Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Need Apple’s Decryption Expertise? Get In Line (PC Magazine)
As highlighted by CNET, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) tried for months to get Apple to help it decrypt an iPhone 4S that had been seized as part of a drug- and gun-related arrest.
But it seems that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gets quite a few requests from law enforcement to help it unlock iPhones, and agents were told to simply get in line. ATF agent Rob Maynard said he tried to unlock the smartphone on his own with the help of various police agencies, but could not find anyone with the expertise to do so. When he finally turned to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), he was told it would be at least a seven-week wait, CNET reported.
The white BlackBerry Q10 has gone on sale in the UK for the first time, with the lighter hued QWERTY toting handset landing courtesy of Carphone Warehouse. Set to be stocked via the smartphone retailer and offered in partnership with a number of networks, the white BlackBerry Q10 plays host to the same collection of innards as its darker toned sibling, with the new white finish the only difference between the two devices. “Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has done an admirable job with this new handset, the design is a fantastic mix of traditional – with its QWERTY keyboard – and new – using the BlackBerry 10 operating system and touchscreen. In the eyes of our customers, it seems that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s certainly still got it,” Graham Stapleton, Chief Operating Officer of Carphone Warehouse said.
Yahoo’s Mayer Said to Explore Bid for Hulu to Add Video Service (Bloomberg)
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer is exploring whether to bid for the Hulu LLC streaming-TV service, people with knowledge of the matter said. Mayer met this month with Hulu senior executives to learn more about the site, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) has also expressed an interest in Hulu, this person said. With advertisers willing to pay a premium to run commercials alongside high-quality content, Mayer is seeking to add videos across Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s products. Hulu, owned by News Corp (NWSA), Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), offers free reruns of television shows and movies and provides newer programming and earlier access through an $8-a-month service.
Google Rolls Out Push Notifications For Chrome and Chrome OS (Pulse 2.0)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is now making it possible for developers to set-up push notifications on web applications served through Chrome. Google announced Google Messaging for Chrome on Thursday. According to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Developer page, the service “helps developers send message data from servers to their Chrome apps and extensions. The service is intended to wake up an app or extension, and/or alert a user. For example, calendar updates could be pushed to users even when their calendaring app isn’t open.” The service can also be used for stock price alerts or news items.
Why no iTunes for Windows 8 shouldn’t surprise you (CNET)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Friday said users shouldn’t expect a version of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iTunes that’s been specialized for Windows 8’s new Metro interface “anytime soon.” Though if you’ve been paying attention to the battle between the two companies, it should come as no surprise that Apple’s dragging its feet. iTunes is an immensely popular piece of software on the PC, and has been since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ported it over from the Mac in 2003. There were always two key reasons for that: one was selling content from the iTunes Store, and the other was providing a way for people to set up and sync the iPod, then later the iPhone and iPad.
BlackBerry updates apps ahead of Q10 (News24)
As Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) prepares to expand the BlackBerry 10 platform with the release of the Q10, the company is racing to update applications on the BlackBerry World storefront. “Updated versions of Twitter and LinkedIn for BlackBerry 10 smartphones are now available for download on the BlackBerry World storefront,” the company announced on Friday. Much of the criticism of the devices that represent a new direction for the Canadian-based company is centred on…
…the apps for the Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) 10 platform. The company launch the platform with 70 000 apps, and has moved to ensure that it expands the ecosystem and attracts users.
Yahoo is stuck with Microsoft (CNNMoney)
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) may want out of its search agreement with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), but the Internet giant doesn’t really have another option. Yahoo essentially gave up on search in 2010, handing the keys over to Microsoft to serve up Bing search engine results on its websites. Yahoo pays Microsoft 12% of the revenue from ads on those pages. It’s no secret that the joint venture hasn’t paid off as well as Yahoo hoped. The deal is meant to last 10 years, but the Wall Street Journal reported this week that Yahoo has been trying to get out of the partnership. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer has said several times that revenue from the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) search agreement has been “disappointing.”
Google Glass: Just For Men? (Forbes)
Friend and fellow communications writer Sarah Buhr just raised an interesting point this morning in a guest OpEd for USA Today: Hey, Google Glass—Where the ladies at? She makes a good point. While the marketing videos from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) show a fairly diverse set of “explorers,” the first wave of recipients are decidedly male. In a statement to ABC News, Google said the following: “Glass is designed by and for people from all walks of life and we hope everyone will have a chance to enjoy it down the road.
How much damage a cheaper iPhone does to Apple’s profit margins (Fortune)
So confident are analysts that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is getting ready to launch a lower-cost iPhone that some have started building the new device — which none have ever seen — into spreadsheets like the one at right issued Thursday by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster. What these analysts are not so sure about is what kind of damage a cheaper (and presumably lower-margin) iPhone would do to the product’s enviably high gross margin — currently about 55%. The fear on the Street, according to Munster, is that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s overall gross margin could fall from its record high of 47.4% in March 2012 to 30% by 2015.
Mobily introduces BlackBerry Q10 packages (Arab News)
Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has introduced the new BlackBerry Q10 to its subscribers with different packages as part of the company’s strategic partnership with Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY). The company said the subscribers can buy the new BlackBerry from its flagships around the Kingdom or through its website. It said subscribers can buy the device for 2,699 (pre-paid packages) or 599 (postpaid). Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) services have big demand among Mobily’s subscribers due to the promotional offers and the packages the company launches where Mobily was initiative in launching Blackberry devices and services back in 2007.
Yahoo ban on home working accepted (South China Morning Post)
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) chief executive Marissa Mayer said a policy change barring employees from working at home has been well received internally and helped the company step up its introduction of new applications. “I didn’t mean for it to become an industry narrative,” Mayer said at a conference sponsored by Wired magazine this week. “We were just saying, it’s not right for us right now. As Mayer nears her first anniversary as chief executive, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) has boosted its output of new web services and apps for mobile devices. The introduction in recent months of programs for e-mail, weather and news was made possible by what she calls the “Reese’s peanut butter effect” of helping people from different disciplines collaborate to create cool new things.
Google kills its plans for a physical Google Wallet card (Ars Technica)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is reportedly no longer pursuing the physical Google Wallet card that has been in development over the last year, according to a report from AllThingsD. The report comes shortly after the announcement that Google Wallet head Osama Bedier is leaving the company and just before Google’s I/O conference next week. Google originally developed the card as a way for Wallet users to circumvent the need for NFC in transactions when either their smartphones or a payment terminal lacked the feature. In theory, the card would also have helped Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) capture more customer-to-vendor transactions to mine for data.
