Google might be copying Apple's iPhone strategy for its new flagship phone (AAPL, GOOG) | ||
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Google appears to be taking a leaf out of Apple's book in designing its next flagship smartphone. The Mountain View company may launch the next Nexus phone in two sizes, just like Apple's latest iPhone model, BGR reports. In 2014, the iPhone model was released in two sizes for the first time: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. It has been wildly successful, gifting Apple the most profitable quarter of any company ever at the end of 2014. In contrast, Google's Nexus line of smartphones has always seen comparatively low sales, despite positive reviews and popularity among Android enthusiasts. The vast majority of smartphones shipped with Android are produced by third-party manufacturers, with no input from Google. The Nexus line is different because it's built by a third-party manufacturer, but to Google's exact specifications. Now, for the first time, the newest Nexus model will reportedly come into two different versions, with one built by LG and the other by Huawei, according to BGR. BGR cites a post by Russian tech blogger Artem Russakovskii (who runs Android Police) on Google+, whose sources have "mentioned a second Nexus phone this year." The Huawei Nexus is expected to have a 5.7 inch screen, with the LG Nexus clocking in smaller, at 5.2 inches. (For comparison, the iPhone 6 comes in 4.7 and 5.5 inch sizes.) Russakovskii cautions:"Early rumours are early rumours, don't treat them as facts." Even still, offering a smaller size does make sense to appeal to those who want a Nexus device, but are put-off by the large (6-inch) screen size of the current Nexus 6. And at the same time, Google is unlikely to want to abandon the phablet market, as large-screened phones become more and more popular. Data from Kantar Wordpanel says that phablets were 21% of all American smartphone sales in Q1 2015 — up from just 6% a year before. There's no word on a release date, but if it follows the precedent set by previous Nexus phones, the device(s) will drop in the fourth quarter of 2015. Meanwhile, smartphone sales in key markets like China are beginning to slow and Apple is focusing on "switchers," or persuading people to make the jump from Android to iOS. It seems to be working, with Kantar data showing Apple is taking unprecedented market share in developed countries. More than ever, Google needs a phone that can go toe-to-toe with the iPhone, even if that means following Apple's example. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This is what happens when you boil an iPhone 6 in Coke  | ||
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10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, DIA, QQQ, SHAK, CSCO, JCP, WMT, AMZN) | ||
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Before the market opens on Thursday, here's what you need to know. Shake Shack crushed earnings. The burger chain announced adjusted earnings of $0.04 per share, outpacing the $0.03 loss that was anticipated. Revenues surged 56.3% to $37.8 million, easily topping the $33.96 million Wall Street was expecting. The closely followed Same-Shack Sales metric jumped 11.7% for the first quarter, and the company announced it expects full-year revenues of $161-$165 million with same-store sales growth in the low- to mid-single digits. John Chambers left Cisco with a bang. The departing CEO led Cisco Systems to a top and bottom line beat in his final quarter. Cisco announced revenues rose 5.1% to $12.1 billion, slightly outpacing the $12.07 billion that was expected. On the bottom line, the company earned an adjusted $0.54 per share, topping the Wall Street estimate of $0.53. Chambers will become executive chairman in July after spending the last 20 years as CEO. J.C. Penney posted a mixed quarter. The retailer lost $0.55 per share, easily beating the $0.77 loss that was anticipated. Revenues edged up 2.0% to 2.857 billion, which was just shy of the $2.86 billion analysts were expecting. The company raised the lower end of its same-store sales forecast to an increase of 4% to 5%, up from its previous guidance of 3% to 5%. India's wholesale prices fell for a sixth straight month. India's Wholesale Price Index fell 2.65% year-over-year, which was faster than the 2.2% YoY drop that was expected. The number was largely impacted by the 13% drop in oil prices versus a year ago. The rate of food price growth slowed to up 5.73% YoY from the 6.31% rise in March. India's rupee is up 0.5% at 63.7012 per dollar. The Philippines' central bank kept policy unchanged. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas held its benchmark interest rate at 4.00%, as expected. The central bank upped its inflation forecast for 2015 to 2.3% as a result of the weaker peso and unseasonal weather. The Phillipines' peso strengthened 0.2% to 44.591 per dollar. Saudi Arabia says its plan to hurt US shale is working. Saudi Arabia's production hit a record high 10.3 million barrels per day in April. A Saudi official told FT, “There is no doubt about it, the price fall of the last several months has deterred investors away from expensive oil including US shale, deep offshore and heavy oils.” West Texas Intermediate crude oil is trading higher by 0.2% at $60.62 per barrel. Wal-Mart is testing an unlimited shipping service. The world's largest retailer is testing an unlimited shipping service that will compete with Amazon Prime. The service will cost $50 per a year, and deliver items purchased on-line in three days or less. Sharp is in a fight for its survival. The electronics maker will announce a $1.68 billion loss for its fiscal year, and thousands of layoffs, as it struggles to survive. Japanese Newspaper Nikkei suggests as much as 10% of Sharp's labor force could be out of work. Global stock markets are mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei (-1.0%) led the way lower in Asia while France's CAC (-0.1%) slips in European trade. S&P 500 futures are up 9.25 points at 2103.75. US economic data flows. Initial and continuing claims and PPI will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. while natural gas inventories are scheduled to cross the wires at 10:30 a.m. ET. US Treasury will auction $16 billion 30-year bonds at 1 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 4 basis points at 2.25%. Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: This simple exercise will work out every muscle in your body  | ||
