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| Samsung Galaxy S5 rollout moved forward in South Korea Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:32 PM PDT  South Korea's three mobile carriers have brought forward the launch of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone to Thursday, in a bid to cushion the blow from a sales suspension slapped on the operators. Regulators have banned SK Telecom Co Ltd, KT Corp and LG UPlus Corp from signing up new customers or replacing phones for some existing customers for various periods totaling 45 days between March 13 and May 19. SK Telecom, South Korea's biggest mobile carrier, said it started to offer the Galaxy S5 at 866,800 Korean won ($810) on Thursday, cheaper than its predecessor. Full Story | Top |
| Judge tosses lawsuit against Facebook over use of minors' photos Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:02 PM PDT  A California federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Facebook Inc that had accused the company of misappropriating the names and likenesses of minors who use the social network. At issue was Facebook's use of minors' names and photos in targeted advertising in a case that highlighted privacy concerns. The lawsuit, originally filed in Illinois in 2011, had sought to represent all minors that used Facebook and had their names used in an ad. In a ruling on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg ruled that the minors gave their consent when they signed up for Facebook under a "statement of rights and responsibilities" that governs the site. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-MP3tunes chief hit with estimated $41 million copyright verdict Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:02 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former chief executive of defunct online music storage firm MP3tunes was ordered to pay an estimated $41 million on Wednesday after being found liable for infringing copyrights owned by record companies and music publishers once part of EMI Group Ltd. Lawyers for Michael Robertson and the EMI companies are expected to take until next Tuesday to figure out exactly how much money was awarded in the complex, lengthy verdict issued by the federal jury in Manhattan. The verdict came a week after the same jury found Robertson and the bankrupt company liable on various copyright infringement claims. "Sony/ATV Music Publishing commends the jury on their careful consideration of the facts and their decision in the MP3Tunes.com case," Martin Bandier, chairman and chief executive of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, said in a statement. "We will continue to vigorously pursue action against those who have disregarded the copyright laws of the works entrusted in our care." Founded in 2005 initially as a website selling independent musicians' songs, San Diego-based MP3tunes came to be known for its so-called cloud music service that allowed users to store music in online lockers. Full Story | Top |
| Ergen says LightSquared could be worth $8.9 billion Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 06:00 PM PDT  By Nick Brown and Billy Cheung NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dish Network Corp Chairman Charles Ergen, the largest creditor of bankrupt wireless company LightSquared, said on Wednesday he believed LightSquared could be worth as much as $8.9 billion if it gained regulatory approval of its planned wireless network. Testifying in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Ergen faced tough questions from LightSquared lenders who believe he had visions of effecting a Dish takeover at a lowball price. Ergen then acquired about $1 billion of the company's senior loan debt, giving him a controlling stake in LightSquared's capital structure. His motivations for amassing the debt are crucial to weeks of court hearings in which LightSquared is seeking court approval of a bankruptcy exit plan that would subordinate Ergen's claims. Full Story | Top |
| Amazon follows Google in slashing cloud computing prices Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 04:50 PM PDT  By Deepa Seetharaman SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc will drop prices on most of its cloud computing services starting April 1, the largest U.S. online retailer said on Wednesday, a day after rival Google Inc outlined a major price cut of its own. The price cuts range from 10 percent to 65 percent, Andrew Jassy, senior vice president of Amazon Web Services, told a conference for Amazon web developers in San Francisco. This marks the 42nd price reduction for AWS since its introduction eight years ago. In a separate press release on Wednesday, the company said the U.S. Department of Defense deemed Amazon's cloud computing service secure enough to be used more broadly within the department. Full Story | Top |
| Candy Crush maker King Digital shares sour in market debut Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 03:45 PM PDT  Shares in King Digital Entertainment Plc fell as much as 16 percent in their Wednesday debut, underscoring investor concern about the company's reliance on "Candy Crush Saga" and dampening hopes that its coming-out party could revive investor interest in the mobile gaming industry. Mobile game industry executives had looked to London-based King's IPO, the largest by a gaming company since Zynga Inc went public in 2011, to help sweep aside skepticism over a notoriously fickle, volatile market. The company offers over 180 games but its two-year-old "Candy Crush Saga" game, in which users move candies to line up at least three of the same color, accounted for over three-quarters of King's revenue for the last three months of 2013. "Also, there've been a lot of high priced IPOs and mergers and acquisitions (of late) and when valuations get frothy, investors get disappointed when returns don't measure up to expectations." Candy Crush, a free game, is now a household name and has been downloaded more than 500 million times since its launch on mobile devices. Full Story | Top |
| FCC still eyeing caps for 2015 spectrum auction Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 03:33 PM PDT  By Marina Lopes San Antonio (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is still considering caps on the amount of spectrum a single carrier will be allowed to acquire in a 2015 spectrum auction, the commission's wireless bureau chief said on Tuesday. The caps would most likely affect the two biggest U.S. carriers, AT&T and Verizon, and would give smaller carriers a better chance to compete for a portion of frequencies under one gigahertz, valued for their strength and reach. In April 2013, the U.S. Justice Department urged the FCC to devise an auction that would help ensure smaller carriers obtained a fair share of that spectrum. The so-called incentive auction will give TV stations that currently own the valuable frequencies the opportunity to voluntarily give up their frequencies to the FCC. Full Story | Top |
