Posts Tagged ‘Bloomberg’

An anchor made on-air comments about tracking log in information more than a year ago. A big deal internally — but handled quietly.

Executives at the financial information company Bloomberg have known about journalists using the company’s terminals to spy on clients at least since September 2011 — more than a year before the practice turned into a scandal that threatens the company's relationships with its clients.

That month, Erik Schatzker, an anchor at Bloomberg TV and host of “Market Makers,” was reprimanded for making on-air comments about using terminal data to track the activities of at least one story subject, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

One source said the matter was a very big deal internally but was handled quietly.

“All the terminal guys freaked out,” said this source, referring to Bloomberg's army of salespeople who sell its $ 20,000 signature product. Bloomberg's 315,000 terminal subscribers, not its news operation, make up the vast majority of its revenue, which last year totaled $ 7.9 billion.

Schatzker declined comment, as did a Bloomberg representative, and a clip of Schatzker making the comment couldn't immediately be located.

Though no one outside Bloomberg's Manhattan headquarters complained about Schatzker's slip, executives at the time said they would disable the function that allowed journalists to access certain client data, said one source. But apparently that didn't happen until recently, and it only came to light after the New York Post reported that Goldman Sachs executives complained to Bloomberg about the ability of reporters to keep tabs on its bankers via the terminal. The Post also reported that JP Morgan Chase also believes that Bloomberg reporters tracked its employees.

The New York Times followed up the Post's report on Saturday with its own story saying that banking regulators at the Federal Reserve were concerned that they also were tracked by Bloomberg reporters. The Times story said that a preliminary investigation at Bloomberg revealed that “several hundred” reporters used a technique on the terminal, known as the “Z function,” to monitor client activities.

Part of the reason why nothing changed two years ago is because, while exposure of the practice shocked many outside observers, any Bloomberg terminal user with a moderate level of understanding knows that this kind of data is not only readily available, but also one reason why the company's terminals are so popular.

It is widely known, for instance, that every Bloomberg client has a profile page template and a company assigned email address. So, clients and Bloomberg employees can see how many times the profile of, say, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein (presuming he is a client) was looked up, but they can't see who precisely was checking him out. They can email him at his Bloomberg address, but odds are that he doesn't use it and would never see the message. Green, yellow, and red colored dots indicate whether someone is actively logged onto a terminal (green), logged on but inactive (yellow), or logged out/inactive (red).

Also visible were statistics over the previous week on what functions clients used the most — news, bonds, equities for instance — but not which actual stories or stocks were looked at. Reporters never had access to such information as trades, stock purchases, client messages, Bloomberg wrote in a blog post on its website.

This type of information has always been used by the terminal salespeople as a way to better serve client needs — knowing what features they are using and what stories they are reading helps them tailor products and services.

Editorially, this information was seen as so benign that surfacing it was an open practice, if not openly encouraged. Internally, reporters are taught to “harness the power of the terminal” to mine for stories, one former newsroom source said. Bloomberg reporters can see the aggregate number of readers for a specific story, but cannot identify the individual readers.

Indeed, not unlike at some other digital media companies, sources said half of the annual bonus for Bloomberg reporters is based in part on story views, so seeing which stories are gaining traction among readers is valuable in helping reporters determine what to chase. According to the former newsroom source, reporters pitch a lot of what Bloomberg calls “people movers” stories (i.e., a Morgan Stanley banker being hired by UBS) because they get a lot of traction among clients.

“I'm not sure what benefit you get out of exploiting this function other than to see if someone is logged in or not,” said one current newsroom source. “LinkedIn Pro is more useful and has better information for finding sources and helping to break news.”

Bloomberg moved quickly to put out the fire, saying in a blog post on its website titled “Safeguarding Customer Data” that it made a mistake and that last month it changed its policy “so that all reporters only have access to the same customer relationship data available to our clients.” The company also appointed Steve Ross, who was responsible for management of the terminal business, to the new position of Client Data Compliance Officer to ensure that “our news operations never have access to confidential customer data.”

Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief, Matthew Winkler, has yet to speak publicly on the issue — Dan Doctoroff, the CEO of parent company Bloomberg LP, wrote the blog post. Known as Bloomberg's standards enforcer, Winkler is famous for his bow ties, fierce temper and his high ethical standards, which include weekly internal memos expounding on the proper use of the words “but” or “announce.” Sources said he was in London on Friday but addressed the issue during the Friday morning global editors call by simply reminding everyone of the company's policy regarding client information.

These sources unanimously described Winkler as untouchable and said he likely would not suffer any repercussions from the revelations. Whether the newsroom's relationship with its clients and sources is equally ironclad remains to be seen.

Related Posts:

• Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover) on iTunes & Spotify
• Apple iMac 27″ Desktop – MC813LL/A (May, 2011)
• Would there be different manufacturers of humanoid robots if they were ever to function properly?
• University of Texas gaming academy to be led by execs behind Deus Ex, Warcraft
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360, 2011)

Nokia looks like it’s hoping to turn up the volume of its Windows Phone-based Lumia smartphones in the U.S. by signing another carrier to its cause. Bloomberg is reporting that Nokia and Verizon have struck a deal that will see the carrier offer a forthcoming flagship, the Lumia 928, starting from next month. Neither the deal nor the device have been made public by Nokia or Verizon but Bloomberg said two people familiar with the situation have confirmed the impending launch.

Bloomberg’s report follows previous leaks in which the Lumia 928 was spotted in the FCC’s and Verizon’s systems. An apparent image of the handset was also leaked earlier this month. When approached for comment a Nokia spokesman told TechCrunch it does not comment on rumour and speculation.

If the Verizon deal is true, the Lumia 928 will be the first high end Lumia the carrier has ranged (it does already carry the mid-range Nokia Lumia 822). In the U.S. Lumia devices such as the flagship Lumia 920 have been exclusively carried by AT&T to date. Getting another major carrier on board with a flagship is vital for the once Mighty Finn to try to capture more marketshare. Verizon has some 100 million subscribers.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, the Lumia device that will launch on Verizon will have a metal body, a 4.5-inch touch screen, an 8-megapixel camera and wireless charging. Earlier rumours have suggested it will have a polycarbonate body, however, while the internals have generally been expected to remain the same as the Lumia 920.

North America has traditionally been a weak market for Nokia — historically, back in the Symbian days, but also since Nokia’s Windows Phone reboot. But in its Q1 results last week, the region was the only market in which Nokia saw a small increase in sales (up by 9%) compared to last year. Nokia reported selling a total of 5.6 million Lumias globally in the quarter.

Kantar stats we covered earlier this month indicate that Windows Phone as a whole — so not just Nokia devices but also HTC, Samsung etc — has moved up into a distant third place in the US smartphone market, behind the two leaders: Android and iOS, suggesting the platform is slowly building some regional momentum. That momentum may have helped convinced Verizon to take a punt on a Lumia flagship.

Incoming search terms:

• All Rights Reserved Use of our service is protected by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service body building for skinny people
• All Rights Reserved Use of our service is protected by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service exterior
• Published News Upcoming News Submit a New Story Groups wiggles message board

Related Posts:

• Verizon to offer Nokia Lumia 822 for $100 and HTC Windows Phone 8X for $200, both to go on sale by Thanksgiving
• Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon announced, available May 16th for $99.99
• Jolla Confirms It Will Program Its Debut Phone Next Month & Begin “Pre-Sales Project” To Take Repayments From Followers Ahead Of 2H Launch
• Special Offer – Nokia Lumia 900 4G Windows Phone, Cyan (AT&T)
• Nokia Lumia 928 spied for Verizon Wireless

