Samsung- Zero Bezel TV Coming; Apple Gaming Computer; Uber Sues to Block Gig Workers= Employees Law; Huawei Makes $122 Billion; Musk Downplays Meetings’

We’ve seen a lot the last few years about disappearing bezels on smartphones…now Samsung may unveil a true ‘era bezel’ TV at the upcoming CES in January. Engadget.com reports that mass production on the set could start in February. Samsung may be virtually eliminating the present borders on sets 65 inch and larger. On indicator that this rumor could be accurate…Samsung has trademarked the brand name ‘Zero Bezel!’ If it happens, look for it to be on 8K TVs and for an eye watering price tag!

It’s something of a wild rumor, but Apple has been known to drop an amazing ‘one more thing’ out of the blue on the world before. Now, macrumors.com has picked up a rumor from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News that Apple will announce a high end gaming computer at WWDC this coming summer. It’s unclear whether the device would be a large screen laptop or an all in one desktop, but the price is rumored to be up to..gulp….$5000! The device would be aimed at e-sports, or competitive gaming. With the horsepower Apple has dropped into the new Mac Pro, it would certainly be easy to pull some of that into a new gaming system should Apple decide to do it. It’s a long time to June, so more could come out that might solidify or quash this rumor.

Uber and Postmates have sued California, in an attempt to block the new gig worker law going into effect. According to bloomberg.com, the suit was filed Monday in Los Angeles. The suit claims the law unfairly targets gig economy companies while favoring other industries. AB 5 is due to go into effect on January 1st, 2020. The new law contains a more straightforward test than has existed in California for determining which workers qualify for employee status and therefore the benefits that accompany those full time jobs.

Chinese electronics giant Huawei reported 2019 revenue over $122 billion, a new record high and an 18% jump from last year. Techcrunch.com says that the company is the 2nd largest smartphone maker globally, selling 240 million handsets in 2019, up from 206 million the previous year. Huawei did warn that 2020 could be more of a challenge with the US blacklist on many of its products, including back end 5G components banned for posing a threat to US national security. A number of countries have followed the US’s lead, while some…including India…have elected to use the company’s equipment.

Love or hate him, you can’t ignore Elon Musk’s success at starting a new car company from scratch that has become one of the most valuable ones in the world. The past is littered with failures at trying this. According to businessinsider.com, Musk has demanded that his employees work harder and think differently. Here are his 3 golden rules regarding better meetings:

1) No large meetings
2) If you’re not adding value to a meeting…leave
3) No frequent meetings.

Perhaps I just strongly agree with these and have done them when I was a manager of a department or a couple of small companies, but if you can, try them. Large and long boring meetings just eat up time and the souls of employees who could be doing something productive…while often serving to do no more than stroke the ego of a manager or CEO. Most meeting content can be covered in an email. Don’t hold one to ‘hold court!’