| Ex-MP3tunes chief hit with $41 million copyright verdict Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:43 PM PDT  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former chief executive of defunct online music storage firm MP3tunes was ordered to pay an estimated $41 million on Wednesday after being found liable for infringing copyrights owned by record companies and music publishers once part of EMI Group Ltd. Lawyers for Michael Robertson and the EMI companies are expected to take until next Tuesday to figure out exactly how much money was awarded in the complex, lengthy verdict issued by the federal jury in Manhattan. The verdict came a week after the same jury found Robertson and the bankrupt company liable on various copyright infringement claims. Frank Scibilia, a lawyer for the EMI publishing companies, did not respond to a request for comment. Founded in 2005 initially as a website selling independent musicians' songs, San Diego-based MP3tunes came to be known for its so-called cloud music service that allowed users to store music in online lockers. Full Story | Top |
| Photo app maker Snapchat not ready for its U.S. Senate close-up Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 02:29 PM PDT  By Alina Selyukh and Gerry Shih WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Snapchat is known for an app that enables users to send photo messages that can vanish within seconds of being viewed. On Wednesday, company officials didn't even appear at a Capitol Hill hearing on data security they'd been invited to - and a top senator wasn't happy. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller said Snapchat had declined his invitation to testify and insinuated that the Los Angeles-based company, which has disclosed massive data breaches within the past year, was concealing something. Full Story | Top |
| AOL rolls out new platform in bid to become digital ad hub Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:45 PM PDT  AOL Inc on Wednesday unveiled a new advertising platform aimed at changing the media buying process for digital advertising by becoming a one-stop shop. The new platform, dubbed One, will knit together AOL's various ad technology offerings like its recent acquisition of Adap.TV, an electronic trading platform for video advertising. One is an open platform that will work with the hundreds of ad technology companies that have crowded the digital landscape. AOL has also launched smaller tests to purchase TV advertising through the platform. Full Story | Top |
| Facebook takes page out of Google playbook with Oculus deal Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 01:09 PM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Does Facebook Inc have Google envy? The social networking company's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, a maker of virtual reality goggles, took Wall Street and technology observers by surprise, not least because of the hefty price for a company with no real revenue and untested technology. But Facebook's desire to bet on "the platforms of tomorrow," as Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg described the deal on Tuesday, also marks a broadening of ambition for a company that has until now focused mainly on bolstering its existing service or defending its turf from immediate threats. It's a strategy more often associated with Facebook's arch-rival Google Inc, which has established a track record of making early bets on the next big thing. Full Story | Top |
| Smartwatches? Not at this time, say wary Swiss Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 12:08 PM PDT  Technology groups from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to Sony Corp are counting on wearable electronic devices able to hook up to the Internet, melding fashion and technology in what could be the next mass consumer trend. "There's a lot of noise about smartwatches, but you don't see them on people's wrists," Francois Thiebaud, head of Swatch Group SA's Tissot brand, told Reuters in an interview at a watch fair in Basel. Family-owned Patek Philippe and La Montre Hermes, the watch unit of luxury goods group Hermes International SA, don't see smartwatches as a threat for their business, their heads said. Both Patek's Thierry Stern and Hermes' Luc Perramond said their target market was different from the young buyers who might be looking for something to wear on their wrists. Full Story | Top |
| Experts urge U.S. caution on additional cyber threat disclosures Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:56 AM PDT  By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cyber experts urged U.S. securities regulators on Wednesday to tread carefully when requiring companies to disclose security breaches and cyber threats, saying giving too much information may leave them vulnerable to hackers or legal action. "I don't think the commission should be going overboard," said Roberta Karmel, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, told a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cyber security panel discussion. "I am not sure the SEC is the agency that really should be pushing companies to do more by requiring more disclosure of breaches and other kinds of information that aren't material." The SEC convened the cyber security event after a recent series of high-profile data breaches at companies like Target Corp and Neiman Marcus Group. The SEC has also come under considerable political pressure to take additional steps to require public companies to disclose more information about cyber threats to investors. Full Story | Top |
| France's Orange backs CEO for second term Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:39 AM PDT  The board of France's state-backed Orange on Wednesday voted to give chief executive Stephane Richard a second term, providing continuity to the group at a time of tumult in its domestic market and brewing consolidation in Europe. The French government, which owns 27 percent of the company, backed Richard to stay on despite an ongoing investigation of his role as a government aide in a 2008 arbitration case in which the state awarded a large payout to businessman Bernard Tapie. The state nominates three of Orange's 15 directors, and effectively names the CEO. The 53 year-old executive will now pilot Orange through a rough environment as group sales continue to decline - as they have been since 2008 - under the effect of tough competition in France and regulatory changes that cut mobile fees. Full Story | Top |
| Germany's Siemens says committed to Russian partners Wednesday, Mar 26, 2014 11:32 AM PDT  NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (Reuters) - The chief executive of Germany's Siemens said his firm supported a "trusting relationship" with Russian companies after meeting President Vladimir Putin at his residence outside Moscow on Wednesday. The United States has levied sanctions against several Russian individuals - including Russian Railways boss Vladimir Yakunin - over Moscow's annexation of Crimea. Engineering conglomerate Siemens has a partnership with Russian Railways, the state railway monopoly, under which it provides high-speed trains for rail lines between St Petersburg, Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod, according to the Siemens website. Full Story | Top |
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