Business, Financial & Legal - Page 143

Even though EA hasn't been doing so well financially lately, they've managed to scrape some cash together to acquire the online gaming studio ESN. ESN is the developers of the Planet web-based games framework. ESN announced the acquisition on their blog and declined to disclose the purchase price.

The two companies had worked together previously, most notably on Battlefield's Battlelog.

Now that they have had an influx of cash, due to the acquisition, they are also looking to hire more talented developers and designers:

Apple made the decision to jump ship to its own Maps creation over a year before the contract between the two companies was set to expire, according to The Verge, who cites two independent sources familiar with the matter. The decision came sometime before Apple's WWDC event last June and sent Google off to the races to develop an iOS Google Maps App.

The sources say that the app is incomplete and not set to be released for several more months, but there is one coming. Apple appears to have decided to go with their own Maps app mainly because they felt that the older Google Maps in iOS were falling behind Android, namely the fact they lacked turn-by-turn directions.

Google's CEO has been quoted as saying, "what were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call." He added that Google has "not done anything yet" in regards to an iOS Maps app. Besides, any app would still have to be approved by Apple. Google Maps VP Brian McClendon has stated that he's committed to offering Google Maps on all platforms, a sign that an iOS app should be forthcoming.

Apple sure knows how to turn a profit. A preliminary virtual teardown by IHS iSuppli Teardown Analysis Service tries to take a stab at what the individual parts cost and how that all adds up. This preliminary teardown found that the estimated cost for materials that go into the iPhone 5 16GB is $199.

Apple sells that same iPhone 5 16GB, which costs $207 after adding manufacturing costs, for $649. Of course, this bill of materials doesn't include any software costs or research and development costs. Moving up the ladder, the 32GB iPhone runs $217 and the 64GB costs Apple $238. The only difference between these models is the NAND memory.

"With the base model carrying a $199.00 BOM, the iPhone 5's components are expected to be slightly more expensive compared to the iPhone 4S model," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior principal analyst, teardown services, for IHS. "The low-end iPhone 4S with the same memory density as the base-model iPhone 5 carried a BOM of $188.00, according to a preliminary estimate issued by IHS in October 2011. While the price of some components, such as NAND flash, has fallen during the past year, the iPhone 5's overall BOM has increased mainly because its display and wireless subsystems are more expensive compared to the iPhone 4S."

I'm sure everyone remembers where they were on that fateful day when Apple was awarded $1 billion for Samsung infringing on their patents. Well, in a case like that, the plaintiff can request that the judge triple the damages awarded and, according to an unnamed source cited by The Korea Times, it looks like Apple is planning to do just that.

As if the $1 billion wasn't enough, Apple could very well be planning on going for $3 billion. The Korea Times believes that this is "when the world sees the American technology giant turn into a patent monster." And it's very likely. As of late, Apple has been increasingly litigious and it shows no signs of stopping.

However, there are signs that the judgement could be overturned during an appeal by Samsung. For starters, the jury foreman has been doing too much speaking to the media proudly proclaiming, "We wanted to make sure the message we sent was not just a slap on the wrist ...We wanted to make sure it was sufficiently high to be painful, but not unreasonable."

Struggling chip maker AMD has lost yet another one of its top executives. Thomas Seifert, former CFO for AMD, has joined the ranks of the departed. Not too much is known about why he is leaving, other than the uninformative "to pursue other opportunities" reason that is always included in a company's press release when an executive leaves.

"We thank Thomas for his many contributions to AMD and for serving as interim CEO in 2011," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "Thomas' personal commitment to the highest standards of accountability and financial integrity has helped define how AMD does business today. Devinder is an experienced financial executive whose financial expertise and semiconductor experience developed during his 28 year tenure at AMD is an asset to the company."

Seifert will remain the CFO until September 28 at which time Devinder Kumar, senior vice president and corporate controller, will take over as interim CFO. He will remain there while the search for a new, permanent CFO is under way.

Everyone has seen those social reviews posted online. A friend recommends a product or writes a review on Amazon that makes its way onto Facebook. You trust it because it's one of your friends, right? Well, it looks like you'll start having to be a little more careful about which you trust. A new study shows that 10-15% of social media reviews will be paid for by companies by the year 2014.

Companies are already paying customers or giving them discounts to write a positive review of a product or service, but this practice is starting to grow more into the mainstream. Research firm Gartner provides a bit of insight into the practice with their new study which makes this powerful prediction.

"With over half of the Internet's population on social networks, organizations are scrambling for new ways to build bigger follower bases, generate more hits on videos, garner more positive reviews than their competitors, and solicit 'likes' on their Facebook pages," Jenny Sussin, senior research analyst at Gartner, said today in a statement. "Many marketers have turned to paying for positive reviews with cash, coupons, and promotions including additional hits on YouTube videos in order to pique site visitors' interests in the hope of increasing sales, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy through social-media 'word of mouth' campaigns."

If you haven't heard the news, the iPhone 5 is pre-selling like crazy. The initial pre-order stock was exhausted from Apple's store in just one hour, leaving those who didn't stay up out in the cold. Customers are now being quoted up to two weeks for the device to ship, instead of arriving on the 21st of September.

