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| BlackBerry shares surge after Facebook bid for WhatsApp Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 06:29 PM PST  By Euan Rocha TORONTO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's stunning $19 billion bid for fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp sent shares of BlackBerry Ltd surging after the closing bell on Wednesday, as investors were cheered by the lofty valuation for the messaging platform. The deal sent shares in BlackBerry up as much as 9 percent in trading after the bell because it put a rough valuation metric around the smartphone maker's own BlackBerry Messaging service. BlackBerry Messaging, or BBM as it is more commonly known, was a pioneering mobile-messaging service, but its user base has failed to keep pace with that of WhatsApp, in part because BlackBerry had long refused to open the service to users on other platforms. Its service works on Apple Inc's iOS platform, Google Inc's market-dominating Android operating system, along with devices powered by both the Windows and BlackBerry operating systems. Full Story | Top |
| Toshiba: aims to be in global top three in imaging diagnostics by March 2018 Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 06:14 PM PST  Toshiba Corp President Hisao Tanaka said on Thursday that the Japanese conglomerate aimed to be in the global top three companies making imaging diagnostics for medical use by the business year ending in March 2018. Toshiba, which has positioned healthcare as the third pillar of growth in addition to NAND flash memory chips and power generation, has said it aims to make 600 billion yen ($5.87 billion) in revenue from the sector by the end of its three-year business plan through March 2016, and 1 trillion yen in the year to March 2018. ($1 = 102.2150 Japanese yen) (This version of the story is filed to correct the time frame of goal to be number 3.) (Reporting by Sophie Knight; Full Story | Top |
| Canada wireless sale nets C$5.27 billion; Quebecor makes splash Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 04:58 PM PST  By Randall Palmer and Alastair Sharp OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian telecommunications companies paid a record C$5.27 billion ($4.78 billion) in an auction to secure wireless airwave licenses, the federal government said on Wednesday, as a new national challenger emerged from Quebec. "To be quite frank, I thought this would be a much more sedate auction with people sitting on their hands, it turns out to be not so," said Iain Grant, managing director of telecom consultancy Seaboard Group. Market leader Rogers Communications Inc was by far the biggest spender, paying out C$3.29 billion, or more than 60 percent of the total, to grab a so-called prime block in every region of the country except its three remote northern territories. But it was Quebecor Inc's Videotron that made the biggest splash at the auction, as the regional cable and wireless company expanded its reach outside its home base in the mostly French-speaking province of Quebec. Full Story | Top |
| Google prepares 34-city push for ultra-fast Fiber service Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 04:50 PM PST  By Edwin Chan SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is exploring a major expansion of its super-fast "Fiber" TV and Internet service, which could extend the nascent network to 34 more U.S. cities and pose a competitive threat to home broadband providers. Google executives told reporters on Wednesday the search company has reached out in recent weeks to cities from nine metropolitan areas around the country, including San Jose, Atlanta and Nashville, to discuss the feasibility of building out Fiber, which Google says delivers the Internet at speeds up to 100 times faster than average networks. As Google delivers more music, videos and other content to mobile devices, it is increasing investment in ensuring it gets the bandwidth it needs. Google had initially billed its first Fiber broadband offer, launched in Kansas City last year, as a test project to spur development of Web services and technology. Full Story | Top |
| Canada raises C$5.27 billion in wireless sale; Quebecor goes national Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 03:07 PM PST  By Randall Palmer and Alastair Sharp OTTAWA/TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian telecom companies paid a record C$5.27 billion ($4.78 billion) in an auction to secure licenses for prime airwaves, the federal government said on Wednesday, as a new national challenger looks set to emerge from Quebec. The biggest national players - Rogers Communications, BCE Inc's Bell, and Telus Corp - grabbed the lion's share of the 700 megahertz spectrum, on which they plan to build more powerful wireless network. But it was the arrival of broader wireless ambitions for Quebecor Inc's Videotron that created the biggest splash, as the regional cable and wireless company expanded its reach outside its mostly French-speaking home base in Quebec. Quebecor paid C$233 million for airwaves in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Quebec. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook to buy Whatsapp for $16 billion Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 02:09 PM PST  (Reuters) - Social networking company Facebook Inc said it would buy mobile messaging company WhatsApp for about $16 billion in cash and stock. Facebook said it would pay $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion in stock. Facebook said WhatsApp co-founder and Chief Executive Jan Koum would join Facebook's board. (Reporting by Soham Chatterjee;; Editing by Savio D'Souza) Full Story | Top |
| Lockheed tech lets U.S. Apache helicopter pilots aim in color Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 12:38 PM PST  By Andrea Shalal-Esa HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has unveiled new technology that will for the first time allow AH-64 Apache helicopter pilots to see targeting and surveillance data in full, high-resolution color, instead of the fuzzy black and white images they get now. An Army official said new sensors developed by Lockheed Martin Corp over the past four years could help avoid mistakes such as the 2007 attack by two U.S. Apache helicopters that killed 12 people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, after they were mistaken for armed insurgents. U.S. Central Command has said an investigation of the incident found that U.S. forces were not aware of the presence of the news staffers and believed a camera held by one of the men was a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. "This additional situational awareness ... will give soldiers what they need to make the right decisions on the battlefield," Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven Van Riper, the Army's product manager for the Apache sensors, told reporters when asked if the new technology help avert such mistakes. Full Story | Top |
