Should Apple's next killer product be the iCar?

Check this out: http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/28/technology/innovation/apple-tesla/index.html
I thoroughly believe Apple could pull this off: the buy out or partnership of the Tesla car company Could Tim Cook be the next Henry Ford...? I hope so. The biggest problem is the CEO and owner of Tesla, Ellon Musk would probably never sell.

Should Apple's next killer product be the iCar?

Taking his lead from billionaire investor Carl Icahn, analyst Andaan Ahmad at German investment bank Berenberg has written an open letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook and chairman Arthur Levinson. Ahmad calls on Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) to buy electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA).

The London-based Ahmad -- who says he's covered the tech industry for nearly 20 years -- argued in Friday's letter that Apple's shift into the auto sector could give the company the kind of revenue growth that won't be sustainable from just smartphones and other mobile devices over the longer-term.

The move could reignite the U.S. auto industry and would be a catalyst to accelerate the current transition to hybrid and electric vehicles.

Ahmad said the strength of the Apple brand and its history of "disrupting" industries are reasons why his bold plan could make sense.

 

Watch the Tesla Model S crash tests

And then there's Tesla chief Elon Musk, who Ahmad sees as an innovative presence like the late Steve Jobs. Many analysts and investors have worried that Apple has not been the same since Jobs passed away two years ago.

"You could strike up a partnership and obtain a new iconic partner to lead Apple's innovation drive," Ahmad wrote.

While noting his proposal will be ridiculed by some, Ahmad said that Apple needs an "out of the box" move into a new market. Otherwise, he thinks "the key debate will always be about your ability to sustain these abnormal margins in your iPhone business."

Related: Icahn demands $150 billion Apple buyback

This is the second piece of unsolicited advice Apple has received in the past week. Icahn issued an open letter to Tim Cook on Thursday and urged the company to buy back $150 billion of its own stock.

Icahn thinks Apple's stock is extremely undervalued and that the company should invest in its own shares right now.

Berenberg's Ahmad poked fun at Icahn in his proposal, saying he'd love to meet Cook and Levinson in London and promised not to tweet about their talk.

Apple, Tesla and Icahn weren't immediately available for comment.

Apple will release its fourth-quarter results after the closing bell Monday. Sales are expected to be up slightly from last year but analysts are forecasting that earnings were down again.

Although Apple's stock has rebounded sharply lately on hopes of strong iPhone sales, shares are still down year-to-date and are 25% below their all-time high from September 2012.

Tesla, on the other hand, has been a darling of Wall Street. Shares are up nearly 400% this year. The company's market value is now about $20 billion. The stock's meteoric rise has prompted Musk to say on more than one occasion that he thinks the stock has a higher price than it deserves. 

Electronic Wallets?

Yahoo finance posts some wonderful articles. This on is on the wave of new apps that will allow you to pay with your phone. From people's reaction in the comments they don't seem too excited. Everyone seems to be worried about how easy it is to hack a smart phone. The NSA scandal doesn't seem to help anything. If they could assure me their app and transaction methods are safe then I would more than likely use it.  Check it out, here is the link and the article below. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/tech-wallet-top-4-mobile-payment-apps-123209083.html

Starting Tuesday, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s mobile wallet payment system, Square, will revolutionize the way we exchange cash. The application will allow users to exchange money directly from one debit card to another free of charge. "Square Cash" lets users exchange up to $2500 in cash weekly through any email program instantly. While previous iterations of Square were meant for merchants, this is intended to be used peer-to-peer, for splitting checks or paying rent.

So far, Square Cash is available only in the U.S. and is only compatible with Visa and MasterCard but a larger rollout is assumed to be in the works.

This announcement only solidifies the idea that Smartphones are transforming into sleek wallets. And this change will be felt by everyone in the near future.

56% of American adults own smartphones and 34% of cell Internet users go online mostly using their phones. We use our phones to get directions, send emails, listen to music, to tweet, and take photos. So why not use them to pay for dinner, or pay back our friends?

Mobile payment systems are becoming more and more popular around the world. Americans will shell out about $37 billion in payments over their phones in 2013—and that number is rapidly growing. Global mobile payments are now projected to top $1.3 trillion by 2017.

