Huawei overtakes Apple in annual race to Samsung’s smartphone crown

Huawei overtook Apple to become the world’s second best selling smartphone manufacturer in 2019, according to reports from Strategy Analytics, Counterpoint Research, and Canalys. Over the course of the year, the Chinese manufacturer reportedly shipped around 240 million phones, compared to just under 200 million for Apple. Samsung retained its comfortable lead in first place, shipping just shy of 300 million devices. Xiaomi and Oppo rounded out the list of the top five manufacturers.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/30/21114885/huawei-overtakes-apple-2019-analysts-strategy-analytics-counterpoint-research-canalys?source=Snapzu

Apple and its wifi chip company Broadcom ordered to pay $1.1bn to university over iPhone patents

Caltech claims Apple and Broadcom infringed four of its patents by using wifi chips in hundreds of millions of iPhones.
Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/apple-and-its-wifi-chip-company-broadcom-ordered-to-pay-11bn-to-university-over-iphone-patents-11921401?source=Snapzu

Apple reported record revenue from iPhone sales over the holidays

Apple released its financial report, which said the company had a 9% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year ($91.8 billion), which was significantly higher than analysts forecast (88.5 billion) dollars). Apple also saw higher revenues in the hardware sector, which had stagnated a year earlier.
Read more: https://www.appteh.com/2020/01/apple-reported-record-revenue-from.html?source=Snapzu

Cows CHAT to each other about food and the weather, study finds

The study, by a team from the University of Sydney, discovered that dairy cows respond to positive and negative emotional situations and have their own individual moo.
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7894257/Cows-CHAT-food-weather-express-emotions-study-finds.html?source=Snapzu

Apple TV Plus Had ‘Immaterial’ Revenue in Launch Quarter Amid One-Year Free Deal

Apple reported record-setting sales of nearly $92 billion for the three months that ended 2019 — but Apple TV Plus, the flashy new subscription-video service it bowed last fall, wasn’t part of the tech giant’s growth story.
Read more: https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/apple-tv-plus-was-immaterial-to-revenue-in-launch-quarter-amid-one-year-free-deal-1203484602/?source=Snapzu

Dune logo unveiled at event; copyright claimants rush to remove it from the 'net

The logo for Denis Villeneuve's forthcoming Dune movie series was revealed at an event in France last night. It appears the movie's producers are rushing to remove it from the 'net, as photos of the logo are disappearing from popular Dune fan accounts with copyright enforcement notices left in their wake.
Read more: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/29/dune-logo-unveiled-at-event-c.html?source=Snapzu

Restaurants That Don't Even Deliver Are Ending Up on Grubhub Against Their Will

San Francisco restaurant Kin Khao doesn't do take-out or delivery. So why is it an option on Grubhub and Seamless?
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ag3yn/restaurants-that-dont-even-deliver-are-ending-up-on-grubhub-against-their-will?source=Snapzu

AirPods sales predicted to reach 90 million units in 2020; AirPods Pro remain sold out in some stores

The annual release of new iPhones is probably one of the most awaited events held by Apple. However, 2019 proved tech fans and market watchers that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant has a new major source of revenue, especially after the launch of AirPods Pro last October.
Read more: https://www.econotimes.com/AirPods-sales-predicted-to-reach-90-million-units-in-2020-AirPods-Pro-remain-sold-out-in-some-stores-1573142?source=Snapzu

Coronavirus: Companies tell workers 'stay at home'

Companies in China have advised staff to work from home in an attempt to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Businesses are also offering workers longer holidays, as well as telling employees returning from the most affected areas to stay away from work. It comes after the Chinese government extended the Lunar New Year holiday by three days to Sunday.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51260149?source=Snapzu

Aurora is finally ready to show the world what it’s been up to

One day, a scientist in Craig Ferris’s lab was scanning the brains of very old rats when he found that one could see, hear, smell, and feel just like the other rats, but it was walking around with basically no brain—and likely had been since birth.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/24/21080298/aurora-self-driving-car-announcement-2020-plan-waymo-ford-general-motors?source=Snapzu

