Apple Music, the company's new streaming service, attracted 11 million people for its trial period in a little more than a month, a top executive said.
The executive, Eddy Cue, gave the number in an interview with USA Today, saying he was "thrilled" with the results.
Apple Music was introduced June 30 in more than 100 countries with a trial plan that gave each user three months of access free. After that period ends, the service will cost $10 a month. Of the 11 million sign-ups, 2 million are for family plans that will cost $15 a month and give access for up to six people, said Cue, Apple's senior vice president for Internet software and services.
In an earnings call with investors last month, Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, said only that "millions and millions" of people had signed up for the new service.
The meaning of Apple Music's numbers is already being debated in music industry circles. Its 11 million users immediately makes Apple Music a major destination for online music; Spotify, its biggest competitor as a subscription outlet, has 75 million users, 20 million of whom pay, and has been in operation for seven years.
-- The New York Times
Yelp adds health care data to reviews
Yelp has introduced a new feature that adds health care information to its online reviews pages for hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis clinics.
The San Francisco company said last week that it will provide statistics for 4,600 hospitals, 15,000 nursing homes and 6,300 dialysis clinics in the U.S. The information is compiled by ProPublica from their own research and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and will be updated quarterly.
"Now the millions of consumers who use Yelp to find and evaluate everything from restaurants to retail will have even more information at their fingertips when they are in the midst of the most critical life decisions, like which hospital to choose for a sick child or which nursing home will provide the best care for aging parents," Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a blog post.
-- The Los Angeles Times
Adidas buys fitness app maker Runtastic
Adidas AG has acquired Runtastic GmbH, whose mobile apps let runners and other athletes analyze their workouts, as the sporting-gear maker tries to use online communities to boost sales and catch up with rivals Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc.
The deal, for an enterprise value of $239 million, gives the sportswear maker inroads into Runtastic's 70 million registered users, who use its smartphone and tablet software to track running, cycling and other pastimes, Adidas said in a statement recenty.
It's the latest move by Herzogenaurach, Germany-based Adidas to make up lost ground in the market, and follows Under Armour's acquisition of two health and fitness apps for $560 million in February.
The transaction "offers the opportunity to grow a highly engaged athlete user base and leverage the power of our broad product portfolio," Adidas Chief Executive Officer Herbert Hainer said in the statement.
San Antonio selected for Google Fiber
SAN ANTONIO -- Google's ultra-fast Internet service is coming to San Antonio, the largest city yet to be promised the opportunity to accelerate the speed of their online access.
With the addition of San Antonio announced Wednesday, a total of 24 U.S. cities scattered through seven states have now been selected as markets for an Internet service called "Google Fiber."
Started five years ago in Kansas, the ambitious project represents Google's attempt to pressure major broadband providers such as Comcast, Verizon Communications and AT&T Inc. to upgrade their networks so they run at faster speeds.
Google Inc. is installing fiber-optic lines in selected cities to deliver Internet service at one gigabit per second, up to 100 times faster than existing services.
A timetable for Google Fiber's completion in San Antonio hasn't been set.
-- The Associated Press
Netflix: New parents control first year
Netflix Inc., the company that places no limits on vacation, is taking its time-off policy a step further by offering unlimited parental leave.
Employees who are new parents can take as much time off work as they want during the first year after a child's birth or adoption, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix said in recent a blog post. They will be kept on the payroll and won't be switched over to disability, the company said.
"We want employees to have the flexibility and confidence to balance the needs of their growing families without worrying about work or finances," the company said. "Parents can return part-time, full-time or return and then go back out as needed."
Indian solar auction brings down prices
India's biggest auction ever for solar energy brought a further reduction in prices, with companies such as SkyPower Ltd. of Canada and SunEdison Inc. of the U.S. competing with local firms.
Acme Cleantech Solutions Ltd. and Mytrah Energy Ltd. emerged as the top winners in bids to build 2,000 megawatts of solar farms in the southern state of Telangana. Together, they reaped 763 megawatts of contracts.
The result showed progress in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal to install 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022 in order to expand India's electricity production while limiting pollution. The country currently has 4 gigawatts of solar capacity, or 4,000 megawatts. A gigawatt is about is as much as a nuclear reactor produces.
"This year's weighted average bid price is likely to fall below 9 cents a kilowatt-hour, which would be about 15 percent lower than the 2014 average," said Bharat Bhushan Agrawal, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Study: Teens text parents while driving
Teenagers calling themselves safe motorists overwhelmingly admit to checking phones when behind the wheel, and those who text while driving say they are often distracted by parents who expect immediate responses, a survey found.
More than half of the teens confessed to texting while driving to update their parents, and 19 percent said moms and dads expected a response within one minute, according to a study issued last week by Boston-based Liberty Mutual Holding Co. and Students Against Destructive Decisions.
"We have a generation of parents that are used to being very connected with their children," Stephen Wallace, chief executive officer of SADD, said in an interview. "They're looking for that constant communication."
Of the almost 3,000 fatal crashes in 2013 caused by distracted drivers, 10 percent of those deaths were teens, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Auto insurers including Allstate Corp. and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. have publicized the risks of distracted motorists.
Nearly half of teens surveyed said they check cellphone applications while driving, with Snapchat and Instagram being the most popular. About 88 percent of teens who consider themselves safe drivers report using phone apps on the road.
Amazon selling its Echo through Staples
Amazon.com Inc. is teaming up with office supply chain Staples Inc. to sell the Amazon Echo, a voice-activated speaker that can play music, dim lights and answer questions, hinting that the online retailer is having trouble moving the device on its own.
The Echo, introduced in November, will be sold for $179.99 on Staples.com, with Staples serving as the exclusive third-party retailer, the companies announced.
The partnership comes three months after Amazon started its Amazon Business marketplace, which rivals Staples for business spending on office supplies.
Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has been spending on gadgets to tie consumers more closely to the e-commerce company. New hardware offerings last year included a media-streaming device, the Fire TV Stick, which plugs into a TV set to let users browse video and music from Amazon, Netflix Inc., Pandora Media Inc. and other content services.
SundayMonday Business on 08/10/2015