The laptop's godfather dies at age 75 www.cnn.com

It's easy to take the modern laptop for granted. Hundreds of millions sell every year. The most affordable models are even less expensive than high-end smartphones. It's near impossible to walk into a coffee shop, workplace or college lecture hall without seeing a laptop.
Yet a generation ago, a computer that opened up to reveal a keyboard and screen was a radical and tremendously expensive idea.
In 1982, British engineer John Ellenby made waves when his company, Grid Systems, released the Compass, a clamshell-like computer. Ellenby died August 17 at the age of 75, according to his son Thomas, who spoke with CNNMoney. The New York Times first reported Ellenby's passing.
Today, the Compass's appearance generates snickers. It was heavy enough to be curled like a dumbbell. It had a foldout leg that propped up the back of the machine and helped prevent it from overheating. The Compass's screen resembled a blurry postage stamp. It cost a fortune -- $8,150 -- which is $20,324 in today's dollars.

Herbalife may have misled investors, SEC on impact of FTC deal, one short-seller says www.reuters.com

After U.S. multi-level marketing company Herbalife (HLF.N) settled a probe of its sales practices with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission last month, top executives assured investors that the company would be able to thrive under the new rules.

The consumer protection agency had questioned the company's sales methods.

Billionaire investor William Ackman in 2012 claimed the company was running a pyramid scheme, recruiting members with a promise of payment for enrolling others in distribution, rather than depending on the actual sale of its nutritional supplements and weight management products.

In its July 15 ‎settlement Herbalife agreed to restructure its U.S. business so distributors are rewarded for sales rather than for recruitment of sales agents and it agreed to pay a $200 million fine.

But Herbalife's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission painted a much less optimistic picture than its presentation to analysts and investors, according to a private investor who flagged the differences to the SEC this month.

Matthew Handley, an investor based in Lakewood Ranch, Florida alleged Herbalife made "purposefully deceptive statements" in its Aug. 3 quarterly earnings conference call and regulatory filings.

Handley, who is betting Herbalife's stock price will fall, told Reuters about his outreach to the SEC and provided a copy of his letter to its whistleblower office.

"The transcript of the conference call, when compared directly against the actual language the company issued in their 10Q, depict a clear pattern of purposeful intent to deceive investors and the market," Handley wrote in the Aug. 16 letter.

"The things you say on the call and write in the filing have to match up, and I thought they just didn't," he later said in an interview with Reuters.

Because Herbalife's conference call transcript and its SEC filings are publicly available, securities law experts said the company probably did not violate the SEC's disclosure rules such as Regulation FD.

Corporate filings are often more legalistic and technical than what executives say during presentations to analysts and investors, when they may sound optimistic about the company's outlook, law professors and private lawyers noted.

But such presentations are usually highly scripted, with companies trying to ensure oral statements are not inconsistent with their filings, and the difference in tone and substance in Herbalife's case is noteworthy, securities lawyers said.

"Securities laws say that you cannot lie," said Yale law professor Jonathan Macey. "Reading these two documents (the filing and transcript of the conference call), would suggest they've changed their point of view," he added.

Herbalife spokesman Alan Hoffman declined repeated requests from Reuters for comment. Brian Lane, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn, which vets Herbalife's disclosures, did not respond to a call or email seeking comment. Herbalife has disclosed inquiries from the SEC and other government authorities in the past.

SEC spokesman John Nester also declined to comment.

COMPLYING WITH THE FTC

Herbalife hailed the FTC settlement as a victory for its business model as the FTC said the company may have deceived hundreds of thousands of people but stopped short of calling it a pyramid scheme.

In August executives assured analysts and investors on a conference call that Herbalife would suffer little financial damage from the settlement.

Chief Executive Michael Johnson said, "We have the greatest confidence in our ability to comply with the agreement and continue to grow our business in the U.S. and around the world."

Chief Financial Officer John DeSimone saw "minimal disruption to the business" and President Desmond Walsh also struck an optimistic tone, saying, "The most important thing is that we don't see any long-term impact in our business."

Herbalife's SEC filing was more circumspect though, saying the company does not currently expect the settlement to have a "long-term and materially adverse impact."

However, the filing also noted "there is no guarantee that we will be able to fully comply with the consent order" and that "the company's business and its member base, particularly in the United States, may be negatively impacted."

If Herbalife cannot comply with the consent order, "this could result in a material and adverse impact to the company's results of operations and financial condition," the filing said.

Herbalife also noted the settlement's effect "could be significant."

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BILLIONAIRES' TARGET

Herbalife has until next year to comply with the July 15 order from the Federal Trade Commission to restructure its U.S. business.

