- The app boom is over: The mobile app boom kicked off in July 2008, when Apple introduced the App Store. Now it is over. People are still making plenty of apps, of course. And many people are still downloading them. But the go-go growth days are gone. If you are an independent app developer or publisher, you have probably known this for a while, because you have found it very difficult to get people to download your app — the average American smartphone user downloads zero apps per month. But now even the very biggest app publishers are seeing their growth slow down or stop altogether. Most people have all the apps they want and/or need. They're not looking for new ones. Last month, the top 15 app publishers saw downloads drop an average of 20 percent in the U.S., according to research from Nomura, which relies on data from app tracker SensorTower. So you can still break through the saturated app market, if you are very very very lucky, and good. But the odds are stacked against you.
- Why everyone should worry about this scary glitch that affected rich drivers: Carmaker Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus rushed to fix a software bug Wednesday that had caused a malfunction in vehicles’ GPS, climate control and “infotainment,” or front console radio systems. It disabled the backup camera and hands-free phone functions as well. Errant data broadcast Tuesday by the company’s traffic and weather service confounded vehicles' "Enform" infotainment system installed in 2014, 2015 and 2016 Lexus vehicles and the 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser, the company said. The data made the subscription-based “Enform” system continuously reboot itself, rendering it unusable and drawing the ire and of many a driver. Lexus’s social media accounts were flooded with complaints through Wednesday morning and by 9 a.m., the company told customers to stand by for a momentary fix. Owners should force a reset of their vehicle’s computer by disconnecting its 12-volt battery for at least 5 minutes, the company said. Owners can also bring their vehicles to a Lexus dealer to reset their system. The company halted the offending data stream overnight, but did not anticipate lingering problems in its vehicles. Lexus said it is still determining how many vehicles the bug impacted. The same way smartphone or software companies remotely update their products, car companies are increasingly doing the same to fix operating system glitches and even update road maps and car-friendly mobile applications. That’s because cars are increasingly becoming giant rolling computers, capable of doing an untold number of tasks while getting from Point A to Point B. Consider the“Enform” service, which includes smartphone and app connectivity, SiriusXM satellite radio, traffic and weather updates and Bluetooth connectivity. A new car might have 100 million lines of code, according to a report by research and accounting firm Stout Risius Ross. The more luxurious the car, the more interconnected its technological components may be.
- What to Do With Apple Cash? Irish Dilemma as EU Ruling Looms: As Ireland braces itself for a possible European Union order to claw back Apple Inc.’s unpaid taxes, government officials warned Finance Minister Michael Noonan that he would face two crucial questions upon delivery of a ruling that could come “soon.” The first is whether to appeal at the EU’s top court. The second, is what to do with the “large recovery amounts” pending the outcome. Ireland could be sitting on the cash for “several years,” according to a briefing note from last month published Wednesday. Amid growing speculation that Apple could be forced to pay back billions of euros of tax breaks, officials said they are preparing for the worst and that an adverse ruling “could have significant negative implications for Ireland, in terms of reputation and the creation of uncertainty around our tax system.”
- Apple Pay competitor CurrentC is the disaster everyone thought it would be: Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. When Walmart and other big retailers said in 2012 that they were creating a consortium called MCX to build a payments app, a lot of people laughed. The idea of a bunch of retailers collaborating effectively on a joint venture seemed far-fetched, let alone one where technology would play a critical role. Then there was the motivation for the venture, which seemed shortsighted: Get customers to pay with anything but traditional credit cards, since they cost Walmart and other retailers higher transaction fees than other forms of payment. There were plenty of other signs along the way spelling out trouble. Just a sampling: Customers who signed up for the app had their email addresses leaked in a hack in 2014, and the new CEO who arrived in 2015 said the launch likely wouldn't happen until 2016. In the meantime, some big MCX partners like Best Buy said they would start accepting Apple Pay. Finally, Walmart — perhaps MCX's biggest initial backer — announced its own app, Walmart Pay. Some Walmart insiders were obviously tired of waiting for CurrentC to become a reality.Turns out there was good reason for these red flags. On Tuesday, the company notified beta users of its payments app, CurrentC, that the test was ending and their accounts were being deleted. This news followed MCX layoffs in May. It finally looks like game over for CurrentC.
