The New York Times is once again putting Apple under the microscope, with a new in-depth report about the tactics the company uses to cut its global tax bill by billions of dollars every year.

"Almost every major corporation tries to minimize its taxes, of course," the report says. Nevertheless, "Apple serves as a window on how technology giants have taken advantage of tax codes written for an industrial age and ill-suited to today's digital economy."

The report claims Apple has been a pioneer in developing ways to sidestep taxes and that companies seeking to do the same have used its methods as templates.

The article comes as Apple -- which, with products like the
Mac, the
iPhone, and the
iPad, has inspired devotion from numerous consumers worldwide -- is perhaps still trying to move beyond past negative reports regarding the practices of manufacturing partner Foxconn. It's also been criticized by some in regard to domestic job creation and the hugely profitable company's lack of factories in the U.S. The Times published articles about those topics in January, setting off a wave of discussion.

This time around, the Times reports that Apple essentially sets up its business to take advantage of parts of the U.S. and the world that have lower tax rates for corporations. For instance, though its headquarters are located in California, and it has no manufacturing or customer-care operations in Nevada, Apple set up a small office in Reno -- a mere 200 miles from its Cupertino HQ -- to collect and invest its profits. California's corporate tax rate is 8.84 percent. Nevada's is zero.

That's just one example. Citing unnamed former executives at the company, the Times reports that Apple's innovation does not lie solely with product development. The company has also led the way with tax-dodging strategies such as the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich":

Apple, for instance, was among the first tech companies to designate overseas salespeople in high-tax countries in a manner that allowed them to sell on behalf of low-tax subsidiaries on other continents, sidestepping income taxes, according to former executives. Apple was a pioneer of an accounting technique known as the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich," which reduces taxes by routing profits through Irish subsidiaries and the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean. Today, that tactic is used by hundreds of other corporations -- some of which directly imitated Apple's methods, say accountants at those companies.

With practices like this, the report claims, Apple has been able to "allocate about 70 percent of its profits overseas," though "the majority of Apple's executives, product designers, marketers, employees, research and development, and retail stores are in the U.S."

The Times also says the advent of digital goods has changed the game for companies. The report gives details of an Apple subsidiary in Luxembourg: "The only indication of the subsidiary's presence outside is a letterbox with a lopsided slip of paper reading "ITUNES SARL." But because of that presence, the Times says, songs, TV shows, and apps downloaded via iTunes by people across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East are recorded as having been sold in Luxembourg.

The advantages of Luxembourg are simple, say Apple executives. The country has promised to tax the payments collected by Apple and numerous other tech corporations at low rates if they route transactions through Luxembourg. Taxes that would have otherwise gone to the governments of Britain, France, the United States and dozens of other nations go to Luxembourg instead, at discounted rates.

"We set up in Luxembourg because of the favorable taxes," said Robert Hatta, who helped oversee Apple's iTunes retail marketing and sales for European markets until 2007. "Downloads are different from tractors or steel because there's nothing you can touch, so it doesn't matter if your computer is in France or England. If you're buying from Luxembourg, it's a relationship with Luxembourg."

The result, the Times says, citing government and corporate data, is that tech companies -- including Apple, Google, Yahoo, and Dell -- are among the least taxed, paying worldwide cash taxes in the last two years that were a third less than those paid by other companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.

The paper claims that without the tax strategies it uses, Apple would have paid $2.4 billion more in federal taxes in the U.S. last year. As it stands, though, the company paid at a rate of 9.8 percent, versus nontech representative Wal-Mart's 24 percent.

The article goes on to discuss the budget crunch that's hit many, if not most, states in the U.S., and it points out that the issue is complex: Apple and other tech companies do create jobs and wealth that remain in the U.S., and they also engage in significant charitable activities. But, the Times says, some feel that those things don't make up the loss of tax revenue. The article quotes Brian Murphy, president of De Anza College, a community college near Apple HQ, where Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak went to school from 1969 to 1974. The school is severely threatened by the current budget crunch.

"I just don't understand it," Murphy told the Times. "I'll bet every person at Apple has a connection to De Anza. Their kids swim in our pool. Their cousins take classes here. They drive past it every day, for Pete's sake. But then they do everything they can to pay as few taxes as possible."

And the Times relates an episode involving late co-founder Steve Jobs and the Cupertino City Council. During the approval process for Apple's new campus, then-Councilwoman Kris Wang asked how residents might benefit and suggested that Apple might provide free Wi-Fi to the city, as Google had in Mountain View.

