MSM Tech Weekly – The week of Feb 1, 2016

“Do you buy more ketchup when the economy is stronger?” – True, if you are Heinz, who’s selling a staple product, the demand doesn’t really vary with the economic conditions. That’s one of the lessons from last week’s Finance class, but back to tech news. It’s hard to be a tech company when the market is isn’t doing good.

  1. LinkedIn stock tumbles 30% after reporting fourth quarter earnings. Job search, networking, influencer articles, and news is all fine, but what’s next? LinkedIn doesn’t seem to be able to convince investors about its future plans. Read more… 
  2. Yahoo slashing its 15% workforce. Yahoo certainly wants to cut down on costs, and is exploring all alternative to do so. What will be its next move? A sale of its core business? Read more…
  3. Cisco announces its buying Jasper Technologies. Understandably, Cisco is a nice example for several business school classes. They just acquire so many companies. The recent one being an Internet of Things company, Jasper Technologies for $1.4B. Read more… 
  4. Fitbit Alta, a new $130 customizable band. If you feel it’s still not the time to buy an Apple or Android watch, Fitbit has launched a new fitness band – ‘Alta’. Read More… 
  5. Another acquisition: Microsoft acquires SwiftKey. Swift Key, which first sounded to me as a “password management” software, is actually a company that makes custom keyboards for Android and iPhone! And, it just got bought for $250m in cash by Microsoft. Read more…

That’s all for this week!

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Mudit

In my friend's words: Mudit is from New Delhi, India. He’s a wildly talented iOS developer and completed his undergraduate degree in 2013 in Computer Science and Engineering in Delhi. Mudit’s made three iPhone apps with his brother—one of which was top rated in the App store (it’s called Lookup: an elegant dictionary). Mudit is always willing to share his culture with us and learn new things about our culture from trying new foods to cheering on the Fighting Irish on Saturdays!