- Facebook, Facing Bias Claims, Shows How Editors and Algorithms Guide News: Facebook, the largest social media network, published internal editorial guidelines on Thursday, the company’s latest attempt to rebut accusations that it is politically biased in the news content it shows on the pages of its 1.6 billion users. The 28-page document details how both editors and computer algorithms play roles in the process of picking what should appear in the “Trending Topics” section of users’ Facebook pages. Facebook describes a list of processes it uses to display some of the most popular content across the network, including relying on algorithms to detect up-and-coming news trends as well as a team of editors who, much like a newsroom, direct how those topics are presented and decide what should be displayed to people who regularly use the service. As the guidelines make clear, at practically every point in the process, a human editor is given the leeway to exercise his or her editorial influence. The document was released just days after a report on the tech news siteGizmodo said Facebook editors had intentionally “suppressed” news topics from conservative publications trending across the network. The report also said editors were able to artificially inflate the importance of other topics by “injecting” them into the Trending section of users’ Facebook pages. Since those claims surfaced, Facebook has been questioned by news sites across the political spectrum and by legislators in Washington. On Thursday, critics urged the company to consider the biases of its editors. “As long as Facebook is hiring editors who lean left politically, those stories are going to get preferential treatment,” Erick Erickson, former editor in chief of the conservative website RedState and founder of another conservative site called The Resurgent, said in an email. “I’d hope that Facebook would take care to consider all views and all news.” The company has continued to deny accusations of political bias and pointed to editorial rules that discourage Trending Topics staff members from taking one viewpoint or another.
- Alibaba Bears Retreat as Sales Growth Endures China Slump: Chart: Bearish bets against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. have dropped to the lowest level since January after the Chinese e-commerce leader’s quarterly revenue beat analysts’ forecasts even as the nation’s economy grows at the slowest pace in 25 years. Short interest fell to 7.1 percent this week after peaking at a two-year high of 8.5 percent two months ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Markit Ltd. The U.S.-traded stock has risen 4.4 percent since the company reported its quarterly results, while its main competitor JD.com Inc. tumbled 12 percent after reporting a slowdown in sales volume.
- Intel Sells $2.75 Billion of Bonds to Refinance 2016 Debt: Intel Corp. sold $2.75 billion of bonds on Thursday to refinance debt due this year and a portion of notes maturing in 2017. The world’s biggest chipmaker issued debt three parts, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The longest portion was $1.25 billion of 30-year notes yielding 1.55 percentage points above comparable government debt. That’s down from an initial offer of 1.7 percentage points, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. managed the sale.S&P Global Ratings gave the bonds an A+ grade, according to a statement on Thursday. Intel is the latest U.S. blue-chip company to offer notes in what’s poised to be second-busiest week for issuance this year. In its last multibillion-dollar deal, Intel sold $7 billion of bonds in July to finance part of its $16.7 billion takeover of Altera Corp. The company plans to repay its $1.5 billion of 1.95 percent notes due in October and a portion of the $3 billion of 1.35 percent bonds due next year. Investment-grade companies have sold more than $49 billion worth of bonds so far this week as they take advantage of low borrowing costs after posting earnings for the quarter ended March 31. Companies are also front-loading issuance before the summer slowdown, according to Ben Emons, a money manager at Leader Capital Corp. in Los Angeles.
- Apple invests $1 billion in Chinese Uber rival ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing: Apple said on Thursday it has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, a move that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the critical Chinese market. The investment comes as Apple is trying to reinvigorate sales in China, its second-largest market. Apple recently has come under pressure from Chinese regulators, with its online book and film services shut down last month, and Cook is traveling to the country this month. The investment gives Apple, which has hired dozens of automotive experts over the past year, a sizeable stake in Uber Technologies Inc's chief rival in China. Cook said in an interview that he sees opportunities for Apple and Didi Chuxing to collaborate in the future.
- Strong demand for graphics chips to boost Nvidia's revenue: Nvidia Corp forecast better-than-expected revenue for the current quarter as it sees robust demand for its chips that power complex computer graphics. Shares of the company, which also reported profit and revenue above analysts' estimates, were up 7.5 percent in extended trading. The chipmaker last week unveiled its GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070 graphics processors based on its Pascal technology.Revenue from its gaming business, which designs graphics cards such as GeForce for PCs, rose 17 percent to $687 million. The company has weathered a shrinking personal computer industry by focusing on game enthusiasts, who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars for processors used in playing graphically demanding games.Revenue from its data center business, which includes its Tesla processors, rose 62.5 percent to $143 million.Nvidia's net income rose to $196 million, or 33 cents per share, in the first quarter ended May 1 from $134 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 46 cents per share, handily beating analysts' expectations of 32 cents. Revenue rose 13.4 percent to $1.31 billion, while analysts were expecting $1.26 billion. The company also said it intends to return about $1 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2017 through quarterly dividends and share buybacks.
