EU says Apple’s Irish tax deal is illegal
An EU commission has accused Ireland of granting “state aid” tax breaks to Apple that may break market rules. That was the result of an investigation by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over Irish deals brokered in 1991 and 2007. It has now asked Ireland to provide more information about its tax arrangements with Apple and other companies, including Fiat and Starbucks. The OECD also looking into Luxembourg and the Netherlands as part of a larger probe to find out if certain EU nations help multinational companies swerve taxes. At 12.5 percent, Ireland has a lower tax rate than any other EU country, and Cupertino’s complex tax deals there have been questioned before. As the US Senate saw recently, shuffling money around countries helps Apple avoid nearly $20 million a day in taxes — and the EU seems to have a dimmer view of its strategy than the SEC did.
[Image credit: pieceoplastic/Flickr]
Source: European Commission
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Wii U now has folders to help organize your massive game collection
Having too much software isn’t a problem many Wii U owners are complaining about. Nonetheless, perhaps in anticipation of brighter days ahead, Nintendo is updating its troubled console with an improved UI for organizing games and apps. After installing the update, a long press on any of the Wii U menu’s empty squares will bring up a prompt to create and name a folder that you can fill to your heart’s content. The update additionally lets you choose which games and apps appear in the console’s new Quick Start Menu, and also comes with the usual bug fixes. Now, if only Nintendo would hurry up with Super Smash Bros, we might have a reason to take advantage of all these new features.
Source: Nintendo of America
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Samung Gear VR demo units start showing up in Best Buy
Samsung still hasn’t announced Gear VR’s pricing and release date, but at least a couple of people have already seen demo headsets in certain LA Best Buy stores. Redditor hackertripz and Matthew Terndrup from Yourift have recently spotted demo units out in the open — the bad news is, nobody can use it yet. Both of them reported that the headsets on display don’t contain Galaxy Note 4s, which slot into the eyepieces to act as the devices’ screens. Also, a Samsung rep told them that when the stores start letting people take the units for a spin, testers will be asked to sign release forms (likely absolving the company from any liability in case of an accident) and to sit down while using the headset. Is this Sammy’s way of assuring us that we won’t have to wait years before the virtual reality device hits shelves? Perhaps, but for now, you can read Ben Gilbert’s hands-on and live vicariously through him.
Filed under: Wearables, Samsung
Via: Road to VR
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Apple Watch makes first public appearance at Paris Fashion Week
Colette is one of those ultra-hip Paris shops that may tempt you with its eclectic toys, clothing, tech and art — until you see the prices. For Fashion Week in Paris, it’s about to have a shiny new bauble: the Apple Watch. The store has announced a one-day only preview of the 1.53- or 1.33-inch wearable so that le public can see it for the first time. So far, only the press have glimpsed it, though we couldn’t try any functions since it was just running a demo program. Apple told us that it’ll be a strictly look-but-don’t-touch event, with no new details — and there’s no word if Colette will actually sell it yet. If you happen to be in Paris though, you can see it now in it the fancy window display (which resembles the Watch interface) or brave the crowds in the store starting at 11:00 AM.
