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2017-10-28

Tech Review | Apple Struggles To Get iPhone X To Market (video)

Tech Review (TR 2017-10-28)--Domain Mondo's weekly review of tech news with commentary, analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Apple Struggles To Get iPhone X To Market, 2) iPhone X Notch an Ugly Deception? 3) Investing: a.The Week, b. Netflix $NFLX House of Cards, c. Cryptocurrency "rational to be irrational"   4)ICYMI Tech News.

1) Apple Struggles To Get iPhone X to Market

Bloomberg.com video above published Oct 25, 2017: Bloomberg's Alex Webb reports on Apple's struggle to get the iPhone X to market on time. He speaks with Bloomberg's Sheryh Ahn and Vonnie Quinn on "Bloomberg Markets."

Oct 27, 2017: As pre-orders open, Apple says iPhone X screen replacement will cost $279, compared to $169 for iPhone 8 Plus; other out-of-warranty repairs will cost $549. [Editor's note: "There's a sucker born every minute."]

See also:
Also note Apple's troubles in China:

 2)  iPhone X Notch an Ugly Deception?--iPhone X "entirely screen"?--"It offends me. It's ungainly and unnatural,"  said influential Apple commentator John Gruber of the so-called "notch," adding, "I think Jony Ive either lost a bet or lost his mind. It looks silly, and to pretend otherwise is nonsense." The marketing, however, tries to turn the nonsense into magical truth says CNET.com. You decide:
The iPhone X "notch" | images source: Apple.com
See also: Apple’s iPhone X notch is an odd design choice | TheVerge.com: "adds a black cut-out to every YouTube video." [Editor's Note: iPhone X pre-orders began Oct 27, shipping to begin November 3.] Apple $AAPL reports its FY17 Q4 earnings Nov 2, 2017.

3) Investing
The Bulls Are Still Running on Wall Street - S&P500 index Oct 27, 2017
a. The Week: Q3 2017 earnings exceed estimates and expectations, markets end week higher.

 •  Markets:  CNBC.com: NASDAQ and S&P 500 rip to record close after blowout tech earnings; Amazon tops $1,100; and Stock market hits records as tech rally powers gains | MarketWatch.com.

 •  U.S. Notches Solid 3% Economic Growth, Despite Hurricanes | WSJ.com: "GDP growth strong in the face of storms that temporarily shuttered major population centers in Texas and Florida"--[Editor's Note: the "Trump Economy" continues to defy Wall Street & Beltway pundits' predictions.]
"The U.S. economy posted its best six-month stretch of growth in three years, rebounding quickly from two hurricanes and showing momentum for the final quarter."--Wall Street Journal Oct 27, 2017.
•  US Treasury Rates Hit Nine-Year Highs | WolfStreet.com Oct 22, 2017. Trump will announce his nominee to be next Fed Chair next week.

 •  University of Michigan: consumer sentiment in October was the strongest seen in 13 years.

b. The Netflix $NFLX House of Cards: "Netflix, whose shares went from $9.94 to $192.47 in five years, is on a peculiar and accelerating treadmill: It needs to borrow ever larger amounts just to cover its ever-larger negative cash flows year after year." --What Junk-Rated Netflix just Said about the Bond Market | WolfStreet.com. 

Why can’t Netflix find a self-sustaining business model? Because, like many other high-flying Silicon Valley companies, it doesn’t have to. It can always borrow the money instead of making it. What’s Netflix's secret? Netflix’s stock price. Investors in $NFLX shares are not only subsidizing Netflix subscribers, they also provide a "guarantee" to the bondholders (at least in the minds of the bondholders). Netflix bonds carry little premium for risk of default because the bondholders reason that Netflix can always sell more stock to pay off the bonds--which is true, until the stock crashes, and it can't. Rue the day!

c. Cryptocurrency: A Letter to Jamie Dimon | Chain.com: "Bitcoin is up 5x in a year, Ethereum is up 30x. The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is ~$175B, up from $12B just a year ago. Why? As in every mania in history, it is currently rational to be irrational ... on almost every dimension, decentralized services [cryptocurrencies] are worse than their centralized counterparts ... slower; They are more expensive; They are less scalable; They have worse user experiences; They have volatile and uncertain governance."  See also: Reuters.com: Backroom battle imperils $230 million cryptocurrency venture; Chaos and hackers stalk investors on cryptocurrency exchanges--Reuters.com; Big money stays away from booming bitcoin--Reuters.com: "too lightly regulated, too volatile and too illiquid."

4) ICYMI Tech News:
  • Amazon offered billions in tax breaks for second U.S. headquarters; Amazon added 159,500 employees in the last quarter,  now has 541,900 employees worldwide after the Whole Foods acquisition, nearly 7 times that of Google and 4 x Microsoft, and is now the second-largest US employer after Walmart. Amazon $AMZN shares soared this week after releasing Q3 2017 earnings. Amazon Key takes deliveries to new level: Inside your home--CNET.com.
  • Google-Cisco cloud deal | CNBC.com: Google still racing to catch Amazon AWS.
  • Snap badly overestimated demand for Spectacles, has hundreds of thousands of unsold units in warehouses, either fully assembled or in parts.--The Information.com.
  • Pay With Google, now lets Android users shop faster by using a debit or credit card setup previously on a Google service such as YouTube. Android 8.1: Oreo's AI future--"Pixel Visual Core and Mate 10 event offer clues about what's next for Android and AI."--AndroidCentral.com
  • Bad Rabbit: Ten things you need to know about the latest ransomware outbreak | ZDNet.com: "4. It spreads via a fake Flash update on compromised websites."
  • U.S. warns public about attacks on energy, industrial firms--Reuters.com
  • Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab has acknowledged its security software took source code for a secret American hacking tool from a personal computer in the United States. [Editor's note: this illustrates another problem with "security software"--a program used for "security" ends up creating a vulnerability--identifying and taking files off a client's computer.]
-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo  

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