France is preparing to impose taxes on Apple and Google to finance the production of art, films and music in the country, in a move likely to worsen relations between business and Francois Hollande’s socialist government.

The president has asked businessman Pierre Lescure to find ways of funding the arts, as the economy continues to struggle.
France slipped back into recession in the first quarter of this year and the European Commission expects the economy to contract 0.1pc in 2013.
Mr Lescure believes that a 4pc tax on the sale of smartphones and tablets, namely Apple’s iPhone and iPad and Google Android products, could boost government revenues as consumers are spending more money on hardware than on content.
“Companies that make these tablets must, in a minor way, be made to contribute part of the revenue from their sales to help creators,” Aurelie Filipetti, the culture minister, said.
The move would bring Apple and Google in line with TV and radio broadcasters and internet service providers, who contribute part of their earnings to fund the arts in France.

Pegi dont move back to France

Think again,

According to reports out today, 1 in 8 samsung galaxy s4 phones will be in the bin with in 6 months of purchase... so if you are planning on dumping your iPhone 4 or 5 in the draw and getting a Galaxy ?


A/ take out insurance

or

B/ keep a spare $848.00 in your pocket to buy a new handset

We all love are apple apps, but should apple let android users have iBook, iTunes, Siri, iMessage, iWork, iPhoto, FaceTime, to name a few ?

I know it sounds radical, but with Android now controlling 70% of the mobile market, why shouldn't apple capsize on this and make a Buck ?

Or if apple did this would they be just waving the white flag to the enemy ???

Pegatron, an Apple supplier, has said it will boost its 100,000 workforce by 40pc later this year, sparking speculation it is preparing to build the next iPhone.

The Chinese firm is an assembler of Apple's iPhone and iPad and, said it would increase its number of workers in China by up to 40 per cent in the second half of the year, fuelling market speculation of a new cheaper iPhone.

Suppliers have told Reuters that Apple is developing a cheaper model of the phone, broadening its sales base to lower-income buyers in growth markets such as China and India.

While there have been a lot of rumours about the upcoming iPhone model, there have been very few evidences about the device's existence. Now, technology website Stuff has revealed that it received an image which shows that the next Apple smartphone will be called iPhone 6, not iPhone 5S.

The report says that the image is of Vodafone UK's till system, showing an inventory that clearly names the model as '4G iPhone 6'.

Recently, French website Nowhereelse.fr released the image of an internal document of Japanese telecom operator KDDI. This document states that the upcoming iPhone will be announced on June 20 and hit the stores in July. This internal document states that the device will get an upgraded 13MP camera, as compared to the 8MP unit used in its predecessor. The phone will run on iOS 7, it states.