Apple reduces its cut for indies

Apple will reduce App Store cut to 15 percent for most developers starting January 1st

• Apple has announced one of the biggest changes in App Store history 
• Called the App Store Small Business Program, any developer who earns less than $1 million a year will now pay Apple 15 percent, not 30 percent (of app revenue & in-app purchases) 
• The cynical view is Apple is making these changes as a public relations play
• Epic Games is suing Apple in Australia and the US, in part over the 30% cut, which Epic Games calls an “unfair Apple tax” 
• According to the New York Times, this change will cover 98% of developers on the App Store - which means the majority of money is made by the other 2% of developers… 

Google Takes on The Banks 

Google Pay gets a major redesign with a new emphasis on personal finance

• Google  is launching a major redesign of its Google Pay app on both Android and iOS today.
• Google Pay can store credit and debit cards, as well as voucher and loyalty cards
• The bigger news is Google is partnering with Citi Bank to create it’s own virtual bank
• The new app will feature many of the key benefits of “app banks” - like savings goals and spending habits 
• The new app is not currently available in Australia - perhaps waiting on a local partner

Trump will still have power on Facebook next year

How Twitter and Facebook plan to handle Trump’s accounts when he leaves office.

• Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg fronted congress again yesterday, and revealed how the companies would deal with a post Trump world
• Dorsey confirmed Trump would lose all the protections his account currently enjoys on Twitter - suggesting that Trumps false tweets would be rejected, rather than mislabeled as false 
• Zuckerberg said Facebook would not change how they currently moderate Trump 
• Some other interesting tibits from the hearing: 
• Zuckerberg had to again defend his stance on not banning Steve Bannon, after he called for the beheading of government officials 
• And when asked if social media can be addictive, Twitter’s Dorsey said yes, Zuckerberg said the “data was inconclusive” 

Jack Dorsey says social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook can be addictive — Mark Zuckerberg says the research is 'inconclusive'

Another Day, Another MVNO

Optus launches Singtel's Gomo mobile brand in Australia

• Last week saw the launch of TPG and Vodafone’s low cost sub-brand, Felix
• Today Optus launched it’s new MVNO, Gomo 
• Like Felix, Gomo is just one plan, but it’s much more generous than Felix
• For $25 a month, you get 18gbs of data, uncapped, and the data rolls over 
• Felix gives “unlimited data” capped at 5 megabits per second
• Gomo is offering the first month for $1 for the first five thousand...
  

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