Employees love working at these companies

No employer is perfect. But some companies come much closer than others, at least in the eyes of the staff.

Using anonymous feedback provided by those who completed reviews of their employers, jobs site Glassdoor compiled a list of the top 50 best places to work.Companies that made the list typically valued their employees, had a unique culture that aligned with the company's mission, offered clear direction, provided great perks and benefits and hired smart people.

The No. 1 best place among large employers? Airbnb, the peer-to-peer accommodations site.

"Amazing people, vibrant workplace, and an unbeatable culture that is real ... . Also, pay, insurance, perks, food, parties, and growth opportunities are top notch," reported one employee who worked in Airbnb's San Francisco offices.

Global consulting firm Bain & Co. came in second. It got the highest marks of any large company for career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, and senior leadership. But it missed out on the No. 1 spot overall in part because it ranked much lower than other companies in employees' assessment of work-life balance.

Coming in third was Guidewire, a software maker for property and casualty insurers. It got more props than any other company for excellent work-life balance.

"[T]he trust put in employees means the flexibility on work hours is enormous. This is probably the number one reason why we are able to retain the top talent that we have," said a staff engineer in the company's Foster City, California, office.

Rounding out the top 5 best places to work were the online marketer Hubspot and that little-known social media outfit Facebook. Just below them are professional networking site LinkedIn, the Boston Consulting Group and Google.

Among smaller companies -- those with fewer than 1,000 employees -- the digital marketing software and services provider Madwire took the top spot.

"Everyone ... is highly motivated, driven and passionate about what they are doing. It doesn't matter what position you have ... everyone comes in with a go-getter attitude and brings their A-game," said a senior designer in the company's Loveland, Colorado, Office.

The San Francisco-based health care provider Grand Rounds came in second. One staff physician said the company is "taking health care to a whole new level ... . I have never experienced such a positive, collaborative and brilliant environment."

Others in the top 5 were cybersecurity provider Cloudlock, educational software maker Instructure and mobile app development company WillowTree.

Here's the full list of Glassdoor's top 50 large U.S. companies:

1. Airbnb

2. Bain & Company

3. Guidewire

4. Hubspot

5. Facebook

6. LinkedIn

7. Boston Consulting Group

8. Google

9. Nestle Purina PetCare

10. Zillow

11. Eastman Chemical

12. World Wide Technology

13. In-N-Out Burger

14. MINDBODY

15. Power Home Remodeling Group

16. Expedia

17. H-E-B

18. Riot Games

19. Adobe

20. Memorial Sloan Kettering

21. Delta Air Lines

22. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

23. Protiviti

24. QuikTrip

25. Apple

26. Twitter

27. Vivint Solar

28. Paycom

29. Wegmans Food Markets

30. Slalom Consulting

31. Akamai

32. Salesforce

33. F5 Networks

34. Genentech

35. Workday

36. Turner Construction

37. Red Hat

38. Gensler

39. Chevron

40. Costco Wholesale

41. GE Aviation

42. Southwest Airlines

43. Stryker

44. Gartner

45. REI

46. Red Bull

47. NIKE

48. Total Quality Logistics

49. Concur

50. Solar City

CNN Money

#Google Pixel C With #Android 6.0 Marshmallow Now Available In US For $499

Power-packed Google Pixel C slate can now be purchased from Google Store at a starting price of $499. Google

Following the trend of humongous display clad 2-in-1 slates like the Apple iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface Pro, Google’s Pixel C also comes with a killer display. This tablet was introduced alongside the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones. Now, the Pixel C can be purchased in the U.S.

The Google Pixel C runs on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. The device offers premium-look thanks to the anodized aluminum build and it comes packed with cutting-edge configurations. The search giant is now selling this device via Google Play Store pertaining to the following countries -- the U.S., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K.

Speaking of price, the 32 GB variant of the slate will set the buyers back by $499, whereas the 64 GB model can be availed for $599. In case, buyers would like to convert this slate into a laptop, Google is now selling the detachable/optional keyboard for $150.  

