Facebook CEO Is Not Content With Employees

Facebook CEO is not happy with the way Black Lives Matter campaign has unfolded.

The Chief Executive Officer at Facebook Inc. Mr. Mark Zuckerberg has recently scolded its employees after several incidents took place in series in which the company raised the slogan “all lives matter” instead if “Black lives matter” on the walls of the company’s headquarter situated in Menlo Park.

The slogan “Black lives matter” does not really mean that other individuals belonging to other races don’t matter. However, Mr. Zuckerberg has a humble plea that all black individuals also get the same status. He also came up with another internal post that was crafted by Gizmodo.

A recent question and answer session took place at the company’s headquarter, where Mr. Zuckerberg expressed his sadness over the matter. On the other hand, during his address, he made sure to clearly communicate the message. As per him, behaving like this is not acceptable for the company since the employees continued to modify the messages.

Alicia Garza, an activist for the rights of the colored race, came up with a term that “black lives matter’ through a Facebook post. In this she responded to the acquittal case that took place in 2013of George Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman was responsible for the killing of teenaged, African American individuals known as Trayvon Martin.

The slogan has become a symbolic emblem for the resurgent civil rights movement that initiated in response to the police killing of black unarmed men, throughout the United States.

“All lives matter” initiated as a response to “black lives matter” which became viral and is considered to be a rebuttal against the movement.

Back in 2014, Garza stated, “Not just all lives. Black lives. Please do not change the conversation by talking about how your life matters, too. It does, but we need less watered down unity and a more active solidarities with us, Black people, unwaveringly, in defense of our humanity.”

Considering the course of the tech fraternity, the workforce at the social media giant is made up of males and white individuals mostly. The company has 5,500 employees on board among which only 81 are black as per the recent diversity report.

Back in July 2015, global director of diversity at Facebook, Maxine Williams mentioned that the diversity program taking place at the company has been successful achieving a substantial, modest and positive change.

Along with all the initiatives that are in operation at Facebook, the company has set a condition that it is important for them whilst hiring managers to consider having at least one individual from underrepresented group, to take over ant position within the company so that “an inclusive culture that can truly support diversity”, gets flourished.

A town hall meeting is scheduled for 4^th March, and Mr. Zuckerberg is motivating all employees at the company to participate. The idea is to acknowledge them about what the “Black Lives Matter” campaign seeks to achieve.

So far, Facebook has refused to comment over the incident.

Non-Prime Amazon Shoppers Gear Up To Spend More

Amazon hikes the minimum price to avail free shipping by $14 to $49 per order.

Amazon Inc. is known for its low prices and razor thin margins. The company offers millions of items at lower prices when compared to its domestic rivals in the market including Wal-Mart and eBay, etc., but in order to avail its numerous advantages which include free two-day shipping plan, direct access to audio and video streaming service, and much more. All the customer will have to do is get one of its Prime memberships to enjoy its perks.

Amazon Prime offers free delivery to all of its members whereas the non-Prime members cannot avail this option. According to the news published in Seattle Times, the ecommerce company has raised the amount for the non-Prime members if they are looking for free shipping.

Previously, online shoppers had to make their total bill up to $35 per order if they had no desire to pay for the shipping. Reportedly, online shoppers will now have to pay $14 more for free shipping. The online retailer has increased the threshold to $49 now for all non-Prime members.

Amazon constantly emphasizes on its Prime membership and encourages its customers to opt for one. It has vowed to make sure that every penny spent on the membership will be worth it. The subscription costs $99 for one year, which is a fair deal if the price is broken down with respect to per month.

Amazon.com always wanted to promote its loyalty program and wanted more members aboard. Another attempt to make it happen can be costly and it surely is a gamble. If someone is not a Prime member, the price for not being a member has just hiked. The change in the minimum price to avail free shipping is effective immediately as per the company.

Those online shoppers who are avid reader can still save money while shopping at Amazon.com. The order of books worth at least $25 will not include shipping charges and will be delivered free at the customers’ doorsteps. This option is also available for the audio books on CDs.

