News Byte
John Paczkowski in News on February 9 at 11:22 am PT
Looks like the Justice Department plans to approve the $4.5 billion sale of Nortel’s wireless technology patents to a consortium led by Microsoft and Apple. Sources familiar with the matter say the DOJ has addressed concerns that the consortium might use the patents to unfairly hamstring competitors. It’s not clear when the DOJ will issue its approval, but when it does some 6,000 wireless patents will be transferred over to Rockstar Bidco, an alliance that also includes Research In Motion, Sony, Ericsson AB and EMC.
Ina Fried in Mobile on February 7 at 5:00 am PT
While Samsung and Apple battle for bragging rights atop the smartphone market, many of their rivals may find themselves battling for their lives.
Ina Fried in News on February 3 at 10:48 am PT
The cuts, made over the last several weeks, have been in the works for months, as part of an effort by U.S. head Phil Molyneux to bring the company closer to consumers.
Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on February 2 at 6:10 am PT
Sony Corp. said Thursday it veered into a fiscal third-quarter net loss of more than $2 billion and forecast a much wider full-year loss than previously expected, dragged down by losses in its television business and the impact of the strong yen on its European operations.
Kara Swisher in News on February 1 at 10:38 am PT
Want to see the new Sony head in action? We’ve got the goods right here from an onstage interview at
AsiaD.
Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on February 1 at 2:30 am PT
Sony Corp. said Wednesday it tapped Kazuo Hirai, a veteran of its PlayStation videogame business, to be the company’s next president and chief executive officer, in a move expected to accelerate a network strategy to align its consumer electronics with content and services.
Ina Fried in Mobile on January 19 at 1:56 am PT
The company posted a loss of 207 million euros, and sold nine million phones in the quarter, down from 11.2 million shipments a year earlier.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 12 at 5:57 pm PT
Despite sales declines bringing down the overall game industry last year, Microsoft dominated the market, with the Xbox capturing nearly half of all consumer spending from physical sales.
Peter Kafka in Media on January 12 at 5:30 am PT
“We’re certainly talking to lots of different people about some new possibilities,” says exec Tim Schaaff. Hmmm.
News Byte
Peter Kafka in Media on January 11 at 1:00 pm PT
Sony says its “Music Unlimited” service will be available for Apple’s iPhones and iPods – but not iPads – within the next three months.
The subscription service launched last year without any mobile options at all, then expanded to include some devices running Google’s Android operating system. Sony says the service now has a million users, but won’t disclose how many of them are paying monthly fees and how many are using a free trial.