As far as the specifications go, the Google Pixel C features a killer 10.2-inch display, aided by 2,560 x 1,800 pixels screen resolution. To top it off, according to Phone Arena, the device comes with an aspect ratio of 1:√2, which is closer to the Microsoft Surface series’ 3:2 ratio. This metric clearly said the Pixel C is more of a laptop than a typical slate with an average ratio of 16:10.

Under the hood, the tablet comes powered by an Nvidia Tegra K1 chip. Not to forget, the Tegra K1 is reportedly world's first chipset guaranteed to give console-level performance for mobile devices. This chip also scored a phenomenal 75,000 points in AnTuTu benchmark test. Aiding the entire processor unit is a solid 3 GB of RAM configuration.

When it comes to memory specification, the device comes equipped with either 32 GB or 64 GB of built-in storage space. It goes without saying that being a Google device, the Pixel C will get all the major and minor software updates and security patches without fail. Similar to recently released devices, this slate also comes with an USB Type-C port.

Ibtimes.com

#Finland is considering giving every citizen €800 a month

Proposals for a national basic income are intended to simplify the social security system and encourage more unemployed people to take on temporary work.

Authorities in Finland are considering giving every citizen a tax-free payout of €800 each month

Under proposals being draw up by the Finnish Social Insurance Institution (Kela), this national basic income would replace all other benefit payments, and would be paid to all adults regardless of whether or not they receive any other income.

Unemployment in Finland is currently at record levels, and the basic income is intended to encourage more people back to work. At present, many unemployed people would be worse off if they took on low-paid temporary jobs due to loss of welfare payments.

More than 10 per cent of Finland's workforce is currently unemployed, rising to 22.7 per cent among younger workers.

According to research commissioned by Kela, close to 69 per cent of the Finnish population favours the idea of a national basic income.

 Detractors caution that a basic income would remove people's incentive to work and lead to higher unemployment. Those in favour point to previous experiments where a basic income has been successfully trialed. The Canadian town of Dauphin experimented with a basic income guarantee in the 1970s and the results - both social and economic - were largely positive.

Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä supports the idea, saying: “For me, a basic income means simplifying the social security system.”

The basic income will cost Finland roughly €46.7 billion per year if fully implemented. Kela's proposals are due to be submitted in November 2016.

 The Dutch city of Utrecht is also planning to introduce a basic income, albeit solely for welfare recipients. From next month more than 250 unemployed residents of the city will be given a monthly sum to live on, with researchers monitoring the outcome to determine what effect it has on employment.

Switzerland is also considering introducing a national basic income. In September the Swiss parliament voted, with a large majority, for a motion calling on the Swiss people to reject the Popular Initiative for Unconditional Basic Income. However, a nationwide referendum on the issue is slated for 2016 and, according to a recent online poll, 49% of the Swiss would currently vote in favour of its introduction.

Independent.ie

#GoldmanSachs wants to create its own version of #bitcoin.

Goldman Sachs has developed its own cryptocurrency for a settlement system for trading stocks, bonds and other assets, according to a recently published patent filing.

The New York-based financial giant made a patent application last year for a new virtual currency called SETLCoin, which makes it easier and faster to trade securities and settle those trades. (The patent application was published only recently, a typical lag between patent applications and when they are made public by the US Patent and Trademark Office.)

While the trading desks at the world’s top financial institutions often rely on lightning fast technology to execute trades, it can still take days before the promised cash and securities—such as stocks and bonds—actually change hands, a process known as settlement.

That gap between the time the trades are executed and the settlement of the trade is a risk for traders. (It’s always possible that the person you were trading with goes bankrupt before they deliver the cash or securities you are expecting.) Goldman Sachs says in the patent application that SETLCoin guarantees “nearly instantaneous execution and settlement” for trades.

While SETLCoin is a virtual currency, it isn’t bitcoin, which adds to the growing evidence that financial institutions are less interested bitcoinitself and more interested in the technology behind bitcoin, known as blockchain.

