Google Pixel 2 XL will reportedly cost $849 for 64GB, $949 for 128GB
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/56756597/2xl.0.jpg)
Google plans to announce full details on its next Pixel smartphones — the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL — at an event on October 4th. As that date moves closer, Droid Life has today published new images of the larger, LG-made device. The Pixel 2 XL will come in two color options at launch: there’s a black version, which is reminiscent of the original, and a new white/black combo that has a black rear glass pane. It’s certainly a unique look, and the power button on the white model is colored orange. That doesn’t look to be true of the black unit. Hopefully the front of the device will be black in both cases to better blend with that all-screen display.
Droid Life reports that the Pixel 2 XL will start at $849 for 64GB of storage and bump up to $949 if you want 128GB. That latter price point brings Google right up against the $1,000 mark; after sales tax, there’s a good chance you’ll end up going over it. As it did for the original Pixel, Google will again offer monthly financing to help spread that investment out over 24 months. The 64GB Pixel 2 XL will be $35.38 each month, with the 128GB version slightly higher at $39.54/mo.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9282223/pixel2xl.png){kind=tracking}
The Pixel 2 XL is expected to feature a 6-inch OLED screen — similar to the one in LG’s V30— and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor. It’s also reportedly gaining new squeeze gestures similar to the HTC U11; HTC is manufacturing the smaller Pixel 2, but both phones are rumored to have the gestures. The regular Pixel 2 will stick much closer to the original’s overall appearance.
It’s also likely that Google will make Google Lens a big focus of these devices to help differentiate them from an impressive lineup of 2017 flagship competition. Google has stayed fairly quiet about the feature since revealing it at I/O earlier this year. And as always, you can expect photography and camera performance to be at the top of Google’s priorities. The Pixel has stayed at (or at the very least near) the top of the pack for an entire year, which is a pretty remarkable achievement with how competitive all these companies are.
Google Alphabet’s Waymo wants Uber to pay $2.6 billion in damages for a single allegedly stolen trade secret
As of today, Waymo is pursuing nine separate trade secret claims.
Alphabet thinks Uber should pay $2.6 billion for allegedly stealing a single trade secret.
Alphabet is in court with Uber today to convince a judge to delay the Oct. 10 trial in its self-driving lawsuit against the ride-hail company. But during the hearing, an Uber attorney said that Alphabet is seeking $2.6 billion in damages for just one of the nine trade secrets the company is claiming a former Uber executive stole.
Before today’s hearing, the amount of damages Alphabet wanted a court to award them was not public and had been redacted from court filings.
In its opposition to Alphabet’s request for a trial delay, Uber claims Alphabet is simply asking for a “do-over” because its allegations that an executive stole files and brought them to Uber has weakened.
Alphabet is suing Uber for trade secret misappropriation, alleging one of its former executives, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded 14,000 files and took them to Uber after it acquired his self-driving startup Otto. Uber, for its part, vehemently denies that any of the files made it to the company’s servers.
In that opposition, Uber calls Alphabet’s damages claims “inflated” and “based entirely on speculative future profits and cost savings in a nascent market.”
The damages Alphabet is seeking for each of the nine trade secrets vary and have been redacted within the document. So there’s still no indication of which trade secret claim Alphabet is seeking $2.6 billion for, nor what amount the company is asking for the other eight trade secrets.
However, this doesn’t mean Alphabet will be awarded $2.6 billion plus the other damages if the company wins on these claims. Instead, the judge will award them the maximum damage the company was asking for. (So, if $2.6 billion is the highest amount then Alphabet will only receive $2.6 billion.)
Alphabet and Uber declined to comment.
Judge William Alsup, who is presiding over this case, declined to rule on whether he will delay the trial and will instead decide this at an Oct. 3 hearing.
The new Apple Watch is mostly an iterative update over its predecessor, but for one major feature: LTE. The addition of cellular connectivity has been touted as everything from “nice” to “game changing,” but reviewers appear to have early issues in testing. I didn’t run into any in my own testing, but the Verge reported some big hiccups connecting to the cellular network on the device.
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the problem with TechCrunch, stating, “We have discovered that when Apple Watch Series 3 joins unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks without connectivity, it may at times prevent the watch from using cellular. We are investigating a fix for a future software release.”