"See, I'm a simpleton;" Jobs replied. "I've always had this view that we pay taxes, and the city should do those things. That's why we pay taxes. Now, if we can get out of paying taxes, I'll be glad to put up Wi-Fi." He then suggested that if the council was unhappy, Apple could move -- and take with it the many millions of dollars it pays in property taxes annually. Wang dropped the Wi-Fi idea.

"We're proud to have Apple here," she told the Times for the article. "But how do you get them to feel more connected?"

For its part, Apple provided the Times with a statement that says, among other things, that the company "has conducted all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules," that the company is "incredibly proud of all of Apple's contributions," and that Apple "pays an enormous amount of taxes, which help our local, state and federal governments."

Apple did not respond by publication time to a request from CNET for comment.

You can read the Times report in its entirety here.

T-Mobile USA may not have the
iPhone or a slew of other cool
Android phones, but next week it will start selling the HTC One S, one of HTC's premiere smartphones that may finally give T-Mobile subscribers a phone that can excite them.

The new HTC One S will go on sale in T-Mobile stores and online April 25 for $199.99 with a two-year contract. The smartphone, which was unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, is the first on T-Mobile's network to sport the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software. It also supports the latest version of HTC's homegrown Sense 4.0 software.

With a 4.3 AMOLED screen, the device is smaller than the HTC One X that will soon appear on AT&T's network, but it offers many of the same features, such as an 8 megapixel camera with rapid shutter speed that allows users to take several pictures by pressing and holding a finger on the picture icon. It also supports Beats audio, which enhances the sound quality for music as well as video that's played on the device.

And even though T-Mobile doesn't offer 4G LTE service, it does offer enhanced 3G service called HSPA+, which delivers 4G-like speeds. The latest version of technology T-Mobile is using can theoretically offer download speeds up to 42 Mbps. And the new HTC One S will operate on that network where it's available.

CNET Reviews editor Brian Bennett was so wowed by the device, he called it the "best phone you can get on T-Mobile (for now), wrapping Android 4.0, 4G data speeds, and a beautiful 4.3-inch AMOLED screen into one svelte package."

There's no question that T-Mobile has been in sore need of cool new phones on its network. While AT&T and Verizon Wireless announced devices like the Motorola Razr Maxx, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and Nokia Lumia 900, T-Mobile subscribers have been left in the cold.

The No. 4 U.S. carrier is also the only major wireless operator in the U.S. to not offer the iPhone. And executives at the company recently acknowledged that not having the iPhone has hurt its sales and caused many customers to flee. In the fourth quarter of 2011, T-Mobile lost 526,000 customers. This compares to a gain of 126,000 customers during the third quarter. Executives blamed the subscriber loss to the fact that it didn't have the iPhone.

While consumers can use unlocked iPhones on T-Mobile's network, they don't get the best experience since the iPhone's 3G service is optimized for a different band of wireless spectrum. So even though people can pop in a T-Mobile SIM card, and the phone will work on T-Mobile's network, it will only operate at 2G speeds.

T-Mobile says it would happily add the iPhone to its device line-up,, but executives say the decision is up to Apple. And so far Apple hasn't said why it isn't giving T-Mobile the chance. It also hasn't whether T-Mobile will get a chance to offer the next new iPhone that will be released later this year.

Even without the iPhone, T-Mobile is finally beefing up its offering with cool alternatives that may satisfy those looking for a high-end smartphone experience, similar to what the iPhone offers.

"We're not trying to compare the One S with the iPhone," said Matt Bybee, product manager for handset marketing at T-Mobile. "But everyone who I've let use this device hasn't wanted to give it back to me. It's a great phone, and I think it will appeal to a lot of different people."

The HTC One S isn't the only cool new phone that will soon be coming to T-Mobile's network. Samsung is also rumored to preparing a version of its Galaxy S III for T-Mobile. The new device, which is expected to be announced at an event in London on May 3, is one of the most anticipated smartphone announcements of the spring. That phone along with the HTC One S could finally offer some T-Mobile subscribers a reason to stay.

Apparently a lot of people are interested in the new beta of Photoshop CS6: the software has been downloaded more than 500,000 times, Adobe said yesterday.

That's a big number for a premium software product. But of course, the beta is free, and the final version won't be, so it's hard to guess what the conversion rate will be from beta downloads to actual purchases.

Still, as a marketing stunt alone, it has to be useful for Adobe. Photoshop's price -- $699 for the full standard version and $999 for Extended -- is a big deterrent for people thinking about trying it. Getting it into people's hands could help convince them that it's worth paying for -- and perhaps that other software from the company's
Creative Suite also is. It also could help encourage upgrades from people who skip alternate releases to save money.

