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| Regulator reasserts goal to restrict AT&T, Verizon in auction Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:54 AM PDT  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. telecommunications regulator in a letter to a lawmaker on Thursday reasserted his commitment to help smaller national wireless carriers get access to valuable lower-frequency airwaves in the upcoming spectrum auction. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler reaffirmed his plans to restrict how much spectrum the biggest U.S. carriers, Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc, could buy in the auction scheduled for mid-2015. "The Incentive Auction offers the opportunity, possibly the last for years to come, to make low-band spectrum available to any mobile wireless provider, in any market, that is willing and able to compete at auction," Wheeler wrote to Representative John Barrow in a letter reviewed by Reuters. The FCC in May will vote on Wheeler's proposed auction rules that would reserve part of the spectrum in each market for bidding by wireless carriers that have less than one-third of the low-frequency airwaves, valued for their reach and strength. Full Story | Top |
| Wal-Mart takes on money transfer companies with new service Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 10:38 AM PDT  Wal-Mart Stores Inc is launching a money transfer service in a direct challenge to the dominance of Western Union Co. and MoneyGram, aiming to broaden the financial services it offers to low-income customers and increase store traffic. Wal-Mart said on Thursday that Euronet Worldwide Inc's Ria Money Transfer subsidiary would begin running the service, called "Walmart-2-Walmart," next week. The new service, which Wal-Mart says will charge lower fees than those currently offered by competitors, will enable shoppers to send and receive cash from family members and friends at more than 4,000 U.S. discount stores. Wal-Mart, which will not offer the service online or in its international stores, hopes consumers will turn around and spend at least some of that money at the stores. Full Story | Top |
| Samsung licenses 3D chip manufacturing tech to GlobalFoundries to win more orders Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 09:12 AM PDT  Samsung Electronics Co said on Friday it would license its latest chip manufacturing technology to U.S. firm GlobalFoundries, a move that would help it expand production as it vies with bigger rival TSMC for orders from customers like Apple Inc. Samsung, the world's biggest maker of memory chips, wants to grow its foundry chip manufacturing and mobile processing chips business to match rising demand from smartphone makers. Its ambitions have been hampered by a late start in a rapidly changing industry and the dominance of TSMC, the preferred supplier for most customers. In a statement, Samsung said it had agreed to license its 3-dimentional chip manufacturing technology, called FinFET, to New York-based GlobalFoundries, the world's second-largest contract chipmaker. Full Story | Top |
| Google still a top pick for Wall Street, despite mobile ad challenges Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 08:55 AM PDT  Google Inc's disappointing first-quarter results left Wall Street unfazed about the internet giant's ability to come to grips with the shift to the fast-growing mobile advertising market. Google shares were down about 3 percent in early trading on Thursday, and at least 12 brokerages cut their target price on the stock. "Despite an expectations-miss quarter, Google remains one of the best-positioned stocks for many of the secular growth drivers in the Internet space," RBC Capital analyst Mark Mahaney, who kept his "outperform" rating on the stock, said in a note to clients. Of the 46 analysts covering Google, 35 have a "buy" or equivalent rating on the stock. Full Story | Top |
| Twitter broadens advertising reach through app-install ads Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 08:25 AM PDT  By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc took a significant step Thursday towards broaden its advertising business by offering mobile ads urging people to install apps on its social network as well as through MoPub, the mobile-advertising network it acquired last year. As the mobile app economy grows, app developers have been willing to pay increasing amounts to advertise on major sites like Facebook to boost their app downloads. Twitter said Thursday it could reach 1 billion unique mobile devices through its MoPub network, which places ads inside of hundreds of apps. Twitter, which acquired MoPub last year for roughly $350 million, reaches a more limited audience of 240 million users through its own Twitter.com Web site and mobile apps. Full Story | Top |
| Online retailers in Germany under fire over working conditions Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 06:52 AM PDT  Working practices at the German operations of two of Europe's largest online retailers have come under fire this week, with more strikes at Amazon and Zalando being forced to defend its warehouse operations after a critical TV report. Hundreds of workers walked off their jobs on Thursday at Amazon distribution centers in the German cities of Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig in a year-long pay dispute, and labor union Verdi warned that more walkouts were to follow. "We are here and will continue to strike," workers' representative Christian Kraehling told Reuters. "And there will be more, bigger strikes." Verdi wants Amazon to raise pay for workers at its distribution centers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements across the mail order and retail industry in Germany. Full Story | Top |
| James Murdoch joins board of ad platform company Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 06:51 AM PDT  (Reuters) - James Murdoch, the co-chief operating officer of 21 Century Fox, is joining the board of digital advertising platform company True(X) Media, the company said on Thursday. Additionally, former Microsoft chief marketing officer Mich Mathews and former News Corp executive Jonathan Miller were also named directors rounding out the board to nine members. Joe Marchese, True(X) chief executive officer, said the experience of Murdoch, Mathews and Miller will help the company evolve in the areas of digital media and advertising. ... Full Story | Top |
