Apple’s buying back stocks and a dirty tax game

There’s an idea abroad in the land that if the United States reduced its corporate income tax rate to 25 percent from the current 35 percent,big corporations would stop playing tax games. They would pour all their attention into profit-making rather than allocating a ton of talent to tax avoidance,and we would all be richer . . . →Read More:Apple’s buying back stocks and a dirty tax game

Apple feels rivalry jot for the first time

Profits decline due to rivalry in smartphone and tablet markets,but company’s cash reserves burgeon to nearly $145bn.

Apple Inc has reported that its quarterly profit dipped for the first time in nearly a decade as it earned less money  in the competitive smartphone and tablet markets.

. . . →Read More:Apple feels rivalry jot for the first time

Kobo’s Aura HD ebook reader

Ebook seller Kobo has released what it is describing as a “high definition”e-ink based device.

The Aura HD’s 6.8in (17.2cm) screen offers a resolution of 265 pixels per inch (ppi).

That puts it ahead of Amazon’s bestselling Kindle Paperwhite which offers 212ppi on its 6in screen.

The launch comes at a time when . . . →Read More:Kobo’s Aura HD ebook reader

New music app to be launched by Twitter today

Next up on the jukebox — Twitter Music.

The microblogging service plans to launch its new,standalone music application on Friday,according to sources familiar with the matter.

Update 7:59 pm PT:Of note — another source claims the app will indeed launch this weekend at Coachella,though not necessarily on Friday.

. . . →Read More:New music app to be launched by Twitter today

Internet services back to normal in Pakistan

Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) restored internet capacity after a submarine cable was cut near Alexandria last week.

The loss in bandwidth was enhanced by “a historic global cyber attack” during the same time period,it said.

PTCL said it managed this restoration with the help of its investments in diversified international submarine cable systems.

The . . . →Read More:Internet services back to normal in Pakistan

Can mobile-government come to Pakistan?

The concept of an m-government,an increasingly popular phenomenon in the West,still seems to be an alien idea in Pakistan. On one hand,the West has adopted mobile technologies successfully and is utilising them on a daily basis;on the other,we Pakistanis have still not arisen above our basic problems to pay attention . . . →Read More:Can mobile-government come to Pakistan?

Organizing e-mails made easy

Email can be a real problem—reading it all,responding in a timely manner, keeping the inbox uncluttered and organizing messages so they can be retrieved later,if need be.

And even if you don’t get hundreds of messages a day,most people feel some frustration with email,particularly if you’re trying to deal with it when you’re . . . →Read More:Organizing e-mails made easy

Internet services down due to cable damage

One of the international submarine cables (SMW4) on Wednesday developed a fault in sea waters near Alexandria,Egypt,causing disruption in the internet services in Pakistan,a statement said.

This has impacted internet services in the regions of the Far East,the Middle East,Pakistan,India and North Africa. The international consortium of operators in . . . →Read More:Internet services down due to cable damage

What to do when the internet crashes

By Amanda Wills

In 1982,the Internet was a safe place where everyone trusted each other. The community was so small that every email address on the web could fit into one skinny “phone book”written in big font. If you made that same book today,it would be 25 miles thick.

. . . →Read More:What to do when the internet crashes

YouTube boasts 1 billion monthly users

Where do you go when you want to see clips of your favorite movies,check out music videos,or watch cats in various states of irritation or derpiness? If you’re like most Internet users,you turn to YouTube,which is celebrating its newest milestone:over 1 billion unique monthly users. Such a huge number is hard . . . →Read More:YouTube boasts 1 billion monthly users