Good morning, Data Sheet readers. Apple made history this week, but not just for the reason you think. But first, some news on cyber security and net neutrality. Yes, again.
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TRENDING
We’re all in this together. The Obama administration formally proposed the creation of a centralized agency dedicated to sharing cyberthreat intelligence with the corporate world. Much of this information is already collected by the FBI, CIA, NSA, and the Pentagon.
Against this backdrop, hackers wreaked havoc on several corporate social media accounts Tuesday, sending the likes of Twitter and Delta Air Lines into damage-control mode.
By the way, financial services firms in New York can expect regulators to audit their cybersecurity defenses and procedures. The move is inspired by the breach at Anthem, which many states believe was way too slow to respond.
No one’s neutral on net neutrality. And to no one’s surprise, Republication FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai is now on record with his criticism. What is shocking, however, is Sprint’s support for the proposal put forth by FCC Chairman last week. “We frankly found some of the arguments (of our competitors) to be less than compelling,” Sprint’s chief technology officer Stephen Bye told Reuters.
Another enterprise software company goes private. Scandal-plagued Saba Software agreed to a $268 million buyout by Vector Capital. Several top executives, including founder Babak Yazdani, were involved in an accounting fraud settlement. TIBCO Software and Compuware also recently went private, albeit for far different reasons.
APPLE MAKES HISTORY, TIMES TWO
By now, you know Apple just became the first U.S. company ever to generate a market capitalization above $700 billion.
The technology trendsetter actually touched that mark late last year, but Tuesday was the first day its stock closed above those levels. Among its peers, Google is closest ($365 billion), followed by Microsoft ($349 billion).
That $700 billion level is super great psychologically for investors. Still, I’m equally intrigued by another "first" that Apple disclosed on Tuesday: a $850 million agreement with First Solar to buy power directly from a massive solar plant in California. It's the biggest deal of this nature (yet) that doesn’t involve a utility company in the middle.
Under the contract, Apple will buy almost all of the power produced by the 2,900-acre installation being built on property owned by Hearst. (Local utility Pacific Gas and Electric will buy the rest.) Overall, the installation will have a generating capacity of 150 megawatts, which is roughly the amount of power needed to run 60,000 homes and Apple's entire corporate headquarters location. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-2015; it should be completed by the end of next year.
“We know in Apple that climate change is real,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told attendees at the Goldman Sachs technology conference in San Francisco. “The time for talk is passed. The time for action is now.”
To those who pooh-pooh Apple’s latest clean energy investment as a wonky corporate sustainability ploy: you’re entirely missing the point, and you can expect more of the same.
If you look behind the green aspects, the biggest benefit is simple and tangible. The 25-year contract provides Apple with a stable supply of electricity, at preordained prices. What CFO wouldn’t want that kind of visibility? It’s the same motivation powering Apple’s strategy to invest in on-site renewable energy technology in North Carolina, Las Vegas, and other locations. Yes, it helps that Apple has former EPA chief Lisa Jackson on staff to help, but it isn’t just a touch-feely thing.
Apple is far from alone: the likes of Amazon, eBay, Microsoft, Walmart, Hewlett-Packard, and Coca-Cola are clamoring for the right to buy more clean energy. Likewise, Google has invested more than $1.5 billion in various wind and solar projects—19 and counting, including two deals disclosed last month.
In fact, just about every tech company hoping to win big in cloud services is embracing the renewable energy mantra—a notable exception is IBM, which has been largely mum on procurement, although it loves talking about the energy efficiency of its data center technology.
There will be more deals like this Apple one, if for no other reason than big businesses are sick of waiting around for state and federal governments to get their act together.
SCUTTLEBUTT
Box appeases security watchdogs. It is adding another layer of data encryption to its cloud file sharing service, in a special nod to prospective financial services and healthcare clients.
Hey, apparently smartphone “kill” switches DO deter snatchers. Thefts have declined dramatically in San Francisco and New York since manufacturers began arming mobile gadgets with protective features to disarm and disable them remotely. In London, incidents dropped by half. Is there a correlation? Maybe.
No more coming attractions. Target is pulling the plug on its on-demand video service, because it’s really hard to compete with Apple, Netflix and Amazon. Wait, Target has (had) a video service?
Infighting at eBay? The company’s Enterprise unit—which helps retailers sell their products in cyberspace—is banned from selling ads for those clients on the main eBay sites. Confusing? Yes, but it does suggest that a spinoff of that division is a very serious possibility.
Search me. Which mobile apps are you most likely to use? Quixey helps people “discover” the right ones. It may have discovered another $60 million in funding from Twitter, Alibaba Group, and Softbank (on top of the $75 million it has already raised).
GAZE INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL
Mobile dating and corporate smartphones aren’t compatible. More than half the apps studied by IBM researchers are vulnerable to malware or targeted attacks. That’s troubling because more than half the people using personal mobile gadgets on the job are using these aforementioned dating apps.
UP-AND-COMERS
Peter Thiel blesses app marketplace builder, again. Mithril Capital Management is leading a $50 million Series D round for AppDirect, which develops software for distributing software applications—playing off the app stores used by Apple, Google, and others. Current customers include ADP, Samsung, and Deutsche Telekom. So far, it has raised $110 million.