Reports suggest that the $14 increase is because of the multibillion-dollar logistics bill generated by business every year. Last year, the company incurred nearly $5 billion in net shipping costs, which is a 19% increase when compared to last year’s net shipping costs.

As the non-Prime members will have to pay $50 on every order to avail free shipping, Amazon Prime membership becomes a compelling and an interesting offer. It is better to pay $99 for one year than $50 on every single order every now and then. The spokeswoman of the online retailer, Ana Rigby, stated that the company keeps on reassessing its shipping options from time to time.

So far, Amazon has not disclosed any numbers regarding members in its loyalty program but reported a massive 47% jump in the user growth in the United States in past year. This surpassed the 35% growth expectation made by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). The CIRP estimates that the Prime program has 54 million American members aboard.

Twitter Takes A Personal Step To Help Its Customers In A More Friendly Way

The customer service of Twitter is getting better providing users with more options of feedback  and much more.

The micro blogging site, Twitter Incorporation, is giving more facilities to its customers and building a better, helpful and friendlier relationship with them.  It is developing newer services such as customer feedback and direct message for the customer relationship platform.

Twitter Inc. is making efforts and developing new software’s to build better relationship with its users and making the interaction between the two parties more productive and intimate.  A button called ‘send a private message’ can be added to users’ tweets and conversation can take place after this with a business though, tweeting. However the conversation can later be moved to direct messaging through a click.

Not just this, but the social media network, is giving another options to businesses by privately asking them for a feedback after a customer service interaction between the two parties has taken place. The users now have a chance to have discussion regarding the problems they face or have privately with the Twitter and talk about their complaints, rather than making them so public that every sees.

These recent tools will improve interactions between the companies and users immensely, the announcement that businesses now have the chance to add the option of direct messages on their accounts was announced on Thursday. Other businesses and their customers can now easily interact regarding their issues and thought via the social media platform. This will help attract more brands and their customer base who can talk to one another easily.

The micro blogging company took this decision as it apparently had been getting request from many companies to receive a more effective manner of feedback from their customers. The tool is going to be using two formats of questions, one will be the Net Promoter ScoreSM and the other, Customer Satisfaction. A product manager, Ian Carins informed that 80% of the social customer services took place on the social media giant, and even received good results, with the customers being more satisfied than ever.

The social media advertising company has partnered with Sprout Social, Spredfast, Lithium, Conversocial and many other to run its new tools and services as smoothly as possible. The direct messaging tool is already in use by Starbucks, Delta and other companies, however the customer feedback tool is going to be released in the next coming weeks.

The companies will no longer be humiliated on the social media platform by customers, but now decent conversation between the dissatisfied customers can take place. Facebook took the same steps a while ago, where the businesses and their customer could take help and talk to one another on its messenger instead of posting about the issues they faced publicly. This move reduced the number of complaints that were made publicly on Facebook by 23% according to metrics by Conversocial.

Microsoft Comes Up With An Intriguing Feature For Skype

Microsoft will now enable group video calls via smartphone app.

Microsoft Corporation popular service Skype is said to be the most readily used platform for video and voice calling. However, one could not conduct group video calls whilst using the mobile application. Several news were coming in from competitors such as Hangouts and WhatsApp over the past couple of months but no news was observed regrading Skype since quite some time. However, many publication houses have now been acknowledged regarding the big news which will lure more customers to the service.

Group video calling is not a new phenomenon but the Windows 10 giant was not offering this service on the mobile app. So the recent breakthrough will enable all users on iOS and Android to take advantage of the experience. Previously in January, the company had plans to come up with this feature on its renowned platform. the feature will be initially available in Western Europe and North America but then the service will be accessible all over the globe by end of March, FY16.

The service is currently offering support for almost 25 people when it comes to video calling. It can broadcast at 1080 p and Microsoft users have the liberty to switch between front and rear camera. To offer this service on a desktop was relatively easier since accommodating more participants was not a tough task. However, fitting a bunch of participants on a small screen is a breakthrough in itself.

