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G20 leaders will discuss raising taxes for big tech firms next week
For years, European countries have been grappling with how to get big tech firms to pay more taxes. They've proposed interim taxes on revenues, suggested global minimum taxes and slapped companies with hefty fines. We may be getting closer to a solution. Next week, G20 finance ministers are expected to discuss a proposed tax overhaul that would target big multinational firms, including Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.
Apple joining effort to build $2 billion hospital
Apple has joined up with other computer firms, including eBay, HP and Intel, in an effort to build a brand new hospital in Stanford, near Palo Alto, CA. The hospital is expected to cost over US$2 billion, and $550 million of that will be donated and raised by the corporate partners program, which Apple has signed on to as a member. Outside of raising money, the corporate partners are invited to join in the technological design of the facility, donating and contributing ideas and technology to help change "the way people interface with the hospital." Apple certainly knows quite a bit about interfaces -- we've seen the iPad placed in hospitals before. Macs and iPhones have a lot to offer to health care as well, on a variety of levels. Planning for the new hospital has been going on for the last five years; construction, due to start later on in 2011, isn't expected to be complete until 2017.
Company to begin testing restaurant iPad POS system
Lecere Corporation will begin testing their iPad-based, Fully-Integrated Restaurant Management Software in a "major restaurant chain" this week. The iPad FIRMS POS system, which can also be used with the iPod touch, offers a 90% savings on traditional POS systems and can be optimized to fit restaurants of any level -- form the individual restaurant to multinational chain restaurants, to hotels. "Using those devices [iPad, iPod touch], along with a couple of standard ticket printers, brings the startup cost for the pilot to under $2,000," Lecere CEO Jim Morris said. "Contrast that with an upfront cost of about $20,000 to install a traditional, on-premises POS system with its heavy, non-movable POS terminals, printers, and back-office servers." Ignoring the fact that the above video has the production values of a bad porno, the POS system on an iPad could easily take off, especially once you consider the cost savings over a traditional POS system. If any of you are restaurant dining this week and happen to see the FIRMS iPad POS system in action, be sure to let us know how the experience went and what restaurant chain you saw it at! Thanks to J. Browning, who is currently serving in Iraq, for sending this in.
NPD: Apple ranked #5 US electronics retailer in 2009
Market research firm NPD Group has published its annual report profiling the consumer retail sector for 2009, and guess who made the list of top five electronics retailers? Hint: If you guessed the Microsoft Store, you would be wrong, and everyone would be pointing and laughing at you right now. No, I'm talking of course about Apple, who came in at a respectable number five, alongside such industry stalwarts as Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Dell, to name a few. While the report primarily details consumer spending trends throughout 2009, as well as other dry and boring data interesting only to bean counters and TUAW's own Mike Rose (because he loves numbers and cheats at poker), NPD's study does show some growth in Apple's favor, lifted no doubt on the back of iPhone's popularity. Especially when you consider that their competitors sell many, many brands, and Apple sells just their own product line, their achievement is that much more impressive. In other news, 98% of people surveyed in my own study find Apple to be awesome. And lest you question my sample source, I will reply that the TUAW staff are an excellent focus group for conducting such studies.
