Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)
Apple envisions ways to find and start your car with your iPhone (CNET)
Those of us who can never find our cars in a crowded parking garage may one day get a helping hand from Apple. Published Thursday by the U.S. Trade and Patent Office, an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) patent application called”Method for locating a vehicle” describes a technology in which your mobile device can talk to your car through a Bluetooth connection to confirm that it’s parked somewhere nearby. The parking garage itself would also have its own wireless system to pinpoint the exact location of your car. A map would then display on your phone to lead you to your car, similar to the way current GPS system lead you to a specific address.
Messaging applications Skype and Whatsapp have both arrived on the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Q10, just days ahead of its release in the UK. Up until now Blackberry 10, in particular the Q10, has been somewhat lacking in big name applications, minus games like Angry Birds and social networking apps such as Facebook and Twitter. However, overnight, both Skype and Whatsapp have arrived on the mobile operating system. Both are available globally, and both are free to download from Blackberry World. We’ve managed to download both onto our Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Q10 smartphone, though Skype has revealed that its BB10 app that currently is in preview form isn’t yet compatible with the Blackberry Z10.
Smartphone Wars Flare Again As Nokia, HTC Tussle (Wall Street Journal)
Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) and HTC Corp. both spent years tied up in patent battles with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The Finnish and Taiwanese smartphone firms have since settled with the iPhone maker, but they are still very much in the courtroom—with each other. On Monday, Nokia got an Amsterdam district court to issue a preliminary injunction against component maker STMicroelectronics N.V. (ADR) (NYSE:STM), effectively halting supply of microphones for HTC’s new flagship smartphone, the HTC One. The issue was not patent infringement, but an exclusivity agreement between STMicroelectronics and Nokia. HTC hit back with a win on Tuesday, announcing that a German court had dismissed Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK)’s complaint that HTC had infringed on a patent related to how its phone accesses the Internet.
Facebook: Audit finds privacy practices sufficient (Philippine Star)
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) says that an independent audit found its privacy practices sufficient during a six-month assessment period that followed a settlement with federal regulators. Facebook Inc. said it submitted the findings to the Federal Trade Commission on Monday evening. The audit was a required part of the social networking company’s settlement with the FTC last summer. The settlement resolved charges that Facebook exposed details about its users’ lives without getting the required legal consent.
Google Agrees to Change How It Displays Search Results in Europe (TIME)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has agreed to change how it displays search results in Europe – including a better labeling of its promoted content and displaying links to competitors – to appease concerns it might be abusing its dominant market position, the European Union’s antitrust body said Thursday. Google’s search engine, which is the world’s most influential gateway to online information and commerce, enjoys a near-monopoly in Europe. The EU Commission, which acts as the 27-nation bloc’s antitrust authority, has since 2010 been investigating whether the company is unfairly stifling competition. It pointed out several areas of concern that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is now trying to address through the proposed concessions.
Is Apple the Next Dell? (Forbes)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s latest earnings report demonstrates a shift in its locus of innovation — from new products, to placating Wall Street. And its imminent debt offering is just a part of what makes me wonder whether Apple could become the next Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL). On April 23, Apple posted results that were slightly better than expected. Its revenues were up 11% and its net income fell 18%. But the real action was…
…in how much cash Apple was willing to pay out to shareholders — $100 billion in stock buybacks by 2015 and a 15% boost to Apple’s dividend. While Apple is spending $5 billion of its cash hoard on Steve Jobs’ last great innovation — a new Cupertino headquarters, CEO Tim Cook was raving about the “exciting” products that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has in the works.
Is Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) A Long-Term Investment? (Insider Monkey)
A global leader in wireless innovation, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) completely changed the industry outlook when it was introduced in 1999. Today, Blackberry/Research In Motion is a name which rules the corporate world and inspires millions of its customers around the globe by its enhanced mobile experience. Research In Motion Ltd recently, reported the results of Q4 fiscal 2013. The results came as a surprise to the market, as the company outdid several expectations. The robust performance exhibited by Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) can be attributed to several factors such as; the launch of the new BB10 OS- based smart phone, a strong and dedicated BlackBerry subscriber base of approximately 76 million, a strong investments balance of $2.9 billion and zero debt on its balance sheet.
