Amit Singhal, an Influential Engineer at Google, Will Retire - The New York Times

... and Apple is the most-valuable company again

"Alphabet, the parent of Google, is losing one of its most influential engineers, but his successor’s background is indicative of how important artificial intelligence technology is becoming to the Silicon Valley company.

Amit Singhal, the company’s senior vice president for search, and one of the earliest builders of its global computer system, announced that he would retire on Feb. 26. He has been involved with many of the technologies that have made Alphabet an engineering powerhouse and one of the world’s most valuable companies."

Amit Singhal, an Influential Engineer at Google, Will Retire - The New York Times

Microsoft acquires SwiftKey in support of re-inventing productivity ambition - The Official Microsoft Blog

Hey Cortana, why did Microsoft just pay ~$250M for a better keyboard app?

"I’m pleased to announce that Microsoft has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SwiftKey, whose highly rated, highly engaging SwiftKey software keyboard and SDK powers more than 300 million Android and iOS devices. In this cloud-first, mobile-first world, SwiftKey’s technology aligns with our vision for more personal computing experiences that anticipate our needs versus responding to our commands, and directly supports our ambition to reinvent productivity by leveraging the intelligent cloud. SwiftKey estimates that its users have saved nearly 10 trillion keystrokes, across 100 languages, saving more than 100,000 years in combined typing time. Those are impressive results for an app that launched initially on Android in 2010 and arrived on iOS less than two years ago."

Microsoft acquires SwiftKey in support of re-inventing productivity ambition - The Official Microsoft Blog

Smartwatches will definitely overtake fitness bands, report says - The Washington Post

Not only a matter of time

"A new report from Gartner predicts that the wearables market will grow 18.4 percent in 2016, with sales of 274.6 million units and $28.7 billion by the end of the year. Most of that cash, analysts said, will be driven by an uptick in the sales of smartwatches, which alone are expected to pull in $11.5 billion in revenue.

Other wearable devices are also expected to see growth, the report said, including head-mounted displays such as the Oculus Rift or the Microsoft HoloLens. Fitness wearables such as wristbands and smart clothing will also continue to grow — thanks in part, the report said, to the way U.S. wellness programs have embraced the devices. 

But the smartwatch is expected to outpace all other wearable devices."

Smartwatches will definitely overtake fitness bands, report says - The Washington Post

Amazon Plans to Open as Many as 400 Bookstores, Mall CEO Says - Bloomberg Business

Perhaps coming soon to a mall near you; later in the article: "'This is a consumer electronics store housed in bookstore clothing,' said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc. in Los Angeles."

"Amazon.com Inc., the world’s biggest online retailer, plans to open from 300 to 400 bookstores, according to Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive officer of General Growth Properties Inc., which owns and operates shopping malls.
Mathrani revealed Amazon’s plan in response to questions about mall traffic during a conference call Tuesday to discuss General Growth’s earnings."

Amazon Plans to Open as Many as 400 Bookstores, Mall CEO Says - Bloomberg Business

Zuckerberg Tops Bezos as World's Fourth Richest - Bloomberg Business

Another snapshot of the tech titan times

"An 18 percent decline this year for Amazon has cut $10.6 billion from Bezos’s fortune, leaving him with $49.1 billion. Bezos was the top-performing billionaire on the index in 2015, more than doubling his net worth. Slim has lost $3.3 billion this year as America Movil takes a hit from the economic crisis in Brazil, the source of 17 percent of its third-quarter sales.
Zuckerberg is the only billionaire among the world’s five-richest people whose fortune has increased this year. Half of the 10 wealthiest billionaires on Earth have made their fortunes in technology."

Zuckerberg Tops Bezos as World's Fourth Richest - Bloomberg Business

Marissa Mayer Sets Yahoo on Streamlined Course - The New York Times

tl;dr: for sale; also see Mayer Defends Her Turnaround, Even as Board Puts Company on Block (Re/code)

"Whether it is sold or survives, Yahoo is getting smaller. It said on Tuesday it would lay off about 15 percent of its 11,000 employees. By the end of the cuts, the company said its work force would be about 42 percent smaller than it was in 2012.

In addition to being smaller, Ms. Mayer said, the company would be simpler. Yahoo will shed assets, cut expenses and focus on the areas of the company that are growing. When she arrived at Yahoo after working as an executive at Google, she said, “We were sitting on $5 billion in deteriorating revenue with no clear path to growth.”

In essence, she said that Yahoo was no longer deteriorating and was poised for better times — not in 2016, perhaps, but 2017."

Marissa Mayer Sets Yahoo on Streamlined Course - The New York Times

Alphabet’s Price Target Raised by More Than Two Dozen Analysts - Digits - WSJ

Perhaps a king-for-a-day experience for GOOG; according to Google Finance, Google ended the day up ~1.7%; Google Finance shows mkt caps $519.9B GOOG and $533.6B AAPL (although Yahoo Finance shows $525.87B GOOG and $523.85B AAPL; go figure...)

"The company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenues Monday night. Then it dethroned Apple Inc. as the most valuable publicly-traded company on any exchange. Now, its shares are trading at a record high after at least 27 analysts upped their price targets on Alphabet’s stock.