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Malaysia turns away boats as death stalks weary migrants | ||
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OFF KOH LIPE (Thailand) (AFP) - Malaysia turned away two vessels carrying hundreds of migrants while one boat turned up Thursday in Thai waters, as critics accused Southeast Asian governments of playing a game of "human ping pong" with the lives of desperate boatpeople. Malaysia and Indonesia have vowed to bar ships bearing desperate migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are flooding into Southeast Asia, triggering warnings that the hardline approach could endanger thousands at sea. A boat crammed with scores of Rohingya -- a persecuted Muslim minority in Myanmar -- was found drifting in Thai waters. "About 10 people died during the journey. We threw their bodies into the water," one migrant shouted in Rohingya to a boat full of journalists. "We have been at sea for two months. We want to go to Malaysia but we have not reached there yet." Many young children were among the visibly weak-looking passengers on the boat, which was found near the southern Thai island of Koh Lipe in the Andaman Sea. The words "We are Myanmar Rohingya" were daubed in English on a black flag tethered to the boat. No Thai naval vessels were immediately seen. The UN refugee agency and rights groups say thousands of men, women and children are believed stuck out at sea and at risk of starvation and illness after a Thai police crackdown disrupted well-worn people-smuggling routes. Regional governments have faced mounting calls to urgently launch search and rescue operations rather than driving off boats, and to come up with a coordinated strategy for handling the influx. But Malaysian patrol ships intercepted two migrant vessels beginning late Wednesday off the northern Malaysian islands of Penang and Langkawi, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. They carried a combined 600 people, the official added. "Last night, one boat was pushed back after it entered Malaysian waters off Penang and one more boat was prevented from entering Langkawi waters," the official said. The boat off Langkawi may have been the same one that later turned up in Thai waters, as the Malaysian official said the boat that was sent away also had a banner claiming the passengers to be Rohingya.
- 'The world will judge' -
Rights groups say Thailand -- which has called a May 29 regional meeting on the issue -- also has a policy of not allowing such boats to berth. "The Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian navies should stop playing a three-way game of human ping pong, and instead should work together to rescue all those on these ill-fated boats," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most vulnerable men, women, and children." Indonesia earlier in the week reported sending away a vessel carrying about 400 migrants. Its fate is not known. Amnesty International said it was "harrowing to think that hundreds of people are right now drifting in a boat perilously close to dying, without food or water, and without even knowing where they are." Many of the migrants are Rohingya, who suffer state-sanctioned discrimination and have been targeted by sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. More than 1.3 million Rohingya -- viewed by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities -- live in Myanmar's western Rakhine State. Malaysia refused to budge Thursday, with the deputy home minister putting blame for the problem squarely in the laps of the migrants' home countries. "Of course, there is a problem back home in Myanmar with the way they treat the Rohingya people," Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told AFP. "So that is why we need to send a very strong message to Myanmar that they need to treat their people with humanity. They need to be treated like humans, and cannot be so oppressive." He said Bangladesh also needed to do more to prevent illegal immigrants leaving its shores.
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These results show London's property market is still going crazy | ||
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British Land, one of Europe's biggest listed property companies, reported full-year results today and the key takeaway is this: London property prices are still going crazy. The value of the property owned by British Land went up by 12.1% last year, while the value of its office and residential space jumped by 18.8%. British Land said this was due to "the strength of the London market and our actions." British Land's "Cheesegrater" building in the City — proper name the Leadenhall Building — smashed rental records in London last year, with space going for £90 ($142) per square foot. British Land said today the building is now 84% let. Home and flat prices are also going nuts, too. British Land made £259 million ($409 million) selling just 22 apartments at its new Clarges development in Mayfair, which works out at almost £12 million ($18.95 million) per flat. The Clarges development also broke Mayfair sales records, selling at an average of £4,750 ($7,500) per square foot. British Land put the crazy residential prices down to rich foreigners buying up luxury flats in London as an investment. The company said: "The UK remained the real estate investment market of choice for overseas capital in search of yield. London continued to be the principal beneficiary, with demand driving yields down in both the City and West End." British Land doesn't expect the capital's property boom to end any time soon either, with big developments planned in Shoreditch and Surrey Quays. Management said in today's results: "We continue to focus on our wider investment themes of London and the South East, targeting areas which will benefit from growth and regeneration and increasing our exposure to major transport interchanges." British Land's underlying pre-tax profit in 2014 rose 5.4% to £313 million ($494.2 million). Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Forget the Apple Watch — here's the new watch everyone on Wall Street wants  | ||
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