THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Amazon and Google can breathe a sigh of relief. Apple unveiled its iPad Mini, a 7.9 miniature version of the iPad, for $329, a bit more expensive than the $250 analysts had expected. About 65 percent of the cost of a full size iPad, the new iPad is well above mini tablet competitors such as Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Inc's Nexus 7, priced … [Read more...]
by Anam Alpenia, Red Herring Japan's Softbank is purchasing 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion to become the third largest company in the world in terms of revenues. Both companies agreed to the deal that would be the largest foreign acquisition ever by a Japanese company. About $12.1 billion will be paid to Sprint shareholders, while the … [Read more...]
Apple's not content with the $1 billion fine a US District Court slapped on its competitor Samsung after a judge ruled the company had “willfully violated” 6 out of 7 of its patents. The company has asked for a fine of $700 million more, plus a complete and permanent ban on the importation of any infringing Samsung devices, Reuters first … [Read more...]
Setting its competition scopes directly on Square, Groupon launched a credit card scanning service that boasts lower fees and an ability to track transaction activity. The service goes head to head against Square and PayPal. Dubbed Groupon Payments, the service accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express cards. It offers a free … [Read more...]
Square, the mobile payments startup that turns any smartphone into a credit card machine, has raised an astonishing $200 million Series D financing round. AllThingsD, which first broke news of the investment, has pegged the value of the company at $3.25 billion. The round includes contributions from Citi Ventures, Rizvi Traverse Management, and … [Read more...]
Growing 401 percent year over year, China's smartphone market is the fastest growing market in the world, according to new analytics by Flurry, the mobile analytics firm. Though currently second behind the US, China has set a pace to likely overtake the US market by Christmas. The US adds about 30 million new active devices to the stream … [Read more...]
Casual meetups in China are challenging in a culture where dating game shows are an apt way to snatch up a wealthy groom and marriage qualifies as a get-to-know-you conversation starter. Translated as “Hi, stranger” in Mandarin, Momo recently nabbed an impressive $40 million Series B round for its location-based casual encounter app, as first … [Read more...]
Propelled by the upcoming release of the iPhone 5 and a potentially smaller and more affordable iPad, Apple's stock hit $664.74 this week, raising the company's value to $623 billion, the highest ever in Wall St.'s history. The company beat out Microsoft's high of $620.58 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Granted, that's not adjusted for inflation, … [Read more...]
Apple's iPad may be leading the tablet revolution with a global penetration of 68 percent, but it's even more popular in China, where the iPad holds nearly 73 percent of the tablet market, according to the latest stats by Analysys International, China Daily recently reported. That's an impressive feat in a country where even the cheapest iPads … [Read more...]
Microsoft officially announced its Bing Fund, an angel investor and business incubator that will offer promising startups cash, advice and privileged access to Microsoft's technology. The fund will make $50,000 to $100,000 investments in early startups through standard convertible notes that can be switched to equity at Microsoft's … [Read more...]