SEOUL (Reuters) – Analysts fell under Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s marketing spell when they made what they now admit were hopelessly optimistic forecasts for its smartphone sales. Samsung’s huge share of the high-end smartphone market also persuaded some anal... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The online grocery start-up Webvan may have been the single most expensive flame-out of the dot-com era, blowing through more than $800 million in venture capital and IPO proceeds in just over three years before shutting its doors in ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook and Microsoft have struck agreements with the U.S. government to release limited information about the number of surveillance requests they receive, a modest victory for the companies as they struggle with the fallout from di... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators have opened a probe into whether a Lockheed-Boeing joint venture that launches U.S. government satellites into space has flouted antitrust laws. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether United Launch Al... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, magic mushrooms and other psychoactive substances amounts to scientific censorship and is hampering research into potentially important medicinal uses, leading scientists argued on Wednesday. Laws and... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said it believed Motorola Mobility, a unit of Google, was abusing its market position by seeking and enforcing an injunction against Apple in Germany over patents essential to mobile phone standards. The Commission ... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is leading a $35 million investment in ResearchGate, a Berlin-based network for scientists that ties into his interest in fighting disease. ResearchGate allows researchers around the world to collaborat... More »
(Reuters) – Sony Corp is considering evaluating a proposal from top shareholder Third Point LLC to spin off part of its movie and music business, Japanese daily Nikkei reported. Sony’s U.S. listed shares rose 9 percent on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp, responding to a shareholder’s call for it to spin off its entertainment operations, said its entertainment businesses were important to its growth strategy and “are not for sale”. The statement from a Sony spokesman came after hedg... More »
(Reuters) – Google’s YouTube video service is dipping its toe into pay television by starting on Thursday a subscription service with 30 content creators, including children’s programmers Sesame Street and Muppet creator The Jim Henson Co, and the Ultimate Fig... More »
(Reuters) – Demand Media reported on Tuesday better-than-expected first quarter revenue and profit on growth at its media websites like eHow, Livestrong and Cracked. Demand Media makes its money in two ways. In its media business, freelance writers, photograph... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Silicon Valley is taking itself a tad too seriously, and a few of its shriller residents have taken note. Recent weeks have seen the birth of a few new blogs poking fun at America’s crucible of technology, among them whitemenwearinggo... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Aereo Inc, the online television venture backed by Barry Diller, asked a federal court on Monday to block CBS Corp from suing it in new markets where it plans to expand. The startup company brought the complaint in Manhattan federal court,... More »
(Reuters) – Netflix Inc impressed investors with solid subscriber growth and better-than-expected profits in the first quarter, sending shares of the video subscription service soaring 24 percent higher in after-hours trade. A big push into original shows, a s... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British scientists have developed a new vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease that is safer and easier to manufacture, an advance they believe should greatly increase production capacity and reduce costs. The technology behind the livestock... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid The Sun will start charging for access to its website in a package with highlights of Premier League soccer matches, publisher News International (NI) said on Wednesday. “Later this year the pay model will be... More »
MADRID (Reuters) – A Spanish association representing open-source software users has filed a complaint against Microsoft Corp to the European Commission, in a new challenge to the Windows developer following a hefty fine earlier this month. The 8,000-member Hi... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former Oregon gubernatorial candidate was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged role in defrauding investors who had hoped to buy shares of Facebook Inc before its initial public offering in May 2012, federal authorities said. Craig Berkma... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel Corp’s media group has been on a hiring spree as it prepares to launch an Internet television service later this year, underscoring the chip maker’s seriousness about the new business. Intel Media is now looking to add 60 people... More »
JACKSON, Mississippi/CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) – The doctor who cured an HIV infected baby for the first time is happier talking to children than to adults and is finding all the attention since the news came out a little overwhelming. Dr. Hannah Gay and col... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists from a British cancer charity are teaming up with technology gurus from the likes of Amazon, Facebook and Google to design and develop a mobile game aimed at speeding the search for new cancer drugs. The project, led by the charit... More »
(Reuters) – Cablevision Systems Corp has accused Viacom Inc in an antitrust lawsuit of forcing it to pay for more than a dozen low-rated cable networks in order to get access to Viacom’s more popular channels such as Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. The ca... More »
(Reuters) – Fox Broadcasting Co has asked a federal judge to stop Dish Network Corp from letting customers who use Dish’s controversial Hopper digital video recording device watch Fox programs on tablets and smartphones. Fox, a unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Co... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Some of the biggest hedge funds that helped make Apple Inc a stock market darling lost faith and dumped their stakes in the fourth quarter, fueling the massive drop in the iPhone maker’s share price. Noted stock pickers including Leon Cooper... More »
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc and other online retailers did not break California law by requiring consumers to provide their address and phone numbers as a condition of accepting credit card payments, the state’s high court ruled on Monday. In a split d... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. retail investors who have gone sour on Apple Inc after the drubbing the stock has been taking may want to think twice before trying to buy its main smartphone rival, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, at least in American markets. Apple’s ma... More »
(Reuters) – If HBO cuts out on you in the middle of the latest “Girls” episode, and you have Charter Communications Inc as your cable provider, don’t try tweeting your dismay to their customer service department. Nobody will hear your lament. Charter, the four... More »
BOSTON — Eli Lilly and Co. has settled a lawsuit brought by four sisters who contended their breast cancer was caused by a drug their mother took during pregnancy in the 1950s, a move some believe could trigger financial settlements in scores of other claims b... More »