Apple has issued a statement regarding the incredible demand seen: "Pre-orders for iPhone 5 have been incredible. We've been completely blown away by the customer response." Of course, this wasn't too unexpected. Analysts estimates put the number of iPhones sold in the first week somewhere near the 10 million mark.

It's now expected that 5-10 million will be sold in the first weekend. If you still want to get an iPhone 5 on launch day, Sprint is still quoting September 21 as the date. Otherwise, you can queue up outside an Apple store at 8am, or outside an AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint store. At least they had the courtesy to launch it before winter!

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has weighed in on the Apple vs. Samsung patent lawsuit, and has said that he hates the result, and doesn't agree with it, and he thinks that it will ultimately be overturned.

Wozniak told Bloomberg in Shanghai:

Wozniak also commented on the iPhone 5, noting that he hadn't purchased one yet and he's waiting until he plays with it before giving his opinion and comparing it to the competitions offerings. He does hope that the new iPhone 5 takes better pictures than Android-based counterparts:

The online auction house giant eBay has updated their logo. Following in the footsteps of Microsoft, the new logo features a cleaner, more modern design, which eBay says is to reflect who they are today. It's taken them 17 years, but they finally took out a ruler and managed to get all four letters in a straight line.

The new logo will begin to show up across eBay's sites and marketing campaigns in mid-October. As the years have progressed, eBay has tried to diversify into a multi-platform e-commerce giant, which they have seemingly done to great success. As it stands currently, the majority of items sold are listed as new and with a fixed BuyItNow price.

The new logo keeps the color palette as the original, as this is a widely recognizable scheme and order. eBay's president makes the following comment: "The eBay logo is known the world over, so changing it was not a decision made lightly." It's true, the old logo was instantly recognizable, a good sign. It will be interesting how long it takes people to adjust.

Apple's new iPhone 5 is only a few hours old, with no consumers actually laying their hands on one just yet, the legal battles have begun. Samsung did threaten Apple that they would "immediately sue" the company if they used 4G LTE connectivity, and according to an industry source the Korean Times are reporting:

Samsung haven't taken legal action just yet, but I do not doubt we'll see some legal movement from the South Korean company. But, and here's the big but, HTC have already come out, lawyers swinging. The struggling device maker has lawyered up, presenting a patent claim to the US International Trade Commission Judge. Judge Thomas Pender has told Apple:

Judge Pender said this when Apple's lawyers disputed just how valid HTC's LTE patents were. HTC were one of the first device makers baking in LTE into their devices, with the HTC Thunderbolt on Verizon's LTE network last year, as well as pushing out LTE-capable devices for all major LTE networks across the world.

It looks like Google were a little surprised by the patent win by Samsung, but not at the case itself, but with the smaller details. Bloomberg had Google's Vice President of Corporate Development, David Lawee, in front of the camera for an interview.

Lawee says in the interview itself that "we didn't know rounded corners were patentable", and covers that the company wasn't "aggressive" enough in patenting their intellectual property. The one thing I took away from this video is I think Apple have pushed every other large company to re-think where they stand with patents and IP.

Does this mean we're looking at a future of much more back room deals with companies, letting each other use the other company's patents? Or are we looking at companies who will be really held back if they don't have any decent IP or patents of their own? Did Apple just kick every other company in the balls with their Samsung attacks? I think so. Check out the interview over at Bloomberg.

It looks like the next-generation Xbox is about to get a kick up the arse in terms of immersion within gaming, is a new patent submitted to the United States Trademark and Patent Office from Microsoft is anything to go by. The new technology would completely transform the room your next-gen Xbox is in, into a gaming environment. The patent reads:

This could work in a few ways, with either a projection of an image from the Kinect sensor, or wearable computing. I'd be leaning more toward wearable computing - as this would allow the Xbox and Kinect system to just send the information to the headset, where it would display a 2D graphic in front of the player. This would translate into you looking at your wall, and seeing a crushed wall for example, with an enemy behind it shooting at you. You would then turn physically, facing the wall, to shoot your enemy.

This would definitely be the kind of push I expect in next-gen consoles, especially if we're to see a 5-year or more lifecycle out of them.

Google has partnered with Boingo to make 4,000 of its hotspots available nationwide for free for people accessing them with Android, OSX, or Windows. Interestingly enough, users of iOS and Windows Phone appear to be excluded from this offering, showing Google is really pushing Android with this latest stunt.

The hotspots are available across the United States in "high-traffic locations," coffee shops, hotels, and other areas. Google and Boingo are even offering this service at some of the major airports, including NY's JFK, O'Hare, and Seattle-Tacoma, along with the Boingo-enabled subway stations around Manhattan.

Dawn Callahan, vice president of consumer marketing for Boingo Wireless:

Alright, this is the stop for ridiculous - anyone who wants to get out and read this news, step off the train and onto the platform, joining Apple. The company who has more lawsuits going than there are stars in the sky are now suing a Polish online grocery store over the 'A.pl' domain.

