Spotify's Sean Parker claims Apple tried to prevent their US launch

A director at Spotify claims that Apple tried to prevent them from entering the US market. Sean Parker says that Cupertino felt threatened by their presence and that he got the impression from others in the industry that Apple tried to thwart them from entering their home turf.

Parker spoke at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. His comments came in response to Walt Mossberg asking if Apple had tried to keep Spotify out of the US. Reuters notes that there was a brief moment of silence and awkward looks between Parker and Spotify chief Daniel Ek sitting beside him before the director moved forward to answer.

It was during Spotify’s negotiations with executives in the music industry that he learned of Apple’s alleged intent. He told Mossberg that you hear things and that people send you emails, further suggesting that Apple might have felt threatened.

"There was some indication that that might have been happening," Parker said while also noting that he could “get away with saying things” that Ek could not.

Parker got his start as an entrepreneur when he co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning in 1999. He later went on to become the first president and investor of Facebook before ultimately serving on Spotify’s board after a $15 million investment in 2010. He was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie “The Social Network.”

Spotify launched in the US last July as an invite-only service before opening its doors for anyone to join in September. As of January 2012, the service had 3 million paid subscribers which represented 20 percent of their overall active user base.

The publication says that Apple declined to comment on the allegations.

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Spotify's Sean Parker claims Apple tried to prevent their US launch

A director at Spotify claims that Apple tried to prevent them from entering the US market. Sean Parker says that Cupertino felt threatened by their presence and that he got the impression from others in the industry that Apple tried to thwart them from entering their home turf.

Parker spoke at the All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes yesterday. His comments came in response to Walt Mossberg asking if Apple had tried to keep Spotify out of the US. Reuters notes that there was a brief moment of silence and awkward looks between Parker and Spotify chief Daniel Ek sitting beside him before the director moved forward to answer.

It was during Spotify’s negotiations with executives in the music industry that he learned of Apple’s alleged intent. He told Mossberg that you hear things and that people send you emails, further suggesting that Apple might have felt threatened.

"There was some indication that that might have been happening," Parker said while also noting that he could “get away with saying things” that Ek could not.

Parker got his start as an entrepreneur when he co-founded Napster with Shawn Fanning in 1999. He later went on to become the first president and investor of Facebook before ultimately serving on Spotify’s board after a $15 million investment in 2010. He was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 movie “The Social Network.”

Spotify launched in the US last July as an invite-only service before opening its doors for anyone to join in September. As of January 2012, the service had 3 million paid subscribers which represented 20 percent of their overall active user base.

The publication says that Apple declined to comment on the allegations.

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Posted in: Apple,claims,launch,Parker,prevent,Spotifys,their,tried

Source claims new Xbox is 'already in manufacturing stages'

The next generation Xbox has already reached the manufacturing stage according to a report from IGN. A source has told the publication that assembly recently started at the Austin, Texas branch of Flextronics, the same company responsible for manufacturing the Xbox 360 and the original Xbox before that.
The company reportedly created a whole new testing group to work on the new Xbox, separate from everyone else. The new group was responsible for marketing, software and hardware testing and with those tasks behind them, the project has moved on to manufacturing.
IGN points out that although systems are being actively created, they likely aren’t retail models. Instead, Flextronics is probably churning out development kits that will be sent to game studios so companies can get to work on making games for the new system that will be ready in time for the console’s launch.
Speaking of launch, the new Xbox is still probably a couple of years out. We already know for a fact that Microsoft won’t be showing any new hardware at this year’s E3 convention. A company spokesperson confirmed this statement back in March.
As is the norm, Microsoft and Flextronics provided no comment on the rumor. Considering that Microsoft will soon be offering a subsidized $99 Xbox 360 bundle paired with a two year service agreement, it seems feasible to think that the company plans to ride the 360 wave for at least two more years following the successful launch of Kinect.
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Yahoo to investigate claims CEO Scott Thompson lied about his Computer Science degree

In a bizarre turn of events, Yahoo's board of directors announced yesterday their intention to investigate allegations that current CEO Scott Thompson intentionally misled the company over his educational achievements, promising to report appropriately the findings to shareholders, according to Reuters.

It's believed the discrepancy came to light after hedge fund Third Point, which is no stranger to public battles with the internet search company's board, alleged Thompson did not have a Computer Science degree as claimed on his resume. Currently, Third Point owns 5.81% of the shares in Yahoo and it's no secret that they want more.

In a letter to Yahoo's board, Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb wrote that Thompson received a degree in accounting from Stonehill College, not a degree in "accounting and computer science," as the company website stated. That was just the beginning however, as the hedge fund actually investigated the matter further and it revealed the college never even offered degrees in computer science during the time of Thompson's attendance.

Yahoo responded by saying the listing of computer science for his degree was an "inadvertent error," before clarifying that "Scott Thompson's degree at Stonehill College was in bachelor science in accounting."

However, in a statement to AllThingsD later the same day, a spokesperson then said,  "in connection with the statement the company made earlier today about Scott Thompson, the Yahoo board will be reviewing this matter, and upon completion of its review, will make an appropriate disclosure to shareholders." Before continuing, "this, in no way, alters that fact that Mr. Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer technology companies."

Interestingly though, AllThingsD then published more coverage, in which Thompson had appeared on the TechNation radio show in 2009, at the time employed by PayPal. During that interview he clearly makes no attempt to correct the presenter when she incorrectly classifies his degree.

"Your bachelor's degree is in accounting and computer science. Now, from both of those, I mean that's pretty obvious that's PayPal," the presenter said. Thompson replied "yeah" without even trying to correct her on the mistake. He continued, "and that’s really the background that I have, and it started back in my college days, and I think that’s really the wonderful part thing of being an engineer is you think that way."

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