| | |
| Alibaba in talks to buy back stake in Alipay unit: WSJ Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 07:08 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Alibaba Holdings Inc is in talks with major shareholders to reclaim a stake in fast-growing online-payments affiliate Alipay, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The discussions revolve around several options, among which is the purchase by Alibaba of one-third of Alipay, the Journal said, citing one of the unidentified people. Even if an agreement were to be reached, it would not be expected to take effect before Alibaba's expected U.S. initial public offering, and it would face regulatory review in China, according the people quoted in the report. The Chinese company is now preparing for what could be the largest tech company IPO in history, a U.S. offering that is not expected to include assets related to Alipay. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. resists pressure to give India worst offender rating in IP review Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 06:07 PM PDT  By Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has resisted lobbying by U.S. businesses to take tougher trade action against India for its intellectual property policies, deciding against risking ties with a likely new government in New Delhi. The U.S. Trade Representative avoided labeling India with the worst offender tag in its annual scorecard on protecting U.S. patents, copyrights and other intellectual property (IP) rights. Instead, the United States kept India, which is in the midst of elections, on its Priority Watch List along with China and eight other countries. It would start a special review of India in the fall and "redouble" efforts to address concerns with the new government, the U.S. Trade Representative said. Full Story | Top |
| Qualcomm spins off location awareness technology Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 05:32 PM PDT  Qualcomm Inc is spinning off its location awareness technology, which is compatible with Apple Inc's iBeacon version, to a group of investors including music, sports and arena conglomerate AEG. The chipmaker said on Wednesday it sold the business as a newly formed entity called Gimbal Inc. One investor is the i-Hatch LBS Fund, which includes strategic investors Zebra Technologies Corporation and AEG. Qualcomm will remain a minority investor. A Qualcomm spokesperson declined to disclose financial details. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook lets users limit data shared with apps Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 04:02 PM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook introduced new features on Wednesday that let users limit how much personal information they share with third-party mobile apps, a move meant to quell privacy concerns as the social network seeks to become a top entry port to the Internet. In recent years, Facebook Inc has successfully encouraged a growing number of third-party app makers to allow users to log in with their Facebook identity rather than, say, by entering an email address or creating a dedicated account. The result has been an influx of valuable data for the world's No. 1 social network, but concerns have also mounted about third-party developers gaining access to private information. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said at Facebook's developer conference in San Francisco on Wednesday that a new version of Facebook's log-in tool, called "log in anonymously," would let users control what information they allow third-party apps to see. Full Story | Top |
| Flextronics results beat on demand for game consoles, phones Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 02:45 PM PDT (Adds details on forecast, analyst estimates, shares) April 30 - Contract electronics manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted profit on Wednesday, helped by higher demand from its game console and smartphone customers. The company, which makes the Xbox game console for Microsoft Corp and smartphones for Google Inc, also forecast a higher profit for the current quarter, helping to push up its shares about 3 percent in extended trading. Microsoft's first new Xbox in eight years, which went on sale in the United States in November, had sold more than five million units as of April 17. Uncertainly surrounds its links to Google, however, after the search giant agreed to sell its Motorola handset division to China's Lenovo Group Ltd for $2.91 billion in January. Full Story | Top |
| Cisco Investments commits $150 million to start-up companies Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 01:04 PM PDT Cisco's corporate venture-capital arm said it would deploy $150 million to start-up companies over the next two to three years, accelerating its investments into areas such as Internet-enabled communication between objects. That theme, also known as the Internet of Things, will complement other Cisco investing themes such as big data and connecting mobile devices, Cisco senior vice president for corporate development Hilton Romanski told reporters Wednesday. The amount, coupled with $100 million that Cisco said in January it would deploy to start-ups in those areas, puts Cisco Investments on par with mid-sized venture capital firms. San Jose-based Cisco, known for networking equipment, also announced two new investments in the Internet of Things. Full Story | Top |
