Sprint Nextel
Today in Tech: Will Amazon buy Texas Instruments' mobile chip business?
October 15, 2012: 1:48 PM ETAlso: Softbank to buy Sprint Nextel for about $20 billion; 13-inch MacBook Pro may be unveiled later this month.
Amazon looks to acquire TI mobile chip business, report says [CNET]
If Amazon buys out Texas Instruments' mobile chip business, it would mark a dramatic shift for the e-retail giant. Amazon uses Texas Instruments' processors in its mobile devices, including the latest Kindle Fire HD. Barnes & Noble, one of its chief competitors, does, as well. It's not clear whether Amazon would continue to sell chips to competitors or use its own technology for itself.
Softbank to buy Sprint Nextel for about $20 billion [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]
In a statement, Softbank said it would acquire a majority stake in the U.S. carrier by buying $8 billion of shares directly from Sprint and then buying another $12.1 billion of shares in the market.
The deal would transform Softbank, a relative newcomer in the telecommunications industry, into one of the world's largest telecom groups with about 90 million subscribers when combined with Sprint. It expects to complete the deal by mid-2013.
13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display confirmed for Apple event [9 to 5 MAC]
Alongside the smaller iPad, Apple will debut a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, according to a consistently reliable source at a high-profile U.S. retailer.
This new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina Display is said to pick up the thinner and lighter enclosure of the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display that was released in June.
Microsoft to compete against Spotify with Xbox Music [TECHCRUNCH]
Xbox Music seeks to combine all the best aspects of the existing music services, by enabling free and paid models for streaming a vast library of content, as well as the ability to purchase and download music to your devices. Microsoft has licensed music from all the major labels, as well as a ton of independents, giving the Xbox Music services more than 30 million songs in its catalog.
Disruptions: Seeking privacy in a networked age [THE NEW YORK TIMES]
A feature that allowed users to opt out of being mentioned could actually benefit companies like Facebook and Twitter. It would entice people who are afraid of being in the cast of "Nothing's Private Anymore" to sign up, knowing that they can hide at any given time.
Mr. Malik said he had simply resigned himself to the reality that most of the things he does in public, no matter how banal, will end up on the Internet. "But an offline switch would be a welcome addition for it would give me an illusion of privateness (if not privacy)," he wrote in an e-mail.
Zynga files suit against former staffer, claiming theft of trade secrets [ALLTHINGSD]
In the filing, Zynga claims that Patmore amassed 760 documents from his work computer, and backed them up online before his last day. Further, Zynga claims in the complaint that the data is important enough that it could be used to "improve a competitor's internal understanding and know-how of core game mechanics and monetization techniques, its execution and ultimately its market standing to compete more effectively with Zynga."
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Mobile users to carriers: 'Give me my unlimited data'
While Verizon and AT&T have gone with tiered data plans, T Mobile and Sprint are hanging tough with unlimited data for its users. Will the strategy pan out for the holdouts?
By Peter Suciu
FORTUNE -- While number one and two mobile carriers Verizon Wireless and AT&T have adopted tiered plans for wireless data, T-Mobile and Sprint have opted to stick with so-called "all-you-can-eat" options for customers. And unlike older so-called MORE
Sep 13, 2012 11:19 AM ET -
Today in Tech: The lost 'Google phone'
Fortune's curated selection of tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you each and every day.
* Google (GOOG) is seeking partnerships with automakers to eventually bring its self-driving car technology to real-world drivers. Though, the company still needs to conduct "millions of miles" of testing, and it may take another decade to bring to market. (The Wall Street Journal)
* One good thing to come out of MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Apr 26, 2012 3:30 AM ET -
24% of Americans surveyed plan to buy the new iPad
29% of international respondents hoped to buy it within 3 months
One of the first things they teach you in Statistics 101 is that the size of your sample doesn't matter as much as how representative it is.
In that regard, it's probably a good thing that Baird's William Power acknowledges high up in the note he issued to clients Monday that the online survey of 488 potential customers Baird Equity Research MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 26, 2012 11:02 AM ET -
Wall Street's low-ball iPhone estimates bump into reality
Reports from Verizon and AT&T suggest they could be off by as much as 45%
UBS' Maynard Um has built a spreadsheet for Apple (AAPL) in which he assumes the company sold 30 million last quarter -- some 800,000 unit higher than the 29.2 million average of 20 Wall Street analysts we polled over the weekend.
But when he totes up the sales numbers coming in from Apple's U.S. carriers, his 30 million estimate MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 5, 2012 6:30 AM ET -
iPhone 4S shipments begin
Units pre-ordered early last Friday are due to arrive by end-of-day this Friday
The e-mail from Apple (AAPL) notifying me that my pre-ordered iPhone 4S had left Shenzhen, China, early Monday and was set be delivered in four days popped into my mailbox at 2:07 a.m. EST -- two days and 21 hours after AT&T's (T) servers finally let my order go through.
9to5Mac meanwhile has posted a notice from Sprint (S) that MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 10, 2011 6:20 AM ET -
iPhone 4S pre-orders may have topped 500,000 in the U.S. before Apple ran out
AT&T alone sold 200,000 in 12 hours. By Friday night, ship dates slipped to 1-2 weeks
If you had any doubts that Apple (AAPL) would be able to beat the record 1.7 million iPhones sold in three days in June 2010, you can put them to rest.
Despite early glitches that slowed down pre-orders, AT&T (T) announced Friday it had taken orders for 200,000 iPhone 4S units in the first 12 hours MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 8, 2011 8:25 AM ET -
AT&T reeled under the crush of iPhone 4S pre-orders. Verizon and Sprint seemed to be fine
Widespread reports of long waits, starting shortly after midnight Pacific time
"2 hours of putting in my information and hitting refresh and I STILL don't have an iPhone 4S. AT&T, you failed again. Goodnight."
Eric ("gameric") Gamero, who posted that message on Twitter at about 3:15 a.m. PST Friday, was hardly alone. In the early hours after Apple (AAPL) began taking pre-orders for its latest iPhone, due out next Friday, hundreds of similar MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 7, 2011 6:52 AM ET -
Handicapping the iPhone rumors
With only hours to go before the truth is known, Apple watchers are placing their bets
I can't recall an Apple (AAPL) event surrounded by as many unanswered questions as the "Let's talk iPhone" press conference scheduled to begin today at 10 a.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Eastern).
Will there be one new iPhone or two? An iPhone 5 or 4S? Square edged or teardrop? Exclusive to Sprint (S) or available also through MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 4, 2011 8:17 AM ETPosted in: Apple, Apple event, AT&T, BJR, Boy Genius Report, Cult of Mac, Harry McCracken, iPhone, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, Sprint Nextel, Technologizer, Verizon -
Sprint soars 10.12% on report that it's getting the iPhone
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will add a third U.S. carrier in mid-October
"Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone."
So begins the report in the Wall Street Journal -- Apple's (AAPL) current favorite backchannel outlet for releasing unofficial product news -- that MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Aug 23, 2011 5:26 PM ETPosted in: Apple, AT&T, iPhone, iPhone 5, Mobile, Sprint, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, Wall Street Journal