A global consortium of banks is working with blockchain startup R3 to develop approaches to using blockchain in global finance. American Express recently took part in a $12 million investment in Abra, a start-up that uses blockchain to transfer money internationally. In September, Blockchain startup Chain raised a $30 million Series B round with big names like Visa, Nasdaq, and Citi taking part in the investment. Goldman Sachs itself has also been actively exploring the bitcoin space. The firm was recently part of a $50 million investment round in Circle, a payments app that utilizes bitcoin and the blockchain.

Goldman’s patent application for SETLCoin might suggest that as they become more familiar with the technology themselves, banks and financial institutions could step-up their own development of blockchain technology.

Qz.com

Should #Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer be fired?

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has repeatedly preached that it will take time for her to turn the company around.

But analysts and investors are increasingly reluctant to give her more time and even speculating about whether she should (or will) be fired sometime soon.

Shares of Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) have plunged nearly 35% this year and many on Wall Street are tired of hearing that Yahoo is a turnaround story. They want results.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Robert Peck wrote in a report Monday morning that his clients have been asking him a lot about Mayer, especially since many Yahoo senior executives have left the company in the past few months.

This Yahoo "brain drain" has some investors worried that Mayer is managing a sinking ship.

"With the recent turnover in top level executives, some have questioned whether the CEO's position is stable," Peck wrote.

But Peck took it one step further.

"We held many conversations with leading industry participants and investors to gauge what attributes would be needed and who would be a strong potential CEO candidate, should the company ultimately decide to make a change," he wrote.

Some of the top candidates on this wish list?

• Ross Levinsohn -- a former interim Yahoo CEO and current CEO of Scout Media
• Dan Rosensweig --a former Yahoo COO and current CEO of online textbook seller Chegg (CHGG)
• Jim Lanzone -- CEO of the digital unit of CBS (CBS) and former CEO of IAC (IACI)-owned Ask.com
• David Rosenblatt -- former CEO of online ad firm DoubleClick and current CEO of online luxury retailer 1stdibs
• Sheryl Sandberg -- Facebook (FB, Tech30) COO

Peck felt that Levinsohn and Rosensweig would be the most likely candidates given their past experience with Yahoo.

But if Yahoo were to part with Mayer, investors may want someone who has more of a fresh perspective.

Ironically enough, Mayer was thought to be that person when Yahoo hired her away from Google(GOOGL, Tech30) more than three years ago.

And interestingly, several candidates cited by Peck also have Google ties.

DoubleClick was bought by Google in 2008 and Rosenblatt continued to work at Google for a year after the DoubleClick acquisition.

Sandberg was a Google executive before she joined Facebook.

And two other people cited by Peck as possible Mayer replacements also now work for Google: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and Google, president of ad sales and operations for Google's North American and Latin American units.

Still, is Mayer's job really in jeopardy?

NYU Stern School of Business marketing professor Scott Galloway told Bloomberg in September that Mayer is the most "overpaid CEO in history" and that she still has her job only because she is pregnant. (Mayer is expecting identical twin girls in December.)

Those provocative comments surprisingly did not cause as big of a backlash as you might have expected though.

And it's likely because Yahoo has continued to struggle to turn itself around.

Shares fell 5% the day after the company's third-quarter earnings disappointed Wall Street.

Peck wrote in a report earlier this month that unless Mayer has the support of senior executives, employees, partners, and investors, then "a seamless transition to new leadership could be in the best interest of the company and shareholders."

One of those shareholders -- Starboard Value's managing member Jeffrey Smith -- has been extremely critical of Mayer and Yahoo's board as well.

Smith wrote a letter to Mayer and Yahoo chairman Maynard Webb earlier this month and asked for the company to try and sell off its core search and display advertising assets instead of spinning off its stake in Chinese online retailer Alibaba (BABA, Tech30).

Smith also appeared to suggest that Yahoo will never be able to turn around the core assets under Mayer's leadership.

