Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)
Google Now comes to iPhone, challenging Siri (Reuters)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is bringing its Google Now technology to the iPhone, where it will compete head-on with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s Siri to serve as the primary service that smartphone users rely on to get everything from weather updates to traffic forecasts. Google Now, which made its debut last year on mobile devices powered by Google’s Android operating system, will be available as a feature in the new version of the Google Search app for iPhones and iPads starting on Monday. Personal assistant technology such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Siri, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Now and products created by various start-up companies aspire to play what could become a critical role on smartphones by helping users with daily chores such as looking up information on the Web, handling calendar appointments and managing travel plans.
Apple lays groundwork for first debt sale ever (ET)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) took initial steps Monday for what would be its first debt sale ever, as the US computer giant lays the groundwork for what would be one of the most anticipated bond sales of the year. The company was to begin investor calls today led by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), a source familiar with the situation told IFR, and filed SEC paperwork for a debt offering. The only major tech company without a penny of debt on its books, Apple stunned the markets last week by announcing it could sell debt for the first time to help fund a $100 billion capital return programme for shareholders.
Samsung Galaxy Breaks More Easily Than Apple’s IPhone in Tests (BusinessWeek)
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is bigger, lighter and faster than its predecessor. It’s also easier to break, a phone-insurance firm has concluded. The flagship phone by Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) also scored worse than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 in tests in which the phone was dropped and dunked in water, SquareTrade Inc. said today. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being worst, the S4 got a seven, compared with a 6.5 for its older cousin, the S3, and a five for the iPhone. Samsung is counting on the S4 to help extend the Suwon, South Korea-based company’s lead in smartphone sales. The phonemaker got one-third of the global smartphone market in the first quarter — almost twice as big as Apple’s share, research firm Strategy Analytics said last week.
Microsoft Pays Higher Rate to Beat Apple Sale: Corporate Finance (BusinessWeek)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is paying higher yields on new bonds than in a November sale after it beat the planned return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to the credit market after an absence of almost two decades. The company, one of four U.S.-based businesses with the highest ratings from Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s, issued $1.95 billion of dollar-denominated debt last week with a weighted average coupon of 2.41 percent, exceeding the 2.33 percent for similar bonds it sold five months earlier even with interest rates at about the same level. The latest sale came two days after Apple said it would use debt to help fund a $55 billion addition to a plan to return cash to shareholders. …While the world’s largest software maker has a higher credit rating (MSFT) than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), growth (MSFT) at the Redmond, Washington- based company has stagnated for more than a decade. After generating enough free cash flow in 1999 to buy Apple twice over, Microsoft’s $27.5 billion of funds earned in the last 12 months now accounts for about 60 percent of the amount produced (AAPL) by its Cupertino, California-based competitor.
Bad Apple? (TheDailyBeast)
On Tuesday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) unleashed the corporate equivalent of shock and awe on the markets: its quarterly earning results. The company sold 39 million iPads, earned $9.5 billion, and saw the amount of cash on its books rise to $145 billion, a figure roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of Belarus. More big numbers: Apple announced that by the end of 2015, it would move some $100 billion in cash off its balance sheet, where it is doing nothing, and onto others’ balance sheets. How? By buying back some $60 billion of its own stock and by increasing its quarterly dividend by 15 percent. Embattled CEO Tim Cook couched the cash blast in positive terms: “We believe so strongly that repurchasing our shares represents an attractive use of our capital.”
Microsoft gets upper hand in first Google patent trial (NDTV)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) came out on top in the first of two patent trials versus Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility unit on Thursday, as a federal judge in Seattle ruled largely in its favor. U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle said Microsoft owed only a fraction of the royalties Motorola had claimed for use of its technology in Microsoft’s Xbox console. Motorola had sought as much as $4 billion a year for use of its so-called standard, essential wireless and video patents, while Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) argued its rival deserved about $1 million a year. Robart decided the appropriate payment was about $1.8 million. Microsoft welcomed the outcome. “This decision is good for consumers because it ensures patented technology committed to standards remains affordable for everyone,” said David Howard, Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel, in a statement.
