Google plans to offer Wi-Fi network hardware and software at a discount to small and medium-sized businesses. The tech giant would provide commercial-grade Wi-Fi access equipment at a steep discount and Web-based software for businesses to manage the network from anywhere. Google may require Wi-Fi users to "sign in" to their account, allowing the company to gather more information about them and target advertising to them.

Whole Foods and Starbucks are in different businesses — Whole Foods is in the organic grocery business while Starbucks is in the coffee business. But they share two things: First, they are popular brands among customers and investors. Second, their businesses have been growing by leaps and bounds. The problem with high growth companies, however, is complacency – born out of success — which can lead to strategic mistakes.

The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice (Paperback)
By Brendon Burchard

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Spotify, the Swedish music streaming service, has seen a surge in the number of paying subscribers and active users over the last year. Today Spotify reviled it had singed up 10 million paying customers for its Spotify Premium service, and now has more than 40 million active users across the globe. The new data showed a 66% increase in both paying customers and active users overall. The last time Spotify shared data it had 6 million premium customers and 24 million active users.

Spotify today dominates the market for music streaming services for consumers. Now a new startup, started by Spotify’s ex-head of business development, Andreas Liffgarden, and co-founder of Beats Music, Ola Sars, want to transform that same music platform into a B2B service. Soundtrack Your Brand plans to sell Spotify music subscriptions to businesses like bars, restaurants, shops and other public venues.

General Motors turned to an old public relations hand on Monday to lead its global communications as it deals with the fallout of a defective ignition-switch issue linked to at least 13 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million vehicles. The automaker named Tony Cervone senior vice president of global communications, replacing Selim Bingol, who left last month. Cervone had previously spent 10 years on GM's public relations team, including leading communications in Europe.

NEW YORK -- It's called coffee rust, a fungus that is devastating some of the best Arabica coffee bean crops in Latin American and the Caribbean. Coffee growers in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica have been hit the hardest.

Some industry watches worry about big mergers.

AT&T Inc. on Sunday agreed to buy satellite TV provider DirecTV for $48.5 billion, or $95 per share, a deal both companies described as transformational as they seek to take on cable companies and online video providers, delivering content to multiple screens -on living room TVs, PCs, tablets and mobile phones.

The U.S. Transportation Department announced Friday it is fining General Motors (GM) $35 million for safety issues stemming from its delayed recalls of 2.6 million cars due to faulty ignition switches.

The Salt Lake Tribune is facing some tough times. Some believe it might close its doors. They claim it's all due to a back door deal made by the Deseret News.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 has been selling very well in its first month. Samsung sold 11 million units in the first month alone, beating Galaxy S4 first month sales by 1 million units. Samsung Co-chief executive and head of mobile business, J.K. Shin, said, “It’s been a month since we began selling the S5, and out of the gate, sales were much stronger than the Galaxy S4,” adding that sales are particularly good in developed markets including the U.S., Australia and Germany.

Tencent, China's biggest listed tech firm, is ratcheting up its profits on smartphones as it transplants its strength in social networking and gaming onto mobile. Now it aims to repeat that for new business ventures. At the moment, Shenzhen-based Tencent makes most of its money from the division which includes its video gaming business and sales of digital goods. But Tencent has already spent more than $1.2 billion in areas like e-commerce, real estate and digital mapping since the beginning of 2014, as it looks to develop mobile messaging app WeChat - Weixin in Chinese - as a gateway for all users' needs on a smartphone.

AT&T Inc is in active talks to buy satellite TV provider DirecTV and may finalize a deal in the next few weeks that could be worth close to $50 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The second largest wireless operator is discussing an offer in the low to mid-$90s per share for DirecTV, one of the people said, compared with the company's closing price of $87.16 on Monday.

Apple had a new patent granted today for a side-mounted wraparound display that could be used to add virtual buttons to the edges of future iPhones in place of physical controls. Some examples of what could appear on the side display include a slide unlock controller, or some app icons from the home screen or dock. In specific apps, like the calculator, additional functions may appear on the sides of the device, like the extended formula set for scientific calculator mode.

"Think different" became Apple's creed during the late Steve Jobs' reign as CEO. Now, chief executive Tim Cook is embracing the idea while making decisions that would have seemed crazy to his fabled predecessor.

Pfizer's research head pressed the case for combining with AstraZeneca on Monday in the latest stage of a campaign by the U.S. drugmaker to counter critics of its proposed $106 billion deal. Mikael Dolsten said he had been through five different mergers and acquisitions and denied such big transactions disrupted drug research. And that's, of course, true for Pfizer scientists and AZ scientists and will be true also if we can make a potential combination come together." British lawmakers are due to quiz Dolsten's boss, Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read, on May 13 and 14 about his plans to acquire Britain's second-biggest pharmaceuticals business. CIO James Bevan says the merger is logical.

EasyJet has announced it will be applying new and innovative technologies to help operate its fleet of 220 Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft.

How to Work for Yourself: 100 Ways to Make the Time, Energy and Priorities to Start a Business, Book or Blog (Kindle Edition)
By Bryan Cohen

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Netflix is raising its Internet video prices by $1 per month for new customers and giving its current U.S. subscribers a two-year break from the higher rates. The changes mean anyone signing up for Netflix's video subscription service beginning today will pay $9 per month for in the U.S. The old price of $8 per month will continue until May 2016 for Netflix's existing 36 million U.S. subscribers.