Hitachi Data Systems snaps up analytics upstart Pentaho. The two were already partners, and the move recasts HDS as more than simply a storage hardware vendor. The transaction size wasn’t revealed, but is estimated around $500 million. According to CrunchBase, Pentaho raised about $72 million before its buyout.
French trendsetter? Startup Sigfox just got another $115 million from investors including Telefonica and DoCoMo to fund the buildout of a worldwide Internet of things network—and prepare for an IPO. (Intel Capital is also a backer.) The company is already established in Europe; the new money will help with Americas and Asia expansion.
Big changes at Bigcommerce. The fast-moving e-commerce software company promoted ex-Googler Tim Schulz to chief product officer after less than one year on the job, and also gave two other high-level managers better titles.
Yelp swallows food-ordering service. It will pay $134 million for Eat24, a competitor to GrubHub that serves about 20,000 restaurants. While we’re on the subject of food: startup Reserve just closed a $15 million Series A round for (you guessed it), an online dining reservations service.
Oh, the Humanity. The startup, which sells software for workforce management, closed a $9 million Series B round led by MHS Capital. Its apps help with vacation scheduling, performance evaluations, and other human resources adminis-trivia.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Jive Software: Let’s make this permanent. Elisa Steele no longer has the “interim” qualifier in front of her CEO title. The former Skype marketing exec was handpicked by the social business software company’s retired former leader Tony Zingale, still executive chairman.
New security guru for BlackBerry. David Kleidermacher has years of experience with hardwiring protection into technology through embedded software, rather than as an afterthought. Plus, he has lots of experience with the demands of military, automotive, medical, and automotive customers.
Dedicated to innovation. Samsung assigned its top mobile executive to create a cross-function team that can improve its competitive position using design and great new ideas, rather than just lower prices.
FOR YOUR INNER TECHNOPHILE
Google Glass: I’m not dead, yet. If you travel to Amsterdam, you’ll be greeted by helpful airport officials using the technology for looking up information. Yes, you can find Segways there, too.
June date for Windows 10? The update is due later this year, but Microsoft hasn’t said exactly when. This prognostication makes sense, given that the software giant’s annual business partner conference takes place in July. What’ll it look like? Here’s Fortune’s early review. What will future versions be called? Microsoft’s trademark filing for the term “Windows 365” could offer an answer.
MY FORTUNE.COM BOOKMARKS
Peter Thiel has never met a regulation he didn’t hate by Ben Geier
The fastest-growing STEM major in the U.S. by Anne Fisher
How biometrics could improve health security by Laura Shin
Wearables technology is redefining what it means to be disabled by David Z. Morris
5 things you need to know about the coolest company Google owns by Victor Luckerson/Time
ONE MORE THING
Brush up on your penmanship. Sure, typing notes is a faster. But when you want to look someone in the eye, there’s no substitute for a smart pen.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Strata+Hadoop World. Make data work. (Feb. 17 – 20; San Jose, California)
IBM Interconnect: Cloud and mobile strategy. (Feb. 22 – 26; Las Vegas)
Gartner CIO Leadership Forum: Digital business strategy. (March 1 – 3; Phoenix)
Microsoft Convergence: Dynamics solutions. (March 16 – 19; Atlanta)
IDC Directions 2015: Innovation in the 3rd Platform era. (March 18; Boston)
Cisco Leadership Council: CIO-CEO thought leadership. (March 18 - 20; Kiawah Island, South Carolina)
Technomy Bio: The big picture on transformation. (March 25; Mountain View, California)
Gartner Business Intelligence & Analytics Summit: Crossing the divide. (March 30 – April 1; Las Vegas)
Knowledge15: Automate IT services. (April 19 – 24; Las Vegas)
RSA Conference: The world talks security. (April 20 – 24; San Francisco)
Forrester’s Forum for Technology Leaders: Win in the age of the customer. (April 27 - 28; Orlando, Fla.)
MicrosoftIgnite: Business tech extravaganza. (May 4 – 8; Chicago)
NetSuite SuiteWorld: Cloud ERP strategy. (May 4 – 7; San Jose, California)
EMC World: Data strategy. (May 4 - 7; Las Vegas)
SAPPHIRE NOW: The SAP universe. (May 5 – 7; Orlando, Florida)
Gartner Digital Marketing Conference: Reach your destination faster. (May 5 – 7; San Diego)
Annual Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference: JP Morgan’s 43rd invite-only event. (May 18 - 20; Boston)
HP Discover: Trends and technologies. (June 2 - 4; Las Vegas)
Brainstorm Tech: Fortune’s invite-only gathering of thinkers, influencers and entrepreneurs. (July 13 - 15; Aspen, Colorado)
VMworld: The virtualization ecosystem. (Aug. 30 – Sept. 3, 2015; San Francisco)
Dreamforce: The Salesforce community. (Sept. 15 - 18; San Francisco)
Gartner Symposium ITxpo: CIOs and senior IT executives. (Oct. 4 - 8; Orlando, Florida)
Oracle OpenWorld: Customer and partner conference. (Oct. 25 - 29; San Francisco)