| Germany's SAP braced for continued currency crunch Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 06:49 AM PDT  By Harro Ten Wolde FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP warned on Thursday that it expects the negative impact of the strong euro to worsen after reporting lower than expected first-quarter results. The warning comes as SAP grapples with a short-term squeeze from its shift to web-based cloud computing, prompting it to push back its profit target as it waits for subscription income to gather pace and increases investment to keep up with the fast-growing market. SAP said its software and software-related service revenues would fall 6 percentage points in the second quarter if exchange rates remain at March levels, while the hit for operating profit excluding special items would be 8 percentage points. That compares with a first-quarter impact of 5 percentage points on both software and software-related service revenues and operating profit. Full Story | Top |
| Nokia suspends European tablet sales due to charger fault Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 06:13 AM PDT  Nokia has suspended sales of its Lumia 2520 tablet in some European countries while it fixes a fault with charger units which it said on Thursday could pose a risk of causing an electric shock. Nokia said there was a risk that the plastic cover of certain AC-300 charger units manufactured by a third party could come loose and separate, exposing certain internal components that could cause an electric shock if touched when the plug remains in a socket. Nokia said there have been no confirmed consumer incidents due to their use. The Lumia 2520 tablet was among the last products Nokia developed before deciding to sell its phone and devices unit to Microsoft in a deal that is due to close in April. Full Story | Top |
| Google misses revenue target, ad prices slide Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 05:13 AM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc's first-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street targets and margins narrowed as the price of its ads continued to decline, underscoring the challenges Internet companies face as the world shifts toward mobile devices. Shares of Google were down 3 percent to $539.80 in afterhours trading on Wednesday, after initially sliding roughly 6 percent on the news. The number of "paid clicks" by consumers on Google's ads increased by 26 percent in the first quarter, disappointing some analysts who had hoped for stronger volume growth. And the average "cost per click" declined 9 percent, extending a downward trend as mobile advertising, typically cheaper than traditional online ads, make up a bigger slice of its business. Full Story | Top |
| SAP incoming CFO says can reach cloud target without acquisitions Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 04:51 AM PDT German business software maker SAP can realize its growth target for its Internet-based or so-called cloud business without acquisitions, the company's incoming financial chief said on Thursday. Analyst have suggested SAP will need to make more acquisitions to reach that goal. Luca Mucic, who will succeed Werner Brandt as financial chief next month told Reuters that he would keep an eye for potential targets, but that there is no need as sales in the cloud business jumped by more than a third in the first quarter. "We never have excluded acquisitions where we need to complete our portfolio and targets are available," Mucic said. Full Story | Top |
| Weibo cuts IPO size amid selloff in technology stocks Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 04:33 AM PDT  (Reuters) - China's Weibo Corp, a Twitter-like messaging service company, raised a less-than-expected $286 million after it cut the size of its U.S. initial public offering amid a selloff in technology shares and concerns about slowing user growth. The offering comes ahead of the much-anticipated IPO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, which holds stake in Weibo. Weibo, controlled by Web portal company Sina Corp, sold 16.8 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at $17 each, the company said on Thursday. At the offer price, Weibo is valued at $3.46 billion. Full Story | Top |
| TSMC targets record revenue as high-end smartphones demand more chips Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 03:59 AM PDT  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) targets record revenue in the second quarter as more of the company's chips are installed in high-end smartphones to power increasingly complex features. The world's largest contract chip producer also aims to grab market share from rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Intel Corp on demand from phone makers, whose custom pushed first-quarter earnings up by a fifth. Yet high-end phones equipped with Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology will drive TSMC's revenue several percentage points beyond the overall industry, as will phones with advanced features such as image and fingerprint sensors which require more chips, said co-Chief Executive Mark Liu on Thursday. Full Story | Top |
| China's ZTE first-quarter profit triples; meets estimate Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 03:25 AM PDT  HONG KONG (Reuters) - ZTE Corp, China's second-biggest telecommunications equipment maker, said first-quarter profit matched its estimate after benefiting from the country's introduction of fourth-generation mobile networks. Net profit rose 204 percent to 622.2 million yuan ($100.01 million) in January-March compared with an estimated range of 425 million yuan to 637 million yuan, the Shenzhen-based company said on Thursday. Operating revenue rose 5.5 percent from a year earlier to 19.05 billion yuan. Shares of ZTE closed 1. ... Full Story | Top |
| Google, IBM results raise questions about other tech-sector companies Thursday, Apr 17, 2014 12:17 AM PDT  By Alexei Oreskovic and Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Disappointing results from Google Inc and IBM may unnerve investors shaken by a strong recent selloff in tech stocks, underscoring the challenges the Internet and IT sectors face as corporate report cards come due in coming weeks. IBM blamed weak hardware sales for its lowest quarterly revenue in five years, worsened by an 11 percent slide in overall sales in emerging markets including China, Brazil, Russia and India. Like IBM, they have struggled to grow their businesses, particularly in China, whose economy is down-shifting after years of hyper-growth. Full Story | Top |
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