Apple reaches top of the world – but will it stay there? August 22, 2011 @steve_dinneen LAST week Apple achieved what even a year ago seemed all-but impossible – it became the biggest company in the world. In shuffling, albeit briefly, past oil giant Exxon Mobil, it joined an ultra-exclusive club of just 10 companies to have held the top spot in the history of the S&P 500. And unlike [...]
HP to pay £6bn for Autonomy August 18, 2011 HEWLETT-PACKARD is buying the UK’s most valuable software company Autonomy for $10.2bn (£6.2bn), in the latest takeover of a major British company by an American firm. The deal was announced last night as HP unveiled its third quarter earnings and is part of a massive shake-up at the US computing giant, which is also exploring [...]
Lenovo cedes ground to Apple in its native China August 18, 2011 APPLE’S sales have taken over those of Lenovo in China for the first time. As the third-largest personal computer company in the world by shipment volume, the Chinese firm holds the top spot as the industry’s fastest-growing firm for the seventh quarter consecutively. It announced yesterday that its China sales rose 23.4 per cent to [...]
Kodak soars as its patents hit £1.8bn August 17, 2011 PHOTOGRAPHIC film-maker Eastman Kodak saw its stock soar by almost a quarter yesterday after its portfolio of digital-imaging patents was valued at up to $3bn (£1.8bn) by MDB Capital Group. In the wake of Google’s $12.5bn patent-led acquisition of Motorola, patents have become hot property. The valuation means Kodak’s patents could be worth five times [...]
Markets cool over Google’s Motorola bid August 16, 2011 MARKETS were yesterday digesting the implications of Google’s shock $12.5bn (£7.6bn) bid for Motorola Mobility. Google slumped 3.4 per cent, continuing the cool reception after the announcement on Monday. However, investors across the sector appeared to be cautiously optimistic, with hopes that the bid will help to mitigate the adverse effects of future patent battles. In [...]
BlackBerry brand survives riots association August 16, 2011 LAST week saw one story dominate the news and although the bulk of the focus was on the rioters, the areas and buildings being looted, the police and the politicians the one brand that was continually being talked about was BlackBerry. It seemed that BlackBerry Messenger was the communication method of choice for the rioters, [...]
HTC sues Apple over patents August 16, 2011 Smartphone maker HTC Corp is suing Apple, seeking to halt US imports and sales of Macintosh computers, iPads, iPods, iPhones and other devices because of alleged patent infringements. HTC said it filed complaints with the US International Trade Commission and the US District Court in Delaware. The latter alleged infringements of three patents obtained in [...]
Google snaps up Motorola arm for £8bn August 15, 2011 GOOGLE yesterday made its biggest-ever acquisition by spending $12.5bn (£7.6bn) on Motorola Mobility. The purchase of the phone and tablet-maker, which will be run as a separate business, marks a surprise move into mobile hardware for Google, which has recently seen its Android software become the most popular smartphone platform. However, analysts say the motivation [...]
The new front in the mobile phone wars August 15, 2011 THE future for companies like Nokia and Motorola, once the great pioneers of the mobile phone industry, has been bleak for some time. The likes of Apple and RIM have eaten away at their share of the high-end smartphone market for several years now, while cheaper Asian manufacturers will soon do the same in the [...]
Google to buy Motorola Mobility for £7.6bn August 15, 2011 Google Inc said it will buy Motorola Mobility Holdings for about $12.5bn (£7.6bn) in cash. The Mobility business includes Motorola’s smartphones and analysts are seeing the move as part of Google’s plans to take on Apple in the lucrative market. The $40 a share offer is at a 63 per cent premium to Motorola Mobility’s [...]