It is reported that all of Netflix subscribers need to pay $9.99 per month if they wish to watch its on-demand contents, unless it increases subscription fee again. In May, a great amount of existing subscribers will see their subscription fee increasing from $7.99 to $ 9.99.

In fact, Netflix new subscribers started paying $ 9.99 per month to enjoy its service since last October. In May, 2015, Netflix announced to increase subscription fee from $7.99 to $ 8.99 for new subscribers. It promised that it would extend another 2 years for the old subscribers for charging $7.99 per month.

Its promise will be due next month. Netflix old subscribers have to pay $ 9.99 per month in accordance with its new charging standard. Netflix claimed that it will send emails to the related subscribers to notify them for the price raise. It seems many of its existing subscribers forget the news concerning the price raise that made two years ago.

Many of Netflix existing subscribers will continue to use this service after the price raise. It sounds reasonable for them for pay $ 9.99 per month. But if Netflix increases the subscription feel to $ 14.99 or $ 19.99, the situation will be different.

The amount of movies that provided on Netflix is declining, however, its original contents attract its existing subscribers.

Morgan Stanley made a questionnaire survey recently ” Who makes the best original shows or movies?” It turned out Netflix won more fans than HBO did.

Netflix officers wagered its future on its original shows and films. Until now, its subscribers love those original content.

The statistics provided by AllFlicks showed that Netflix’s original content get higher scores than those it import from traditional televisions. Its original content get an average marks of 3.87 ( full marks are 5). While other content were rated at 3.47 marks.

Its original documentary got the highest grade at 4.03, while its non-original documentary only got 3.58 marks.

Netflix has been increasing investments on original programmes since 2012. Its average annual increase rate reached 185.41%. By far, Netflix produced 111 original tv shows and films. In January, Ted Sarandos announced Netflix will release about 600 hours of original content this year, including 31 orginal tv shows.

CFO David Wells claimed last autumn that original content has strong impact on consumers preference in comparison with authorized content.

The latest survey showed that some of Netflix’s opinion were true. Netflix subscribers seem to be interested in original content. The well-being rating of subscribers becomes the index for Netflix’s success.

How much profit Netflix made by investing original content? Well, it is hard to say. It costs much to produce the original tv shows and films. It is possibly the reason why Netflix reduces 31.7% of its original content.

Mobile payments are more popular now. Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Alipay or Wechat are the acceptable payments nowadays. They are welcome by consumers and merchants as they offer much convenience.

Amazon is now working on a new technology that shoppers could verify their purchases by snapping a selfie in the near future.

According to the report of Re/code, Amazon has submitted a patent application for an advanced facial recognition system for check.

It is said that this advanced facial recognition system is similar to the biometric security solutions that has already used on some smartphones and laptops. It requires users to smile or wink to pass the facial recognition. If not, the system could not recognize the selfies whether they are from the owners.

Amazon suggests that the new technology is more secure than a traditional password as password could be hacked while a person’s face is not. The facial characters could be a bit different for the twins.

If this technology is approved, it could be used in stores, restaurants and cafes. For online shoppers, they could also store it at home with a secure internet environment.

Mastercard and Alibaba are said to be exploring the passibility of selfie payments except for Amazon.Are you comfortable to pay by selfies in the future?

Apple once planned to launch the internet live broadcast television channels service. It assumed to charge consumers $40 per month to watch 40 tv channels via internet STB, plus the VOD.

This project has been reporting by the medium for a long time. However, it is progress did not work well. Some media reported that Apple gave up such plan.

In the internet market, the online filmed entertainment services come as internet VOD ( Netflix and YouTube) and internet live broadcast of television channels(Sony and Dish). Sony charged at least $50 to obtain 50 tv channels. Obviously, more and more young people cancel the cable tv service. But the live broadcast channels still attract a crowd of people.

Les Moonves, the CEO of CBS claimed that the company had not made any negotiations with Apple concerned the internet tv service when he was interviewed.

He suggested that the company received offers from other companies for the cooperation of television streaming live broadcast service.

TheNextWeb assumed that Apple might have given up the internet tv service project.

CBS is the most popular television stations in US. It owns many well-known channels. Any manufactuers who offer internet tv service must be authorized by CBS’ channels and shows.