A number of small and large American companies are attempting to make money from this trend. Google (GOOG) and eBay (EBAY) already have strong players in the mobile payment market but smaller companies like Clinkle, run by a 22-year-old Stanford grad, are also generating buzz.

While it’s incredibly convenient to pull out your phone and instantly pay for your Starbucks or send your friend the $20 you owe them, the market for these apps is getting crowded and therefore complicated. Jason Gilbert, Yahoo Tech editor, broke it all down for The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and explained what differentiates each of the biggest mobile payment apps.

1. Google Wallet

“Essentially you sign your bank account up to your Google or Gmail account and you can pay through your phone by bumping your phone up against the cash register. Now they’ve introduced a little button on your Gmail that you can click, enter in how much money you want to send to your friend, it’s just like a bank transfer,” explains Gilbert.

Google Wallet doesn’t currently charge merchants or users to access their application but plans to make money off targeted ads. Google wallet works with all major credit cards but only a limited number of stores currently accept the payment method.

Related: Google Glass is Dead On Arrival – Here’s Why

2. Square

Aside from the newly announced Square Cash, “Square has a new service called ‘Square Wallet’ which is an app that you can sign up for and just say your name to the cashier. The [store will] have a database that says you’re a Square Wallet customer and they charge your account,” says Gilbert. When you tell the cashier your name, a photo ID will popup on the screen allowing the cashier to confirm your identity.

Square may be most famous for its ‘Square Register’ accessory that pops into the audio jack of the iPhone or iPad and allows small business owners to accept credit card payments on the spot.

Related: Twitter Co-Founder’s Next Project Could Be Even Bigger

3. Venmo

This app has “combined the newsfeed of Facebook where you see what everyone is doing with a mobile-to-mobile payment app. This too connects with your bank account and you can send and receive money to your friends. If you so choose you can write what you’re sending someone money for and it will show up in a newsfeed with all of your friends,” explains Gilbert.

Venmo was recently acquired by Braintree (a company owned by eBay) for $26.2 million.

Related: 7 apps college students are using to date on campus

4. Clinkle

“This is an enormously hyped app that’s not even out yet but it has the largest round of funding behind it of all time,” says Gilbert.

Richard Branson alone has pledged $25 million to the mobile payment app. “No one knows what it does yet, but what we think it does is mix Venmo and Square where you can connect it to your bank account and pay [both] friends and at the register and it’s all very beautifully designed.” The app already has a waiting list 100,000 people long.

So what’s behind this big boost in mobile payment services? “As more phones come out and as more trusted corporations start saying this is a very secure way to pay…and as more people start to use it I think you’re going to see it explode and enter the mainstream,” says Gilbert.

I found this article that has me very excited! The possibility of Netflix or Google being able to stream live NFL games?!?!?! I wouldn't need to buy cable anymore! Although chances are small I have my hopes up! I copied the article below below check it out!


Link: http://tv.yahoo.com/news/could-netflix-google-land-nfl-games-151540706.html

UPDATED: Could Netflix Or Google Land NFL Games?

 

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Financial Editor21 hours ago

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UPDATED: Could Netflix Or Google Land NFL Games?

UPDATED, 4:01 PM: The NFL responded to the WSJ report today by saying there are no plans to add more games on Thursday nights, let alone discussions about who might air them. Brian McCarthy, the league’s VP Communications, tweeted today: “Wondering where the idea of Thursday night doubleheaders came from? So are we. We have not considered this.”

PREVIOUSLY: This possibility petrifies cable and satellite execs. Who knows how many sports fans would cut the video cord if they had a Web-based alternative to satisfy their craving for live games? Yet The Wall Street Journal this morning strangely buried the possibility of a digital deal with the NFL in astory about the league’s interest in selling a new package of Thursday night games. (Officials are disappointed with the performance of the Thursday matches that air on their NFL Network.) While the league believes that a cable channel would be interested in a new package, officials “have also considered” selling to “a nontraditional media partner, including online players like Netflix Inc. or Google Inc.” according to an unnamed source. And why not? Google’s executives reportedly met withNFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about rights to the Sunday Ticket package when the deal with DirecTV expires at the end of 2014. Netflix also is eager to try different kinds of programming. CEO Reed Hastings noted in response to a question in an analyst call in July that “HBO and Showtime do sports.” A deal with the NFL would help Netflix to build itself into a sports destination that would attract additional customers and give it leverage to raise its monthly price, Janney Capital Markets’ Tony Wible says. But he doubts that Netflix can pull it off just yet. The company presents video of its earnings calls via YouTube because it “does not have the ability to do live streaming” — although the opportunity of landing the NFL “may be great enough” for it to build the capability.