It is not clear whether other short sellers and investors will respond to Handley's accusations on inconsistency between the company's verbal optimism and its more cautious SEC filings, some experts said.

"If you invest in this company, you will want to know what the odds are of this FTC ruling screwing up their business," Yale Law School professor Macey added.

Herbalife's stock price has gone on a wild ride over the last four years when two billionaires began squaring off over its future. After seeing a high around $81.00 in January 2014, the stock fell to a low around $30.26 in January 2015 before recovering to close at $60.50 on Friday.

Hedge fund manager William Ackman, who called Herbalife a pyramid scheme, placed a $1 billion short bet but so far has suffered some losses as the stock climbed.

On Friday in a letter to investors, Ackman also noted differences between presentations to investors by Herbalife executives and the company's official quarterly filing. In his letter, Ackman wrote "management's latest commentary is a continuation of prior misrepresentations."

Ackman and Handley, who registered his complaints about Herbalife's communications with the SEC, both said they have never spoken to each other and reached their conclusions independently.

By contrast, in 2013 billionaire Carl Icahn expressed confidence in Herbalife, becoming its biggest shareholder and named directors to the board.

This week, Ackman and Icahn tangled anew when Ackman said an investment bank approached him to try and sell some of Icahn's shares, but on Friday, Icahn said he was buying shares, not selling.

A key institutional owner, Fidelity, sold some of Herbalife's shares in August, it said in a filing. Fidelity declined to make the fund manager available for an interview.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra, Nick Zieminski and Clive McKeef.)

U.S. SEC paid $3.75 million to BHP Billiton whistleblower: report www.reuters.com

Brother Law' to Cost Telecoms $154Bln – Report www.themoscowtimes.com

Fed's Janet Yellen says case for rate rise has strengthened www.bbc.com

Domino's delivers pizza by drone in New Zealand www.cnn.com

In New Zealand, pizzas will soon be dropping from the heavens.
Domino's demonstrated its ability to deliver food via a drone Thursday in New Zealand and plans to test actual deliveries to customers next month.
"It doesn't add up to deliver a two kilogram package in a two-ton vehicle," said Scott Bush, a general manager for Domino's Pizza Enterprises, which is independent of the U.S. chain and operates in seven countries. "In Auckland, we have such massive traffic congestion it just makes sense to take to the airways."
A Domino's customer who requests a drone delivery will receive a notification when their delivery is approaching. After going outside and hitting a button on their smartphone, the drone will lower the food via a tether. Once the package is released, the drone pulls the tether back up and flies back to the Domino's store.

Prada seeks younger customers in bid for growth www.bbc.com

Italian luxury fashion group Prada has predicted a return to growth as it seeks to connect with younger customers through online sales and flexible pricing.
First half profits fell 25% to €330m (£282m) due partly to falling demand in China and Italy.
But Prada said it saw 2016 as "a turning point."
It has been reviewing prices, product variety and online marketing to appeal to more customers.
Revenue fell 15% to €1.55bn compared to this time last year and in April Prada announced its lowest profits in five years.
'Millennials'
It was previously criticised for opening too many new stores and failing to invest enough online.
Prada said it was on track with plans to double its e-commerce sales over the next two years by increasing the number of products it offered online, particularly shoes.
It will also expand its social media activities so it can raise its profile among "the 'always connected' millennials," referring to the 20s -30s age group.
The company added it was working on a "potential launch of 'shoppable' content with selected key items on Instagram".

These smartphone makers are beating Apple in China www.cnn.com

Apple is having a rough ride in China, where its main revenue-generating product -- the iPhone -- is facing increasingly fierce competition from homegrown tech companies.
Apple's (AAPL, Tech30) overall sales fell 33% in China in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. One reason for the decline is the rise of domestic smartphone makers like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.
Together, the four brands account for more than 56% of the Chinese market, according to research firm IDC. Their popularity has pushed Apple (AAPL, Tech30) down to fifth place in IDC's ranking of the top smartphone vendors in China, with an 8% share of the market. Meanwhile, upstart Gionee, which offers phones for less than $100, could also soon be a real competitor, according to Strategy Analytics.
In many ways, Apple's own success is to blame for its current challenges in China. The iPhone design has spawned countless imitations, making it harder for the device to stand out. But it has also struggled to keep up with local rivals' marketing strategies that have helped drive consumer demand.
On Apple's latest earnings call, CEO Tim Cook attributed the its quarterly drop in revenue to China's economic slowdown and the company's stellar year there in 2015 -- a hard one to top.
Here's the lowdown on the homegrown companies that are giving Apple a tough time:
Oppo
After releasing its first smartphone in 2011, Oppo has surged to become the second biggest vendor in China and No. 4 worldwide.
Its sleek phones -- like the 5.5-inch F1s "Selfie Expert" and flagship R9 -- look a lot like the iPhone 6S Plus. They emphasize quick charging (five minutes for two hours of talk); enhanced selfie camera features (including a blemish remover); and a lower price point than most devices with similar specs.
oppo R9
The Oppo R9
Oppo's success comes down to a few key strengths: its presence in smaller and mid-sized cities, use of celebrities to promote its phones and highly specific marketing campaigns.
To keep growing, the company will need to start wrangling more affluent customers away from Apple and Samsung in bigger cities. "That is the next battlefield," said Nicole Peng, China director at tech research firm Canalys.
But that won't be easy. Apple has the strongest pull of any brand -- 40% of existing customers choose to stay with it even when they upgrade their phones, according to Canalys.