Usually a broadcast gets pinned on the top right of the screen when more people are added. Thus Skype then adjust the screen on its own as much as possible. If there are more than seven members, the display has been arranged in a manner that all the members are lined on the bottom screen. The best part is that when a person is speaking, he/she will be highlighted by default. Moreover, users have also been given the liberty to rearrange the display by pinning on the relevant person on the top as per preference.

Another intriguing feature that will be part and parcel of the update is that users will have the liberty to invite individuals to the video even if they do not use Skype. This will work via the default sharing tool on Android and iOS which will enable anyone to join the Skype call. For instance, an invitation can be sent via iMessage and the user can join the call without any hindrance of adding the individual as a contact.

Right after the announcement, thousands of individuals joined the platform so that they could get early access to the service which shows that the masses were anticipating this feature. Gurdeep Pall, the Vice President of Skype Corporate stated, “We saw a 600 percent increase in group calls pretty much overnight.”

Hence, the company has finally come up with a service that was readily anticipated by the masses. The success of the service before the official launch indicates that the popularity of Skype will bolster in the times to come.

Amazon Might Face Competition From Alibaba In India

Alibaba all set to buy stake in Flipkart which could create trouble for Amazon in India.

It will not be wrong to say that India’s e-commerce market is significantly improving, considering the business its domestic online retailers are doing in such an environment. India is a developing country, which is currently struggling to create a user base that is more into online than offline. It will be difficult but most of them are transforming and keeping up with the change. International online retailers know the significance of the Indian market. This is the reason as to why Amazon Inc. is constantly increasing its investment in the region.

Amazon says that investing in India is like a next trillion dollar opportunity; hence it is placing more emphasis on expanding its reach in the region. The US retailing giant is competing against the domestic leaders, Snapdeal and Flipkart, and it is doing quite well considering it is a foreign marketplace. Now another international tech giant has come in the equation to make its mark in the market. It is said that Alibaba is closely watching Amazon’s investment in the industry and it is not far behind in catching up to the online retailer in the near future.

Furthermore, if reports are to be believed, then Alibaba might be interested in buying a stake in Flipkart, which is India’s leading and largest e-commerce platform. Flipkart is the biggest and closest competitor to Amazon – which is accountable for about 44% of the market share of the Indian market, whereas Amazon currently has only 15% market share. It is not necessary that Alibaba will expand its reach in India to take on Amazon but it has various plans to make it happen.

The Chinese tech giant already holds a stake in Snapdeal, which is the second biggest Indian e-commerce platform, as well as 40% stake in Paytm, which is India’s first online payments platform.

Sources suggest that Alibaba will look to expand its global footprints in India through Flipkart and if the deal goes through successfully then it may make a strong and positive impact on the market. Moreover, the deal would create a ‘strong competitive front’ against Amazon and, surely, Alibaba will have the upper hand, all thanks to Flipkart.

Flipkart and Snapdeal both have a combined market share of 75% and if Alibaba buys stake in Flipkart then it will further strengthen its position. Flipkart already leads in e-commerce sector and this deal would further give a jump leaving Snapdeal and Amazon behind.

Facebook Video Tactics Are Below The Line

Facebook is taking the wrong ruote to get views on videos.

You might not be aware of but almost eight billion videos surface everyday on Facebook Inc. However, the renowned creator of popular video streaming platform, YouTube, Mr. Casey Neistat claims that the manner in which the social media platform has pushed the growth is actually quite “underhanded and dirty.”

Mr. Neistat, who recently hit the snow glazed streets of Manhattan claimed that he along with an assistant the spent around the first 36 hours after revealing the video of the adventure they embraced actually became viral. He them alleged the social media giant calling them as “freebooters” who stole his original content. An analysis was done after which they deduced that the company got access to 200 rip offs on FB whereas four were present on YouTube.

Back in August, Facebook stated that it would initiate the testing software that will prevent the unauthorized videos from being uploaded on the platform.

The CMO and Mr. Neistat sat down today to talk about his journey in the corporate sector as an entrepreneur and video creator. He emphasized on the fact that companies can actually pave way for high quality content through the YouTubers. The previous year, he came up with a video application known as Beme.

