O2’s iPhone deal nudges up profits at parent Telefonica July 30, 2009 SPANISH telecoms giant Telefonica said yesterday that it had seen a small increase in first-half profit, as a sharp downturn in its home market was offset by a strong performance in the UK and Latin America. Telefonica’s UK arm, O2, put in a solid performance over the period – posting year-on-year growth of 6.6 per [...]
Japanese tech giants hit by Korean competition July 30, 2009 SONY and Sharp’s third straight quarters of losses underscore the challenges they face in flat-panel TV market as they struggle to compete with Samsung Electronics and other South Korean rivals benefiting from a weaker won. And Nintendo reported a sharp fall in quarterly profit as sales of its Wii game console lost some steam and [...]
How to find love? Try giving up sex July 29, 2009 CHASTENEDBY HEPHZIBAH ANDERSONChatto & Windus, £12.99 I FEEL a little bad for Hephzibah Anderson. She’s gone ahead and voiced the doleful narrative of a many a well-heeled, well-educated 20 and 30-something urban woman – albeit in a kind of dreamily wannabe-poetic style – and has evoked the ire of countless woman critics. I am not [...]
HMV boss leading ITV CEO race July 28, 2009 SIMON Fox, the boss of music retailer HMV, is leading the race to take over from Michael Grade as chief executive of troubled broadcaster ITV. Fox, who is credited with turning HMV around since taking over in September 2006, has emerged as ITV’s top choice after it held final interviews for the role last week. [...]
Apple to launch tablet computer July 27, 2009 Apple is set to unveil a portable tablet-sized computer that can surf the web and may also serve as an electronic book reader in time for the Christmas shopping season. The device will be able to connect to the internet and, like the iPod Touch, will have the ability to play movies. But it will [...]
SPOTIFY JOINS THE BIG APPLE July 27, 2009 Spotify, the music streaming website, yesterday said it will launch an application for Apple’s iPhone. Premium subscribers to Spotify will be able to search for new music and store over 3,000 songs, even when the device doesn’t have a signal, putting it in direct competition with Apple’s own music store, iTunes.
The tech sector recovery will leave some behind July 23, 2009 WHEN Apple sneezes, the whole technology industry catches a cold. That’s why its stunning results earlier this week saw analysts reaching for their rose-tinted spectacles. With the news coming hot on the heels of a bullish outlook from chipmakers Intel and Texas Instruments, several pundits called an end to the technology sector’s woes. Yesterday’s Gartner [...]
AT&T beats expectations July 23, 2009 American telecoms giant AT&T yesterday reported a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit and strong sales of Apple’s iPhone, which brought new customers to the carrier but hurt its mobile profit margin. The results, which sent AT&T shares up 1.65 per cent, underscored the importance of the Apple relationship to the firm, which heavily subsidises the [...]
Nasdaq up despite bad day for banks July 22, 2009 THE Nasdaq rose yesterday for the 11th straight day, buoyed by solid profits from Apple and Starbucks, while disappointing bank results and declining energy shares weighed on the broader market. The Dow Jones industrial average declined, halting a seven-day winning streak, as investors sold some of the market’s recent winners to take profits, and the [...]
Bernanke warning fails to curb cheer July 21, 2009 THE Dow rose yesterday as a solid profit from Caterpillar eclipsed unease about the company’s outlook for the current quarter, while both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 clung to tiny gains after a round of profit-taking. Trading was choppy, with the broader market initially charging higher after the open and the benchmark S&P 500 [...]