving toward the Holy Grail; a 100% screen-to-body ratio. Former Apple design chief Sir Jony Ive admitted a few years ago that he wanted an iPhone that looked like a single sheet of glass. First, he states that earlier this year Samsung canceled a project called Full-Display 2.0. The team working on this project was trying to develop a phone that was all screen without a notch, punch-hole or a cutout.

    This decision, according to Ice Universe, was a “serious mistake” on Samsung’s part. Why? Because manufacturers in China have been working toward the goal of producing a phone sporting a full-display. And it would appear from a render that was included in the tweet, that Vivo is going to take the next step toward releasing a full-screen phone with the Vivo NEX 2. The render shows a phone with curved edges with no side bezels or side buttons.  There is an extremely thin bezel at the top and a small chin at the bottom. Since the original NEX featured a pop-up selfie camera, we can expect more of the same with the sequel. Or perhaps there is an in-display camera.

    Even though Vivo isn’t expected to sell the NEX 2 in the states, it is important to see what some of the innovative Chinese manufacturers are doing. That’s because a phone doesn’t have to be sold in the U.S. to start a new design trend. For example, the 2016 Xiaomi Mi Mix and its edge-to-edge display influenced the designs of some phone manufacturers who do sell their devices in the states.

    With in-display fingerprint scanners already here and in-display selfie cameras on the way, it might not be terribly long before we see a handset with a screen-to-body ratio approaching 100%.

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  • Verizon launches its fifth 5G device in its fifth 5G market

    Verizon launches its fifth 5G device in its fifth 5G market

    Verizon is taking another small step today towards a nationwide 5G coverage dream that continues to seem so annoyingly distant by expanding the list of cities embracing the next standard in mobile connectivity to five. As expected, St. Paul, Minnesota is joining Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Providence, but fret not, as this sluggish rollout is about to substantially speed up.

    Big Red is not giving up on its rather ambitious goal of spreading the 5G love to “more than” 30 cities by the end of the year, although some of those locations remain under wraps and there are no words on future release dates. It’s also important to highlight Verizon’s “true” 5G Ultra Wideband network is only accessible in certain parts of the five aforementioned cities for the time being.

    As far as St. Paul is concerned, the new ultra-low latency and insanely high download speeds are available in “parts” of Downtown, Lowertown, and West Seventh neighborhoods “around” landmarks including the Minnesota Children’s Museum, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Fitzgerald Theater, Cathedral Hill Park, and the Alexander Ramsey House. That doesn’t exactly sound impressive, but it’s a start.

    Besides, the nation’s largest wireless service provider promises your 5G device will be able to seamlessly switch to 4G LTE connectivity where a 5G signal is out of reach. Speaking of devices, the Inseego 5G MiFi M1000 hotspot is exclusively available for Verizon subscribers starting today at an outright price of $650.

    This is the fifth 5G-enabled gadget released by Verizon, targeting both businesses and everyday consumers. The ultra-advanced hotspot allows up to 15 devices to connect simultaneously, supporting “near real-time” virtual reality and augmented reality experiences, as well as 4K and 8K video streaming with “near real-time downloads and virtually no buffering delays.”

    If $650 feels a little rich for your blood, you can get that price point down to $499.99 with a two-year contract or pay $27.08 a month for two years. Don’t forget you also need to pay a little something extra on your monthly plan to actually get 5G access.

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  • App adds Google Assistant functionality to your Samsung Galaxy Watch

    App adds Google Assistant functionality to your Samsung Galaxy Watch

    So let’s say that you’re currently rocking the Samsung Galaxy Watch and you’re not happy with the virtual assistant on the timepiece. After all, Bixby is an acquired taste. And since the watches are running Tizen, well the Google Assistant is out. Or is it? According to Android Police, the GAssist.net app can help you put much of the Google Assistant’s functionality on your Tizen powered timepiece. You will need to visit the Galaxy Store to load the app on your watch and the Google Play Store to load the companion Android app on your phone.

    Installation is a bit complex It will require you to store on your phone a file generated from the Google Cloud Platform website. A YouTube video was created to show you how this is accomplished. You can find that video in the slideshow at the bottom of this article. Once that is done and the correct apps are stored on the watch and phone, the apps themselves will guide you through the remainder of the setup.

    Keep in mind that you won’t be able to access the Assistant by saying a hot word. Activation is accomplished by opening the app and tapping on the word ‘Listen.’ You also can’t use the app to control other functions on the watch, like timers and alarms. But you can use it to handle the requests and demands that you would normally turn over to Google Assistant including turning on or off smart appliances and get the weather. Some Reddit posters say that it opens faster than Google Assistant does on Wear OS devices. And you can allow your watch to receive personal results on the GAssist.net app (after installation of course) by opening Google Assistant on your phone and clicking on the icon at the bottom left of the screen. From there, click on your profile at the top right of the display. Tap on the Assistant tab and scroll down to Assistant devices. You should see a listing for Galaxy Watch. Tap on it and allow personal results.

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 could be introduced during the same August 7th Samsung Unpacked event that will unwrap the Galaxy Note 10 line. The device will come with an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor, although that feature requires FDA approval which might not come until the middle of 2020.

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  • Toyota, BYD Team Up To Develop Battery EVs

    Toyota, BYD Team Up To Develop Battery EVs

    Toyota Motor said it would develop battery electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries with BYD Co Ltd, in a sign it was ramping up partnerships with Chinese players as planned to build affordable EVs for the world’s top auto market. In a joint statement, Toyota and the Chinese electric automaker said on Friday that they would develop sedans and sport utility vehicles, which would then be sold under the Toyota brand in China before 2025.

    Earlier this week, Toyota announced it was teaming up with China’s Contemporary Amerex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) to supply and develop batteries for lower-emission vehicles.

    Widely considered a late comer in embracing battery EVs versus rivals including Nissan, Toyota had flagged in June that it aimed to get half of its global sales from EVs, including gasoline hybrids, by 2025, five years ahead of schedule.But to meet this accelerated timeline, Toyota, Japan’s top automaker, would need more-than-expected batteries, prompting it to look beyond Panasonic Corp, its long-time partner in battery development, to secure supply.

    These measures come amid a breakneck growth in the zero-emission vehicle market, with tighter global emissions regulations expected to shift even more drivers away from gasoline engine vehicles in the coming decades. In China, Toyota is planning to launch its first battery EV, a version of its C-HR/IZOA compact crossover, next year.