Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekend Roundup

Here's Why Office Layout Was So Important To Steve Jobs

he wanted "serendipitous personal encounters" to occur.

physical proximity is beneficial. The most productive teams were those that brought together people with a wide array of specialties.

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-office-apple-pixar-2014-10



Banks to take on fraud liability in Apple Pay deal, USAA announces Nov. 7 availability

USAA Assistant Vice President Vikram Parekh said the same policies employed in credit card swipe payments will be carried over to Apple Pay. Chase and PNC also confirmed full liability protection will be extended to their customers.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/10/09/banks-to-take-on-fraud-liability-in-apple-pay-deal-usaa-announces-nov-7-availability



According to Navy Federal VP of credit cards Randy Hopper, the bank was "very excited" to see what Apple had developed, because it is "convenient, secure, and private." Apple's use of tokenization "addresses all points of weakness across the payment system." 

USAA assistant vice president Vikram Parekh, meanwhile, said that the bank is confident enough in Apple Pay to assume all liability for unauthorized or fraudulent transactions, both in retail stores and for online purchases.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/10/09/apple-pay-bank-liability/



Why Apple Pay won't work

New research shows there’s plenty of reason why Apple’s effort to dominate payments may not be as magical as some believe.

the UBS report outlines four problems with Apple Pay that will limit its dominance in the future, including:

* Onerous fees charged by Apple.
* Inferior technology.
* Little incentive for merchants to adopt Apple Pay-compatible devices.

Banks will eventually try to create their own competing services.

http://americasmarkets.usatoday.com/2014/10/07/why-apple-pay-wont-work/



Phishers Find Apple Most Tasty Target

Apple now has the dubious distinction of most-phished brand, according to the latest report from the Anti-Phishing Work Group.

Phishers can get into all kinds of mischief with an Apple ID.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/81157.html



There's a new iOS 8 bug found, and it affects iCloud Drive and iWork files

Several iOS 8 users are complaining about losing their saved iWork documents stored in the cloud after resetting their iOS devices ... despite the clear warning that "no data or media will be deleted."

http://www.popherald.com/news/2014/09/3368-theres-a-new-ios-8-bug-found-and-it-affects-icloud-drive-and-iwork-files.html



Apple Is Delaying Mass Production of a 12.9-Inch iPad

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the much-rumored 12.9-inch iPad is being delayed by Apple because of high demand for the new iPhone 6 Plus.

http://gizmodo.com/the-wall-street-journal-is-reporting-that-the-much-rumo-1644222330



Apple’s iPhone Encryption Is a Godsend, Even if Cops Hate It

At issue is the improved iPhone encryption built into iOS 8. For the first time, all the important data on your phone—photos, messages, contacts, reminders, call history—are encrypted by default. Nobody but you can access the iPhone’s contents, unless your passcode is compromised, something you can make nearly impossible by changing your settings to replace your four-digit PIN with an alphanumeric password.

Rather than welcome this sea change, which makes consumers more secure, top law enforcement officials, including US Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI director James Comey, are leading a charge to maintain the insecure status quo.

companies like Apple and Google, who were painted as NSA collaborators in the earliest Snowden leaks, are newly motivated to demonstrate their independence and to compete with each other on privacy.

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/golden-key/



On That Apple/Google Kerfluffle (Encryption)

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229473



What happened when we asked geeky kids "Who's better: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, or Google?"

http://www.geekwire.com/2014/asked-bunch-geeky-kids-whos-better-microsoft-amazon-apple-google/



Remembering Steve Jobs, the Man Who Did Almost Everything Right

http://time.com/3462259/steve-jobs-cover/#3462259/steve-jobs-cover/



GT Advanced Technologies - a Supplier of Sapphire for Apple iPhones and iWatches - Filed for Bankruptcy Court Protection Under Chapter 11

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gt-advanced-technologies-inc-subsidiaries-140858502.html



The emerging wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) market is likely to be a secular driver of sapphire demand. The technology is far from a write-off, instead it appears to be in the making. Apple itself has increased investment to manufacture the material and it has also acquired exclusive licenses to some GTAT technologies.

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/146769/Apple-iPhone-6-Sans-Sapphire-Time-to-Dump-GTAT



The Curse of Apple's Sapphire Factory

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-10/the-curse-of-apple-s-sapphire-factory.html



4 scams that target boomers

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2014/10/06/4-scams-that-target-boomers/



Marc Andreessen on Finance: ‘We Can Reinvent the Entire Thing’

You would not today, starting from scratch, invent any of these financial businesses in the same way. 

For five years, many of the world’s best mathematicians and computer scientists have been studying bitcoin and trying to figure out what’s wrong with it. They haven’t found anything yet. Every critique people have of bitcoin, so far, can either be answered with ‘the designer anticipated it and has a solution built into the system’ or ‘there’s a service that can be built on top to address the problem.’ That’s the magic of why everyone out here is so excited about it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-07/andreessen-on-finance-we-can-reinvent-the-entire-thing-.html#comment-1623906360