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| LG Electronics unveils curved smartphone in race against Samsung Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 09:14 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Electronics Inc unveiled a curved smartphone on Monday in a move to catch up bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. Curved displays and flexible screens are the new battleground for phone makers as the screens open up possibilities that could eventually transform the high-end smartphone market. Curved smartphones provide a more comfortable grip than flat-screen models, but the lack of must-have features means they are unlikely to be big consumer hits anytime soon, analysts have said. Manufacturing costs also remain relatively high. ... Full Story | Top |
| Computer cracks CAPTCHAs in step toward artificial intelligence Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 09:01 PM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - A technology start-up said on Monday that it had come up with software that works like a human brain in one key way: it can crack CAPTCHAs, the strings of tilted, squiggly letters that websites employ to make users "prove you are human," as Yahoo! and others put it. San Francisco-based Vicarious developed the algorithm not for any nefarious purpose and not even to sell, said co-founder D. Scott Phoenix. ... Full Story | Top |
| Apple's iPhone sales, holiday quarter up for scrutiny Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 08:06 PM PDT  By Bill Rigby (Reuters) - Apple Inc's iPhone sales and revenue forecasts, due to be released on Monday, may offer clues as to whether its low-cost 5C model missed the mark or whether the world's largest tech company can continue its run of smash-hit gadgets. Signs have emerged that demand for the cheaper model is lagging the top-tier iPhone 5S - both of which went on sale in September - because its $100 discount is proving to be insufficient to motivate emerging market and price-conscious customers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's NTT Comm to buy two U.S. cloud computing firms: source Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 07:42 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - NTT Communications Corp plans to buy two U.S. cloud computing firms for up to 100 billion yen ($1 billion) combined, a source with knowledge of the matter said, as Japanese firms ramp up efforts to improve overseas networks through acquisitions. The unlisted long-distance and overseas calling unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp will buy Virtela Technology Services Inc, allowing it to offer data services globally without licensing cables and lines in individual markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| Data center glitch is latest problem in 'Obamacare' rollout Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 07:36 PM PDT  By David Morgan and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A data center critical for allowing uninsured Americans to buy health coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law went down on Sunday, halting online enrollment for all 50 states in the latest problem to hit the program's troubled rollout. The data center operated by Verizon's Terremark experienced a connectivity issue that caused it to shut down, affecting the federal government's already problem-plagued online marketplace Healthcare. ... Full Story | Top |
| Japan's Mizuho likely to escape serious penalty over mob loans Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 07:32 PM PDT  By Taiga Uranaka TOKYO (Reuters) - Mizuho Financial Group looks likely to escape serious penalty in a loans-to-mobsters scandal after an outside panel said on Monday that Japan's second-biggest bank by assets did not intentionally try to hide the shady lending from investigators. But while Mizuho's president and CEO, Yasuhiro Sato, is now expected to keep his job and resume his efforts to unify the fractious "megabank" and improve its governance, Mizuho faces an uphill battle in catching up with its expanding peers. ... Full Story | Top |
| Australian shares lead Asian rebound; yen softens Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 07:31 PM PDT  By Ian Chua SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian stocks scaled a five-year peak on Monday, leading a rebound in Asia after strong results from the likes of Microsoft pushed Wall Street to another record closing high, while investors gave the safe-haven yen a wide berth. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7 percent, recovering a chunk of last week's 1.1 percent loss -- the biggest in two months -- that was driven by concerns that China may tighten policy to keep prices under control. Australian shares put on 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Shareholders may sue Treasury Wine over U.S. inventory impairment Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:18 PM PDT SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Treasury Wine Estates Ltd is facing a potential class action lawsuit from shareholders over the ditching of aged U.S. inventory after litigation firm IMF Australia Ltd proposed funding the proceedings. The litigation financing firm and Maurice Blackburn, a law firm, said Treasury Wine should have disclosed the impairment much earlier and had misled the market. Treasury Wine, the maker of Penfolds, Beringer and Wolf Blass wines, said in July it would destroy some of its aged U.S. inventory. That resulted in a pre-tax material item charge of $154. ... Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: From Big Foot to Bluto, Gulf of Mexico set for record oil supply surge Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:10 PM PDT  By Kristen Hays and Terry Wade CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) - The Gulf of Mexico, stung by the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history in 2010 and then overshadowed by the onshore fracking boom, is on the verge of its biggest supply surge ever, adding to the American oil renaissance. Over the next three years, the Gulf is poised to deliver a slug of more than 700,000 barrels per day of new crude, reversing a decline in production and potentially rivaling shale hot spots like Texas's Eagle Ford formation in terms of growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Samsung Elec shares rise 2 percent after third-quarter earnings boost outlook Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 06:02 PM PDT  SEOUL (Reuters) - Shares in Samsung Electronics rose 2 percent on Monday, driven by expectations that the South Korean technology giant will continue to post solid earnings after its record-high profit in the July to September period, analysts said. Some analysts raised their target prices for Samsung, expecting a strong recovery in its memory chip business to help offset slowing growth of smartphone profits in the coming quarters. Samsung shares rose as much as 2 percent to 1,478,000 Korean won ($1,400) per share, the highest intraday level in a week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Macquarie eyes a slice of Australian banks' home mortgage pie Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 05:24 PM PDT  By Jackie Range and Cecile Lefort SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's largest investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd is pushing rapidly into home mortgages, threatening to disrupt a highly profitable segment of the banking industry long dominated by the country's top four lenders. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) , Commonwealth Bank of Australia , National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp are on track to report a combined record profit for the fifth consecutive year. Part of the profit stems from their leading positions in the country's $1.25 trillion mortgage market. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rocker Lou Reed of Velvet Underground dies at 71 Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 05:14 PM PDT  By Jonathan Allen and Daniel Trotta NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lou Reed, the pioneering songwriter and musician behind the influential rock band Velvet Underground, which fused art and music in collaboration with artist Andy Warhol, died on Sunday at the age of 71, his literary agent said. Reed, best recognized by mainstream audiences for his 1972 solo hit "Walk on the Wild Side," died at the Long Island home he shared with his wife, Laurie Anderson, following complications from a liver transplant he underwent earlier this year, his agent, Andrew Wylie, said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Record high on Wall Street lifts Asian spirits Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 04:39 PM PDT  By Ian Chua SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stocks got off to an encouraging start on Monday after strong results from the likes of Microsoft drove Wall Street to another record closing high, while the safe-haven yen slipped in thin early trade. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.3 percent, steadying after last week's 1.1 percent slide -- the biggest in two months -- on concerns that China may tighten policy to keep prices under control. Australia's stock market climbed 0. ... Full Story | Top |
| Local tastes tempt China diners away from Golden Arches Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 03:27 PM PDT  By Adam Jourdan SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Bearing rice burgers and lotus roots, an army of Chinese fast food firms is cooking up a challenge to McDonald's Corp and Yum Brands Inc, tempting cost-conscious diners with healthy, homegrown fare and causing a drag on growth for the U.S. chains in the country's $174 billion fast food market. McDonald's said last week it was thinking of slowing expansion in China as diners are tempted by local rivals. KFC-parent Yum warned this month economic weakness in China would drag on a recovery in sales dented by a food safety scare at the end of last year. ... Full Story | Top |
| New York Fed examines mortgage real estate investment trusts: FT Sunday, Oct 27, 2013 02:37 PM PDT (Reuters) - The New York Fed is examining banks' exposure to a type of mortgage-backed security that is vulnerable to a sharp rise in interest rates, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Regulators with the Fed have been probing the proliferation of mortgage real estate investment trusts, or MReits, where long-term mortgages are financed with short-term loans from dealer banks, known as a repo. The concern is that a rise in interest rates could prompt a selloff. ... Full Story | Top |
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