The issue here seems to stem from the watch hopping on networks that you’ve enabled on other Apple devices like the WiFi. The wearable draws from the same database, so if, say, you’ve joined a hotel or library wireless network on your iPhone, the watch will spot it and connect. The feature is essentially enabled the same way it is on a phone — the device defaults to WiFi so users don’t tap into their cellular data every time they do something on their device.
The case of a captive network like the above that requires a password or other acknowledgement to sign in presents an issue. The absence of a browser on the watch means you can’t go through the formal steps of connecting, so you’re essentially in a sort of wireless limbo — you’re connected to the network, but you’re not actually getting any data. The shortcoming is due, in part, to the watch form factor, which limits the user’s ability to input information.
The reason this is more bug than feature, however, is the that watch can’t do both at the same time, so if it spots a familiar WiFi network, the LTE calling is dropped. That’s likely the fix the company is “investigating…for a future software release.”
Other LTE concerns have cropped up ahead of this round of Series 3 reviews, including some questions around international roaming. Specifically, the device is only designed to operate in its country of origin, so the watch will essentially operate as a non-LTE model when you travel abroad.
The issue likely stems from the relationships the company developed with individual carriers in order to enable call and text forwarding to the handset. Apple wouldn’t comment on whether it’s investigating a fix on that side.
The chief executive of Compass Group, the world’s largest catering group, is stepping down.
Richard Cousins, a City heavyweight with a reputation as a turnround man, is quitting as CEO next March and will retire fully from the board in September 2018. He will be replaced by Dominic Blakemore, Compass’ chief operating officer for Europe.
In January, Mr Cousins unexpectedly resigned from his position as senior independent director of Tesco, just days before Britain’s biggest retailer reported its Christmas trading figures. He had joined Tesco in 2014 when the retailer’s shareholders were reeling from an accounting scandal.
When Mr Cousins joined Compass in 2006, the catering group was embroiled in allegations of corruption in its business supplying the UN. Compass went on to settle the civil claims against it out of court.
In a statement, Mr Cousins offered no reasons for his resignation, instead saying:
“It has been a privilege to work with the many talented people that make up the Compass team. I am grateful to have enjoyed their support in building a world class business that has enormous potential to prosper further. I look forward to working closely with Dominic in the next six months to ensure a smooth handover and I am confident that he will lead the Group to even greater success in the future.”
{SW FP Equity CPG LN Equity GRT D <GO>}
Hyper-actif ces derniers mois, le holding d’investissement de la famille Peugeot juge le niveau de son cours de bourse « injustifié ».
« C'est probablement assez excessif ». Robert Peugeot n'est pas satisfait du cours de Bourse de FFP, le holding d'investissement de la famille fondatrice de PSA. Même si le titre a bondi de plus de 35% depuis janvier. « Le cours affiche 45% de décote, ce n'est pas justifié », martèle le dirigeant, qui a d'ailleurs procédé en juin à un rachat d'actions de 29,2 millions d'euros. « C'était trop tentant de passer un signe au marché, dit-il. PSA s'est redressé, le groupe a de très bonnes perspectives avec le rachat d'Opel. Surtout, nous nous sommes profondément diversifiés dans des activités moins cycliques que l'automobile ».
La famille, qui a perdu le contrôle du constructeur il y a trois ans à la suite d'une grave crise de financement, n'est plus que l'un des trois actionnaires de référence, aux côtés du chinois Dongfeng et de BpiFrance (à environ 14% des parts chacun). La participation de FFP dans PSA - valorisée 1,47 milliard d'euros dans ses comptes-, pèse aujourd'hui moins de 40 % de la totalité de ses actifs, dont la valorisation brute dépasse désormais 4 milliards d'euros. En un an, le fonds est sorti de Sanef (avec sa mise multipliée par trois), Onet et Ipsos, après de longues années de présence au capital.
« Nous ne sommes pas une sicav, notre première vocation est de prendre des participations minoritaires influentes, avec un siège au conseil d'administration », explique Robert Peugeot, qui vise des participations de long terme d'environ 5% à-mêmes d'abonder le versement régulier de dividendes. « FFP n'est pas staffé pour prendre le contrôle d'une société. Notre rôle d'actionnaire de référence de PSA nous prend beaucoup de temps », pointe-t-il. Pas question cependant de remonter au capital du groupe, il existe une clause de « stand still » entre le trio actionnaire.
