Nokia to take a thin slice out of Apple’s pie June 14, 2011 APPLE has settled an ongoing patent row with troubled phone maker Nokia, with analysts speculating that Steve Jobs’ firm could part with up to two per cent of the price of each iPhone it sells. The terms of the settlement will see Apple pay a one-off sum as well as contributing ongoing royalty fees. Details [...]
Beckham eager to play not coach at Olympics June 13, 2011 FORMER England captain David Beckham has ruled out a coaching role with Team GB at the London Olympics, insisting he is still in good enough shape to play. Beckham, who turns 37 next summer, underlined his appetite to participate during a visit to Canary Wharf yesterday. “Once the manager has been picked and once the [...]
Samsung poised to seize Nokia crown June 13, 2011 SAMSUNG could overtake Nokia as the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer this quarter, according to a research note from Nomura. And Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1996, could slump to third place the following quarter after it is overtaken by Apple. Nokia’s market cap has tumbled from a high of $285bn (£174bn) in [...]
Microsoft gets ready for war with Android June 8, 2011 MICROSOFT is preparing for an all-out assault on the mobile phone market in a desperate bid to regain ground ceded to Google. The firm plans to unveil a host of new handsets to coincide with the new version of its Windows Phone 7 (WP7) platform – codenamed Mango – slated for release this autumn. Among [...]
European Commission probes May 30, 2011 EU regulators opened in-depth probes yesterday into two takeover bids in the computer hardware sector involving two Asian companies and two US peers, saying it was concerned the deals would reduce the number of rivals. US-based Seagate Technology has said it wants to buy Samsung’s loss-making hard disk drive unit for $1.4bn (£849m). Western Digital [...]
Sony expects to post $3.2bn net loss in 2010 May 23, 2011 Consumer electronics giant Sony has said it expected to post a $3.2bn (£2bn) net loss for the year that ended on March 31 due to a write off on tax credits. The net loss would be Sony’s biggest since 1995 and its second-largest ever. The news caused its shares to fall 2.8 per cent in [...]
Coe pleads with protesters not to spoil Olympic Torch’s relay route May 18, 2011 THE OLYMPIC Torch will undertake an 8,000 mile journey in the relay preceding the London Games with organisers calling on protest groups not to disrupt its passage after announcing the route yesterday. The Olympic Flame will arrive from Greece on 18 May next year and the relay will commence in Land’s End and continue for [...]
After the May drought expect a gadget monsoon May 16, 2011 @steve_dinneen Gadget junkies in need of a fix may have to accept a few more weeks of gut-wrenching, palpitation inducing cold turkey. May has not been a good month for so-called “hero” product releases. The single most exciting thing to hit the shelves has been Motorola’s Atrix handset, which is a bit like saying magnolia [...]
CSR says new chips will help in smartphone race May 10, 2011 CHIPMAKER CSR, whose planned takeover of Zoran was thrown into doubt yesterday, has said support for its new wifi-bluetooth chip and contracts for its GPS products from Samsung and Huawei will help it recover in the smartphone market. The positive news on its product pipeline yesterday outweighed a weaker-than-expected forecast for the current quarter and [...]
ARM rides smartphone wave April 27, 2011 Chip designer ARM Holdings rode the crest of the smartphone boom to smash analyst forecasts with a 35 per cent rise in first quarter profits. The Cambridge-based company, whose designs are in Apple’s iPad and iPhone, also said it will meet its full-year targets in spite of the Japanese earthquake’s impact on the supply-chain. Its [...]