Vivo
Oppo and Vivo are direct competitors, but both companies were developed by Chinese consumer giant BBK Electronics, Peng said. That's why there are so many similarities in the way they market their products.
Vivo also uses celebrity product ambassadors and has a strong retail presence in smaller cities. Its stores are set up to make the customer feel relaxed and at home while they play with new devices.
"This is still a more convenient option for consumers living in [smaller] cities, as they can easily head to one of the physical shops for after-sale services," IDC says in its report.
Vivo store
A Vivo store in Hangzhou, China. February 2016.
As the race for market share amps up, Oppo and Vivo may band together to compete, according to Peng. But they're both doing fine on their own right now.
Vivo, whose newer products include the V3 and V3 Max, is currently the third ranked smartphone vendor in China. It trails Oppo in market share by a few percentage points.

Huawei
By far the best known brand in China, Huawei is No. 1 in market share. It's third globally, behind Samsung and Apple.
The company just came out with a new line of Honor smartphones in China and the U.S. The Honor 8 is targeted to people who want a premium large-screen device for a mid-tier price.
huawei honor phone
Huawei hopes to woo U.S. consumers with the new Honor 8.
Within China, Huawei has also advertised its devices based on very specific features. In the Huawei P9, for example, the big to-do has been over its dual-camera.
Like its competitors, Huawei has recently hired famous people to promote its products. But IDC analyst Xiaohan Tay has doubts about this strategy.
"Hiring celebrity endorsers may help increase numbers in the short-term, but this alone may not be sufficient to drive numbers in the long run," she writes.

Xiaomi
Just like Apple -- a company to which it's often compared -- Xiaomi has seen its sales decline over the past year. According to IDC, Xiaomi now has less than 10% of the Chinese market, down from around 16% a year earlier.
The company built a lot of buzz in China by selling to customers directly online. Using flash sales as a promotion, products often sold out, which added to the perception of its popularity. But competitors quickly caught on to this business model and replicated it, says IDC's Tay.

"The hype for Xiaomi seemed to have died down recently," she says. "Their low-end Redmi products are the ones that make up the most of their shipments."
To try to combat the decline, Xiaomi has taken a page from its competitors' playbooks and started to hire celebrity endorsers and build physical retail stores.
A Xiaomi spokeswoman contested IDC's numbers about its performance, saying that reports from other firms like Strategy Analytics are "much closer" to the true picture. Still, the Strategy Analytics report also puts Xiaomi in fourth place after a steep drop in market share.

Bolivia minister killed by protesting miners www.bbc.com

The Bolivian government says its deputy interior minister has been kidnapped and killed by striking miners.
Rodolfo Illanes and his bodyguard were seized earlier on Thursday at a roadblock in Panduro, south of La Paz, official said.
Interior Minister Carlos Romero said "all indications" were that Mr Illanes had been murdered in a "cowardly and brutal" attack.
Two miners also died from gunshot wounds during clashes with police.
Mr Illanes was beaten to death at about 18:00 local time (00:00 GMT), La Razon newspaper quoted Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira as saying.
The authorities could not for the moment retrieve his body, the minister said. More than 100 arrests had been made, he said.
President Evo Morales had been "profoundly affected" by Mr Illanes's death, Mr Ferreira added.
While he was being held, Mr Illanes told Bolivian radio that a condition for his release was that the government negotiate with miners over new legislation.
The miners have been blocking a highway in Panduro since Tuesday.
The National Federation of Mining Co-operatives of Bolivia, once strong allies of President Morales, began what they said would be an indefinite protest after negotiations failed.
Protesters have been demanding more mining concessions, the right to work for private companies, and greater union representation.

Mercedes-Benz looks to KAMAZ to build car plant in Russia www.rt.com

Russian truck manufacturer KAMAZ is to partner Daimler AG in the construction of a plant to assemble Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles in Russia.