| PayPal burnishes brand image as mobile use surges Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 10:57 AM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The online payment company PayPal is getting a shiny new look and its first-ever global marketing push as parent eBay Inc tries to wrest attention away from the growing number of rivals piling into the mobile payments market. The brand overhaul unveiled on Wednesday includes a more vibrant, simple logo designed to suit mobile phones and wearable devices like wristbands and PayPal's first-ever television ads in the U.S. market. The move comes as PayPal, the dominant online payment processor, shifts its focus toward mobile phones and the fast-growing market to enable consumers to pay for physical goods and services with their smartphones. "If you look at us visually online, we look very similar to financial service companies," said Christina Smedley, vice president of global brand and communications at PayPal. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. high court conflicted over Limelight Networks patent fight Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 10:47 AM PDT  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared unsure how to proceed in a dispute over whether Limelight Networks Inc infringed upon patented technology for managing Web images and video held by Akamai Technologies Inc. The nine justices are weighing whether a company can be held liable for inducing patent infringement when the final step that leads to infringement is carried out by a third party. The justices are reviewing an August 2012 ruling by a divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Akamai's favor, which effectively made it easier to prove that a company is liable based on the induced infringement theory. But as several justices noted on Wednesday, the appeals court did not decide the question of whether direct infringement had occurred before ruling that there was induced infringement. Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Elena Kagan both raised concerns that a Supreme Court ruling on the induced infringement question would be rendered largely meaningless unless the direct infringement issue was resolved. Full Story | Top |
| Charter withdraws slate for Time Warner Cable's board Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 09:14 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Charter Communications, which lost out to Comcast Corp in a bid to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc, has withdrawn its slate of nominees to Time Warner Cable's board. As part of a deal with Comcast announced on Monday to swap customers, Charter had withdrawn its slate a Charter spokesman said on Wednesday. Charter had said in February that it was nominating a slate of 13 candidates for election to Time Warner Cable's board as part of its push to take over the larger company for $38 billion, shortly before Comcast swooped in with a winning offer of $45 billion. Full Story | Top |
| Slowing Twitter user growth tests Wall Street's patience Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 07:07 AM PDT  Twitter Inc's slowing user growth has revived concerns about the microblogging service's prospects of one day matching Facebook Inc's 1.2 billion users, prompting at least 16 analysts to cut their target price on the stock. Twitter's shares, which have shed about a third of their value since the beginning of the year, opened down 11 percent at $37.80 on Wednesday, making it one of the top percentage losers on the New York Stock Exchange. Twitter has divided Wall Street into two broad camps: those who consider it an overvalued company with fading potential, and those who believe it to be a phenomenon capable of matching Facebook's growth. Twitter also raised concerns by saying its 255 million monthly users appeared to be checking the service less frequently than a year ago. Full Story | Top |
| HP, Foxconn launch cloud server joint venture Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 04:42 AM PDT  (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co and Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group launched a joint venture to make servers aimed at companies which provide cloud computing services. The new cloud-optimized servers will help service providers to cut costs, the companies said in a statement. Foxconn is the parent company for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer. (Reporting by Soham Chatterjee; Editing by Joyjeet Das) Full Story | Top |
| Electronics chain Media-Saturn squares up to e-commerce challenge Wednesday, Apr 30, 2014 03:08 AM PDT BERLIN/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Europe's biggest electronics chain Media-Saturn said on Wednesday it would restructure its business in response to a rapid shift towards online retailing, skirting around a new phase in a power struggle between its owners. Media-Saturn, which is majority-owned by German retailer Metro and runs more than 950 stores in 17 countries, wants to integrate online sales more closely with stores and will create a new "e-business" unit to coordinate strategy. As the market leader of the industry, we have decided on a profound reorientation to future-proof ourselves," Chief Executive Horst Norberg said in a statement, calling the upheaval the biggest since the company was founded in 1979. Media-Saturn's move into e-commerce was delayed until 2010 by a long-running dispute between Metro and the chain's founder Eric Kellerhals, who still owns a stake of close to 22 percent. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment