The Austin Times

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How Apple paid just 0.005% tax on its global profits

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Why is the European Union going after Apple for $14 billion in unpaid taxes? Consider this: In 2014, the corporate giant paid just $50 in tax for every million it made selling iPhones and iPads to most of the world outside America. That's a tax rate of just 0.005%. Yes, you read that correctly. So how was that allowed to happen? Apple has funneled most of its profits from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India through Ireland for decades. Nothing usual in that. Others do it … [Read more...]

FBI paid more than $1.3 million to break into San Bernardino iPhone

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Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Thursday the agency paid more to get into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters than he will make in the remaining seven years and four months he has in his job. According to figures from the FBI and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Comey's annual salary as of January 2015 was $183,300. Without a raise or bonus, Comey will make $1.34 million over the remainder of his job. That suggests the FBI paid the largest … [Read more...]

Report: Apple to Lure Android Switchers with Trade-In Program

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According to a new report from 9to5Mac, Apple will soon make perhaps its most aggressive push yet to court Android users and get them switched them over to iPhone. The company hopes to accomplish this through a trade-in promotion that will be offered at Apple retail stores. For the first time, that trade-in and recycling program will be expanded to accept non-Apple smartphones. Customers receive a gift card for handing over their current device towards the purchase of a new iPhone, but … [Read more...]

OPEC isn’t scared of $40 oil

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OPEC won't rush to cut oil production even if prices fall as low as $40 per barrel, one of the cartel's members said Sunday. The energy minister for the United Arab Emirates told Bloomberg at a Dubai conference that the middle eastern oil producers believe "the market will stabilize itself." "We are not going to change our minds because the prices went to $60 or to $40," Suhail Al-Mazrouei said. Even as it has watched prices dip, OPEC declined to cut back on production at its November … [Read more...]

Your smartphone is about to kill off another piece of arcane technology

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Smartphones have effectively replaced a lot of the gadgets that we used to buy, including calculators, compasses, alarm clocks and dedicated GPS trackers. And now The Wall Street Journal reports that smartphones look poised to kill off another antiquated piece of technology — hotel key cards. Per the Journal, Hilton is planning to implement technology that will let its guests use their smartphones to open up their hotel rooms starting next year. The new integration of smartphones as hotel … [Read more...]

Why I broke up with Apple

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Disclosure: I used to be a big Apple fan. I still remember how giddy I was when I got my green iPod Mini in 2004, my fifth-generation iPod in 2006, my MacBook in 2007 and my iPhone 4S in 2011. Along the way, I also bought an iPod Shuffle (for the two or three times I've been to the gym in the past four years), an Airport Wi-Fi router, an Airport Express network extender and a Fathead of Steve Jobs. Okay. Only three of those things are true. But last year, I turned my back on Apple … [Read more...]

New York Times pits Galaxy S5 against iPhone 5s, says competition isn’t even close

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Last week, we took an in-depth look at Samsung’s new Galaxy S5 smartphone to see how it compared with the HTC One (M8). While the competition was certainly intense, in the end we called HTC’s new flagship phone the best Android smartphone in the world. In terms of sales, however, the M8 will never compete with the Galaxy S5. Even HTC knows that. Apple’s flagship iPhone 5s is the only smartphone that sits at the top of the food chain alongside the Galaxy S5 when it comes to sales, and The New … [Read more...]

Obama says he’s not allowed iPhone for ‘security reasons’

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The troubled mobile phone maker BlackBerry still has at least one very loyal customer: U.S. President Barack Obama. At a meeting with youth on Wednesday to promote his landmark healthcare law, Obama said he is not allowed to have Apple's smart phone, the iPhone, for "security reasons," though he still uses Apple's tablet computer, the iPad. Apple was one of several tech companies that may have allowed the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to servers containing customer data, … [Read more...]

A common test to screen for stroke risk is under review

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After a career driving custom buses for touring rock bands, Ken Goins felt like he was in good shape to enjoy retirement, having lost weight and quit smoking years earlier following a bypass operation at age 50. But on his 69th birthday, an ultrasound test showed an 85% blockage in his left carotid artery, one of the two large blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain and can become clogged with cholesterol. A vascular surgeon performed a carotid endarterectomy—a procedure to … [Read more...]

Mike Dell’s former lieutenant leads coup attempt

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Dave Johnson finds himself once again pitted against a former employer. In leading Blackstone Group's 11th-hour bid for Dell Inc, the acquisitions expert and famously tough negotiator has seated himself across the table from ex-boss and company founder Michael Dell. Their relationship has now become a crucial element in the battle over the largest private equity-led buyout since the financial crisis. There may even be echoes of the way Nabisco Brands President John Greeniaus ended up … [Read more...]

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