- Tech’s ‘Frightful 5’ Will Dominate Digital Life for Foreseeable Future: There’s a little parlor game that people in Silicon Valley like to play. Let’s call it, Who’s Losing? There are currently four undisputed rulers of the consumer technology industry: Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, now a unit of a parent company called Alphabet. And there’s one more, Microsoft, whose influence once looked on the wane, but which is now rebounding. So which of these five is losing? A year ago, it was Google that looked to be in a tough spot as its ad business appeared more vulnerable to Facebook’s rise. Now, Google is looking up, and it’s Apple, hit by rising worries about a slowdown in iPhone sales, that may be headed for some pain. Over the next couple of weeks, as these companies issue earnings that show how they finished 2015, the state of play may shift once more. But don’t expect it to shift much. Asking “who’s losing?” misses a larger truth about how thoroughly Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft now lord over all that happens in tech. Who’s really losing? In the larger picture, none of them — not in comparison with the rest of the tech industry, the rest of the economy and certainly not in the influence each of them holds over our lives. Indeed, the Frightful Five are so well protected against start-ups that in most situations, the rise of new companies only solidifies their lead. Consider that Netflix hosts its movies on Amazon’s cloud, and Google’s venture capital arm has a huge investment in Uber. Or consider all the in-app payments that Apple and Google get from their app stores, and all the marketing dollars that Google and Facebook reap from start-ups looking to get you to download their stuff. This gets to the core of the Frightful Five’s indomitability. They have each built several enormous technologies that are central to just about everything we do with computers. In tech jargon, they own many of the world’s most valuable “platforms” — the basic building blocks on which every other business, even would-be competitors, depend.
- Alibaba Teams With Nvidia in $1 Billion Bet on Cloud Computing: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will work with Nvidia Corp. on cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and plans to enlist about 1,000 developers to work on its big-data platform during the next three years. The arm of China’s biggest e-commerce operator, known as AliCloud, will boost investment in data analysis and machine learning, it said in a statement Wednesday. AliCloud is staking $1 billion on the belief that demand for processing and storage from governments and companies will boost growth during the next decade as its tries to compete with Amazon.com Inc. in computing services. The investment also reflects Alibaba’s own appetite for information processing as China’s online-retail market grows to 10 trillion yuan ($1.5 billion) by 2020, according to Bain & Co. The push into of cloud computing, where software and services are provided to customers via remote data centers the size of American football fields, prompted Alibaba to open its second data center in Silicon Valley in October and prepare its first in Europe. AliCloud is now extending its scope beyond basic cloud-computing services. It co-founded a quantum computing laboratory with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to help secure its data centers and develop machines capable of even faster calculations. The company will team up with Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia to provide customer support in the areas of deep-learning and high-performance computing, AliCloud said in a statement. AliCloud generates revenue mostly by charging clients a fee for using its computing infrastructure. For now, it contributes a mere sliver of total revenue, with computing and Internet infrastructure accounting for 3.1 percent of sales in the June quarter according to data compiled by Bloomberg. By comparison, Amazon Web Services’ revenue rose a better-than-expected 78 percent to $2.1 billion in the third quarter.