The conversation was rather intriguing and gave clear insights regarding his perception and future endeavors. According to Mr. Neistat, the most appalling thing they can come up with is that there are minimal measures that can take care of the freebooters. Necessary action needs to be taken against all those who rob other’s content and then upload it by calling it their own. This is said to be the biggest misery that can happen to a video streaming platform since it can turn out to be a major rip and sabotage your existence in the industry. It is important to pay homage to your creators. Every view that comes on YouTube needs a targeted action. Once you click on play and the video starts. On the other hand, all the views that appear on Facebook are counted after three seconds of the automatic playing without any audio. So in general it takes more than three seconds to skip the video. Thus this gives them a chance to tamper the stats and call it a view.

The allegation made by Mr. Neistat is actually a big blow on the integrity of the social media platform. In other words, the creator of YouTube claims that the social media platform is cheating on the masses by forcing them to get access to content and then consider it as a view. YouTube on the other hand gives leverage to the user to decide.

Facebook has seized the opportunity to respond to the allegations. According to a statement made by the spokesperson of the company, “In News Feed, if you have stayed on a video for at least three seconds, it signals to us that you are not simply scrolling through [the] feed and you’ve shown intent to watch that video.”

Tesla Motors Inc Future Outlook

Under the leadership of Elon Musk, the company is planning to keep itself ahead of its competitors.

CEO Elon Musk has made a habit of making the rivals sweat with his strategies and innovational productions. Tesla revealed about the business practices which every industry must recognize.

The company has spread an analysis showing, how in the year 2015, its Model S sales have outperformed the sales of other luxury sedans.  The company’s Model S sale stood at the top with 21,934 units sold last year. The second in line was the prestigious Mercedes S-Class, whose 21,934 units managed to be sold in the market. All of the nine listed competitors of the automobile giant underwent a significant decline –in double digit percentages –in sales of their products last year. In comparison with the company’s declining sales, Tesla’s sales increased by 51% –credited to the car maker’s efficient production.

However, the above mentioned comparison may not be made on the plausible grounds. For instance, Mercedes retail price is $95,000 while Tesla Model S starting price is $70,000. But, it cannot be ignored that last year Tesla outperformed in the sales of Audi A7 which falls in the same price zone.

With just a young age of 13 years, the automobile giant has spread its wings in the big competitive market. According to Tesla, the automobile industry is the most difficult one for the outsider to intrude. The chief reason is the humungous capital requirements. Moreover, the established global giants had their presence all over the market therefore the entry of a new company is not free from risks. However, Tesla blazed the trail for the high tech embedded luxury electric cars and gradually it has become the strong competitor in the relevant industry. The $21 billion organization went against the traditional ways and eliminated the dealerships altogether. If a strong industry like an automobile’s can be hugely effected by the new entrant then any other industry can have the similar results.    

Moreover, the introduced technology is relatively new and a lot of established competitors have not texted their expertise in the high tech segment. As the years pass by, Tesla’s products are getting better and better and most importantly they are not being available in affordable rates. Recently, few rivals have geared up to get ahead in the race. However, Tesla’s vast knowledge and higher volume production will help it to avoid lagging behind.  

Far ahead than profitability, a company’s mission is to satisfy its customers. The customers of the company include both employees and the customers and Tesla doesn’t lag behind in motivating and attracting employees and tempting the consumers to go for its products.

However, Tesla does get an Achilles heel after all. The company’s cash burn is increasing at an alarming rate. Last year, it struggled to keep up with its production capacity. If the competitors manage to manufacture the electric cars at the same rate as they make the old conventional ones then Tesla might get a run for their money.

Moreover, Tesla has already disclosed its plans for the coming year. The year 2017 holds fair outlook for the company. The San Carlos, Calif. firm is gearing up to produce and deliver the highly-anticipated Model 3 on time. To meet the deadline, the company has a lot of work to do and it is indeed meeting its target.

The essential step which the car maker has taken is the establishment of Gigafactory which reportedly will assist the company to meet its target of manufacturing 500,000 cars by 2020. Through the factory, the automobile organization will be able to lower its cost of lithium batteries that are currently used in the cars.