LAS VEGAS — From the iPotty for toddlers to the 1,600-pound mechanical spider and the host of glitch-ridden “smart” TVs, the International CES show is a forum for gadget makers to take big — and bizarre — chances. Many of the prototypes introduced at the annua... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A day after an exhaustive national report on cancer found the United States is making only slow progress against the disease, one of the country’s most iconic – and iconoclastic – scientists weighed in on “the war against cancer.” And he d... More »
LUBBOCK, Texas — Attention, bread shoppers: A Texas company could have the answer to some consumers’ unwelcome discovery that just-purchased loaves contain mold. MicroZap Inc. claims its technology allows bread to stay mold-free for 60 days. The bread is bomba... More »
EVANSVILLE — Danny Koester’s ABK Alarm & Tracking — known for its capability to track offenders electronically every 10 seconds for court systems in the Tri-State and some other parts of the nation — soon will spread its wings fully in a new additional buildin... More »
Attention, bread shoppers: A Texas company could have the answer to some consumers’ unwelcome discovery that just-purchased loaves contain mold.MicroZap Inc. claims its technology allows bread to stay mold-free for 60 days. The bread is bombarded with microwav... More »
Republican U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon — a member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee — will chair the panel’s subcommittee on research and science education, his office announced Tuesday. “Because of my background in science and medicine, I under... More »
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Sony Corp is considering the sale of its battery business but has made no decision yet, Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai said on Monday, as the company seeks to offload non-core assets and revive its consumer electronics business. Hirai also t... More »
PASADENA, California (Reuters) – NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said he expects the network’s ratings to slip in the coming months after an unexpectedly strong fall season, though he hopes some coming new shows will break out to help stem the dec... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Pay-TV operator Sky Deutschland has agreed a deal to make available top-flight German soccer matches to Deutsche Telekom clients, tapping into the telecom operator’s subscriber base. Deutsche Telekom has been showing Bundesliga matches on... More »
A little known spy agency has hoisted a crystal ball to gaze into the future, determining how new technologies could lead to everything from precisely managed smart cities, to battery-powered exoskeletons helping grandma get around, to time-and-money saving pe... More »
TOPEKA, Kan. — TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple after answering an online ad is fighting the state’s efforts to suddenly force him to pay child support for the now 3-year-old girl, arguing that he and the women signed an agr... More »
Scientists are abuzz about a rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara desert: A yearlong analysis revealed it’s quite different from other Martian meteorites. Not only is it older than most, it also contains more water. The baseball-size meteorite, estimated t... More »
This is your brain on sugar — for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating. After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain ... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German luxury automaker Audi plans to keep spending on new vehicles, plants and technology to increase market share as a prolonged weakening in European markets forces layoffs and factory closures at volume manufacturers. The division of Vol... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission imposed the biggest antitrust penalty in its history on Wednesday, fining six firms including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic a total of 1.47 billion euros ($1.92 billion) for running two cartels for nearly a ... More »
TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment funneled at least $30 million to an ex-consultant for the Philippines gaming authority who is now at the center of a bribery investigation, according to sources and comp... More »
(Reuters) – Newsweek, one of the most internationally recognized magazine brands in the world, will cease publishing a print edition after nearly 80 years. The decision to go all-digital underscores the problems faced by newsweeklies, as more consumers favor t... More »
(Reuters) – Bankrupt Hollywood special-effects company Digital Domain Media Group Inc said its lenders have agreed to provide about $11.8 million of debtor-in-possession financing, which would help the company continue operating while it reorganizes. A bankrup... More »
CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) – Software giant Microsoft is ready to introduce measures that would address the European Union’s antitrust concerns about users’ ability to chose between different browsers, European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday. EU... More »
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators cleared the way for Verizon Wireless to proceed with its $3.9 billion purchase of airwaves from big cable providers but placed constraints on the companies’ marketing agreements. The U.S. Department of Justice sa... More »
Los Angeles (Reuters) – Video streaming company Netflix Inc and pay television channel HBO will launch competing services in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, setting up a new battleground between the companies that have fought in the United States for ente... More »
KANSAS CITY, Mo./NEW YORK (Reuters) – Google Inc made its foray into the market for bundled Internet and television services on Thursday, promising access speeds more than 100 times faster than those of traditional U.S. cable and telecommunications companies. ... More »
(Reuters) – Sharp Corp may lay off several thousand workers and sell office buildings in Tokyo as losses at Japan’s last major fabricator of liquid crystal displays for televisions expand, the Nikkei business daily said. The maker of Aquos TVs will likely post... More »
(Reuters) – AT&T Inc said AMC Networks is seeking an “excessive rate increase” to renew its U-verse TV contract, which the mobile service provider believes is unreasonable. “AMC Networks is asking that AT&T pay nearly double what we believe other competitors p... More »
(Reuters) – Time Inc’s stable of 20 magazines, including Sports Illustrated and People, are now available for subscription on Apple’s Newsstand, the company said on Thursday. The publishing arm of Time Warner Inc was the last holdout, among large magazine comp... More »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Apple Inc began talks earlier this year to stream films owned by EPIX, which is backed by three major movie studios, on devices including a long-anticipated TV, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. Apple, which no... More »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim plans to enter the online gaming market in his home country, offering more than 600 free titles to some 8 million users of his high-speed broadband for a month, with the aim of charging for the service afterwa... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A Sony-led group has offered to sell several music catalogues which generated 15 million euros ($19.9 million) in royalties last year to win EU approval for its planned buy of record label EMI’s music publishing business, two people famili... More »