He wrote that the value of Yahoo is likely to decline further "without significant change to the culture" and added that "we cannot imagine that any prudent individual assigns a high probability that Yahoo is on a path to substantially increase" its profits.

But it's not clear who would want to buy Yahoo.

AOL was once thought to be a logical candidate for a merger. But Verizon (VZ, Tech30) scooped up AOL earlier this year. It seems unlikely that another major media company would want Yahoo at this point.

Yahoo continues to lag Facebook and Google in the digital ad race. Twitter (TWTR, Tech30), despite its troubles, is still expected to gain market share while Yahoo steadily loses it, according to figures from eMarketer.

That means Mayer will likely have no choice but to stick with the plan to spin off Alibaba, even though Wall Street no longer thinks it can significantly boost the company's fortunes.

For one, it remains uncertain if the IRS will rule that the Alibaba spin-off will be tax free.

What's more, the value of Yahoo's Alibaba stake has plunged this year. Shares of Alibaba are down 20% due to concerns about the Chinese economy, increased competition and pirated goods on Alibaba sites.

Yahoo had no comment for this story. And to be sure, there are no rumors whatsoever that Mayer is on the way out.

But if the calls for Mayer's ouster grow louder and more frequent, then Yahoo's board may not be able to ignore them indefinitely.

Just look at what happened to Mayer's numerous predecessors. Terry Semel, Jerry Yang, Carol Bartz and Scott Thompson didn't leave on the best of terms.

It seems that the only constant for Yahoo over the past 15 years is that investors are never happy with the CEO.

Cnn.com

How #Nokia is reinventing itself with a $60,000 virtual reality camera.

  Last July Nokia revealed Ozo, a high-end virtual reality camera designed to capture video and audio in full, 360-degree glory. It’s the kind of integrated solution that the VR market has been largely lacking; while artists are regularly creating live-action VR content, most of it is coming from custom rigs or cobbled-together solutions. Nothing has stood out as the kind of premium gear that is regularly used to shoot film and television.

Tonight at an event in downtown Los Angeles, Nokia revealed just how much that kind of integrated, professional solution will cost, and it’s not cheap: Ozo is priced at $60,000, putting it well out of reach for the hobbyist. But for Nokia, which is faced with reinventing itself after undergoing cataclysmic upheaval in the past few years, it’s the opportunity to take a leadership position in a nascent industry, much like it did with phones decades ago.

"When I joined in September of 2014, I was tasked with coming up with a new strategy for Nokia Technologies," Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies tells me. After looking through the the experiments the Nokia team had been working on, it was an early prototype of Ozo — first started in 2013 — that caught his eye. "It was a very early prototype; a lab rat. But the video 3D accuracy, and the audio accuracy were phenomenal, even at that stage. And I knew we had a winner, because if you were to think of the market that’s being disrupted, introducing a brand new medium, we were catching it at the right time."

CAMERA COMPANIES LIKE ARRI AND RED ARE NOKIA'S NEW COMPETITORS

Haidamus’ instincts on timing can’t be understated. Ozo will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2016, just as consumers will find themselves with an overabundance of VR viewing options — from simple solutions like Google Cardboard and Gear VR, all the way up to the imminent Playstation VR and Oculus Rift. It’s undoubtedly going to result in a massive uptick in content creation, and Nokia is happy to support every platform or device out there. "There are parts of this market that we’d like to own," Haidamus says. "The content creation piece, and format, of course. And then we’re going to partner everywhere else." It’s a unique take — executives cite camera companies like Arri and RED as points of comparison — carving out a niche that nobody has really bothered to lay claim to yet.

In that regard, the key feature that sets Ozo apart for filmmakers is the inclusion of live monitoring. On film and TV sets, that’s a baseline requirement: directors and cinematographers can see what they’re capturing on a monitor while on set. But for VR, it’s another matter: the computing power needed to stitch imagery together has traditionally meant VR creators have to wait long after they finish shooting to see what they actually captured. Ozo sidesteps that with what Nokia calls "dynamic rendering", allowing filmmakers to don VR goggles and look around the 360-degree field of view captured by Ozo’s eight lenses and microphones in real time.