Tesla also disclosed about the $1.5 billion investment for installation of machineries purporting to the production of Model 3. Initially, the Fremont, Calif. factory will be used for the production of the new car. Moreover, Musk has been reported to have said that for the Chinese market, the company is also in favor of producing Tesla cars in China. The company’s official website reports that at the present the factory is capable of manufacturing 100,000 vehicles therefore the probable investment will result in robust production.

For showcasing their production, the car maker is planning on to set up 80 new retail locations and service centers. Currently, Tesla has to its credit 140 retail and service stations. However, the automobile behemoth wants to expand the retail locations so that the big number of vehicles to be produced in the future can easily be accommodated.

Moreover, the “fuel” of the electric cars, “the superchargers” will also be expanded; according to company’s future plans. With Model 3 around the corner the company has to take up the current 597 Superchargers with almost 3,481 superchargers.     

Apple iOS 8 and iOS 9 Hit By A Recent Bug

A new bug has stuck the devices of the users.

The New Year has not been quite good for the Apple consumers as at first a mysterious “Error 53” rendered the mobile devices useless and now recently a glitch pertaining to the time and data settings of the iOS 8 and iOS 9 devices is likely to harm the users’ handsets. Apple Inc. has not been able to come up with a solution to deal with the newly identified problem as yet. Reportedly, the bug can tarnish the iOS 8 operated iPads, iPhones, and iPods and other operating systems.

As soon as the handsets are set on “January 1, 1970” the devices become susceptible to being bricked. The bug infects the devices so much that no restoring options could restart the device and the Apple iOS’s devices remain stuck.

The recent frustration faced by the consumers conveniently justifies the lawsuit filed against the Mountain View, Calif. firm by Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala (PCVA). Recently, a mysterious “Error 53” hit the devices of the consumers when they upgraded their handsets software. On the matter the company reported that it was for the “security” of the users as the device showed the abovementioned error when it detected unoriginal touch screen or home button. However, PCVA lodged the complaint and blamed the tech giant for the violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.  Now, the recent bug is likely to have negative impact on the already declining sales of the company.

While some consumers have reported that their devices were recovered after the passage of few hours but, the most valuable company still has to come up with a relevant explanation for the bug. On the matter the company has given the following statement: “Manually changing the date to May 1970 or earlier can prevent your iOS device from turning on after a restart. An upcoming software update will prevent this issue from affecting iOS devices. If you have this issue, contact Apple Support.”

Although the tech titan has not released any statement which could explain the occurrence of the bug however, Tom Scott, a programmer and YouTube video maker, beliefs that since “0” from “1970” puts the device in integer underflow. The system then has hard time in changing the negative integerer and hence the devices got stuck. Undoubtedly, the recent glitch would have aggravated a lot of Apple’s users.

Moreover, the video tells that “switching time zones” can be stimulus for the activation of bug. Few users endorsed the speculation and were reported to have told that their devices were “bricked’ after they switched the time zone to New York from earlier Beijing.

Currently, the Device Firmware Update (DFU) has not been helpful in getting the glitches fixed. It is expected that the company will soon provide a solution and help fix the bug. Indeed, it is unfortunate that the prestigious devices didn’t come up with a backup option for the users.  

At the market which closed on Friday, the $523 billion most valuable company; Apple Inc. stock had a price of $93.99. The stock has a 52 week range of $92 to $134.54.

Intel Welcomes Former Qualcomm Executive With Hefty Package

In order to keep ahead in the chip market, Intel has recruited rivals expertise.

Intel has recently employed rival Qualcomm’s former executive. Reportedly, the company has offered $25 million worth salary package. Venkata Murthy Renduchintala, the new executive of Mountain View based firm will have an essential role in the company’s business. Titled as “executive vice president”, Reduchintala will be responsible for managing its product businesses. 

The “compensation package” holds a sign-on bonus valued at $8.1 million along with an initial award of $8.1 million worth restricted stock units. Other “remuneration details” of Renduchintala, include a basic salary of $900,000 per year, up to $2.1 million cash bonus and a $6 million worth equity award based on the performance each year. The information was deduced from the offer letter, which was annexed with a filing carried out by Intel with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Renduchintala has previously invested his expertise in Qualcomm, which is the giant in the wireless modem chips and processors market that is extensively used in the smartphones. For quite some time now, Intel has been trying to bring its business parallel to the rival but the efforts did not turn out to be fruitful.