Europe has a plan to break Google and Amazon's cloud dominance

By now, you’ve likely come to terms with the fact that escape from Jeff Bezos is impossible. You may have weaned yourself off that sweet sweet next day delivery, procuring all your worldly needs from a boutique array of small local shops, but if you venture online, Bezos still wins – cutting out Amazon’s cloud computing services renders the internet literally unusable.
Read more: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/europe-gaia-x-cloud-amazon-google?source=Snapzu

Insecticides have gotten way more toxic to honey bees

Rising neonicotinoid seed treatments applied to corn and soy in US agricultural landscapes during the past 20 years are the primary driver of the change, the researchers found.
Read more: https://www.futurity.org/honey-bees-toxic-insecticides-2261692-2/?source=Snapzu

Negative Interest Rates Getting Bankers Nervy as Bitcoin Accrues Value

The global financial system sits on a precipice at the moment where the future is quite uncertain. Major central banks have had to start enacting policies in an attempt to keep their economies afloat and to stimulate spending. One of the negative backspins of this is that saving gets sacrificed in these policies.
Read more: https://thedailychain.com/negative-interest-rates-getting-bankers-nervy-as-bitcoin-accrues-value/?source=Snapzu

Netflix Shares Rise 7% As Wall Street Sees Comcast Subscriber Losses As A Boost

Netflix shares, which are the subject of great debate on Wall Street, rose more than 7% Thursday in the wake of a concession by Comcast earlier in the day that the media giant will continue to lose subscribers.
Read more: https://deadline.com/2020/01/netflix-shares-rise-as-wall-street-sees-comcast-subscriber-losses-as-boost-1202839575/?source=Snapzu

The Public Domain Is the Rule, Copyright Is the Exception

Remember the monkey selfie? Animal rights organizations and a photographer went to court to fight over who owned the copyright in a picture where the photographer set up the camera but the animal took the pic, and great fun was had by all. But as our friends at Public Knowledge noted, maybe no one "owned" the picture.
Read more: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/public-domain-rule-copyright-exception?source=Snapzu

Column: Is a supermarket discount coupon worth giving away your privacy?

Ralphs customers are being told that joining the company's rewards program could result in extensive data gathering, including your job, your education, your health and your insurance coverage.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-01-21/ralphs-privacy-disclosure?source=Snapzu

He Wanted a Unicorn. He Got ... a Sustainable Business

Gumroad founder Sahil Lavingia finds a way to thrive outside Silicon Valley's cult of big riches.
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/he-wanted-unicorn-got-sustainable-business/?source=Snapzu

[UPDATED] 101 Best Email Subject Lines | DigitalMarketer

Get DigitalMarketer's newest 101 best email subject lines. Use these swipeable headlines as inspiration in your business’ email marketing.
Read more: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/101-best-email-subject-lines/?source=Snapzu

Scientists Say They're Close to Making A Spicy Tomato

Scientists Say They're Close to Making A Spicy Tomato
Read more: https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/scientists-say-theyre-close-to-making-a-spicy-tomato?source=Snapzu

People still want plastic bottles, says Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them, the firm's head of sustainability has told the BBC. Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight, said Bea Perez. The firm, which is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, has pledged to recycle as many plastic bottles as it uses by 2030. But environmental campaigners argue many Coke bottles would still go uncollected and end up in landfill.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51197463?source=Snapzu

HP Remotely Kills Perfectly Good Ink Cartridge With DRM

The half-used ink cartridge wouldn't print until it was re-enrolled in the "HP Instant Ink" program for $4.99 per month.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/939ay3/hp-remotely-kills-perfectly-good-ink-cartridge-with-drm?utm_source=digg?source=Snapzu

The American Dream is much easier to achieve in Canada

If you're born in the United States, having wealthy parents matters a great deal to your chances of success, according to a new report.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/business/wef-social-mobility-index/index.html?source=Snapzu

Operator of Popcorn Time Info Site is Liable for Piracy, Supreme Court Rules

The Danish Supreme Court has upheld a conditional prison sentence against the operator of a website that provided information on the piracy app Popcorn Time. The site itself didn't host the infringing software, but the detailed instructions it provided were enough to warrant criminal liability for copyright infringements of the site's users.
Read more: https://torrentfreak.com/operator-of-popcorn-time-info-site-is-liable-for-piracy-supreme-court-rules-200115/?source=Snapzu

