Voices

Taiwan Fines Apple for iPhone Price-Plan Meddling

Apple Inc. has been fined 20 million New Taiwan dollars and ordered to stop interfering with mobile service providers and handset distributors’ pricing.

BlackBerry Has No Plans to Shutter Its Disaster of a Handset Business

“… We have enough ingredients to build a long-term sustainable business.”

Voices

Two Views From Samsung About its “Octa” Chip

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Samsung described an unusual eight-brained processor as a major step above competing chips. Now that U.S. buyers will be late to get it, the company is playing down the differences.

News Byte

Another Day, Another RIM Sale Rumor

Here comes another rumor about Research In Motion — this time, selling off its struggling handset unit to any variety of possible buyers for all or part of the famed BlackBerry, including Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. The latest version comes from the Sunday Times, which said that such a consideration is part of an overall strategic review by the beleaguered Canadian company that will be concluded in July. Before that, though, expect financial news — likely bad — this week, when RIM announces its first-quarter earnings.

Nokia Completes Talks on Planned Job Cuts

Nokia Corp., the world’s largest handset maker by shipments, said Thursday it has completed negotiations with its labor unions over jobs cuts at its Salo plant in Finland. The cuts are part of a plan announced last month to cut about 4,000 jobs at smartphone manufacturing plants at Salo, Reynosa in Mexico and Komarom in Hungary, in a push to move device assembly closer to components suppliers in Asia.

Samsung Hires Former AOL and Google Content Exec David Eun to Lead Renewed Media Push

The South Korean consumer electronics giant is upping its media game against more aggressive rivals like Google, Apple and Amazon.

Samsung’s Won-Pyo Hong on the Mobile Phone Wars: The Full AsiaD Interview (Video)

South Korea’s Samsung is a key player in the global mobile war between and among Apple, Google, Nokia and others. Here’s its smartphone general.

News Byte

Nuance’s Swype Bill: $102.5 Million

Nuance has spelled out its acquisition plans for Swype, the company that makes virtual keyboard software for Google’s Android handsets. Nuance will pay $102.5 million for the start-up, with $77.5 million coming upfront and the rest paid out in 18 months.

Even More AsiaD Speakers: Yahoo’s Yang, HTC’s Wang, Samsung’s Hong and More!

You want more AsiaD speakers, we got more. And there are more to come, too!

Viral Video: One-Trick-Pony Googlers and Steve Jobs as Darth Vader

You have to hand it to the CGI folks at Taiwan’s Next Media Animation for this unusual depiction of Google’s $12.5 billion bid for Motorola Mobility.

Apple App Happy Sonos Also Goes Android

Korea Not Too Keen on Nexus S