Microsoft store planned at St. Johns Town Center (JaxDailyRecord)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has about 65 full-line and specialty stores in 29 states, Canada and Puerto Rico, intends to open a Microsoft Retail Store in St. Johns Town Center, according to plans filed with the City. A building-permit application and plans specify a Microsoft Retail Store at St. Johns Town Center. Phase 1 construction will comprise the core and shell modifications in a 4,975-square-foot location at 4791 River City Drive, No. 107. A St. Johns Town Center official said today there are discussions with Microsoft but no lease has been signed. The Microsoft location is not far from the Apple store, which is at 4712 River City Drive and is one of the initial tenants at St. Johns Town Center, which opened in March 2005. The core and shell modifications for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) represent a $400,000 project.
Microsoft to roll out new Xbox next month (Dispatch)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will unveil its much-anticipated next-generation Xbox on May 21 after months of speculation that the company is gearing up to announce a new video game console this summer. The company sent out media invitations last week, hinting that it would be announcing the successor to its 7-year-old Xbox 360. A new console from the software company will come on the heels of rival Sony’s announcement in February that it will launch the PlayStation4 in this year’s holiday season. Microsoft’s May event will be held at its Xbox campus in Redmond, Wash., just a month before the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the gaming industry’s largest annual convention, where next-generation consoles will be spotlighted.
Google Pays $189,000 Fine to German DPA For Unlawfully Collecting, Storing Wi-Fi Data (BNA)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has paid a €145,000 ($189,000) fine imposed by the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information after the internet giant allegedly unlawfully collected and stored internet users’ unencrypted Wi-Fi data during the company’s Street View mapping project. “In my estimation, this is one of the most serious cases of violation of data protection regulations that has come to light so far,” Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner Johannes Caspar told BNA April 22. Between 2008 and 2010, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) collected and stored “large quantities” of personal data, including emails, passwords, photographs, and chat logs, from internet connection holders in Hamburg as it gathered data to be used in Street View, according to Caspar.
Google Glass Explorer Edition being loved by users: apps, battery life, features (NVONews)
Google Glass, the most anticipated gadget of the year, has finally rolled out to its eager customers, thereby ending the long wait ever since the gadget was first announced by its developer Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Glass, developed by the search engine giant is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display (HMD) that is being developed by the company in the Project Glass research and development project with the mission of producing a mass-market omnipresent computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format which is capable of interacting with the Internet via natural language voice commands.
BlackBerry Q10 Fastest Selling BlackBerry Ever, Demand Surges in the Enterprise (HotHardware)
The feel-good moments for BlackBerry (or the company formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), if you prefer) keep coming ever since the Canadian handset maker launched its BlackBerry 10 (BB10) platform along with new devices. One of those devices is the BlackBerry 10, the first BB10-based phone with a physical keyboard, and it’s selling like gangbusters in the U.K. BlackBerry’s Q10 device is only available at Selfridges in the U.K., which is a high-end department store chain. Selfridges said the Q10 was its fastest-selling consumer electronics product ever at its London, Birmingham, and Manchester stores, The Guardian reports. “Selfridges’ initial stock of the BlackBerry Q10 sold out in stores within two hours,” the store said in a statement. “Stock of the BlackBerry Q10 is being continually deliver on the hour, every hour to keep up with demand.”
BlackBerry seeks buyers for its Rockstar stake, but a deal is not certain (IAM-Magazine)
BlackBerry is looking to sell its stake in Rockstar, according to several sources that have been in touch with IAM. The Canadian company, which as Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) was one of the five founders of the NPE after the Nortel auction took place in June 2011, has been involved in talks with prospective buyers over recent months, but as yet has not found anyone willing to commit to a deal. Although there seems to be some interest in acquiring Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s stake in the Ottawa-based NPE, we have been told, there are also several reasons why it is not the highly attractive proposition the cash-strapped telecoms business might be hoping for.
Skype Coming to BlackBerry Z10 (MobileBloom)
Skype has finally been released for the BlackBerry Q10, and is on the way for the BlackBerry Z10. Several unofficial sideloadable applications have arrived recently via third-party developers, but the good news for Skype lovers is that with the release becoming official for the Q10, the Z10 edition cannot be far off. The handset currently retails for around $99 at select online retailers like Amazon, and delivers the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, a speedy dual core processor and large high-resolution screen.
