French tax authorities have recently issued Apple a fine in the amount of 400 million euros (about $422 million), according to L'Express. At the core of the adjustment is Apple's complex and controversial tax optimization scheme that allows the firm to send back the lion share of its profits to tax-friendly countries such as Ireland.
Business
Apple, routers, external displays, and spreadsheets
For a while now I’ve had this sentiment that there is a growing lack of focus or care at Apple, which has led me to feel pretty concerned about some of the company’s decisions. Yet one thing is helping alleviate these concerns and it’s Apple’s recent decisions to discontinue two major product categories: its family of AirPort routers, and its Thunderbolt display business.
Apple seizes a whopping 104% of smartphone industry profits in Q3
Apple captured 103.6% of smartphone industry profits in the third quarter of 2016, making it by far the most profitable company in the business, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Long. This represents a notable increase from the year-ago quarter where Apple had grabbed 90% of smartphones profits.
Facebook targets Slack, Google Apps and others with new Workplace for iPhone app
Facebook yesterday announced a new Workplace mobile app which it has used to run its own company “for many years”. Available at no charge from the App Store, Workplace for iPhone (formerly known as Facebook at Work) is now available to any company or organization that wants to use it. In a nutshell, Workplace puts the best of Facebook at your fingertips while packing in a few notable productivity features businesses may like.
Apple’s presence in Seattle could increase with a big piece of office space
Following its reported $200 million acquisition of Turi, a Seattle-based machine learning and artificial intelligence startup, Apple appears to be interested in purchasing hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in the region to accommodate up to 2,300 engineers, reports GeekWire.
Microsoft releases a free iOS client for SharePoint enterprise collaboration suite
Microsoft on Tuesday announced the official release of a brand new application on the App Store, SharePoint. Available at no charge for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, the software is basically Microsoft's long-expected iOS client for its SharePoint enterprise collaboration suite.
Billed as the Intranet in your pocket, the app lets enterprise users stay connected to their company's intranet while on the go, navigate their company's web sites and portals, access important content, information and people and more.
Facebook releases a version of Messenger that’s meant for the office
Facebook today launched a dedicated version of its mobile messaging software, Facebook Messenger, that's meant to be used at work.
As reported on by TechCrunch, the applications is called Work Chat and available now for Android smartphones over at Google's Play Store, while a version for iPhones is being worked on and scheduled to release soon.
The app is basically an expansion of Facebook at Work, the company's business platform which has been in private testing for months now.
Apple partners with Yellow Pages on local Maps business listings in Canada
Apple and Yellow Pages have partnered to bring Apple Maps customers in Canada rich business data like address, phone numbers, URLs, category, hours of operations, photos, ratings, reviews and more.
“We are pleased to bring our YP.ca local business listings data to Apple Maps,” said Matthieu Houle, Vice-President, Digital Media of Yellow Pages, in a media release Monday. Apple's Maps acknowledgements page now lists Yellow Pages as a data provider in Canada.
Pebble is in trouble
No, I don't mean Pebble is in trouble because the most obvious choice when looking to buy a smartwatch is now Apple Watch. Pebble is in trouble because despite the incredible success of its latest Kickstarter campaign, the company is having a hard time, financially speaking.
Business owners can now claim POIs as their own via Apple Maps on iOS 8.3 and OS X 10.10.3
One of the welcome changes in the iOS 8.3 and OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 software updates, which hit yesterday, includes the ability for business owners to claim any point of interest as their own using an updated Report a Problem tool in Apple Maps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac, as reported Thursday by AppleMapsMarketing.
The company began allowing local businesses to manage their listing in the service last October, but required them to use its Maps Connect web service.
At the same time, the iPhone maker appears to be removing some TripAdvisor hotel reviews which started showing up in its Maps service last week.
Apple providing businesses with Apple Pay stickers for promotion
In an effort to drive support from businesses, Apple has updated the Apple Pay section of its website with a link to a new Apple Pay supplies website. The website, aimed at businesses and merchants, provides an Apple Pay decal that can be displayed on a storefront window.
iOS activation in enterprise jumps to 73 percent, increasing Apple’s lead over Android
Thanks in no small part to strong sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, Apple has been able to extend its enterprise lead over Android during the fourth quarter of last year.
According to the new Mobility Index Report data (PDF download) by research firm Good Technology, iOS activations in the enterprise market jumped from 69 percent in the third quarter of last year to 73 percent during the last three months of 2014, while Android activations fell from 29 percent to 25 percent.