Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)
How Steve Jobs convinced AT&T to share revenue (Telegram)
In June 2007 when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s first iPhone was sold, cell phones were already a big market. But by 2009, Apple controlled 30 percent of it. How did Steve Jobs convince AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) to give Apple a groundbreaking deal in exchange for the exclusive right to provide telecommunications service for the iPhone in the U.S.? When he worked at telecommunications consulting firm, Adventis, Raj Aggarwal met with Mr. Jobs twice a week for several months. In an August 15 interview, Mr. Aggarwal explained how Steve Jobs persuaded AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)’s Cingular Wireless to provide service for the iPhone with an unprecedented revenue sharing agreement.
What if Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer ran Apple? (DailyTelegraph)
And then it would “slowly but surely become irrelevant … just like Microsoft”. Thomson ruminated on his blog about the leadership qualities of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s CEO who announced recently that he would be retiring from the company within the year. “Under Ballmer, everyone at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) would be working so hard, and be making so much money, both for themselves and for Apple’s shareholders, that they would ensure that Apple never again reinvents consumer computing,” Thompson wrote.
Google buys up virtual image patents (BusinessTech)
Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry said it sold Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) part of a patent portfolio involving the superimposition of virtual images on real-world photos. The technology, dubbed Head Mounted Display, is commonly used in aviation and ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming devices and training and simulation tools, the company said on Friday in a statement. It did not disclose the price of the sale.
Apple tries to limit ebook punishment (TechEye)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) lawyers are flat out trying to prevent the US Department of Justice getting an injunction over its ebook antics. The DoJ wants an injunction to stop Apple fixing the price of ebooks and thus keeping the electronic book price high. Apple moaned that the DoJ injunction is designed to “inflict punishment” and must be rejected by the court, What the two sides are trying to sort out is how to stop Apple shafting its customers with its anti-trust antics. On 10 July, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Apple had conspired with five major publishers to undermine pricing by rivals including Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) which dominates the market for electronic books.
Someone needs a knock out (FudZilla)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) takes on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Motorola Mobility unit this week in the second of two landmark trials over the patents behind smartphones. The jury trial aims to resolve whether Motorola breached its contract with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) to license standard essential patents, covering wireless and video tech used in the Xbox. It follows a complex trial last November that decided what the appropriate fee for Microsoft’s use of Motorola-patented technology should be. US District Judge James Robart came down heavily in Microsoft’s favor, saying it owed only a fraction of the royalties Motorola had claimed. More than Microsoft thought, but much less Motorola’s bill for as much as $4 billion a year.
Google’s secret buy sign (CNBC)