First Post from class

Today in class my professor for MIS 306 has asked the class to start a blog and post three times a week. So... yeah... here it is. This is my first post. Hope you like Netflix because it looks like they are close to a cable deal with Comcast Corp. and Suddenlink communications. 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/netflix-pursues-cable-tv-deals-215300236.html

Netflix Inc. is in talks with several U.S. pay-television providers including Comcast Corp. and Suddenlink Communications to make its online video service available as an app on their set-top boxes, people familiar with the matter say.

A deal would mark the online video service's first such tie-up with a U.S. cable provider and would come after a similar agreement it recently announced with U.K. cable operator Virgin Media Inc. The talks are in early stages and no deal is imminent, the people cautioned.

Netflix and U.S. pay-TV companies are rivals in some key respects. Netflix's subscription video offering is an attractive alternative for some consumers who are frustrated with costly cable bills. And both sides want to be the go-to destination for consumers to find on-demand TV programming.

But that hasn't stopped Netflix and U.S. operators from exploring partnerships where it makes sense. The deals they are discussing now would make it possible for cable-TV subscribers to access the Netflix app through newer set-top boxes being deployed.

Currently, customers who want to stream Netflix on their TV sets either need Internet-connected TVs or must switch to a different TV-input to get a Netflix signal from connected devices such as game consoles or Web-TV boxes such as the Apple TV box. Netflix retained its billing relationship with customers in the Virgin Media deal.

A hangup in the talks with at least two operators is that Netflix is insisting that they also take on its special technology designed to improve the delivery of its streaming video, people familiar with the matter say. The technology is part of its Open Connect program and consists of special servers Netflix wants to connect directly into broadband providers' networks. Netflix believes the technology is critical to make sure its service provides the best quality to viewers, the people say.

So far, Internet providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable Inc., AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. have declined to use the technology, concerned that such an arrangement could lead other online services to ask for special treatment, the people familiar with the matter say. The Internet providers argue their broadband networks are fully capable of handling Netflix traffic, the people say.

For years, several U.S. pay-TV providers have been fearful of a linkup with Netflix, worrying the online TV service could lure eyeballs away from their own video services. But some cable operators have warmed to the idea, in part because of improved set-top-box technology and because they believe Netflix users are more likely to buy more expensive, faster broadband connections.

Netflix until this summer had programming contracts with entertainment companies that made such deals difficult to strike in the U.S., people familiar with the matter say. But recently, media companies have become more comfortable with the prospect, and Netflix has been able to negotiate out of those old restrictions.

Some operators also are interested in the added leverage a tie-up with Netflix could afford them during carriage-fee disputes with TV channels. If Netflix's library had old seasons of programming from a channel, then in the event of a channel blackout, an operator could point its customers to Netflix as an alternative.

Still, there are potential stumbling blocks in the negotiations. A concern for at least one operator is that Netflix could eventually use the app as a "Trojan Horse" to sell pay-per-view movies or other services that compete directly with the operator's video offerings, the people familiar with the matter say.

At a recent investor conference, Netflix Chief Financial Officer David Wells said the company would "love to reduce the friction to the end consumer" by being available on cable set-top boxes. It is up to pay-TV operators, he said, "to decide how much of a competitor they view us as or a complement."

Comcast, the largest U.S. pay-TV provider, earlier this year said it had no plans to add apps from online video services to its new Internet-connected set-top box, dubbed X1. But since rolling out the box in many markets this year, Comcast has become more open to having such conversations, people familiar with the matter say. Comcast is in talks with several other online video services about app deals for its set-top box, some of the people say.

Adding a Netflix app would be the latest move by pay-TV operators to transform set-top boxes from clunky devices into Internet-connected gadgets that are easy to use and come with popular consumer offerings.

DirecTV and Verizon's FiOS have also connected their newest boxes to the Internet, allowing users to access apps such as YouTube. Neither has a deal with Netflix. Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications Inc. have also talked to YouTube about carrying its app on their set-top boxes, people familiar with the matter say.