China’s ridesharing giant DiDi makes Uber look like a driver sweat shop

Chinese drivers are earning well above average income while Aussie Uber drivers can’t make minimum wage. Marcus Reubenstein reports.
Read more: https://www.michaelwest.com.au/news-chinas-ridesharing-giant-didi-makes-uber-look-like-a-driver-sweat-shop/?source=Snapzu

Disney Drops "Fox" From 20th Century, Searchlight Logos

The labels will now be branded as Searchlight Pictures and 20th Century Studios on releases.
Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-drops-fox-20th-century-searchlight-logos-1270685?source=Snapzu

Apple urges EU to halt the rise of patent trolls

The European Union needs to take action against "patent trolls," Apple has urged as part of a group of tech companies and car manufacturers, with the growth of non-practicing entities stifling innovation in firms who try to exploit the entire patent system for financial gain.
Read more: https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/01/16/apple-urges-eu-to-halt-the-rise-of-patent-trolls?source=Snapzu

GameStop Stock Plummets After A 27.5% Decrease In Holiday Sales

GameStop announced sales in the holiday period were $1.8 billion, sending its stock down as much as 16%.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/01/14/gamestop-stock-plummets-after-a-275-decrease-in-holiday-sales/#32ba6a9249a5?source=Snapzu

Apple's new privacy features have further rattled the location-based ad market

The pivot to privacy is roiling the location-based ad market, calling into question its future direction at a time when people are alert about the collection of their geographic information.
Read more: https://digiday.com/marketing/apples-new-privacy-features-rattle-location-based-ad-market/?source=Snapzu

Amazon's Alexa world just got much bigger

It took Amazon four years to populate the world with 100 million Alexa-powered devices. It took the company just one more year to more than double that number. The e-commerce titan announced Monday that there are now "hundreds of millions of Alexa-enabled devices" in customers' hands worldwide, a massive increase from the 100 million it announced last January.
Read more: https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-sees-alexa-devices-more-than-double-in-just-one-year/?source=Snapzu

Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

We should look at individuals—not national averages—as the unit of analysis, and ask: Are wages adequate for full-time workers?
Read more: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/01/08/low-unemployment-isnt-worth-much-if-the-jobs-barely-pay/?source=Snapzu

Uber and Hyundai collaborate to develop flying taxis

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas this past week, Uber and Hyundai revealed a full-scale model for an electric flying vehicle that they say customers will be able to summon through Uber’s app in future.
Read more: https://themilsource.com/uber-and-hyundai-develop-flying-taxis-january-2020/?source=Snapzu

Uber stops upfront ride pricing in response to California worker law

Uber Technologies Inc on Wednesday informed its California customers that it wou...
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-california/uber-stops-upfront-ride-pricing-in-response-to-california-worker-law-idUSKBN1Z731Z?source=Snapzu

The Supreme Court will decide software development's future in Google v. Oracle

The final steps are being made in the Google v. Oracle copyright case, which will put the fate of programming in the hands of the Supreme Court.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-supreme-court-will-decide-software-developments-future-in-google-v-oracle/?source=Snapzu

Greggs to pay workers £7m bonus after vegan sausage roll success

Employees at Greggs are being rewarded with a £7m special bonus after the hugely successful launch of the bakery chain’s vegan sausage roll last year boosted sales and profits. The bakery chain’s 25,000 employees will receive up to £300 each in their pay packets this month – with shop floor staff and managers receiving the same amount. Greggs said it was making the one-off payment to workers “in recognition of their crucial contribution to business success”.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/08/greggs-to-pay-workers-7m-bonus-after-vegan-sausage-roll-success?source=Snapzu

After Tesla's record year in Norway, rivals gear up for 2020

OSLO (Reuters) - New electric car sales in Norway rose by a third last year amid soaring demand for Tesla Inc’s (TSLA.O) vehicles, but the pioneering U.S. company will face a more competitive market in 2020 as rivals prepare to launch new electric models.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-electric-norway/after-teslas-record-year-in-norway-rivals-gear-up-for-2020-idUSKBN1Z20QQ?source=Snapzu

History of the two-day weekend offers lessons for today's calls for a four-day week