- News Corp denies rumors of Twitter bid: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said rumors about the company's interest in buying microblogging site Twitter Inc or building a stake in it were untrue. Twitter's shares, which rose as much as 14 percent on Wednesday, pared some gains and closed up 4.1 percent at $17.38. The stock rose from a record low after unconfirmed chatter about News Corp's interest in Twitter circulated on Wednesday. The rumors intensified after a CNBC segment, tech website Re/code said. The social media site was evaluated as a takeover target because of the company's shrinking stock price
- How Amazon Is Slowly Building a World in Which It Takes Very Little Effort to Shop 'Replenishment' service nabs GE, other brands: If you use all of Amazon's technologies in the near future, you almost won't have to leave your home. And you won't even have to push buttons to get your household needs fulfilled. The Seattle-based retailer today revealed that General Electric, printer brand Brother and glucose-monitor player Gmate Smart are the latest brands to partner with Amazon Dash Replenishment. The 3-month-old program lets appliances and gadgets order products without any help at all. For instance, GE's washers that utilize what's called "smart dispense technology" can be programmed to automatically order detergent when the owner is running low on his or her go-to brand. You don't even need to push one of those Amazon Dash buttons the e-commerce giant unveiled in April. Essentially, the Replenishment system will send the order through your Amazon Prime account via its namesake mobile app—think items you always need like dog food, coffee beans or grounds, ink cartridges (when it comes to Brother), blood-sugar testing strips (for Gmate Smart), water filters for purifying pitchers, dish-washing soap, etc. No effort required, and if Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos gets his way with drones, very little human energy will be spent on delivering such items to your home. A new commercial world is emerging, indeed. Other brands that were already a part of Dash Replenishment include Whirlpool (for its high-tech dishwashers) and hand sanitizer Purell. The initiative builds on Amazon Echo, the 11-month-old speaker system with voice-control technology that lets folks order goods just by talking into the device.
InMobi ties up with Amazon and Paytm for India launch of discovery-led mobile commerce platform: SoftBank-backed mobile ad technology company InMobi Pte Ltd has joined hands with Amazon India, mobile wallet Paytm and others for the India launch of Miip, its new platform for discovery-led mobile commerce. Miip, which has an animated green monkey as mascot, engages users by suggesting products to buy across apps. It was launched in the US three weeks ago. InMobi, which competes with Facebook and Google for a pie of burgeoning mobile advertising market, will launch Miip in China on August 18. Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi said Miip will aid “serendipitous discovery” of products across thousands of mobile apps. “Today merchants have tough time getting users to discover and explore their products. Miip will create personalised shopping experiences to enable discovery of products from more merchants,” he said. The company has forged a partnership with Amazon.in to initiate a pilot on the Miip platform. Kishore Thotta, head of digital marketing, Amazon India said platforms such as InMobi’s Miip will facilitate cross-app shopping experiences. Miip will facilitate seamless payment and checkouts within the discovery sessions through the “Buy with Paytm” button. Miip will soon be launched in beta version with several partners across e-commerce and app developers such as Magzter, Moneyview, Nestaway, Shopclues, Swiggy, Urban Ladder, Vozpop, Wooplr and Zimmber.
Practo raises $90M from China’s Tencent, Sofina, Google Capital, Yuri Milner, others: Practo, a web-based clinic management software developer and medicare listings provider, has raised $90 million in Series C funding led by Chinese media and technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings. Marquee institutional investors such as Sofina, Sequoia India, Google Capital, Altimeter Capital, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital Global Equities and Russian investor Yuri Milner also put money in this round, as per a press statement. Practo will use the money to expand product lines, acquire more startups and enhance headcount. “We are hard at work building a single health app that helps people live healthier by making better healthcare decisions for themselves and their loved ones. We are excited to partner with some of the best investors on the planet. Our global partners will give us the edge to continue building global healthcare products that our users love,” said Shashank ND, founder and CEO of Practo. A few months ago, Practo had raised $30 million in Series B round from Sequoia India and Matrix Partners. Three years ago, it had raised $4.6 million from Sequoia Capital in Series A funding. Recently, Practo acquired product outsourcing firm Genii Technologies Pvt Ltd for its capabilities in building bespoke e-commerce portals and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms. Practo offers services like helping patients find relevant doctors online, compare them and schedule appointments. It also sells PractoRay under a SaaS model for primary clinics, which enables doctors to schedule and manage patient records. Practo already lists over 8,000 hospitals on its platform and will expand this to over 20,000 by end of this year. Recently, it launched a new feature that allows users to find diagnostic labs in their vicinity. It competes with the likes of Lybrate, HelpingDoc, Praxify and AllizHealth.