The Cupertino-based company has asked the Polish patent office, the UPRP, to cancel a trademark belonging to the store. A meeting reportedly took place in August 29, but ended up being adjourned, and deferred to a later date. Polish site Telepolis, has said that if the dispute isn't settled out of court, it could take two to three years to resolve.

Considering that A.PL have absolutely nothing to do with technology, and are an online grocery vendor, Apple are really clutching at straws here. There's no Apple-like imagery on the website, and it's all in Polish, meaning that it really is only for people who can read the language, and I'm sure it doesn't beat against the door of any Apple-owned patents.

The New York Times are reporting that "over the years", EA have tried to buy Valve. If these talks between the two companies ever reached negotiation, would've valued Valve at "well over $1 billion", the Times reports.

But, that $1 billion figure is a huge understatement, as no one truly knows what Valve are worth. Valve are a private company, controlled by founder Gabe Newell, who doesn't release any financial information. Wedbush Securities analyst, Michael Pachter, has estimated that Valve are worth $2.5 billion today.

Newell have said that Valve's employees would scatter, and that Valve would "disintegrate" before they'd be sold. Newell adds:

HP's global staff numbers are expected to get slashed nearly 10% more than previous reports, where up to 29,000 people will lose their jobs with the company. Previous figures pegged HP at cutting 27,000 jobs from their workforce, according to the company's 10-Q quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where they said they will "eliminate approximately 29,000 positions in connection with the 2012 Plan through fiscal year 2014."

Back in May, HP said that they would cut roughly 8% of their global workforce, which would see 27,000 jobs cut, saving around $3-$5 billion which would then be thrown into R&D. The cuts would be done over a two-year period, but overall R&D spending will increase from the 3% of revenue which it stands at now. The filing note also touches on their multi-year restructuring plan, which HP call the "2012 Plan", and is aimed to "simplify business processes, accelerate innovation and deliver better results for customers, employees, and stockholders".

HP also expects charges of around $3.7 billion through the end of the company's fiscal 2014 calendar, with $3.3 billion of this coming from workforce reductions, and $400 million on "other items", including datacenter consolidation. HP have already slashed 3,800 jobs by the end of July 2012, which represents around 7% of the now revised 29,000 figure.

There are some people who think that potential future President of the United States, Republican nominee Mitt Romney is hiding something. There have been various reports, and you can Google (or Bing) it yourself for some more information.

Last week we reported that hackers had gotten their hands on Mitt Romney's previous tax returns, and are asking for $1 million Bitcoin's or they'd release them. Now we have founder and publisher of Hustler magazine, Larry Flynt, hitting the wire that he is offering $1 million as a reward to anyone who can give him Romney's tax information.

Flynt took out a full-page ad in the Sunday's edition of The Washington Post, promising "up to $1 million" for the dirt on Romney's "unreleased tax returns and/or details of his offshore assets, bank accounts and business partnerships." When money is being thrown around like this, someone might step forward. But, if you had this type of information, and it did involve, and prove that Romney has something very sinister to hide, that is completely provable, would you really want to share it?

Alibaba Group is China's largest e-commerce firm, which is looking to have a massive year for 2012. The group expects to sell more merchandise than competitors Amazon and eBay, combined. This is according to Alibaba's chief strategy officer, Zeng Ming.

The group is aiming for around 3 trillion yuan ($473 billion) in annual transaction value from their Taobao e-commerce units in the next 5 to 7 years, says Ming. Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder, said that in 2011, Taobao's transaction value for 2012 would reach 1 trillion yuan. Alibaba have not revealed what percentage of online sales come from Taobao, but it seems to be the number one source of the company's profit engine.

Zeng talks of Amazon and eBay, America's top online retailer and auction site, respectively:

On the eve of Intel Developers Forum San Francisco, we received word from a SSD manufacture that Toshiba just slashed the price of Toggle Mode NAND Flash by 20 to 25%.

If you recall, just a few months ago Toshiba announced a 30% reduction in manufacturing. Toshiba expected other NAND flash manufacturers to follow suit to increase the cost of flash. Micron took the opportunity to gain market share and either held flash production or increased output. We've seen Micron gain some market share because of it. Companies are even making special Micron flash versions of existing products, like the new OCZ Vertex 4 512GB M (M for Micron) SSD.

With the massive price drop, we can only assume that Toshiba is backing off their reduced output strategy. This is good news for consumers looking for even lower priced SSDs. How good is this for consumers? Well, this is a quote from one of my inside sources:

Remember those 1,000,000+ Apple UDIDs that were leaked last week? Well, it turns out that they probably didn't come from an FBI laptop after all. The CEO of Blue Toad, a small, Florida-based publishing company has issued an apology as the data was taken from their servers about two weeks ago.

The data originated from the company's servers, though this doesn't completely rule out that the data made its way to the FBI. It does, however, contradict the story that went along with the leak as the data was taken just two weeks ago, not back in March as claimed. Blue Toad was alerted to the likelihood of it being their data by security researcher David Schuetz.

Schuetz noticed that several of the device names included in the leak made reference, or contained, "Blue Toad." The numerous references seemed to indicate development devices, so he contacted the company. They ran a comparison between the leaked data and their database and found a 98 percent match.