Moteur dans Safran-Zodiac
Outre son appui à l'acquisition d'Opel par PSA, FFP affirme avoir joué les facilitateurs dans le projet de fusion entre Safran et Zodiac, contesté par l'activiste TCI. Le nouveau patron du groupe, Yann Delabrière, vient du reste tout droit de Faurecia, l'équipemementier contrôlé par PSA... Depuis le début de la semaine, le holding Peugeot est entré au capital de Spie à l'occasion de la sortie des fonds CD&R et Ardian, et il a acceuilli Total au capital d'Eren. En revanche, FFP affirme s'être contenté d'une position d'« observateur » lors de l'offensive de Tikehau sur le holding Eurazeo, au printemps dernier.
La famille place aussi ses pions à l'international, avec un bureau londonien. Elle investit notamment aux Etats-Unis (Lineage Logistics, AmaWaterways, etc), et a pris des tickets dans près d'une cinquantaine de fonds d'investissement européens et américains comme Levine Leichtman, Veritas ou Valor Equity. FFP s'est enfin lancé dans le capital-risque en se rapprochant d'Idinvest.
Charge désormais à la nouvelle recrue de FFP, Bertrand Finet, ancien cadre de la Bpi et de l'ex-FSI, de poursuivre la politique de diversification largement entamée. FFP lorgne ainsi les petites participations de l'Etat. Il s'était intéressé au rachat de l'aéroport de Lyon avec Macquarie il y a un an...
Dow +0.19% S&P +0.06% Nasdaq -0.08% Russell +0.35%
US MarketSettled again higher. As expected, the FOMC unanimously voted to keep the fed funds target range at 1.00%-1.25% and announced that it will begin unwinding its balance sheet in October. Meanwhile, the Fed's so-called "dot plot" was unchanged from the one released in June, showing that the median FOMC member anticipates an additional rate hike in 2017 and three rate hikes in 2018. The feds funds futures market now places the chances of a December rate hike at 67.8%, up from 57.7% on Tuesday and from 48.7% last week. -technology (-0.5%) and financials (+0.6%)--finished at opposite ends of the leaderboard. Apple (AAPL 156.07, -2.66) weighed on the tech space, dropping 1.7%, following rumors of softer-than-expected demand for the new iPhone 8. energy sector (+0.7%) also outperformed, thanks in part to an increase in the price of crude oil; WTI crude jumped 1.5% to $50.70/bbl. US After Hours, AMD +7% extends Tesla AI related move higher, TPRE +5% on S&P SmallCap 600 addition news and APC +5% after launching multi billion dollar repurchase plan/reaffirming guidance. Asian equity markets opened mixed, Google and HTC confirmed a cooperation agreement with the transfer of some employee assets to Google. Bank of Japan (BOJ) also left policy unchanged, as expected. China PBOC sets yuan reference rate-0.3% at 6.5867, the weakest level since Sept 1st.
Nikkei +0.26% Hang Seng -0.08% CSI +0.05% Shanghai -0.01% Shnezen -0.42%
Eur$ 1.1883 CNH 6.5916 CNY 6.5915 GBP 1.3488 CHF 0.9716 RUB 58.1129 WTI$ 50.63 -0.12%
S&P -0.07% EuroStoxx +0.43% FTSE +0.12% Dax +0.39% SMI +0.33%
Macro :
- Fed to Shrink Assets Next Month, Boost Rates by Year End
- May’s Said to Mull Brexit Bill Offer to Unlock Talks in Florence
- Fed's New Dot Plot Shows Median Forecast for Three Hikes in 2018
Keep an eye on :
- ACS SM : ACS Would Sell Abertis Assets to Finance Bid, Expansion Reports
- AMD US : AMD Leaps After Report It’s Working W/ Tesla on Self-Drive Chip
- APC US : Anadarko Reports $2.5B Share Repurchase Program
- AAPL US : Apple Suppliers Fall; Rosenblatt Says IPhone 8 Pre-Orders Weak
- BIDU US : Baidu’s $1.5b Fund to Invest in 100 Autonomous Driving Projects
- BBVA SM : Cerberus in Talks to Buy BBVA Asset Portfolio: EL Confidencial
- BNP FP : German Government Is Said to Favor Commerzbank-BNP Merger: WiWo
- CBK GY : German Government Is Said to Favor Commerzbank-BNP Merger: WiWo