Nokia Chat beta messaging app released for WP8, is exclusive to Lumias (Engadget)
One of the benefits of buying a Windows Phone 8 handset with a Nokia stamp is the exclusive apps, and today we can add another to that list with the beta release of Nokia Chat for WP8. The software started life on Symbian and Series 40 devices before falling out of favor with Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK), but this WP8 refresh enables cross-platform chatter between those older phones, the newer Lumia range and, as Yahoo Messenger contacts are supported, anything running that IM client, too.
Google-Facebook Tactics in Privacy Probes Slated by Germany (Bloomberg)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) were criticized by German data protection regulators for “delay tactics” and “impertinent” behavior when responding to probes into their privacy policies. Experience has shown that “Google will keep making attempts to delay investigations through continuous correspondence and always freshly packaged arguments,” Peter Schaar, Germany’s federal data protection commissioner, said in a report yesterday. Facebook was separately described earlier this month as having “impertinent” behavior by Thilo Weichert, the privacy regulator for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Google and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) are among U.S. Internet companies under scrutiny in the European Union for possible privacy-rule violations over the use of consumers’ personal data.
iKlatch: Apple CEO holding charity auction for coffee break with himself (RT)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook has started an online charity auction for a coffee break with one of the most powerful figures in tech and business: Himself. The winner will get the chance to meet up with Cook at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, for a coffee break, which will last from 30 minutes to an hour. Bidding began at $50,000, and 52 bids have already been placed, with the highest offering currently standing at $180,000. The sum will surely grow even larger, as the auction at the Charitybuzz website does not end until May 14.
Will the Q10 Be Enough For Research In Motion’s Top Institutional Shareholders? (Wall St. Cheat Sheet)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY): Following the long anticipated release of its touchscreen only Z10, the comeback hopeful company is readying to launch the Q10, with its iconic physical keyboard. The phone could launch as early as Friday in the U.K., and the company is hoping that…
…it will grab the BlackBerry loyalists who swear by the keyboard that was once a strong selling feature of the smartphones. These institutional firms indicated owning shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) in Q1 2013. They reported owning a total of 30.457 million shares on 03/31/2013. The shares closed at $14.45 on 03/31/2013.
Nokia Unveils World’s First Phone With a WhatsApp Button (Mashable)
Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) has added a WhatsApp button for instant messaging to its new Asha 210 smartphone — the first phone to do so. The mobile manufacturer announced this week that the low-budget Asha 210 ($72), which supports Wi-Fi and 2G connections, will highlight the messaging service WhatsApp via ample real estate on the hardware itself. (Note: WhatsApp is available for various platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry 7 and more). WhatsApp allows you to send a private message to your phone contacts for free, similar to BlackBerry Messenger, to eliminate texting fees. The company told Mashable earlier this month that it has more than 200 million monthly users — compared to BBM’s 60 million users — and more than 8 billion inbound messages a day (12 billion outbound).
Could Facebook help predict obesity hotspots? Areas where people ‘like’ TV more than sport are less healthy (Daily Mail)
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) could be a key tool in mapping which geographical areas have the most overweight and obese people. American researchers have found that the higher the percentage of people in a city or town with Facebook ‘interests’ suggesting a healthy lifestyle, the lower that area’s obesity rate. At the same time, areas with a large percentage of Facebook users with television-related interests tend to have higher rates of obesity. Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, in the U.S., drew these conclusions after comparing Facebook user data with data from national and New York City-focused health surveys. The comparison revealed close geographic relationships between Facebook ‘interests’ and obesity rates.
Google reports record spike in government requests to remove content (The Guardian)
Governments made a record number of requests for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) to remove political content in the last half of 2012, the search giant said on Thursday. The number of official requests for content to be removed jumped 26% in the final six months of 2012 compared to the start of the year, according to the latest Google Transparency Report. Google received 2,285 government requests to remove 24,179 pieces of content – an increase from 1,811 requests to remove 18,070 pieces of content that the company received during the first half of 2012. Requests were made to pull videos from YouTube, delete blog posts on Google’s Blogger service and to remove items from Google search, making them harder to find.
