Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL), NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DCM)
Judge orders Apple to modify e-book contracts (DelawareOnline)
Looking to force Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to obey antitrust laws, a judge on Friday ordered the technology giant to modify contracts with publishers to prevent electronic book price fixing and said she will appoint an external compliance monitor to review the company’s antitrust policies and training. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s 17-page order came nearly two months after she concluded that Apple Inc. used the popularity of its iTunes store to conspire with publishers to raise e-book prices in 2010. Cote gave the Department of Justice less than it requested but still left it pleased.
U.S. spied on Google in Brazil and state oil company Petrobras (DailyMail)
The U.S. government tapped into computer networks of companies including Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro Petrobras SA (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), according to leaked U.S. documents aired by Globo, Brazil’s biggest television network. A week after it broadcast a report that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on the presidents of Brazil and Mexico, Globo said the agency had also spied on major companies. It showed slides from an NSA presentation, dated May 2012, that it said was used to show new agents how to spy on private computer networks.
Microsoft’s Xbox music streaming service to launch on iOS, Android (LATimes)
Xbox Music, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s entry into the ever-expanding music-streaming industry, will introduce applications for Android and iOS devices and allow free streaming on the Web, the company said Sunday. Microsoft launched Xbox Music about a year ago, and it’s currently available through Xbox 360 consoles, a Windows 8 app and a version that lets subscribers stream through Web browsers. A subscription to the service, which allows access to some 30 million songs, costs about $10 a month or $100 a year.
Samsung more timely than Apple in smartwatch race (Rep-AM)
Samsung unveiled its highly anticipated digital wristwatch Wednesday, beating Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to what could become this year’s must-have holiday gift item. So-called smartwatches, which can perform tasks such as displaying email and Twitter messages on a device worn around the wrist, have been around for several years but have failed so far to inspire great interest among ordinary consumers. But with smartphone behemoths Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) joining the fray and Google pushing its Google Glass gadget experts see a chance of wearable computers breaking into the mainstream.
Google Made New Offer to Settle EU Antitrust Probe, Almunia Says (BusinessWeek)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) gave European Union regulators a new proposal to settle an almost three-year-old EU antitrust probe into the way it operates its search services. “We received new proposals from Google in the previous week,” EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday in Cernobbio, Italy. “If we are satisfied with the new proposals, we can advance toward an agreed solution in the coming months.” Google’s previous offer to label its branded search services and show links to rival specialized search services was rejected by Almunia in July. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) rivals, including Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:US), have urged the EU to seek tougher concessions from the Mountain View, California-based company.
Apple launches iRadio (CNBC)
Microsoft employees unsettled by events (GlobalTimes)
A mood of cautious optimism tempered with a dash of anxiety has spread on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s leafy campus in Seattle, US as the world’s biggest software maker embarks on one of the most tumultuous periods in its 38-year history. Since mid-July, three interlocking events – all of them considered highly unlikely six months ago – have unfolded in quick succession, unsettling Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) managers and employees and roiling its share price. First, CEO Steve Ballmer rejiggered top management as part of an ambitious plan to remodel the company around devices and services rather than software.
Apple Said to Be Close to Clinching Carrier Holdouts (Bloomberg)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is on the verge of clinching agreements with two of the biggest holdouts to selling its iPhone, China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL) and NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DCM), opening a route to hundreds of millions of new customers. On the eve of an event on Sept. 10 to unveil new iPhones, Apple and China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL) are near a deal for the world’s largest wireless carrier to offer the device, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Apple is also close to an agreement to distribute its handset through Japan’s largest mobile carrier, NTT Docomo Inc (ADR) (NYSE:DCM), people with knowledge of the situation have said.
NSA code cracking puts Google under fire (KoreaHerald)
Disclosures that the U.S. National Security Agency can crack codes protecting the online traffic of the world’s largest Internet companies will inflict more damage than earlier reports of complicity in government spying, according to technology and intelligence specialists. The agency has fulfilled a decades-long quest to break the encryption of email, online purchases, electronic medical records and other Web activities, the New York Times, the U.K.’s Guardian and ProPublica reported Friday. The NSA also has been given access to ? or found ways to enter ? databases of major U.S. Internet companies operating the most popular email and social-media platforms, the news organizations reported.
