Become a Fan

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Microsoft's workplace diversity mirrors that of other tech companies

microsoft, demographics, diversity report, diversity

hp, enterprise, meg whitman, leo apotheker, hewlett packard, shareholders, pc business, printer business

BT mobile network grappling with technical issues: Telegraph

The British Telecom tower is seen in Birmingham, central England February 10, 2009.   REUTERS/Darren Staples

Samsung Electronics to invest $14.7 billion in South Korea chip facility

A man walks out of Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Seoul January 6, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Marriott agrees to pay $600,000 fine for blocking personal Wi-Fi hotspot

fcc, wi-fi, hotspot, federal communications commission, hotel, jammer, marriott

Hackers who hit JPMorgan attacked some nine other firms: report


About nine other banks and brokerages were infiltrated by the same group of hackers who recently attacked computer systems at JPMorgan Chase & Co, the New York Times reported late on Friday, citing unnamed people briefed on the matter.

The report, which could not be independently verified and did not identify any of the victims beyond JPMorgan, said it was not clear how serious the attacks had been.

JPMorgan said on Thursday that names and contact information for some 83 million household and small business customers were stolen, making it one of the biggest data breaches in history.

The New York Times said the breadth of the attacks and uncertainty about the motives of the hackers are troubling U.S. policymakers and intelligence officials.

Representatives with the U.S. Secret Service could not be reached for comment on Saturday morning. The Secret Service is investigating the attack on JPMorgan.

Source - Reuters

Facebook wins EU approval for $19 billion WhatsApp bid

A Whatsapp icon is seen on a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone screen with a Facebook logo in the central Bosnian town of Zenica, February 20, 2014. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Facebook (FB.O), the world's most popular social network, gained European Union clearance on Friday for its proposed $19 billion takeover of mobile messaging startup WhatsApp in a deal setting it against the telecoms industry.

The landmark deal is the largest in Facebook's 10-year history and will give it a strong foothold in the fast-growing mobile messaging market.

WhatsApp is poised to become a potentially powerful rival to companies such as Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) with its plan to add free voice-call services for its 450 million customers later this year.

The European Commission said the Facebook-WhatsApp deal would not hurt competition.

"We have carefully reviewed this proposed acquisition and come to the conclusion that it would not hamper competition in this dynamic and growing market. Consumers will continue to have a wide choice of consumer communications apps," European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

Reuters was the first to report on Sept. 25 that the deal would be cleared unconditionally. U.S. regulators nodded through the deal in April.

WhatsApp and its rivals such as KakaoTalk, China's WeChat and Viber have in recent years won over telecoms operators' customers with a free text messaging option, posing a serious threat to the sector's revenues from this business, which totaled about $120 billion last year, according to market researcher Ovum.

Source - Reuters

Friday, October 3, 2014

Spain to probe blue-chip firms over possible credit card misuse

Credit cards issued by Spanish savings bank Caja Madrid are seen in this photo illustration in Madrid, October 3, 2014.  REUTERS/Paul Hanna

HTC third quarter profit beats estimates as cost cuts offset weak sales

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp swung to better-than-expected profit in the third quarter from a heavy loss a year earlier, as cost cuts helped it offset the impact of still-sluggish sales.
Customers look at HTC smartphones in a mobile phone shop in Taipei July 30, 2013.  REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

Google X to eliminate screen bezels with Lego-like connectible displays


Google's laboratory for moonshot projects like Internet-beaming balloons and self-driving cars is reportedly hard at work on creating a display that could connect to other similar screens like Legos to create a much larger, seamless image.

google x, displays, moonshot, screens, display technology, legos