| Aviation, fitness sales drive Garmin profit; shares jump Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 11:32 AM PST Garmin Ltd handily beat quarterly profit estimates and forecast a strong 2014 as sales of GPS-based fitness, aviation and outdoor products more than made up for shrinking sales of personal navigation devices, a market it once dominated. Garmin shares jumped as much as 12 percent to $52.72 - their highest in six years. The stock, however, is still a far cry from the high of $124 it hit in 2007, when personal navigation devices were high in demand and featured on most year-end gifting lists. Garmin said on Wednesday it expects revenue to grow 10-15 percent from businesses other than its personal navigation device unit, where revenue is expected to fall 10-15 percent. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. telecom regulator will write new 'Open Internet' rules Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 10:06 AM PST  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal regulators will once again seek to set rules that make sure U.S. broadband providers do not block or slow access to any lawful content on the Internet. The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it will not appeal a U.S. court decision last month that rejected a previous version of these so-called Net neutrality rules largely because of the way the FCC had classified broadband providers. The court did reaffirm that the commission had authority to regulate broadband access under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the FCC will use that authority to review how it can bring back non-discrimination and no-blocking regulations while complying with the order. At issue is whether Internet providers can be allowed to charge companies such as Netflix Inc or Google Inc for better Web service, something public interest groups said could hurt consumers. Full Story | Top |
| Turkish Internet controls ignite public anger Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 09:39 AM PST  By Dasha Afanasieva ISTANBUL (Reuters) - From a campaign to "unfollow" President Abdullah Gul on Twitter to an opposition appeal to Turkey's highest court, Turks vented their anger on Wednesday at a new law tightening government control of the Internet. Gul approved the legislation, which will let the authorities block web pages within hours and collect data such as users' browsing histories, late on Tuesday, bolstering Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan but raising renewed concerns about free speech. Erdogan's critics say the law, along with a bill increasing government power over the judiciary, as an authoritarian response to a corruption inquiry shaking his government and as an effort to stop leaks about the case circulating online. His failure to do so prompted a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #unfollowabdullahgul, although he appeared to lose only a fraction of his four million followers as a result. Full Story | Top |
| NY state official to withdraw AT&T resolution on government surveillance Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 08:06 AM PST  (Reuters) - New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will withdraw a shareholder resolution at AT&T Inc after the telecommunications company released new details of government interest in its customers' information, his office said in a statement on Wednesday. Under pressure from DiNapoli and other shareholder activists, AT&T and rival Verizon Communications Inc had agreed to disclose more about government surveillance. DiNapoli had said he might still seek a vote by AT&T shareholders on the issue this spring if the company did not disclose enough details. ... Full Story | Top |
| SunEdison to keep solar projects as it eyes long-term profits Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 07:55 AM PST (Reuters) - SunEdison Inc said it would stick to its strategy of keeping solar power projects rather than selling them in 2014, sacrificing revenue in favor of long-term profit. The U.S. solar company's shares rose as much as 7 percent in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. SunEdison's strategy of keeping projects instead of selling them led to a larger loss in the fourth quarter ended December 31. "The money in the retained value is so significant, I'm willing to print a negative (profit) number...," Chief Executive Ahmad Chatila said on a post-earnings call. Full Story | Top |
| To stoke interest, LinkedIn opens 'Influencer' blogs to all members Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 05:02 AM PST  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - LinkedIn Corp is attempting to become more like Facebook Inc by encouraging all members to generate a steady stream of shareable articles, a perk once available only to well-known business personalities. The move, which the company hopes will generate more interest in the site, comes two weeks after LinkedIn disclosed that page views slipped for the second consecutive quarter. By opening the program to everybody, LinkedIn hopes its users will generate a steady stream of shareable content, providing a white-collar twist on how Facebook supplies its users a continuous stream of pictures or links from their friends. LinkedIn disclosed during its quarterly earnings call on February 6 that, following several quarters of explosive growth, page views had in fact slipped for the second consecutive period, suggesting waning user interest in revisiting the site. Full Story | Top |
| Google fund invests in education start-up Renaissance Learning Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 04:40 AM PST  (Reuters) - Renaissance Learning, an education technology start-up, said on Wednesday that Google Inc's investment fund had bought a minority stake in the company, valuing it at $1 billion. Renaissance, owned by British private equity firm Permira, provides cloud-based education software, including reading and assessment tools that the company says are used by nearly 20 million students and teachers. Google Capital was formed in 2013 to invest in technology start-ups. ... Full Story | Top |
| Israel warns public on bitcoin risks, mulls regulation Wednesday, Feb 19, 2014 03:17 AM PST  By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Wednesday it was considering regulation of bitcoin and warned citizens that using such decentralized virtual currencies was risky. Israel, home to pioneering firms in hi-tech fields such as cryptography, has emerged as a bitcoin hotspot, prompting central bank governor Karnit Flug to convene a meeting this week with other regulators, including those for capital markets, taxes, securities and money laundering and terror financing. "It was agreed to continue to examine various perspectives related to the use of, and trade in, virtual currencies," the authorities said in a joint statement on Wednesday. "These perspectives include possible macro effects, their legal standing, their regulation, money laundering and terror financing risks, taxation and consumer protection." They said the Israeli public should be aware that bitcoin is unsupervised, is not legal tender and presents fertile ground for fraudulent activities. Full Story | Top |
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