Miscellaneous
24 March 2012
Facebook Is Said to Buy 750 IBM Patents to Boost Defenses Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. acquired 750 patents from IBM, adding intellectual property that may help it counter allegations of patent infringement, a person with knowledge of the transaction said.
20 March 2012
Internet demand soaring across Asia Australian Financial Review
The chairman of the ICT agenda council at the World Economic Forum says the national broadband network will position the Australian economy to continue to expand as part of a fast-growing Asian region.
09 March 2012
'Turn Off All Electronic Devices:' And What Happens if You Don't Wall Street Journal
It happens on just about every flight now, say flight attendants. The plane's door closes and it's time to turn off personal electronic devices.
08 March 2012
Dividends Emerge in Pressing Apple Over Working Conditions in China New York Times
The American sweatshop opposition movement was born the day we discovered how our Nikes were stitched together. Two decades later, we are discovering how our cherished iPhones are made, giving Apple a "Nike moment" of its own.
28 February 2012
Disruptions: Google - Growing Too Big for a Conscience New York Times
... Now, 12 years later, Google has more than 30,000 employees with annual revenue of $38 billion and growing, and although it still sees itself as a company doing good, its latest actions raise the question: Is Google too big not to be evil?
Ship Accidents Sever Data Cables Off East Africa Wall Street Journal
Undersea data cables linking East Africa to the Middle East and Europe were severed in two separate shipping accidents this month, causing telecommunications outages in at least nine countries and affecting millions of Internet and phone users, telecom executives and government officials said.
24 February 2012
Foxconn: Nightline goes behind the scenes at Apple assembly line in China The Guardian
The full content of the Nightline program in which ABC's Bill Neil got unrestricted access to Apple's assembly company, Foxconn, in China has been put on YouTube - although it's not yet available in full on the official Nightline channel.
22 February 2012
Aussies' fix for 'stagnated' email The Age
Email has "stagnated" and three Australians who quit Google say they have built a product that will change the way we interact with email and allow us to get through our bulging inboxes 20 per cent faster".
21 February 2012
Pressure, Chinese and Foreign, Drives Changes at Foxconn New York Times
The announcement Saturday that Foxconn Technology -- one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers -- will sharply raise salaries and reduce overtime at its Chinese factories signals that pressure from workers, international markets and concerns among Western consumers about working conditions is driving a fundamental shift that could accelerate an already rapidly changing Chinese economy.
15 February 2012
Critics Question Record of Monitor Selected by Apple New York Times
Apple's announcement on Monday that an outside monitoring group, the Fair Labor Association, has begun inspecting its suppliers' factories in China rekindled a debate over how effective the group has been in eliminating labor abuses.
14 February 2012
Apple Asks Outside Group to Inspect Factories New York Times
Responding to a growing outcry over conditions at its overseas factories, Apple said Monday that an outside organization had begun auditing working conditions at the plants where iPhones, iPads and other Apple products are manufactured, and the group would make its finding public.
11 February 2012
FBI releases files on Steve Jobs: he was 'a deceptive individual' The Guardian
The FBI has released its files on Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and icon of the business world, painting a picture of a complex man who is described both as "a deceptive individual" and one of "high moral character and integrity".
05 February 2012
Apple the target of playwright's ire over Chinese worker abuse The Observer
These days Mike Daisey is run off his feet. "I don't even have time to listen to my voicemail now. That's a phenomenon I have not experienced before," he told the Observer with an amazed laugh. Perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised. In the past fortnight, Daisey has gone from being a gifted but obscure solo act in the US theatre to the public face of a backlash against one of the iconic corporations of the 21st century.
31 January 2012
Mexico Phone Industry Overcharged Users $13.4B Bloomberg
Mexico's phone industry, dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim's carriers, overcharged customers $13.4 billion a year from 2005 to 2009, hurting the nation's economy, according to a report.
24 January 2012
London 2012: Olympics to create 'record' wireless spectrum demand BBC News
The London Olympic and Paralympic Games are likely to require up to 20,000 separate wireless frequency assignments, according to the communications regulator Ofcom.
04 January 2012
Will Google be forced to ban its own browser from its index? The Guardian
The problem has arisen after Google paid Unruly Media, an international media agency, to get a number of paid bloggers to promote a video for its Chrome browser featuring a US flour company.
NBN a catalyst for acquisitions in a saturated telco market The Australian
Three letters dominated the telecommunications sector last year, and NBN will get even more attention this year as the industry prepares for a dramatic new era of competition in which scale and innovation will be king.
02 January 2012
Google Hones Its Advertising Message, Playing to Emotions New York Times
Google, one of the biggest advertising companies in the world, has finally embraced advertising for itself.
23 December 2011
Google Will Pay Mozilla Almost $300M Per Year in Search Deal, Besting Microsoft and Yahoo AllThingsD
Earlier this week, Google and Mozilla said they had struck a deal to renew their search royalty agreement for another three years.
Yahoo Discussing Plan to Cut Alibaba Stake to 15% Wall Street Journal
Three months after firing its chief executive and opening its doors to suitors, Yahoo Inc. is revisiting a proposed deal that would shed most of its Asian assets while narrowing the Internet firm's focus and rewarding stockholders.
21 December 2011
Microsoft, Nokia Flirted With RIM Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Corp. and Nokia Corp. in recent months flirted with the idea of making a joint bid for Research In Motion Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.
13 December 2011
Game on as Telstra trials new gaming and music services The Australian
Telstra is planning to take a crack at the $2 billion-a-year video game market by launching a subscription service to allow its customers to stream the latest video games direct to their T-Box digital set-top box.
06 December 2011
The Rise of Google, the Ascent of Facebook and the Decline of Everyone Else AllThingsD
If you pay the slightest bit of attention to Internet advertising, you know this. But it's always good to see it spelled out: Look how ginormous Google is!
05 December 2011
'Yahoo hasn't done anything in the past 10 years to set the internet alight' The Guardian
Why would anyone want to buy Yahoo? Such was the question posed by one of my Twitter followers as Thursday's bid (from private equity groups Blackstone and Bain) crossed the wires. "It's a zombie company," he said.
Mini-masts in the home to beat Wi-Fi signal overload The Observer
The drive for universal mobile phone coverage has seen masts hung from every street corner and disguised as fir trees, clocks and even church windows. Now miniature versions could make their way into living rooms, under plans being drawn up by Virgin Media.