After the company posted strong growth and rising profitability at its main Internet business, the average price target among 51 Alphabet analysts surveyed by FactSet rose to $913.91 from $862.09 at the end of January, 15% above where shares recently traded at $796.14."

Alphabet’s Price Target Raised by More Than Two Dozen Analysts - Digits - WSJ

Gmail now has more than 1 billion active users | VentureBeat | Apps | by Jordan Novet

In other >= 1B active users news, apparently email is not dead yet...

"Gmail, Google’s email service, now has more than 1 billion active users, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said during today’s Alphabet (GOOG) earnings call.

That’s up from 900 million active users back in May 2015. [...] 

Last year Google gave Inbox an interesting feature: Smart Reply, which offers users quick and easy responses to messages. Today that feature counts for 10 percent of all responses in Inbox, Pichai told investors on today’s earnings call."

Gmail now has more than 1 billion active users | VentureBeat | Apps | by Jordan Novet

Apple iPad Pro Wins The Microsoft Surface Battle, But Will Lose The PC War - Forbes

~2M to ~1.6M units; also keep in mind the iPad Pro was released mid-quarter (11/11/2015); also see IDC: Tablet shipments decline 10.1% in 2015, leaders Apple and Samsung both lose market share (VentureBeat)

"According to data from IDC the Apple iPad Pro shipped more units in the most recent quarter than Microsoft’s Surface line of tablets. While that makes an interesting headline, it says more about the strength of Apple’s brand loyalty than it does about the long term prospects of the iPad Pro itself. The fact remains that the iPad Pro—or even iPad in general—is not an existential threat to the PC market."

Apple iPad Pro Wins The Microsoft Surface Battle, But Will Lose The PC War - Forbes

Google's Most Expensive Moonshot? Laying Internet Cables - Bloomberg Business

Digging into "other bets"

"Those hoping to see Alphabets’s fantastical businesses stacked up against one another were disappointed. The company didn’t break out how its smart thermostat business or life extension efforts did. It said, however, that the Other Bet it had spent the most capital on was Google Fiber, its high-speed broadband service. Apparently it really is expensive to bring really fast Internet to Kansas City.

The amount Alphabet spends on the project will continue to rise quickly, because every new city it enters requires its own set of tubes. Capital spending on Other Bets was $869 million last year, about 9 percent of total capital spending."

Google's Most Expensive Moonshot? Laying Internet Cables - Bloomberg Business

Alphabet, not Apple, is now the most valuable company in the world - The Washington Post

Another stock snapshot of the tech titans

"The most valuable companies in America are now squarely in the tech sector. Google and Apple are in a category of their own with market values of $543 billion and $535 billion respectively -- heights never before reached in corporate history. Behind those two companies sits Microsoft at $433 billion. Facebook, at $328 billion, took fourth on Monday, surpassing Exxon Mobile ($318 billion).

The crown won’t pass officially until regular trading begins on Tuesday. But the substantial gains in Alphabet’s stock in after-hours trading and broader shifts within the tech economy had many analysts forecasting that Alphabet would keep the crown of most-valuable in the world for some time to come."

Alphabet, not Apple, is now the most valuable company in the world - The Washington Post

WhatsApp Joins the Billion Users Club - Digits - WSJ

For more on possible business models, see WhatsApp Ditches $1 Annual Fee, Tests Business Accounts But No Ads, Says CEO (TechCrunch)

"WhatsApp, the bare-bones messaging app owned by Facebook Inc., now boasts a billion users a month, a key point on its road to profitability.

About 42 billion messages and 1.6 billion photos are shared daily over the seven-year-old app, the company announced Monday. Users also send 250 million videos every day and have created 1 billion groups.

Facebook bought WhatsApp about two years ago in a deal worth about $22 billion. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said he expects WhatsApp to contribute to the company’s bottom line after it hits roughly a billion users."

WhatsApp Joins the Billion Users Club - Digits - WSJ

Alphabet, the Google Holding Company, Reports Strong Growth - The New York Times

A is for alpha

"The early results look good. The company reported that, excluding currency fluctuations, revenue increased 24 percent to $21.3 billion in the last three months of 2015 compared with the fourth quarter a year ago. The rise was attributed to strong growth in mobile search and YouTube, the company said.

Net income was $4.9 billion versus $4.7 billion for the same period a year ago, beating Wall Street expectations.

The company said its “other bets” category had revenue of $448 million and a loss of $3.6 billion.

Shares of Alphabet were up more than 5 percent in early after-hours trading, most likely making it the world’s most valuable company when the stock market opens for trading on Tuesday."

Alphabet, the Google Holding Company, Reports Strong Growth - The New York Times

Marissa Mayer to Make Case That Yahoo Can Be Turned Around - Bloomberg Business

Yahoo's latest turnaround plan to be announced on Groundhog Day

"Marissa Mayer is gearing up for yet another turnaround plan for Yahoo! Inc. Given the company’s persistent growth slump, even a sweeping overhaul may do little to fend off activist investors threatening to wage a proxy war aimed at her removal.
Yahoo’s chief executive officer, who has overseen falling sales in 7 of the past 10 quarters, promised to detail a plan to cut costs and boost growth. The effort, set to be announced with quarterly earnings Tuesday, will probably include job cuts, a person with knowledge of the matter has said."

