Daily Tech Snippet: Monday, July 20

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• Apple Waits as App Developers Study Who’s Buying Its Watch: In the months surrounding the much-ballyhooed release of the Apple Watch, Apple managers courted Facebook in the hopes that the social networking giant would make a software application for the new gadget. Facebook was not persuaded. Three months after the watch’s release, there is no Facebook app tailored for it. Adam Mosseri, who oversees Facebook’s news feed, said the social network had been studying the Apple Watch but had not figured out how to deliver a good Facebook experience — including the news feed’s stream of posts, photos and videos — on such a small screen. The lack of support from Facebook — and from other popular app makers like Snapchat and Google, which also do not have apps for Apple Watch — underscores the skepticism that remains in the technology community about the wearable device. That puts the watch, Apple’s first new product since the iPad in 2010, in something of a Catch-22: The companies whose apps would most likely prompt more people to buy the device are waiting to see who is buying it and how they use it. Another challenge with the Apple Watch software system is that apps have to process all the data on the iPhone and then beam it to the watch, limiting what the Apple Watch apps can do. The next version of the software, which will be released in the fall, will remedy this by letting developers write apps that run directly on the watch, relying on the iPhone mostly for the Internet connection. That doesn’t mean the Apple Watch lacks apps. Apple released the device in April with more than 3,000 apps — far more than the 500 that were available for the iPhone when the App Store opened in 2008. Yet only five of the 20 most popular free iPhone apps in the United States have versions for the Apple Watch, according to data from App Annie, an analytics firm. And the number of apps for the watch, which now stands at about 7,400, is growing at a slower rate than the explosive uptick of apps that were produced for iPhones and iPads in their early days. While the number of apps for the watch jumped 142 percent in the first three months, that compared to 437 percent for the iPhone and 200 percent for the iPad, according to data provided by App Annie.


• Tesla Offers New ‘Ludicrous Mode’: Zero to 60 in 2.8 Seconds: Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk introduced a new “Ludicrous Mode” for the dual-motor version of the Model S during a call on Friday, allowing the all-electric sedan to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. The upgrade costs an additional $10,000 for new buyers and results in a 10 percent acceleration improvement. The hold music before the conference call began was a loop of the rap song Beast Mode by Ludacris. Tesla will also offer Ludicrous Mode for its coming Model X SUV, which will probably clock in at zero to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, according to Musk. “We haven’t tested it yet, so that’s just a guess,” he said. “That’s mad for an SUV, obviously.” Here’s how Tesla squeezed out the extra juice to go from insane to ludicrous. The limiting factor for acceleration during the first 30 mph is traction—basically getting the wheels to stay connected to earth. Tesla had already solved that engineering roadblock. The limiting factor when accelerating from 30 mph to 60 mph, on the other hand, is pulling enough current from the battery pack.


• Google Adds a Record $60 Billion to Its Stock in One Day: The search-engine giant added $65 billion to its market capitalization today, more than the size of Hewlett-Packard Co. The surge, following earnings that topped analyst estimates, is the biggest one-day gain in value ever for a U.S. company, according to data compiled by Standard and Poor's Dow Jones Indices. Apple held the previous record, with a $46.4 billion surge in April 2012. Google’s rally pushed the Mountain View, California-based company further ahead of Microsoft Corp. in rankings of the world’s biggest companies, sending its value to about $468 billion compared with the software giant’s $377 billion. The shares are up 26 percent in five days, the biggest one-week advance since it went public in 2004. Thursday’s report marked the first time since 2013 that Google has announced quarterly adjusted earnings per share higher than expectations. Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, who joined the company in May, also signaled plans to bring more restraint to spending at the Internet search giant.


• Etsy Surges Most Since IPO on Mention in Google Revenue Call: Etsy surged the most since it went public, after Google said the online artisan marketplace is seeing a boost in traffic from mobile-search results. Etsy gained 31 percent to $21.98 at the close in New York, the biggest climb since its IPO on April 16. The shares had increased 5.2 percent from the stock’s debut through Thursday’s close. Brooklyn-based Etsy, a platform where sellers offer homemade and vintage items ranging from jewelry to wall art, has been trying to boost sales after its first-quarter net loss widened. Google’s “deep links,” which redirect users to mobile applications when they click results from a Web search, could help Etsy lure more shoppers to its marketplace.“Developers like Etsy are already seeing a boost in traffic as a result of deep linking,” Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer, said on an earnings phone call Thursday. Etsy’s sudden spike may be creating what’s called a short squeeze -- meaning traders who were betting against the company have to cover their positions at the higher price, leading to swings in the stock.


• China central bank issues guidelines on internet finance development: The central bank called on the government to support internet firms in setting up platforms for expenditures and loans, crowdfunding, the sale of financial products and other financing platforms. It called for broadening channels of financing and supporting private investment funds to back the internet finance industry. The bank also recommended tax breaks for qualifying small enterprises including start-ups, saying that provincial level governments should increase their support for those companies.


• Indian PC market dips as smartphone, tablet sales rise: PC market in the country has declined for the first time to 10.6 million units, falling over 10 per cent, on account of growing consumer preference for smartphones and tablets, industry body MAIT today said. According to MAIT-IMRB report, desktop and notebook market cumulatively stood at 11.8 million units in 2013-14. Smartphone market in 2014-15 grew 33 per cent to 69.6 million units, while phablets and tablets grew 527 per cent (50.8 million) and four per cent (3.4 million units) respectively. In revenue terms, the PC market declined to Rs 21,058 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 25,117 crore in the previous fiscal. For smartphones and tablets, the revenue was up 88 per cent to over Rs 65,815 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 34,900 crore a year ago. “The growth is expected to continue in 2015-16 with smartphones expected to grow 27 per cent, phablets 65 per cent and tablets 16 per cent,” he said. During the year 2014-15, server sales registered a growth of 30 per cent over the last financial year at 1,82,727 units. The overall size of Indian ICT hardware market, which comprises printers, servers and computers among others, stood at USD 15.87 billion, showing a growth of 23.98 per cent over the previous year.