In November, Intel declared about the recruitment of Mr. Renduchintala with the firm but did not disclose his remuneration package. The Californian firm “client” products include chips for tablets, computers, and mobile phones. They also include a wide series of devices that relate to the recent trend dubbed as the “Internet of Things.” Mr. Reduchintala’s responsibility includes the supervision of the Intel’s “client products.” Moreover, its architecture group will also be reporting to him.

Talking about the compensation package of the new executive, a spokeswoman expressed that his remuneration package highlights the wide spectrum of responsibility which he holds under the ambit of the new offered role. She also stated that the offered pay package is right in line with the organization’s “market competitiveness” targets.

In comparison with other companies, the package is moderate. She added that in order to equalize his value lost by resigning from his services for the previous employer, sign-on award and new-hire grant are included in the compensation package.
In case an event arises and Mr. Reduchintala’s tenure in the organization ends with the termination before he could be awarded his hiring bonus, Intel’s offer letter proclaims that he will be entitled to a possible payment of $16.2 million. The letter also purports that in the event of his termination, he will be eligible for several severance payments.

Among other perquisites offered by the tech business, the other benefits in the pay package includes air travel ticket – first class – and  the use of a private jet, in the situation where the commute to the domestic location is conventionally difficult, the letter states. It has agreed to award the conveyance allowance, which covers the travelling cost from his home in Southern California to the office headquarters based in Santa Clara, Calif. The package also includes “temporary housing costs”. In addition, it is offering a “comprehensive” relocation package, which will assist him to move to the San Francisco Bay Area.

While referencing to the company’s perquisite regarding its new executive travelling, Michelle Leder, founder of the financial research service, said, “It’s not uncommon to have a senior executive live in one place and commute to another on the company’s dime—especially a senior exec like Murthy.”

Intel Corporation stock price was $28.64 at the closing time of the market, last Friday. It is more than probable that the new exec’s expertise will be beneficial for the company and it is likely to boost its business.

Facebook Has A Suggestion For Advertisers

Facebook will add captions to videos to save users from public humiliation caused by loud videos.

When we sign into Facebook Inc. all we get to see are an abundance of videos. And most of the videos that we come across are merely advertisements. However, the company understands it very well that while you are commuting in public transport and going through your News Feed, you certainly wouldn’t want an advertisement to shout back at you and make you the center of attention. So the company is now asking the advertisers to modify their strategy where they make the advertisements silent.

The company wishes to assist the advertisers in this, where the social media giant claimed that it has to come up with a bunch of new features that will encompass automated captions for the videos. In order to make that a reality, the executives at Facebook have actually transcribed almost 50,000 video advertisements. The company claimed did the exercise so that it can train the captioning tool for precise results. All the advertisers will get the leverage to go through and edit the automatic captions before the ad gets posted.

This is actually quite important since the company claims that most of the videos on its platform are advertisements. These videos are also enjoyed without sound. So when a video add pops up and plays loudly without the surrounding expecting the noise when a user is going through the News Feed on their phones results in a negative reaction towards the company and the advertisements.

The captions which FB will add can actually result in context to the silent videos while browsing through the feed. According to them, by adding captions to the advertisement, the time invested by users on the video will also increase. A recommendation was also put forward by the company to add logos, products and captions in the start of the video to garner traction.

For Facebook, videos are becoming an extremely crucial and important tool that has added depth to the service and its consumption. It is estimated that an average users consumes more than 100 million videos on the social media platform each day. The video is also popular among the advertisers who are devoted to pay a hefty amount to roll out targeted video advertise campaigns in contrast to the banner ads. To assist the advertisers in deciding the best way to engage the consume and also pay to Facebook, the platform is coming up with new metrics that will change the fate of advertisers allowing them to see a percentage compilation of how many individuals viewed the advertisement without sound.