Adobe hasn't had a public Photoshop beta since CS3.

New features in Photoshop CS6 include some areas of hardware acceleration, the arrival of video editing in the standard version, content-aware moving and patching that lets the software better fill in holes left by editing, better vector editing, new raw-image editing controls, selective blurring tools, an updated system for automatic image adjustments, an adaptive wide-angle tool to fiddle with perspective, and more.

The final version of Photoshop CS6 is due in the first half of the year.

As it did with millions of other fans around the world, "The Hunger Games" trilogy completely captured my imagination. I picked up the books about a year ago and read all three in less than two weeks. And I don't even read very fast!

Of course, as soon as I caught word that Hollywood was turning the franchise into feature films, I had to hop online to do my research. I lapped up every bit of casting news and waited with bated breath to catch my first glimpse of the trailer. And when the trailer arrived, I made sure to share it with my fellow fans/friends who were just as diehard as me. Little did I know at the time that I played directly into the hands of the marketing team behind the film.

While conducting interviews for this video, my team and I learned from a marketing expert that the behavior I exhibited when sharing that trailer is called peer-to-peer endorsement. And for a publicity campaign it's considered gold, since a recommendation is always more credible when coming from a friend versus an advertiser.

For "The Hunger Games," the marketing team at Lions Gate Entertainment developed a social-networking framework on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr for fans to then create a community. For example, the studio put together 13 Facebook pages related to the film, one for each of the districts or states in the book's fictitious country. On those pages, Lions Gate encouraged fans to run for mayor of the district, apply for a district ID card, and then follow links to more blogs and photos. Of course, all along the way, you can find buttons and links to help you purchase tickets for opening weekend. The final step, or call to action, is to share all of that activity with your network so the cycle can begin again. In short, that's called going viral.

Another noteworthy component of this marketing campaign is the amount of user-generated content. Because of the story's dedicated fan base, dozens and dozens of additional promotional Web sites were created. People started Facebook pages for their mayoral campaigns and blogs for behind-the-scenes production photos and gossip. And my personal favorite: a name-generating Web site that assigns "Hunger"-style names to visitors.

Combine the kind of buzz generated by the "Hunger" film with the viral nature of the organized marketing campaign, and you've got a hyped up fan base, ready to throw down some cash to see the film. And with any luck, it'll actually be a good movie.

Original
iPhone 4 buyers can get either $15 or a new bumper case from Apple as part of a newly settled class-action lawsuit.

A settlement has been reached in a class-action lawsuit targeting the antenna performance of Apple's
iPhone 4.

As part of a preliminary approval made this afternoon, U.S. residents who bought Apple's iPhone 4 will be entitled to $15 in cash or a bumper case provided by Apple.

The settlement comes from 18 separate lawsuits that were consolidated into one. All share the claim that Apple was "misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4--particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

The settlement has its own Web site, www.iPhone4Settlement.com, which will be up in the coming weeks (the site doesn't go anywhere right now). There, customers will be able to get information about the settlement and how to make a claim. As part of the arrangement, e-mails will also be sent alerting original buyers to the settlement before April 30, 2012. The claims period is then open for 120 days.

"We believe that the Apple iPhone 4 settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable," Ira Rothken, co-lead counsel representing the class, told CNET. "We believe that it allows members of the class to choose, and they can get $15 of cash or a bumper, so we believe that type of choice is proportional to the circumstances."

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, owners began posting videos of themselves holding the phone tightly, showing that the device would eventually lose some reception, something that was criticized as being a hardware flaw.

Apple did not weigh in on the matter for three weeks, deciding instead to hold a press conference to address what had been dubbed "antennagate" with a sea of data to show that other phones had similar issues. The company then offered to let people return the phone for a full refund, or claim a complementary case from Apple or third-party case makers--an offer it kept going for two months. It also issued a software update that changed how the phone determined how many reception bars were displayed.

Apple's latest iPhone, the
iPhone 4S, was released in October of last year. According to testing done by Consumer Reports about a month after its release, the device was free of the issue.

Rothken says the class is comprised of 25 million members. Besides the e-mails to those members, the settlement requires a summary notice of the settlement to be posted in print versions of USA Today and Macworld.

The company is jumping on a Wall Street Journal story accusing Google of sneaking past
Safari's privacy settings to lash out at its rival.

Microsoft now has more ammunition in its battle against Google to win over Internet users.

The company today criticized its frequent rival following a Wall Street Journal story accuing Google of sidestepping the privacy settings in Apple's Safari to track Internet users. The Journal said today that the search giant and other ad companies used special code to get around Safari's privacy controls in order to track users on computers and mobile devices.

