onth’s ers & ers
1. Facebook
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will investigate Facebook’s $1bn bid for Instagram, with concerns that the social network giant might offer picture uploads to other sites from the app or restrict other apps’ ability to upload to it. Instagram is one of the fastest growing social networks ever, reaching 30m users through its iPhone app in less than 18 months. The app offers a simple interface, allowing users to take images, edit them, and upload them to either Facebook or Twitter, as well as being shared on Instagram itself, which involves following or ‘unfollowing’ people’s individual galleries and liking/commenting on images. Also, the OFT aims to decide whether it has jurisdiction over the takeover, and will at that point decide whether it should drop the investigation if it doesn’t see any harmful effects. Facebook’s move was seen as a way for them to shift up into the mobile space, where it has admitted it doesn’t make money due to lack of advertisements.
2. High Street
Lee Manning, a figurehead from the UK’s insolvency industry, has warned that more UK retailers could be forced into administration as the high street is hit with more financial stress. Manning’s forecasts comes as shopkeepers are faced with paying three months in advance rent to landlords, with the bill due on Sunday known as rent quarter day. “Rent quarter day is typically the time when [struggling] retailers go into administration,” Manning said. “Retailers are committed to meeting three months of obligations on their stores, while they often have pressure on cashflow at the end of the month from the payroll and maybe a VAT bill too.” The comment came as research was released showing that 26% of retailers are classified as high risk in terms of the likelihood that they would fail within 12 months, according to analysis of Bureau van Dijk’s Fame database.
3. Apple
An Australian judge has fined Apple A$2.25m for having customers believe that the latest iPad is compatible with 4G broadband internet. Apple was sued for misleading the public for two months in 2012, with claims that its advertisement of “iPad with WiFi + 4G” was completely false. Justice Mordy Bromberg of the federal court fined Apple the equivalent of £1.4m as well as A$300,000 in costs for contravening consumer law. Apple admitted that it had misled customers, with the advertising campaign being used worldwide. “Apple’s desire for global uniformity was given a greater priority than the need to ensure compliance with the Australian consumer law,” the judge said. “Conduct of that kind is serious and unacceptable.”
ahatma Gandhi s live on?
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