It sounds like a small detail, but it’s remarkable in action. I tested the feature while the camera was on display, and found the crossfading between the different lenses smooth and natural. It’s not perfect — proper post-production is required for a truly seamless experience — but as a working solution it has the potential to vastly change the way people direct and stage VR.

OZO IS JUST PART OF A MUCH LARGER VR CAMERA PLAN

But narrative isn’t the only use for the camera. This kind of turnkey solution seems ideal for documentarians and journalists — Haidamus tells me they’re talking to National Geographic, and one of the early Ozo demos comes courtesy of NASA — and has tremendous potential in educational and industrial markets. With its streamlined workflow and adorable look (it somehow screams "Nokia design" even though it’s basically just a 9.3-pound sphere), Ozo seems like it could be the most accessible option out there for someone looking to seriously tackle VR storytelling — if it wasn’t for that oh-so-professional price point. But talking to Haidamus, it’s clear Ozo is just part of a much larger VR camera plan Nokia is eyeing.

"THIS TEAM IS EAGER TO GET BACK INTO THE GAME."

"We’re going to make Ozo available for rent at rental houses, to make it accessible, and of course we need to start thinking about how can we make it more accessible to prosumers," he says. "A prosumer [version] would have to be a fraction of this cost, and that has to be something we start thinking about immediately from a product line persepctive. This is going to be the top of the pyramid in terms of quality. There’s going to be something where you might not need every single bell and whistle. Something you can just take as it is, stick it somewhere, press record, and it goes. And that’s something that we are thinking about."

It may all seem rather ambitious for what’s essentially a very, very expensive video camera, but it’s clear Nokia thinks it’s found a niche that it is uniquely suited to capitalize upon — and write a new chapter for the company in the process. "You have to remember that this team is eager to get back into the game," Haidamus stresses. "This is the first product from Nokia Technologies since the phone days, and they just really wanted to outdo themselves."

Theverge.com

Samsung #GalaxyS7 And S7 Edge: One Step Closer To Release As AT&T Begins Testing SM-G930A And SM-G935A Smartphones

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are one step closer to release. AT&T is reportedly testing the upcoming smartphones on its network.(Photo : @Evleaks)

Fans of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S series smartphones may get the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge a little earlier than expected. A new report from a credible source claims the SM-G930A and SM-G935A, which are believed to be the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, are currently being tested by AT&T.

When Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge in March, the duo was a departure from the company's previous high-end Galaxy S series smartphones. Samsung swapped out its usual love of plastic and crafted the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge's case out of metal and glass and packed in 2560 by 1440 quad-HD displays, and in the S6 Edge's case, the world's first dual-edged curved display.

The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have been very well-received by tech critics and smartphone fans, but there are two major features many users are hoping Samsung brings back: a microSD expansion slot and removable battery. Both had been used by the company in marketing materials for years as standout features Apple's iPhones lacked.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have been making headlines over the last couple of weeks, signaling Samsung is well on its way in preparing to launch its next-generation smartphones. The company's Exynos 8890 processors believed to power certain Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge variants are reportedly going to enter mass production in December. Recent reports have also suggested that Samsung is planning to price the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge cheaper than the launch prices of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Now comes a report from a reliable source that claims a certain U.S. carrier is already testing the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on its network. @evleaks posted the following message on Twitter:

"AT&T already testing both Galaxy S7 variants (SM-G930A and -G935A), adding weight to rumors of an early- to mid-1Q16 release."

In case you were wondering, the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge's model numbers are SM-G920A and SM-G925A, which line up with the model numbers listed above. The latest Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge reports claim the new pair could launch at an Unpacked event on Feb. 21, 2016.

Are you planning on picking up a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge when they go on sale? What features would you like to see Samsung bring back or add? Let us know in the comments below.

Techtimes.com