Google to buy Waze for $1.3b (Globes)
Sources inform ”Globes” that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will acquire Waze Ltd. for $1.3 billion. The acquisition of the Israeli navigation app and traffic report start-up will be completed after months of reports that Waze would be sold to either Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) or Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). Ra’anana-based Waze has almost 50 million users. This is a big number for an Israeli company, which probably helped it achieve the hoped-for exit. Reports about a possible sale of Waze are not new. Last year there were reports Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wanted to buy Waze and in late August 2012, it was reported that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) was in talks to acquire the company. According to some reports, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) representatives arrived in Israel to meet Waze executives, but no deal was reached in the negotiations, apparently because of the price tag.
Will Apple’s trade-in ploy for iPhone 5S spell doom for Galaxy S4? (Emirates247)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) doesn’t like losing – and lately, it’s been losing both market share as well as market cap to Samsung Electronics’ (NASDAQ:SSNLF) Galaxy S4. So while it should ideally do what it does best – bring out a killer version of the iPhone loaded with features to stand head-and-shoulders above competition – sadly, that might not nearly be enough to propel Apple back to the top echelon on the smartphones leader-board. And that’s because not only has Apple lost some of its passion for innovation due to the unfortunate death of its co-founder Steve Jobs back in 2011, but also because the Cupertino-based company has been a victim of its own success.
Internet giants deny giving gov’t access to servers (Malaya)
Major tech companies including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) said they do not provide any government agency with “direct access” to their servers, contradicting a Washington Post report that they have granted such access under a classified data collection program. The newspaper reported that the U.S. National Security Agency and the FBI are “tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies” through a secret program known as PRISM, and extracting massive amounts of data including audio, video, photographs, emails, documents and connection logs.
Apple eyes iPhone buy-back program (JournalGazette)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is starting an iPhone trade-in program this month aimed at getting users to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and turn in older models, people with knowledge of the plans said. Apple has teamed up with Brightstar Corp., a mobile-phone distributor, to run the exchange program, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hasn’t publicly announced the plan. Brightstar also handles trade-ins for AT&T and T- Mobile US, as well as other carriers and device-makers, amid brisk demand for refurbished iPhone 4s and 4Ss in emerging markets.