- ELIS FP : Elis Set for Earnings Upgrades Cycle, Outperform: Credit Suisse
- ERICB SS : Ericsson, RCom 1st Round Talks Are Said to Be Inconclusive: ECT
- FFP FP : Robert Peugeot Says FFP Discount Is Unjustified: Echos
- FORTUM FH : Fortum’s Play for Uniper Stake Is Built on Power Price Rally
- GETIB SS : Getinge’s Main Owner Carl Bennet Won’t Sell His Stake: DI
- GOOGL US : HTC, Google Agree to $1.1B Deal
- HNR1 GY : Hannover Re Says May Not Achieve FY Net Income Target
- HMB SS : H&M Gains as Results Set to Benefit From Easing FX Headwinds
- ISP IM : Intesa’s Gros-Pietro Sees Turn in Italian Banking, Economy: BZ
- LUX IM : Luxottica, Essilor Underperform, Synergy View Conservative: RBC
- MC FP : LVMH to Lift Internal Carbon Price, Boosts Renewables Target
- MOR GY : Janssen Starts Phase 3 Tremfya Studies, Morphosys to Get Payment
- NESN VX : Nestle to Cut R&D Jobs Sophia Antipolis to 150 From 550: Echos
- COX FP : Nicox, Eyevance in Pact for US Commercialization of Zerviate
- NVDA US : Nvidia Falls After Report Says Tesla Is Working With AMD on Chip
- CRH LN : CRH to Buy Ash Grove With $3.5B Enterprise Value
- NZYMB DC : Novozymes Seen Undervalued, Given Street-High PT by Bernstein
- ORI SS : Buy Oriflame on Cheap Valuation, Affarsvarlden Says
- P IM : Pirelli IPO Books Are Covered on Base Deal Size: Terms
- POM FP : Plastic Omnium to Sell Environment Unit, Focus on Automotive
- CFR VX : Richemont Appoints Van Oosten to Newly Created CTO Role
- RYA LN : Italy Regulator Probes Ryanair Over Flight Cancellations
- SAN FP : Sanofi’s Three-Armed Treatment Halts HIV-Like Virus in Monkeys
- SNAP US :
- TEL NO : Telenor Starts Offering of 90M of Shares in Veon Ltd.,Says Offer of 90M Veon Shrs Priced at $4.15 Per ADS/Shr
- TEN IM : Tenaris Falls; Morgan Stanley Cautious Into Analyst Day
- TSLA US : AMD Leaps After Report It’s Working W/ Tesla on Self-Drive Chip
- TKA GY : Thyssenkrupp Ready for Acquisitions After Steel Accord: HB
- VED LN : Vedanta May Raise Dividends After Chairman’s Anglo Buy: Nomura
- ZURN VX : Zurich Insurance North America CEO Mike Foley to Retire
>>> Up
* Deutsche Bank Raised to Hold at HSBC
* Elis Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse, PT EU25.40
* Gerresheimer Raised to Outperform at MainFirst, PT EU76
>>> Down
* Austrian Post Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux, PT EU40
* Bauer Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux, PT EU27
* Luxottica Cut to Underperform at RBC
* Schroders Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan, PT GBP35.50
>>> Initiation
* Altus Strategies New Buy at SP Angel, PT 13.70p
* Essilor New Underperform at RBC, PT EU106
* Kid ASA New Buy at Kepler Cheuvreux, PT NOK52
>>> Call
Asia Mid-Session Market Update: Markets little changed as BOJ and Fed decisions come in as expected; USD strengthens
***Asia Summary***
- Asian equity markets opened mixed, Google and HTC confirmed a cooperation agreement with the transfer of some employee assets to Google. Nikkei opening the strongest ahead of BOJ. Broad dollar strength the theme in the currencies, after the Fed statement was widely in line with expectations. Bank of Japan (BOJ) also left policy unchanged, as expected. Little movement in USD/JPY as a result, holding around 112.40. Dissenter Kataoka said yield curve control is not enough to meet inflation target ~FY19 and sees low chance of CPI increasing from 2018 on.
- China PBOC sets yuan reference rate-0.3% at 6.5867, the weakest level since Sept 1st. Onshore yuan fell 0.4% to 6.601 per dollar, in line for weakest closing level since Aug. 28 . Offshore yuan declines 0.2% to 6.5984. The HKMA was un-usually chatty about the HK$, saying they believe the USD/HKD to eventually weaken to 7.85 (currently 7.8013) v trading band 7.75-7.85; Will not roll out measures to support HK$ rate.