Apple has great ambitious to explore in internet tv service, including the popular television stations and channels. Apple wishes to be offered favarable licensing fee by CBS. The negotiation failed as they did not come up with a deal.

Until now, Apple iOS devices reach over 1.1 billion units around the world. Apple plans to launch the digital content service so that it could make profit from such service. Apple launched Apple Music which charges $10 per month from consumers. It is reasonable that it would offer television live broadcast channels service.

It will face much pressure if Apple explores the internet tv service as the consumers could watch some live broadcasting or VOD shows via CBS CPE or other CPE.

Uber announced on Wednesday that it accomplished task of billion times that people took taxi service.

Marvin is the passenger that he became the one who the billionth took the Uber taxi service on Christmas Eve in London.

Uber stated on its official blog that:” Marvin and Ara have just make today a most memorable day to Uber. Marvin spent 5 pounds to take Ara’s London Fileds of Hondo Insight back to Hockerton. He was the billionth passenger who enjoyed Uber taxi service. ”

It might be a bit tiresome to consider the billion times as a milestone. However, we could see the impressed growing speed and acceptance of Uber.

Uber taxi started offering booking serivce in June 1, 2016 in San Francisco. Its service reached one billion times in five and a half years was impressed.

Uber wrote in a blog last December that the company offer one million times bookings each day. The total bookings of 2014 were 140 million times. Now, Uber taxi service was introduced to 300 cities of 68 countries.

Uber financing $2.1 billion each month. Its estimated market value reaches $62.5 billion. Uber becomes the most valuable privatedly-owned technology company.

To celebrate the billionth time Uber taxi service, Uber would fully sponsor Marvin a vacation to any cities with Uber taxi service. Uber taxi driver Ara was awarded a whole year free Uber taxi service.

Amazon just revealed its sales performance of 2015 Christmas shopping season. It made another great harvest year.

The statistics showed, there were over 3 million users registered Amazon Prime service in the third week of December. The annual fee for Prime service is $99, including 2-day free delivery, free streaming movie and music services.

Amazon announced other 100 items’ sales performances. BusinessInsider concluded 9 items of craziest performance.

1. For the voice command that Alexa is built in Echo received, the most frequent demand was “Play Music”. The most popular songs are White Christmas, Sleigh Ride and Winter Wonderland.

2. Alexa helped users to set alarms for 4 million times via voice command to remind them to cook.

3. The kids subscribed a great amount of books via Amazon FreeTime. If they are printed ones, their length could be 10 times of the length of Everest.

4. The cumulative reading time of The Martian via Kindle is 1,000 times of the traveling time for Curiosity Rover that reaches Mars.

5. Users purchased a great amount of Rope Kine Twine on Amazon. The total length could be the distance from Seattle to Los Angeles.

6. The quantities of sticky hooks that users purchased on Amazon amount to the popular of Orlando city. Orlando city center owned 220,000 people according to the data made in 2006.

7. It sold abundant JENGA as well. The assembly heights amount to 70 Empire State Buildings.

8. Jurassic World movie DVD was sold well. Their cumulative heights are 2,700 times of Tyrannosaurus Rex’ height.

9. On Cyber Monday, Amazon sold out one CD of Adele Adkins each three seconds.

Expedia and HomeAway announced that they have made agreements for acquisition. Expedia will spend $3.9 billion to realize takeover, dealing with cash and stocks.

According to the terms of contact they signed, each HomeAway share amount to cash $10.15 and 0.265 share of common Expedia in view of its closing price on November 3rd.

Both of the boards of director came into a deal, but this deal needs to be approved by supervision institute. Expedia estimated this deal will be done by the first quarter of 2016.

Expedia is a famous US traveling website that subordinates to Worldwild Travel Exchange. It offers flight ticket reservation, car rental and over hotel reservation of 3,000 worldwide tour sites services.

HomeAway is an online service website that provides holiday house rentals. It becomes the world leading, online service provider for holiday house rentals after a series acquistions and strategic expansion. It established business for over 1.2 million rental properties in 145 countries.

HomeAway cooperated with Expedia in 2013, posting its holiday rental properties on Expedia’s website. Expedia availed of the partnership to penetrate European market to battle booking’s competition.

“The market scale of alternative accommodation reaches $100 billion. We have been cooperating with HomeAway for two years, it is reasonable to merge it into Expedia,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Expedia.