Facebook briefly dallied last year with the idea of letting us track our friends while on the road, only to be spooked off for reasons unknown. It might have developed enough nerve for another shot, according to Bloomberg. The social network is purportedly building a smartphone app that would locate nearby contacts and, unlike last year’s Find Friends Nearby, would run in the background where it’s supported — making it more useful, if not very comforting to privacy advocates. Not much else is mentioned besides features that would “help [Facebook] profit” from its growing mobile base. The company itself certainly isn’t saying anything official at this stage. If the app arrives in mid-March as claimed, however, Apple’s Find My Friends and Google’s Latitude won’t have our attention (and location) to themselves.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Facebook

Comments

Source: Bloomberg

Incoming search terms:

• Powered by Article Dashboard ea engineering science technology
• Powered by Article Dashboard nortel phone system

Related Posts:

• Mobile PC Market To More Than Double On Demand For Tablets And Touch PCs, According To Report
• More Problem For Mobile Maker HTC As Haptics Company Immersion Puts on Restart Patent Litigation & Push For Damages
• Bill Gates calls for more innovation at Microsoft after past mobile ‘mistake’
• Facebook says it will be more transparent about tracking users, but critics aren’t satisfied
• LG Display is bringing Ultra HD TVs in multiple sizes, high res mobile screens and more to CES

We’ve been fans of super-sized live tiles since the OG Titan occurred, but possibly we cannot depend on HTC to push things any sort of additional. According to Bloomberg‘s sources, the Taiwanese manufacturer has quit on a job to produce a Windows Phone with a display larger than five inches. Rather, it’ll concentrate all its big-screened efforts on Android, much as it’s currently doing with the Droid DNA (revealed above) and Japanese Butterfly.

The explanation? Well, that bit’s vague. Microsoft’s mobile OS does not currently play nice with 1080p, which puts a restriction on the pixel density of any type of big gadget– but then there’s constantly the capacity for software updates, and besides, the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II is hardly being held back by its 720 lines. Bloomberg does mention another, more possible explanation, which is that HTC simply thinks the WP market is too weak to transport a juggernaut.

Filed under: Cellphones, HTCCommentsSource: Bloomberg

Incoming search terms:

• Powered by Article Dashboard free tinker toy font

Related Posts:

• How to backup the data from a Windows phone which is running on the most recent version – Mango?
• HTC Windows Phone 8S offer great build quality
• Nokia’s Cheapest Windows Phone 8 Lumia, The 620, Offers The Spending plan Android Pack A Run For Its Cash
• Nokia’s Cheapest Windows Phone 8 Lumia, The 620, Gives The Spending plan Android Pack A Run For Its Cash
• Many Windows Phone users report being cut off from Google Maps (update)

Cisco’s equipment offerings are about to slim a little, according to Bloomberg– the company has asked Barclays to help it eliminate its Linksys unit. The step belongs to Cisco’s recurring initiative to minimize its consumer businesses, the exact same approach that liquefied its Flip Video clip department last year. The typical “individuals with expertise of the scenario” recommended that the business may be courting TV makers, noting that the brand name is likely to offer for considerably less than the $ 500 million Cisco paid in 2003. Both Cisco and Barclays decreased to discuss the sale. We comprehend– after the Connect Cloud debacle, we wouldn’t wish to talk either.

[ Thanks, Tom ]

Filed under: NetworkingCommentsSource: Bloomberg

Related Posts:

• Cisco Leaves The Customer Networking Market After Offering Linksys Brand To Belkin
• Cisco Leaves The Consumer Networking Market After Selling Linksys Brand To Belkin
• Belkin buys Linksys home router business from Cisco, giving it 30 percent of the market
• Cisco rolls its first Linksys 802.11ac WiFi router and bridge, kicks off Connect Cloud app platform (video)
• [Bloomberg]: iPhone 5 with Faster A5 Chip, 8-MP Camera for September Launch, Hi-Res iPad 3 in Works