***Key economic data***
- (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES INTEREST RATE ON EXCESS RESERVES (IOER) UNCHANGED AT -0.10%; AS EXPECTED
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND Q2 GDP Q/Q: 0.8% V 0.8%E; Y/Y: 2.5% V 2.5%E
- (KR) South Korea Sept Exports 20-days Y/Y: +31.1% v 11.6% prior; Imports Y/Y: 23.9% v 11.2% prior (corrected by South Korea Customs Agency)
- (AU) Australia Aug RBA Govt FX Transactions (A$): -0.6B v -1.03B prior
- (NZ) NEW ZEALAND AUG CREDIT CARD SPENDING M/M: -0.7% V 0.8% PRIOR; Y/Y: 6.4% V 7.1% PRIOR
***Speakers and Press***
China/Hong Kong
- (CN) PBoC Guangzhou Branch bans long-term consumer loans - Chinese Press
- USD/HKD (HK) HKMA's Yue: Believes USD/HKD to eventually weaken to 7.85 (currently 7.8013) v trading band 7.75-7.85
- (CN) China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) releases guidelines related to minimum and maximum coal inventories: Coal producing regions must guarantee supply
- (CN) China Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM): Hopes can work together with EU and oppose global trade protectionism; willing to quicken China/EU investment talks and expand bilateral investment
Korea
- (KR) South Korea Vice Fin Min: Impact of FOMC on domestic markets won’t be ‘big’
- (KR) Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (think tank) says China's actions related to Thaad missile defense system hurt the Chinese
- (KR) Bank of Korea (BOK) quarterly statement on financial stability: household debt growth is expected to stabilize on property measures released Aug. 2 and additional steps to be released soon on household debt
Japan
- (JP) Columbia University professor Takatoshi Ito (candidate to be next BOJ Gov): If the BOJ reaches its 2% inflation target in two years, it will take another five years to wind down
New Zealand
- (NZ) RBNZ comments on approach for bank disclosure: Key bank metrics to be disclosed quarterly
***Asian Equity Indices/Futures (00:00ET)***
- Nikkei +0.4%, Hang Seng +0.0%; Shanghai Composite +0.2%, ASX200 -1.0%, Kospi +0.0%
- Equity Futures: S&P500 -0.0%; Nasdaq100 -0.1%, Dax +0.0%, FTSE100 -0.3%
***FX ranges/Commodities/Fixed Income (00:00ET)***
- EUR 1.1895-1.1865; JPY 112.64-112.27; AUD 0.8034-0.7993;NZD 0.7364-0.7326
- Dec Gold -0.2% at $1,303/oz; Nov Crude Oil +0.0% at $50.70/brl; Dec Copper -0.6% at $2.94/lb
- (CN) PBoC OMO: injects CNY60B in 7 and 28-day reverse repos v injected combined CNY30B in 7 and 28 day reverse repos prior
- USD/CNY (CN) China PBOC sets yuan reference rate at 6.5867 v 6.5670 prior (weakest level since Sept 1st)
- (NZ) New Zealand sells NZ$200M in 2.75% 2025 bonds; avg yield 2.9072%; bid-to-cover 3.91x
- (TH) Thailand Central Bank sells THB45B in 3-yr central bank bond; avg yield 1.5024%; bid-to-cover 2.50x
***Equities notable movers***
Australia/New Zealand
- CBA.AU Confirms AIA to acquire Life Insurance unit for A$3.8B, enters 20-yr partnership with AIA; Undertaking a strategic review of its global asset management business; will consider a range of options, including an IPO; -0.1%
- MGC.AU Mongolia Yili Industry Group, a privately-owned Chinese dairy company, made a higher than expected bid with speculation that the bid may be as high as A$1.20/shr - Aussie press; +9.5%
Japan
- 3064.JP Weakness attributed to report of Amazon starting B2B business in Japan; -5.5%
Taiwan
- 2498.TW Confirms $1.1B cooperation agreement with Google, where Google will acquire part of HTC engineering team related to Pixel phone
Hong Kong/China
- 3908.HK Tencent to acquire 4.95% stake; +11.6%
- 439.HK Subsidiary signs strategic partnership with Xiong'an new area; +9%