Ello CEO Slams Facebook: 'An Ad Platform More Than a Social Network'

By Brad Stone

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The Ello website

Social networking upstarts come and go like the weather these days. Everyone wants to unseat Facebook (FB), but few have that special combination of technical prowess and viral appeal to lure away even a fraction of its 1.3 billion users.

Ello, based in the unlikely conclave of Burlington, Vt., hopes it’s a little bit different. Since beginning a limited beta test in August, the site has been deluged with requests from prospective members, particularly those upset by Facebook’s ubiquitous advertisements and insistence on the use of people’s real names.
The site, which is still invite-only, looks like a cross among Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr (YHOO). It’s spare and white, with plenty of space given to photographs. Users can designate each other as ‘friends’ or move contacts into

Microsoft Skips Ahead to Windows 10 and Takes a Step Backwards

By Ashlee Vance

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Photograph by Keith Bedford/EPA

The unveiling of a version of Microsoft Windows in 2007

All hail Windows 10: Lack of Conviction Edition.

On Tuesday, Microsoft (MSFT) provided a sneak peek at its next operating system. One of the big reveals from the news conference in San Francisco is that Microsoft will go straight from today’s Windows 8 to Windows 10. Apparently this is because the new software will be so awesome that simply calling it Windows 9 would not do it justice. More likely, some Microsoft market researcher decided that people don’t like 9s as

Etihad's New Three-Room Suite, for When First Class Just Doesn't Cut It

By Justin Bachman May 13, 2014

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Courtesy Etihad

When your stated goal is as grand as becoming the world’s best airline, you definitely want to go big in first class. To that end, Etihad Airways is installing a 125-square-foot, three-room suite it calls The Residence and sells as a premium cabin in its new Airbus A380 superjumbos.

The space, which costs about $43,000 for some flights, is priced to include two travelers and comes with a butler, chef, and shower. The Residence will take to the skies in late December when Etihad begins flying its first of 10 A380s from the United Arab Emirates to London.
The arms race among airlines to attract premium-cabin travelers—those for whom price is no obstacle—has led to a proliferation of luxuries at the front of long-haul airplanes, from gourmet cuisine to ever-larger double beds, cocktail bars, and spa-like showers, an industry first from Emirates six years ago.
The world’s top-rated carriers, including Singapore, Emirates, British Airways (IAG:LN), and Qantas Airways (QAN:AU), have spent several years and bundles of cash working to establish their flights as luxury travel experiences. After mastering such

Michael Phelps Responds To DUI Arrest On Twitter; No Mug Shot Taken Of Olympian

By Maria Vultaggio@mariamzzarellam.vultaggio@ibtimes.com

A mug shot of Michael Phelps was not taken after he was arrested for DUI in Maryland. Reuters

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who was arrested early Tuesday in Baltimore for driving under the influence, took to Twitter for a mea culpa acknowledging the "severity of my actions." The gold-medal winner initially was stopped by police about 1:40 a.m. for driving 84 mph in a 45 mph zone, TMZ Sports reported
"Earlier this morning, I was arrested and charged with DUI, excessive speeding and crossing double lane lines," Phelps tweeted Tuesday in the first of three posts. "I understand the severity of my actions and take full responsibility. I know these words may

Apple Announces China Release Date For iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus; Preorders To Begin Oct. 10

By Kukil Bora@KukilBora

A sign shows the prices of new Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, between HK$10,000-20,000 ($1,282-2,564), higher than the official retail prices, next to dummies of the phones, at a mall selling smartphones in Hong Kong September 12, 2014. Rumors that the iPhone could be delayed in mainland China until December had begun spreading on the Chinese social network Weibo. Many "huangniu" - salespeople who smuggle iPhones into mainland China from Hong Kong at a price - also started to tout devices for sale from late September. Chinese characters on the sign read "High price to buy." Reuters/Tyrone Siu

Apple’s latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets will go on sale in China beginning Oct. 17, the company announced Tuesday, adding that the

Australian Aircraft To Support US-Led Air Strikes In Iraq

By Reuters

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks at a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during an official visit in Putrajaya on Sept. 6, 2014. Reuters/Olivia Harris

(Reuters) - Australian aircraft will join the U.S.-led coalition in air strikes against Islamic State insurgents in Iraq in an initial support role, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday, ahead of a final decision to undertake bombing missions.
The United States has been bombing Islamic State and other groups in Syria for a week with the help of Arab allies, and hitting targets in neighboring Iraq since August. European countries have joined the campaign in Iraq but not in Syria.
Last month, Abbott sent 10 aircraft and some 600 personnel to the United Arab Emirates in preparation for joining the coalition and has since said Australian involvement in air strikes was likely to combat the "murderous death cult".
"We have not yet made a final decision to commit our forces to combat but Australian aircraft from today will start flying over Iraq in

Rising U.S. Crude Exports Move Closer to 1957 Record

By Lynn Doan and Dan Murtaugh

U.S. oil exports are set to surpass a record held since 1957 as traders find ways around a four-decade ban on supplies leaving the country.
The U.S. sent 401,000 barrels a day abroad in July, 54,000 shy of the record set in March 1957, according to data compiled by the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical unit. While Canada accounted for 93 percent of the shipments, Italy, Singapore and Switzerland also took oil from U.S. ports. Coupled with Alaskan supplies bound for Asia, total U.S. exports will reach 1 million barrels a

By Margaret Collins and Nadja Brandt

Mark Moehlman didn’t waste time before pulling his clients’ money out of Pacific Investment Management Co. after Bill Gross shocked investors with news of his departure.
“We sold out of our positions within the first couple of hours,” said Moehlman, managing director at Newport Beach, California-based Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors. “Then we fielded calls all afternoon and the evening and through the weekend.”
The money, tens of millions of dollars, ended up in funds managed by TCW Group Inc. and Loomis Sayles & Co. Both firms have

VW’s $1.85 Million Bugatti Escapes Cuts as Successor Eyed

By Christoph Rauwald

Volkswagen AG (VOW) wants to make sure this year isn’t the last chance to get a new Bugatti.
There are fewer than 20 left of the VW unit’s Veyron, a limited production line of 450 Bugatti cars that start at 1.46 million euros ($1.85 million). Now VW is testing at least three different concepts for a successor, according two people familiar with the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker’s plans, who asked not to be identified before an official announcement.
VW is pumping cash into its most exclusive marque even as it plans cutbacks for its more terrestrial brands. The Veyron set industry records not just for

U.S. Said to Reach Deal With Brazil Ending Cotton Dispute

By Alan Bjerga

Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

A girl wearing cowboy boots sits on a bail of cotton during harvest in East Carroll... Read More

The U.S. and Brazil have reached an agreement resolving a trade dispute over cotton subsidies that has bedeviled the two nations for more than a decade, according to an American government official.
The accord will be signed today in Washington with U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack present, according to the official, who asked not to be identified before a formal announcement. The deal comes days before elections in Brazil and may ease tensions sparked by revelations last year that the U.S. had spied on