Code/red: iPhone 6 Delay Rumors Ship Right on Time
Plus, a solution to eBay’s PayPal problems and a colorful Android hardware fragmentation chart.
- Reno, Nev., is a total disaster.
- Lots of long faces at Aereo.
iPhone Rumor Mill Suffering No Production Problems
Design-related production difficulties are reportedly troubling another one of Apple’s unreleased products ahead of launch, leading once again to concerns that the company may not be able to meet early consumer demand for a device. How might this impact future earnings? How will Apple shares respond? And my God, don’t we go through this every year? Yes, we do. So as you’re reading over reports of setbacks in iPhone 6 display production, remember this: Apple’s supply chain is so vast that it’s impossible to gauge what a production “hiccup” like this one might mean for the company’s business. As CEO Tim Cook said last January: “Our supply chain is very complex and we have multiple sources for our components. Yields can vary, supplier performance can vary. There’s just a long list of things that would make any single data point not a great proxy for what’s going on.”
Smartphone Owners: Eh, I’ve Already Got an App for That
Dan Frommer, Quartz: “Apps now represent 52 percent of time spent with digital media in the U.S., according to comScore, up from 40 percent in early 2013. … Yet most U.S. smartphone owners download zero apps in a typical month, according to comScore’s new mobile app report.”
I Thought the Standard Unit for Manure Weight Was Capitol Buildings
Modern Farmer: “Each year, farm animals in the United States produce over 335 million tons of manure. That’s roughly the weight of 1,000 Empire State Buildings.”
New From Google: The Android Jigsaw Puzzle — 20,000 Ill-Fitting Pieces!
If you think Android version fragmentation is bad, wait until you see this visualization of Android hardware fragmentation. According to a new survey from OpenSignal, there are 18,796 distinct Android devices in circulation this year. That’s 59 percent more than the 11,868 the company found in 2013. Insane.
“Anonymously” as in “Not Really Anonymously at All”
Turns out Secret’s promise of “sharing with friends, anonymously” is not to be taken literally. Not only is the slam book community of shiterati and casual encounter evangelists woefully insecure — 42 security vulnerabilities discovered since February — it doesn’t even guarantee the anonymity it promises. Said Secret CEO David Byttow, “The thing we try to help people acknowledge is that anonymous doesn’t mean untraceable. … We do not say that you will be completely safe at all times and be completely anonymous.”
White House Cyber Security Coordinator Vulnerable to Foot-In-Mouth Exploit
National cyber security, with its risks, complexities and scale, poses enormous challenges — ones you’d assume would be best overseen by someone with deep expertise in the field. How odd, then, to hear White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel publicly announce that he lacks it. And how unsettling to learn that he views that deficit as an advantage. “You don’t have to be a coder to really do well in this position,” Daniel told GovInfoSecurity. “In fact, actually, I think being too down in the weeds at the technical level could actually be a little bit of a distraction. … At a very fundamental level, cyber security isn’t just about the technology, but it’s also about the economics of cyber security.”
Yep, Just Change the Name — The Market Will Never Figure It Out
If eBay really wanted to boost PayPal’s growth prospects and its value, it wouldn’t spin it off. It would take its name. This according to former PayPal EVP Keith Rabois, who says rebranding eBay as PayPal makes just as much financial sense as separating the online payment unit. “Change the logos, change the paint, change the T-shirts, and you get the same value basically as spinning off PayPal,” Rabois told Bloomberg. “Just rename the company. It’s a really simple solution. You could do it in probably 24 hours. A lot less financial gimmicks involved, you don’t have to hire investment bankers, and various other things, but you get all the benefit. The market cap will appreciate PayPal if you just change the brand.”
And 95 Percent Admitted to Banging Their Heads Slowly and Repeatedly Against Their Desks
A new survey from international conference call company Intercall bears out what many of us have long known: Most people don’t pay attention on conference calls. Of the 530 Americans Intercall polled about their conference call habits, 65 percent admitted to doing other work; 47 percent copped to going to the bathroom; six percent said they were taking other calls. Oh, and 27 percent admitted to falling asleep on at least one occasion.
Off Topic
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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