Tesla Plunges 9% as Musk Grapples With SUV’s Second-Row Seats: Elon Musk can’t make an SUV without seats. Tesla’s chief executive officer dialed back his forecast for 2015 vehicle deliveries, saying that getting the new sport utility vehicle’s middle-row seats just right is proving thornier than expected. The added threat of not having enough of other interior parts puts the original sales plan at risk, he said. “Our biggest challenges are with the second-row seat,” Musk said Wednesday during a conference call with analysts. “It’s an amazing seat, a sculptural work of art, but a very tricky thing to get right.” He added that some interior trim components could become roadblocks, but the so-called falcon-wing doors weren’t going to be a problem. Assembly snags on the Model X, Tesla Motors Inc.’s first SUV, could also slow output of the Model S sedan, Musk said. So now the company may deliver 50,000 to 55,000 autos in 2015, down from an initial target of 55,000. Tesla shares fell 8.9 percent to $246.13 at the close Thursday after plunging as much as 13 percent for the biggest intraday decline in 21 months. While lowering the bar for this year and next, Musk said he remains “confident” that Tesla will produce about half a million cars in 2020. He’s said that’s when investors should be able to expect the company to become profitable. Musk pointed out Tesla made 600 cars annually five years ago. “Now we can produce 600 cars in three days,” he said. As production of the SUV increases, the company will become free cash-flow positive, probably near the end of this year and “certainly” for the first quarter of 2016, Chief Financial Officer Deepak Ahuja said. Tesla has drawn down $50 million of a $750 million credit line, and left open the possibility of going to Wall Street for additional money.
Apple Music attracts more than 11 million trial members: Apple said on Thursday its new music streaming service has attracted more than 11 million members during its free trial period, a response that music industry experts called respectable but not overwhelming. Apple Music rolled out with a three-month free trial period on June 30. Nearly 2 million people opted for the free trial family plan, which will cost $14.99 a month for up to six family members, the company said. The service costs $9.99 a month for individuals. Apple’s iTunes Store helped revitalize the music industry a decade ago, but digital downloads have slumped in recent years amid a shift toward streaming. Unlike popular streaming services from rivals such as Spotify, Apple’s offering does not include a free on-demand tier, a decision praised by some in the music industry. Apple shares were down 4 cents at $114.84 in early afternoon. Based on typical conversion rates in the industry, it would be impressive if Apple convinced 20 percent of the trial members to become paying subscribers after the free trial ends, he added. Spotify has more than 20 million paid subscribers worldwide, the company has told Reuters.
HTC Plummets to Decade Low on Loss Forecast Five Times Estimates: HTC Corp. plunged by the daily limit after its forecast for a quarterly loss five times greater than estimates spurred analysts to slash their valuations of the stock. Shares dropped 10 percent to NT$63 in Taipei on Friday, heading for their lowest price in more than a decade. The smartphone maker’s third-quarter loss will be NT$5.51 to NT$5.85 per share, compared with expectations for a loss of NT$1.17 per share. Its sales forecast given Thursday is as much as 48 percent below estimates. HTC plans to cut staff, reduce spending and slim down its product catalog as cheaper phones from Huawei Technologies Co. and competition from Samsung Electronics Co. further erode its market share. Founder, Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer Cher Wang has stated she won’t consider mergers, even as the company fell off the global list of top 10 phonemakers. Sales this quarter will be NT$19 billion ($600 million) to NT$22 billion, the company said, compared with estimates for NT$36.8 billion. Revenue at the bottom end of that range would be the lowest in a decade when figures were reported at the parent level. HTC will change its product strategy to produce fewer models over longer time intervals while focusing on a greater share of industry profits instead of shipments, Chief Financial Officer Chang Chialin said Thursday. Cost reductions will start this quarter, with the result of those cuts being shown in the first quarter, he said.
Nvidia's gaming, auto chips drive surprise rise in revenue; Shares rise 10%: Nvidia reported a surprise rise in second-quarter revenue and gave a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the current quarter, helped by strong demand for its graphic chips used in gaming and cars. The company's shares rose nearly 10 percent in extended trading on Thursday. Nvidia's revenue increased 4.5 percent in the quarter ended July 26 to $1.15 billion , while analysts on average were expecting revenue to decrease about 8 percent. Nvidia gets a majority of its revenue from its graphic chips made for personal computers, and there were fears that the fall in PC sales would hurt Nvidia just like it has Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. But, Nvidia said gaming revenue rose 59 percent, helped by strong sales of its popular GeForce series of gaming chips. Nvidia has also been increasing its focus on making chips that allows people to play graphics-heavy games over the internet and chips used in a car's dashboard display and in self-driving cars. Automotive revenue rose 76 percent in the quarter and accounted for only 6.2 percent of total revenue. The company said 8 million cars on the road were using its chips and that it was working with more than 50 companies for its DRIVE chip for self-driving cars. However, revenue in Nvidia's enterprise business fell 14 percent. The business, which makes chips used for software such as AutoCAD, accounted for 16.2 percent of total revenue.