[Image credit: Papasoey/Instagram]
Via: 9 to 5 Mac
Source: Colette
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‘Doctor Who’ skins for ‘Minecraft’ hit Xbox 360 this Friday
Fancy yourself a master of the Sonic Screwdriver? Well, in a few days you can put those skills to the test… in Minecraft, that is. Whether you’re a timelord fanperson or a Dalek-sympathizer, you’ll be able to show it off once the Doctor Who skin pack hits the Xbox 360 version of the pixely build-your-own-adventure on Friday. As if you needed another reason to look forward to this weekend, yeah? PlayXBLA (Microsoft’s official blog for Xbox Live Arcade news) still doesn’t mention any word of an Xbox One release, but considering that the company recently paid $2.5 billion for the game’s developer, Mojang, we expect to hear it break the, ahem, silence on that soon.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: PlayXBLA
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Premier Inn’s new smart hotel lets you book, check in and get cosy with an app
More than four years in the making, Premier Inn has taken the wraps off its first smart hotel rooms. The UK’s biggest hotel chain has embraced mobile with both hands, letting you book your stay, check in and play with various room settings using its official iOS or Android apps. The 123 square-foot rooms in its flagship “hub” in Covent Garden (which opens in November but is now available to book) come furnished with a 40-inch smart TV and as much free high-speed WiFi as you can guzzle. With an app that can seemingly control everything, including the room temperature and what’s on the box, we wonder if London’s street performers will notice a sudden drop in donations as guests ditch sightseeing for some technology-enabled R&R.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Hub (App Store), (Google Play)
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Judge finds Grooveshark employees guilty of mass copyright-infringement
Grooveshark’s disappearing and reappearing act looks like it could finally come to an end; permanently. A Manhattan judge has ruled that because Grooveshark employees themselves had uploaded 5,977 songs to the service and infringing on copyrights in the process, the outfit couldn’t be granted safe harbor for hosting music from the likes of Jay-Z and Madonna. Meaning, the firm’s previous method of compliance under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was null and void because it wasn’t users who uploaded the copyrighted material (which would be subsequently removed upon request), it was in-house staffers including CEO Samuel Tarantino and CTO Joshua Greenberg, according to The New York Times. Reuters notes that there was also evidence of internal communications from Greenberg that told employes to share music as much as possible from outside the office in an effort to foster growth — all as a condition of employment.
What’s more, it was found that the streaming service had destroyed evidence pertaining to the case, including lists of files that’d been uploaded. The amount of damages haven’t been set just yet and, naturally, Grooveshark is considering its future moves, which may or may not include appealing the judgment. It’s worth noting that the company is still facing litigation at the New York federal and state levels, too.
[Image credit: Brad Barket/Invision/AP]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD
Source: Reuters, New York Times
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You can swap out Project Ara’s modules without switching the phone off
Back in April, Project Ara’s Module Developers Kit revealed that the phone’s battery will be hot-swappable; in other words, you can replace it without having to switch the phone off. Nifty trick, right? Well, the feature’s apparently not limited to the device’s battery. Project director Paul Eremenko has recently divulged in a keynote that you’ll be able to swap the phone’s other modules around, save for the CPU and display, even if you’re in the middle of typing out a message or of a phone call. You’ve got the modified version of Android L that the team developed with non-profit org Linaro to thank for that, as it was the key ingredient Team Ara needed to make most of the phone’s components hot-swappable.
Say you’re taking pictures of friends when you suddenly remember that you have a module equipped with a better camera — you can presumably just switch the two right then and there while your friends are in mid-pose. Other than that, Eremenko has also revealed that Google plans to build an online store that sells different types of modules (think Google Play, but for Ara parts), so ready your wallets if customizing phones are your thing.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Via: Phonebloks
Source: YouTube
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Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus coming to China on October 17th
Apple has finally revealed the date that its new iPhones will be available to eager users in mainland China: Friday, October 17th. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will go on pre-order there starting October 10th, with units available a week later at Apple Stores and all three major carriers. The devices will support TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, meaning 4G speeds will be available to users at China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom. So far, the lack of availability has meant extortionate prices for smuggled models, though there’s been an alarming lack of demand in the gray market. But at least Chinese Apple fans will largely avoid the parade of early iOS 8 bugs.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Source: Apple
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Apple to Launch iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China on Friday, October 17
Apple has announced that it will be begin selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning Friday, October 17. The devices will be available through Apple’s online store and retail locations in China and will also be sold at China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom stores. Customers in China will be able to pre-order the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus beginning Friday, October 10.
“We are thrilled to bring iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to our customers in China on all three carriers at launch,” said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. “With support for TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus customers will have access to high-speed mobile networks from China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom for an incredible experience.”
Earlier today, it was revealed that Apple had received the final license needed to start iPhone 6 sales in China. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launched in the first wave of countries on September 19, and was made available to more countries last Friday, September 26. Apple revealed on September 22 that it had sold ten million units of both phones in its opening weekend, breaking the previous record of nine million units set by the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last year.
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