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- EU watchdog about to bite Philips, Samsung and Infineon
- Microsoft's first Nokia phone is an Android
- China looking to outsource to the US
- Wikipedia editors sued for defamation
- Drones can't deliver packages
| EU watchdog about to bite Philips, Samsung and Infineon Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:39 AM PDT EU watchdogs are about to bite the rump of Philips, Samsung and Infineon for fixing prices of chips used in mobile SIM cards. The three were subjected to dawn raids in October 2008 and the European Union charged them last year with taking part in a cartel. SIM chips are used in passports, bank cards, identity cards and television systems and the technology has been universally adopted. The companies may be fined in late July or possibly September but a decision has already been made, according to tremors in the force at Brussels. So far there has been no official comment from either the commission, Philips, Infineon or Samsung. Philips said last year that the EU charges covered the period 2003 to 2004 and involved its semiconductor business which it has since sold. Renesas was apparently given a "Get out of Jail Free Card" by the Commission because it grassed up the others. Renesas has not publically admitted its role in the affair and was unaware that the other companies would be fined. As Intel found out to its cost, companies that breach EU rules can be fined up to 10 percent of their global turnover. Dutch company Philips's 2013 turnover was $31.72 billion. Talks between the EU and the three companies broke down last year. The chipmakers had initially sought to settle the case, which means admitting guilt in return for a 10 percent cut in the fines. |
| Microsoft's first Nokia phone is an Android Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:36 AM PDT While many expected Microsoft to use Nokia as the flagship for its Windows Phone OS, it appears that might not be the case. Microsoft has unveiled its first phone after completing its takeover of Nokia's handset division - and the device is powered by Android. The Nokia X2 will have some software tweaks which will allow it to connect to Microsoft's cloud-based services. However at the moment Vole does not want to have to shell out the cash needed to adapt Nokia's plans to a pure Redmond vision. The move has surprised some analysts, but it does show a pragmatism in the Volish ranks. After all Android still means profit and the OS can be used to piggy back other services. The X2 is the follow-up to the original X, launched in February before Nokia sold its mobile business. The Nokia X2 features a front-facing camera missing from the earlier model The original model became the best-selling mobile in Pakistan and the third best-selling handset in India – and had strong sales in Russia, Kenya and Nigeria. The new version has a slightly bigger 4.3in screen, a GB of RAM, a better battery and will cost $135 when released in July. Volish services will include Skype, Outlook and OneDrive internet storage apps all come pre-loaded. Microsoft also promotes apps like Bing Search, the Yammer business-focused social network and the OneNote idea jotting service, although these are optional. |
| China looking to outsource to the US Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:33 AM PDT US local governments are providing sweeteners to Chinese companies in the hope they will set up shop. Yahoo news said the free market was not providing places like Alabama with jobs and the region has a high unemployment rate. But the region is finding investors from the Communist Henan Province in China. Henan's Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group opened a plant in Alabama last month and the trend is being noticed across the US. Chinese companies invested a record $14 billion in the United States last year, according to the Rhodium Group research firm. Collectively, they employ more than 70,000 Americans. Chinese workers are getting more expensive and US energy prices are falling. Mayors and economic development officials are lining up to welcome Chinese investors when a decade or two ago they would have called them Commie infiltrators. It is in the more conservative Southern states, where obsession with the Bible, women's wombs and blocking health care has meant a higher number of people on welfare has been at the forefront of attracting the Chinese. To be fair the US has some advantages of cheaper Chinese plants. Besides access to cheap Mexican labour, firms who set up there can save a fortune on transport costs. |
| Wikipedia editors sued for defamation Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:32 AM PDT Four Wackypedia editors have been sued for defamation by a Canadian businessman over changes they made to his page. The case, filed in Ventura County's Superior Court on June 11, said the four editors conspired to tarnish the name of entrepreneur, musician, and philanthropist Yank Barry. Named were Richard Fife, Nate Gertler, Ethan Urbanik, and John Nagle. The case focuses on VitaPro foods which Barry founded in the late 1980s. The company creates textured vegetable protein aimed at cutting down on worldwide meat consumption. All was going well until the mid-1990s, Barry and former Texas Department of Criminal Justice head James Collins were convicted of a kickback scheme involving VitaPro and Texas prisons. A jury convicted Collins of taking at least $20,000 from VitaPro Foods in exchange for pushing through a five-year, $33.7 million contract to distribute a soy-based granular substance to Texas inmates to cut food costs. At the time Associated Press said that Barry was convicted of the same charges—bribery, money laundering and conspiracy—for allegedly paying the bribes. However Collins and Barry were acquitted in 2005. The Wikipedia editors made 31 different entries made on Barry's Wikipedia page which could be libellous, Barry claimed. To make matters worse the talk section for Barry's Wikipedia page, one editor "Ganbarreh" states that Fife "made a clear statement about his agenda to maintain defamatory material on the subject's page in order to cause financial harm and threaten the subjects' livelihood". Fife admits that it wasn't his "finest wikipedia moment" and that his edit was intended to "prepare for large amounts of edits biased towards the positive to the article". Barry said that he tried to resolve many of the issues with his page diplomatically but was ultimately forced to take legal action. He told PR NewsChannel that his page was so ridiculously false and made me sound like a terrible person and people believed it causing deals to fall through. At least Wackpedia editors did not do what they did to the Everywhere Girl and Mike Magee and attempt to make them disappear completely. |
| Posted: 25 Jun 2014 02:29 AM PDT The Federal Aviation Administration has ruled out the use of drones to deliver packages. Drones were being tested by Amazon to deliver books and packages, but it turns out that the scheme might never get off the ground. An FAA document is apparently seeking public comment on its policy on drones, or what the agency calls "model aircraft". Since 2007 the FAA has said that the commercial operation of drones is illegal. A federal judge ruled in March that the FAA failed to call for public input before adopting the rules. That decision is in the process of being appealed, but in the meantime the FAA is calling for public input wit the idea of looking at the commercial application of small drones later this year, with potential new rules in place perhaps by the end of 2015. The FAA named Amazon's December proposal as an example of what is barred under regulations that allow the use of drones for hobby and recreational purposes. Amazon hopes the agency will change its mind, but is not holding its breath. |
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