Author Archives: Scalper1

Microsoft and Starbucks Are Finally Working Together

Microsoft and Starbucks are practically neighbors. The two companies are headquartered in Redmond, Washington and Seattle, respectively, which are both part of the same region. In reality it’s even closer than simply being in

Apple Rips DOJ In N.Y. iPhone Case As Big Techs Challenge Big Brother

Apple said Friday the Justice Department has “utterly failed” to show that it needs the tech giant’s help to access a locked iPhone in a Brooklyn federal drug case, reflecting a broader push by major tech companies including Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Facebook ( FB ) challenging the government over privacy. Apple, in a court filing with a federal district judge, said authorities haven’t exhausted all efforts to unlock the iPhone in question. Apple also challenged the government’s “sweeping interpretation of the All Writs Act,” a law passed in 1789. The DOJ noted that Apple has previously complied with “All Writs” requests. The DOJ recently dropped efforts to force Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists, after a third party unlocked that smartphone. Justice says that method won’t work with the Brooklyn iPhone. While Apple is playing defense, Microsoft and Facebook’s WhatsApp are playing office. Earlier in the week, Microsoft sued the government, arguing that the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that forces it to comply with government data customers without telling its customers violates their Fourth Amendment constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizures. It also violates Microsoft’s free speech rights, the company said. Facebook messaging unit WhatsApp adopted end-to-end encryption this month for its more-than one billion users. That means WhatsApp couldn’t help the government crack your messages even if it wanted to. “No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us,” WhatsApp founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum said in a blog post announcing the move. Tech companies may be standing on principle, but it helps that customers wants companies to show that they will fiercely protect their privacy. And tech companies have yet to pay a political or commercial prices for standing up to Big Brother — at least in the U.S. But the political and legal fight is by no means over. The U.S. government has a week to respond to Apple’s Friday filing. On Tuesday, Apple’s general counsel will testify at a congressional hearing on encryption, along with FBI and New York policy officials.

IBM Will Add More Color To Painful Transition With Q1 Earnings

IBM ( IBM ) will take a new approach when it reports first-quarter earnings after the market close Monday, in order to give investors a better view of its transformation. Big Blue, at its Investor Briefing in February, said it would revise its financial reporting to reflect the transformation of the business and provide investors with better visibility into its operating model. This includes disclosing additional information on its strategic imperatives by segment. The consensus estimate is for IBM to report revenue of $18.26 billion, down 6.6% year over year. That would mark its 16th straight quarter of a year-over-year sales decline. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters also expect earnings per share minus items to fall 28%, to $2.09, the fourth quarter in a row of year-over-year declines. IBM reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings on Jan. 19, saying it was making “significant progress” in a major company transition. But the stock fell 5% the following day as the company’s guidance for 2016 fell short of estimates. IBM stock fell to a six-year low of 118 that day, but it’s up nearly 30% since then, above 150, helped by a better foreign-exchange rate and on expectations of a revenue boost from its “Watson” super-computer business, among other things. IBM has long been in transition, shedding hardware units and realigning its workforce to reduce costs as it focuses on growth areas such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, security, and mobile computing — areas that it refers to as strategic imperatives. IBM has placed a big bet on Watson, known for its heady play on the “Jeopardy” game show but now key to IBM’s Cognitive Solutions business. In a research report on April 13, UBS analyst Steven Milunovich maintained a neutral rating and price target of 132 on IBM stock. Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha, meanwhile, has an underperform rating on IBM and price target of just 110. He does not expect IBM revenue to stabilize until 2018. “We see a painful multiyear turnaround from here, which drives underperformance,” wrote Garcha, who has been among the most negative on IBM.