Marissa Mayer to Make Case That Yahoo Can Be Turned Around - Bloomberg Business

Google Is Hearing Facebook’s Footsteps - WSJ

A big day ahead for Alphabet, which announces fourth-quarter earnings this afternoon

"In the continuing battle for world domination, a cool $15 billion separates Google parent Alphabet Inc. from Apple Inc.

That is the difference between the two behemoths in terms of market capitalization. Yet investors gauging whether Alphabet’s run to market-cap supremacy has legs may be better off sizing up the search giant against another, albeit smaller, tech force: Facebook Inc.
Wall Street has cheered Facebook’s recent mobile success. Last week, Facebook said some 80% of total fourth-quarter advertising revenue came from mobile, well ahead of estimates and up from 23% just three years ago."

Google Is Hearing Facebook’s Footsteps - WSJ

New Technologies Give Government Ample Means to Track Suspects, Study Finds - The New York Times

Check Don’t Panic: Making Progress on the ‘Going Dark’ Debate (pdf) for the full report; tangentially, see NSA Hacker Chief Explains How to Keep Him Out of Your System (Wired)

"For more than two years the F.B.I. and intelligence agencies have warned that encrypted communications are creating a “going dark” crisis that will keep them from tracking terrorists and kidnappers.

Now, a study in which current and former intelligence officials participated concludes that the warning is wildly overblown, and that a raft of new technologies — like television sets with microphones and web-connected cars — are creating ample opportunities for the government to track suspects, many of them worrying."

New Technologies Give Government Ample Means to Track Suspects, Study Finds - The New York Times

Microsoft Plumbs Ocean’s Depths to Test Underwater Data Center - The New York Times

Sunk cost

"Such a radical idea could run into stumbling blocks, including environmental concerns and unforeseen technical issues. But the Microsoft researchers believe that by mass producing the capsules, they could shorten the deployment time of new data centers from the two years it now takes on land to just 90 days, offering a huge cost advantage.

The underwater server containers could also help make web services work faster. Much of the world’s population now lives in urban centers close to oceans but far away from data centers usually built in out-of-the-way places with lots of room. The ability to place computing power near users lowers the delay, or latency, people experience, which is a big issue for web users."

Microsoft Plumbs Ocean’s Depths to Test Underwater Data Center - The New York Times

iPhone, therefore I am | The Economist

Final paragraph from an Apple reality check

"As an investment, Apple is surprisingly inexpensive. Its shares trade at about 10.4 times forecast earnings, excluding cash, compared with Alphabet and Facebook, which trade at 21.4 and 33 times respectively. That is because many perceive it as a hardware company—vulnerable, like Hollywood studios, to product hits and flops. Apple is trying to change that image and become perceived more as a services company, with stable recurring revenue. Its services division, which includes its app store and music offering, has huge sales, of around $20 billion a year. That business will only increase as the number of users expands and spends more in the Apple ecosystem. So long as it stays fresh in the eyes of consumers, Apple will be able to prove the sceptics wrong—again."

iPhone, therefore I am | The Economist

The End of Twitter - The New Yorker

From a stark Twitter reality check; also see Mossberg: Twitter has become secret-handshake software (The Verge)

"Ultimately, Twitter’s service is so confused and undifferentiated in the market that it’s increasingly difficult to make a clear case for its existence. There are a small handful of features Facebook might add, or a separate app that it could easily create (as it did with Messenger and the photo-sharing stand-alone feature Moments) that would provide a similar but more consistent experience, with vastly more reach than anything the company can provide today (or tomorrow, for that matter). This is especially notable to all of us in the world of media, the people who fill these services with highly valuable and hotly traded “content,” such as the piece you’re currently reading. Social media is a scale game or a product game, and Twitter is failing at both."

The End of Twitter - The New Yorker

Microsoft Tops Estimates Amid Nadella's Cloud Transformation - Bloomberg Business

Later in the article: "Excluding the impact of foreign-currency exchange rates, revenue from Azure in the second quarter rose 140 percent, and sales of Office 365 increased almost 70 percent, the company said." For more on Microsoft's expectations-management skills, see Microsoft Profit and Revenue Fall, but Cloud Computing Grows (NYT)

"Revenue from Azure -- Microsoft’s platform that sells data-center based computing power and services -- more than doubled as customers signed up for pricier offerings that can handle machine learning and process large reams of information. Subscriptions for Office 365 productivity software also lured both businesses and consumers, and even Windows sales came in better than the overall PC market, fueled by the adoption of Windows 10.
The gains add to optimism that Chief Executive Officer Nadella can revitalize growth by focusing on Web-based services and productivity applications. More than 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies are now using at least two different Microsoft cloud services, Nadella said on Thursday. His plan to focus on apps for rival platforms is also attracting users, with 340 million downloads of Office apps on Apple Inc.’s iOS and Google’s Android."

Microsoft Tops Estimates Amid Nadella's Cloud Transformation - Bloomberg Business