Swooping in just as the news was fresh, Microsoft naturally took advantage of the report to its own benefit.

"Apparently, Google has been able to track users of Apple's Safari browser while they surf the web on their Apple iPhones, iPads and Macs," Ryan Gavin, General Manager for Internet Explorer Business and Marketing, wrote in a blog posted today. "This type of tracking by Google is not new. The novelty here is that Google apparently circumvented the privacy protections built into Apple's Safari browser in a deliberate, and ultimately, successful fashion."

Beyond getting in yet another dig at Google over privacy concerns, Gavin took the opportunity to tout Microsoft's own browser.

"If you find this type of behavior alarming and want to protect your confidential information and privacy while you're online, there are alternatives for you," Gavin wrote. "Windows Internet Explorer is the browser that respects your privacy. Through unique built in features like Tracking Protection and other privacy features in IE9, you are in control of who is tracking your actions online."

Of course, Microsoft is also criticizing Safari for apparently being vulnerable enough to let Google bypass its security settings.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.

But the assertion here is that Internet Explorer is so strong that it wouldn't have been compromised by Google's code as was Safari. The only limitation is that IE isn't available on Macs or on Apple's mobile devices, so the point is essentially moot.

Still, the main battle, as always, is between Microsoft and Google.

The two companies have competed and traded virtual blows on a variety of fronts. Microsoft recently pounced on its rival over the search giant's proposed changes to its privacy policies, asserting that Hotmail and Office 365 are safer and more secure than the alternatives offered by Google.

Japan has a knack for marketing odd products. Many of them thrive, however. Enter Pomera's DM100.

When I lived in Tokyo, I spent way too much time in the Akihabara electronics district. That's where stores hawked, for example, pint-sized laptops made for the Japanese market by IBM Japan. To me, those Big Blue portables seemed impractical but always found plenty of buyers.

In that vein, King Jim's Pomera's DM100 has apparently struck a chord of sorts in Japan. Enough to be deemed worthy of a lengthy review in Japan's leading business daily, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

So, why would an august publication like Nikkei write up a device with a 5.7-inch monochrome screen, no Wi-Fi, and no broadband?

Well, because it's a very fast way to take notes, let's say, in a meeting. Not convinced yet? It turns on instantly. Not yet? Has a rated 30 hours of battery life and weighs only 399 grams. Still not interested? It sends text instantly to an
iPhone or
iPad via QR code using a Bluetooth connection. And it's priced over $350. OK, so I lost you there.

But if you want to go minimalist and chuck that bulky MacBook, it's an option--in Japan, at least. If you need more convincing see this video review or a more in-depth video review here.

LAS VEGAS--Intel made the case tonight that it didn't miss a step in the smartphone and
tablet game, instead offering that computing has become device-agnostic.

Nonetheless, Intel spent the majority of its focus on smartphones and tablets, announcing deals that should spurn more Atom-powered mobile devices in the near future.

On the smartphone front that amounts to a reference design for a phone with a 4.03-inch LCD, two cameras (including one at 8 megapixels), and one of Intel's low-power Z2460 processors. The company hopes it will cut down the time and money it takes OEMs to get new phones out the door.

The first such phone running an Intel mobile chip is Lenovo's K800, due in the second quarter of this year. Liu Jun, Lenovo senior vice president and president of mobile Internet and digital home, took to the stage to announce the phone, saying the move is just the first of many, and represents a heavy investment by the company into the mobile space.

Joining Lenovo was Motorola, which--with Intel--announced the beginning of a multi-year, multi-device deal that will bring new Intel-powered Motorola devices to market later this year. No models or features were announced, but Motorola says it plans to use Intel chips in both smartphones and tablets.

Intel spent the rest of its time on stage focusing on notebooks, including demos of computers using its upcoming Ivy Bridge chips. However the real focus was on Ultrabooks, the thin and light notebooks whose definition has begun to blur as manufacturers have expanded to 14- and 15-inch models while retaining the marketing moniker.

Dell effectively tried to get that trend back on track, joining Intel on stage to show off the XPS 13, a 13-inch so-called Ultrabook that the company will begin selling next month. Among its features are 9-hour battery life, aluminum and carbon fiber construction, use of Corning's Gorilla Glass, and what Dell claims to be 15 percent less size than competing 13-inch models.

And an Intel keynote would not be complete without a celebrity appearance. Will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame came on to promote an Intel-sponsored "Ultrabook Project," that has the musician travelling to 12 countries and working with local artists to produce 12 songs and work on philanthropic efforts.

You can catch the whole rundown of how it played out by over at CNET's live blog.