“We have been transforming our business to a completely online booking platform and Expedia has profound experience in this field,”said Brian Sharples, CEO of HomeAway.

Amazon will offer new welfare to those male employees who experience fatherhood: 6 weeks’ paternity leave, reported on November 3 Beijing time.

According to its vacation policy that revised on Monday shows the parents who just have a new baby or adopt a child, they can have a 6 weeks paid leave regardless of genders.

To enjoy the 6 weeks’ paid leave provided that the employees has been working for Amazon for more than one year. It is the first time that Amazon offers male emplpoyees paid paternity leave.

There were some IT enterprises and other fields’ enterprises expanded the scope of family vacation in order to motivate and retain employees.

Amazon was criticized by the public as New York Times reported Amazon’s stressful working environment this summer. The article quoted the statement of its employees, suggesting Amazon’s working environment is stressful, unfriendly to eomployees or their families. Amazon then refuted the criticism.

Amazon’s spokesman denied to make any comment on this new policy, but Amazon claimed that this policy was revised after it investigated and interviewed employees. It is to match with the welfare against its rivals.

The females can enjoy 20 weeks’ paid maternity leave, including 4 weeks’ awaiting delivery.

This policy applies to all full-time hourly worker and salaried employees, including 100,000 customer service and storage employees. Employees are able to obtain restricted stocks during their vacations.

Amazon also launched vacation sharing project. It allows employees to share 6 weeks’ vacation with their spouses who are not eligible for this paternity leave.

Amazon gives the primary caregivers 8 weeks transitional period to adjust their work. During these 8 weeks, they don’t have to work full time.

According to a survey made by Piper Jaffray, suggesting one third American teenagers consider Instagram as the most social network service to share photos, closely followed by Twitter and then Snapchat, burn after redriving instructorng.

The fourth went to the application of Facebook. Only 15 % of American teenagers consider Facebook as the most important SNS. It is not exactly bad news to Facebook as it purchased Instagram in 2012.

The fact that Facebook became less attractive and popular among teenagers has been discussed since 2013. Facebook gave hint to its investors that there was decline for the application among teenagers at that time.

Among the 9,400 interviewees of this survey , they are aging from 13-19, which 56% are males. They are from families that have $68,000 annual average income.

There is not much difference between SNS reports and 2015 spring reports, except the popularization of Snapchat exceeds Facebook. Its popular proportion increased from 13% to 19%. The ranking of Twitter is still the same, but its popular proportion declined from 24$ to 20%.

It indicates that the application of Facebook has declined among teenagers. They trend to use other social network medias. Facebook was the most popular SNS among teenagers as it described in 2012 fall report, about 42% of the interviewees, while Twitter and Instagram came in third.

While a spring report from Pew Research Internet Project indicated that Facebook is the most popular SNS among teenagers aging from 13-17, followed by Instagram and Snapchat.

Its report in 2013 suggested that the user growth did not meet its expectation due to the application of teenagers. But teenagers were rarely found to give up using Facebook.

A report of interviewing 4,517 teenagers made by Forrester Research last summer, their operating frequency of Facebook was increased compared to the figure in 2013.

An US newspaper reported that Amazon workforce is facing the callous management practices. But Amazon has denied this allegation.

The New York Times published this reported over the weekend and stated facts of sick and grieving employees at the retail giants being mistreated.

The article it reported is based on the interviews with current and former employees of Amazon. They told the reporter that a female staff was asked to attend a business trip one day after she miscarried twins.

Another female told that she did not get better treatment when she recovered from breast cancers. And she had the risk of losing her job due to sickness.

It also printed a picture of Amazon’s competitive working environment. It shows that the workers face much pressure on their positions.

Amazon employee Nick Ciubotariu made a response to this allegation on Linkedin and stated the newspaper’s report totally incorrect.

An internal memo written by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezoson was leaked by The Next Web and it stated on the controversy about this matter. What the story told is not the one he is familiar with Amazon. He hopes this matter could be solved well.

He was shocked by the description of callous management practices. He felt sorry for those people who being mistreated. It was tough for them as they got illness at the same time.

Bezos urged his staff to deal with such issues among the employees and adopt effective measures to provide a better working environment for its employees and give them humanistic concerns.