France is famous for being proud of its local stores, considering them essential to bring culture to small villages. 3,000 independent bookstores have complained that they can’t compete with the cut-price offers online. The bill to support independent bookstores against competition from online retailers has been approved by the lower house and will now be sent to the Senate. If the new law will be approved by Senate, this will mean that companies like Amazon will be restricted from combining offers of 5% discounts with free deliveries. But Amazon is insisting that the arrangement is legal under the EU’s single market rules. Continue reading »

According to CNN, Cisco’s CEO John Chambers received a salary boost from $375,000 to $1,1 million and &15,2 million of stock rewards for the company’s fiscal 2013. His cash bonus also increased about $750,000 to $4,7 million. Chambers’ salary hasn’t changed since fiscal 2008. This new $21 million compensation puts him among the top five most highly paid tech CEOs. Cisco announced 4,000 job cuts in its report in August and shares are down 3,7% over the past three months but up 19,3% year to date. Continue reading »

On the 2013 Best Global Brands list published by Interbrand, Apple is a new No. 1. Apple has ended Coca-Cola’s 13-year run as the world’s most valuable brand on a highly regarded annual list and its brand is estimated to be worth $98,3 billion, a 28% increase over 2012, according to Interbrand. Interbrand, which consults with companies about their public image, compiles its list based on financial performance of the company, the role the brand plays in influencing consumers, and how secure the brand’s top products are in their field. Last year Apple became the most valuable public company in history, although its stocks have since dipped.

Top 10 2013 Best Global Brands:

• Apple
• Google
• Coca-Cola
• IBM
• Microsoft
• GE
• McDonald’s
• Samsung
• Intel
• Toyota

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Toshiba will cut 50% of staff in loss-making TV division, with two-thirds of those positions overseas and cease production at two of its three overseas factories. The company didn’t say which of its three factories in China, Indonesia and Poland it would close. Continue reading »

Delta Air Lines surprised industry observers by choosing Microsoft’s Surface 2 tablet for its pilots, so they can replace large and physical flight literature. Airline reportedly wants that currrent iPad Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) users to transition to a company-issued device. Its flight attendants already use ca. 19,000 Nokia Lumia 820 smartphones for demonstration of precautionary details for flights and to assist in seating. Delta is trying to make paperless cockpits in less than two years and this will resulted in thousands of pounds of flight weight saved, leading to thousands of gallons of fuel conserved. Continue reading »

Major League Gaming hired Houston Rockets’ general manager Daryl Morey. He has previous experience as SVP Operations for the Boston Celtics and overseeing the Houston Rockets. Daryl will try to build the company into a mainstream sports media property and will get involved in eSports.

They also hires Greg Chisholm as CFO for overseeing financial strategy and Allen De La Cruz as SVP Engineering for online content and multiplayer gaming platform (MLG: Play). Continue reading »