Editor’s Note: Related Tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Apple bond sale attracts wide response as CEO looks to appease shareholders (The Guardian)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched a new product on Tuesday: the iBond. And it looks set to attract the sort of frenzy once reserved for past hits including the iPad and the iPhone. The tech giant started the process of selling billions of dollars in bonds in what may amount to the largest bond sale ever. By noon in New York the bond sale, Apple’s first in close to two decades, looked to have attracted at least three times the money the company was seeking. Apple chief executive Tim Cook made the move as the company attempts to appease shareholders unhappy with slowing sales and a plummeting share price. Last week Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) pledged to hand back $100bn to shareholders by the end of 2015.
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), feels very confident about its newest smartphones, especially the BlackBerry Q10. The company jumped to its highest level in more than a month, after BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said he expects the new Q10 smartphone to sell “tens of millions” of units. “We have very, very good first signs already after the launch in the UK,” Heins told Bloomberg on Thursday, April 29, referring to the new QWERTY smartphone running on BlackBerry 10 OS. “This is going into the installed base of more than 70 million Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) users so we have quite some expectations. We expect several tens of millions of units.”
Google Inc (GOOG): How Austin Just Received a Dose of Fiber (Insider Monkey)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has recently expanded its fiber-network footprint to Austin, Texas. Google’s fiber role out to its second city has definitely gotten attention from other ISPs. Google Inc offers up to seven years of free Internet to residents, who can then upgrade for a cost of $70, add in cable and it comes to $120. Just after Google fiber was announced, Dallas-based AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) announced a roll out of its own — Gigabit Internet. It seems like competition is heating up in the ISP space. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s push into the ISP business has worried the large dominant companies that provide Internet to large cities. Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) is the largest ISP in the Kansas City, MO area and has the most to lose with Google moving into the neighborhood. Time Warner even offered $50 to people in Kansas City with information on the new Google-fiber roll out.
Microsoft wants beta testers for new Win Phone Facebook app (CNET)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is seeking beta testers for a refreshed version of the official Facebook app for Windows Phone, which was developed by Microsoft in conjunction with Facebook. Microsoft officials blogged on April 30 that the company is seeking testers for the refreshed Facebook app for Windows Phone 8. The beta isn’t available via the Windows Store (to avoid confusion, according to the Softies). The refreshed Facebook app is “undergoing a major redesign,” according to the blog post, and will include several “much-requested” features, including…
…support for high-res photos, post sharing, and Facebook Timeline. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is requesting users to submit bugs and feature requests by going to “Settings > About” in the app.
Apple Is Going To Copy Microsoft Design Cues For The Next Big iPhone Update, According To Report (Business Insider)
It could be Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) standing on stage, showing a new design language it copied from Microsoft. Apple is reportedly going to unveil a new look for iOS, the software that powers iPhones and iPads. Apple blogger Mark Gurman hears from a source the new iOS is going to be “very, very flat.” “Flat” is the latest fad in mobile design. It’s an extreme reaction to look promoted by Apple, which has a lot of shading, animation, and illustrations that mimic real life objects. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) committed to a flat design before any other major company. Its Windows Phone design has colored tiles with no shading, and copies no real-life objects. Another source tells Gurman Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new design could be approaching Microsoft’s level of flatness, which is pretty extreme.
Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY): Why Canada’s Buffett Is Bullish (Insider Monkey)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) is already up nearly 25% year to date, and hedge fund manager Prem Watsa believes the stock could be worth as much as $40, suggesting that the remaining upside is over 170%. He says the “turnaround story won’t happen overnight, and it’s only just getting started.” Prem Watsa founded Fairfax Financial Holdings and is considered the Warren Buffett of Canada, having grown his firm’s book value by nearly 25% annually since 1985. Fairfax owns some 51.85 million shares of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), which is 9.9% of the mobile phone company’s outstanding shares. This puts BlackBerry as Fairfax’s largest public equity holding, making up 24.5% of the fund’s portfolio.
Google’s new answer to Siri (Salon)
Siri may be feeling a little job insecurity. The sometimes droll assistant that answers questions and helps people manage their lives on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone and iPad is facing competition from an up-and-coming rival made by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). The duel began Monday with the release of a free iPhone and iPad app that features Google Now, a technology that performs many of the same functions as Siri. It’s the first time that Google Now has been available on smartphones and tablet computers that aren’t running on the latest version of Google’s Android software. The technology, which debuted nine months ago, is being included in an upgrade to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s search application for iOS, the Apple Inc. software that powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Microsoft Launches Preview Of Skype For Outlook.com (TechCrunch)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has announced that it is launching a preview of Skype for Outlook.com starting in the UK. The service will be made available in the U.S. and Germany in the coming weeks before it is rolled out to the rest of the world. With the rollout of Skype for Web, the VoIP service joins Microsoft’s suite of online tools, including SkyDrive. Since its launch six months ago, Outlook.com, meant to replace the Hotmail brand and design, has garnered 60 million users.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) Is Top Dog In This Service Category (Insider Monkey)
No matter if you know a lot about computers or have little knowledge of your machine, it is safe to say that you will need professional advice from time to time. Fortunately, there are companies, such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), that care about your well-being. We all know that some companies offer better technical support than others. However, if you believe what Consumer Reports has to say, you will realize that Apple is the cream of the crop. According to the firm’s recent reader survey…
…“Apple bested its own scores from last year’s survey and walloped other brand-name computer manufacturers.” As you can see, now only did Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) come out on top but the company put the rest of the competition to shame. As you can imagine, this is exactly what the Cupertino based company is trying to do.
Microsoft Updates Cloud Agreement For HIPAA Rules (InformationWeek)
Cloud service providers are starting to take notice of the new HIPAA security regulations that define them as “business associates” of HIPAA-covered entities such as healthcare providers and health plans. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has just announced a revised business associate agreement (BAA) for its cloud services that reflects the new HIPAA Omnibus Rule governing data security. Last week, Box, which offers another cloud storage and information sharing platform, made a similar announcement, claiming that its compliance with the latest HIPAA regs distinguishes it from most of its competitors. Among other things, the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, which went into effect March 26, requires covered entities to sign BAAs with business associates that commit the latter to protect personal health information (PHI) when it’s under their control.
BlackBerry CEO Questions Future of Tablets (Businessweek)
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said the popularity of tablet computers may wane, an indication the company may shelve a follow-up to its ill- fated PlayBook device. “In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.” Heins is rethinking whether to offer larger devices even as the company pushes ahead with fresh smartphones built on the new BlackBerry 10 platform to engineer a sales recovery. The PlayBook, introduced in 2011, was panned by critics for debuting without built-in e-mail, delivering the tablet a near-fatal blow.
Motorola: Google’s $12 Billion Road to Nowhere? (Forbes)
Don’t cry for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), but it lost another patent battle last week, involving the Motorola patents at the center of last year’s $12.4 billion acquisition. In a case against Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) where Google sought $4 billion in royalties, U.S. District Judge James Robart instead set the amount at $1.8 million. Given that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) valued Motorola’s patents at $5.5 billion when it closed the deal, this is hardly the kind of return on investment it thought it was getting on the once-great developer of mobile phones and related technology. But it’s really been par for the course since the deal closed.