The idea of reducing the working week from an average of five days to four is gaining traction around the world. Businesses and politicians have been considering a switch to fewer, but more productive hours spent working. But the idea has also been derided. As a historian of leisure, it strikes me that there are a number of parallels between debates today and those that took place in the 19th century when the weekend as we now know it was first introduced. Having Saturdays as well as Sundays off work is actually a relatively modern phenomenon.
Read more: https://theconversation.com/history-of-the-two-day-weekend-offers-lessons-for-todays-calls-for-a-four-day-week-127382?source=Snapzu

Elon Musk says will design a future Tesla car in China for global market

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will design a future car in China for the global market. The electric car company founder said Tesla would open a design and engineering center in the world’s second-largest economy. He did not specify any timelines.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/elon-musk-says-tesla-will-design-future-car-in-china-for-global-market.html?source=Snapzu

Warren Buffett Is Bailing On Coal

Warren Buffett, probably the world’s most successful investor, a man noted for the conservatism of his investment policy and aversion to high tech, wants out of coal? Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway controls a string of electric utilities that, in the past, burned plenty of coal. One of his largest utility holdings, PacifiCorp controls coal burning utilities throughout the west. It wants to phase out coal-burning power stations in Wyoming. Reason: according to a PacifiCorp official, a combination of renewables and energy storage is “really lower-cost than continuing to operate some of our existing fleet.” Notice the wording.
Read more: https://safehaven.com/commodities/energy/Warren-Buffett-Is-Bailing-On-Coal.html?source=Snapzu

Bill Gates’s big takeaway from 2019: raise his taxes

The year 2019 saw Bill Gates reclaim his title as the world’s richest person from Jeff Bezos — and come under harsher scrutiny than ever amid a new, powerful backlash against the billionaire class and the economic system that produces extraordinary wealth like his.
Read more: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/1/4/21048327/bill-gates-wealth-tax-new-years-philanthropy?source=Snapzu

Big Tech will push deeper into finance this year — but avoid the 'headache' of being a bank

Google and Apple are pushing into consumer banking without taking on the regulatory restraints that come with being a bank.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/big-tech-will-push-into-finance-in-2020-while-avoiding-bank-regulation.html?source=Snapzu

This startup is raising $7 million for a technology that can authenticate people based on their typing style

TypingDNA, a four-year-old startup that was founded in Bucharest, Romania and more recently moved its headquarters to Brooklyn, New York, looks to be raising $7 million in funding for something interesting: AI-driven technology that it says can recognize people based on the way they type, both on t…
Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/03/this-startup-is-raising-7-million-for-a-technology-that-can-authenticate-people-based-on-their-typing-style/?source=Snapzu

The Untold Story of New Year’s Novelty Glasses

Three decades ago, two stoner musicians designed a product whose cheap imitations sold into the billions — but today, nobody knows their names
Read more: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-untold-story-of-new-years-novelty-glasses?source=Snapzu

U-Haul will no longer hire smokers in 21 states

U-Haul announced it will no longer hire nicotine users. The policy will take effect Feb. 1 in 21 states.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/01/02/u-haul-announces-nicotine-free-hiring-policy-set-take-effect-21-states/2796737001/?source=Snapzu

Greyhound is giving free tickets to runaways who want to return home

To get a ticket home, young people between the ages of 12 and 21 must call the NRS helpline (1-800-RUNAWAY). They must be named on a runaway report and be willing to return to their family. The family or guardian also needs to agree to receive them at home.
Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/31/us/greyhound-runaway-kids-home-free-ticket-trnd/index.html?source=Snapzu

How the Entertainment Industry Solved Piracy, Then Made It Popular Again

Streaming services are starting to look a lot like cable packages.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdpvp/how-the-entertainment-industry-solved-piracy-then-made-it-popular-again?source=Snapzu

Sonos gives a lame reason for bricking older devices in 'Recycle Mode'

Sonos has given new meaning to "programmed obsolescence" with its "Recycle Mode" trade-up program.
Read more: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/31/sonos-recycle-mode-explanation-falls-flat/?source=Snapzu

Hasbro Toy Company Now Officially Owns Death Row Records

It’s official. Toy company Hasbro now owns Death Row Records. On Monday (Dec. 30), Brian Goldner, Hasbro chairman and chief executive officer, announced the acquisition of Entertainment One, which owns Death Row Records, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.8 billion. The deal was made last summer, but now it's officially been closed.
Read more: https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2019/12/hasbro-death-row-deal-owns/?source=Snapzu