US UN-EMPLOYEMENT :
Overall, 1.99 million Americans are collecting unemployment benefits, down more than 7 percent from a year ago.
THE TAKEAWAY:
Jobless claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have come
in below 300,000 for 112 straight weeks, the longest streak since 1970.
The numbers suggest that most American workers are secure in their jobs.
KEY DRIVERS:
This new Windows, available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7
and Windows 8 noncorporate users, is built from the ground up to
pursue Microsoft's vision of a unified OS that spans all devices
without alienating any one platform. It's an attempt to safeguard
Microsoft's crumbling software hegemony, assailed on all sides by
Google and Apple. And it's a vision of the future as Microsoft sees it,
where a single user experience spans every piece of technology we
touch. Welcome to Windows as a service.
Yes, this new OS is
chock-full of fresh features.
Apple survives largely off the iPhone today, and
Samsung is trying to recover both from its burning phone problem and
from its top executive being arrested on bribery charges.
Neither firm can afford a big loss to the other, and Samsung just came out of the gate with one hell of an opening salvo.
A big difference is that Apple can focus on product, while Samsung
has to restore its image, and that is a far harder thing to do.
I'll share some thoughts about this coming battle and close with the
closest thing in market to an iPod-like device, although it doesn't play
music
Overall, 1.99 million Americans are collecting unemployment benefits, down more than 7 percent from a year ago.
