Reserve Bank takes notice of Amazon … iPhone 8 leak reveals upgrades … Former Pandora boss heads to Spotify

By Dominic Powell and Emma Koehn. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at 1.5% on Tuesday, but in a memo on the board’s decision, Reserve Bank governor Phil Lowe extended his commentary to the “Amazon effect” through comments on the retail sector.

The RBA says inflation is expected to pick up as the economy strengthens – but while higher electricity and tobacco prices could boost CPI, “a factor working in the other direction is increased competition from new entrants in the retail industry”.

Retail experts and analysts have taken this to mean the arrival of Amazon in Australia, with Fairfax reporting this morning the statement suggests the RBA is tracking the potential of “good inflation” from lower prices of consumer goods that could be the result of Amazon’s arrival here.

iPhone 8 leaks: Is a bezel-less device on the way?

When it comes to coveted product reveals, like Apple’s iPhone 8, the public is generally left with little more than unsubstantiated rumours until the day of the launch.

However, in an unusual turn of events, Apple itself has inadvertently revealed some details on the latest iPhone reports news.com.au, via a firmware release for an upcoming product.

The company is preparing to release a new smart speaker called the HomePod, and as part of that the company accidentally unveiled the firmware for the speaker to the public. Some savvy software developers quickly jumped on the opportunity and sifted through the code, revealing that Apple’s new iPhone will feature facial recognition for unlocking the device.

However, the most exciting reveal was a small mock-up image of what the front of the device might look like, confirming rumours the phone will follow Samsung and release a largely bezel-less device.

The bezel-less iPhone image can be extracted from Payment_glyph_phone-D22.caar in PassKitUIFoundation.framework with the code pictured pic.twitter.com/HAyDO0E931

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) July 31, 2017

Jane Huxley to head up Spotify

The former Australian chief executive of Pandora will step into a new role as head of Spotify in Australia.

Business Insider reports Jane Huxley, who brought Pandora into the Australian market but stepped down from her role there prior to the announcement it would shut down in Australia this year, will become managing director of Spotify from September.

Earlier this month it was revealed the streaming platform would move into new digs at the One Wharf Lane development in Sydney.

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