Category: Biz Tech

FRANKFURT Smartphone apps that help people learn languages for free or nearly free, a few sentences at a time, are piling pressure on established education firms and setting the pace for how to make lessons more engaging. Phone and tablet-based mobile products from newcomers like Germany's Babbel, Britain's Memrise and U.S.-based Duolingo have overtaken names like Berlitz and computer self-learning pioneer Rosetta Stone (RST.N) in terms of audience, if not yet sales or teaching sophistication, market researchers say. Tens of millions

TORONTO Emails sent by the founder of infidelity website AshleyMadison.com appear to have been exposed in a second, larger release of data stolen from its parent company, cyber security experts confirmed on Thursday. The data dump by hackers who have attacked the site appears to include email messages linked to Noel Biderman, founder and chief executive officer of its Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media. In a message accompanying the release, the hackers said: "Hey Noel, you can admit it's real

Headsets hang in front of a screen displaying a Spotify logo on it, in Zenica February 20, 2014. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Files EDGARTOWN, Mass. If hearing Barack Obama break into song hasn't satisfied your presidential music needs, you can now listen to his playlists on Spotify. The White House on Friday released two music sets "hand-created" by the president of the United States for daytime and evening listening as part of the launch of a new channel on the popular music-streaming service. And there

An employee works near screens in the virus lab at the headquarters of Russian cyber security company Kaspersky Labs in Moscow July 29, 2013. RUSSIA-CYBERCRIME/ Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin/Files SAN FRANCISCO Beginning more than a decade ago, one of the largest security companies in the world, Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab, tried to damage rivals in the marketplace by tricking their antivirus software programs into classifying benign files as malicious, according to two former employees. They said the secret campaign targeted Microsoft Corp, AVG Technologies NV,

Customers enter the Apple store on 5th Avenue beneath an Apple logo in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar Apple Inc (AAPL.O) will delay its live TV service to at least next year, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the iPhone maker's plans. The company had planned to introduce the service, which is delivered over the Internet, this year. Discussions with broadcasters such as CBS Corp (CBS.N) and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) to licence programming are progressing

NEW YORK/SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) unveiled a new Galaxy Note phablet and a larger version of its curved-screen S6 edge smartphone on Thursday, marking a fresh bid by the South Korean company to revive momentum in its handset business. Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker but its market share fell in the second quarter when the company released its critically acclaimed S6 models, squeezed by Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) upscale iPhones and cheaper offerings from Chinese rivals such

Mascots dressed as characters from the mobile video game ''Candy Crush Saga'' pose outside the New York Stock Exchange March 26, 2014. Reuters/Brendan McDermid King Digital Entertainment Plc (KING.N), the creator of Candy Crush Saga, reported a 28 percent drop in quarterly profit as monthly unique users fell slightly and a strong dollar dented sales from outside the United States. The company's shares slipped 8.2 percent in extended trading on Thursday. King Digital, which makes games for social media websites and mobile devices, has

A neon Google logo is seen as employees work at the new Google office in Toronto, November 13, 2012. Reuters/Mark Blinch/Files Ben Crawford was asleep 12,000 km (7,500 miles) from Google Inc's (GOOGL.O) Mountain View, California headquarters this week when the Internet giant unveiled its new face. Crawford, chief executive of London-based CentralNIC Group Plc (CNIC.L), woke up in Sydney to learn that the domain powered by his company - .xyz - would host the website of Google's new company, Alphabet Inc. Google

A logo is pictured at Google's European Engineering Center in Zurich April16, 2015. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/Files Google Inc's overhaul of its operating structure is an acknowledgement of the lack of transparency surrounding its disparate businesses and projects, analysts said, but it remains to be seen how much more the company will actually disclose. Analysts and investors have long sought more granular detail on Google's capital spending and cash flow, as well the financial performance of YouTube and the Android operating system. Google said on Monday

Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President for Products, delivers his keynote address during the Google I/O developers conference in San Francisco, California May 28, 2015. Reuters/Robert Galbraith/Files SAN FRANCISCO A low-key style and an unusually firm handle on diplomacy propelled new Google chief executive Sundar Pichai to the top of the search engine giant, former colleagues said, cementing his successes such as creating the Chrome browser. As part of a major overhaul of its operating structure, Google said on Monday it was creating

SAN FRANCISCO Google Inc (GOOGL.O) announced a surprise overhaul of its operating structure on Monday, creating a holding company called Alphabet to pool its many subsidiaries and separate the core web advertising business from newer ventures like driverless cars. The move appeared to be an attempt by the search engine giant to focus on its more creative and ambitious projects, while investors cheered the potential for more financial disclosures of its disparate business segments. "It suggests that in all likelihood, Google

SEATTLE Teams of video gamers playing characters ranging from wizards to monsters exchanged virtual punches, fireballs and lightning strikes over the past six days, battling at the main event of the Dota 2 International 2015 tournament in Seattle. And by the end of Saturday's finals, five players, including a 16-year-old, became more than a million dollars richer. Now in its fifth year and playing to a sold-out crowd in the 17,000-seat Key Arena, the International has grown every year in size,

Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology, gestures during a news conference in New Delhi, India, August 4, 2015. Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee MUMBAI Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and a key supplier to Apple Inc (AAPL.O), on Saturday signed a pact with Maharashtra to invest $5 billion over five years on a new electronics manufacturing facility. The announcement was made by Foxconn founder Terry Gou and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the signing of an accord in

Twitter Inc's (TWTR.N) board is weighing a shakeup that could involve the exit of former Chief Executive Dick Costolo, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The changes may be announced when the company names a permanent CEO, Bloomberg said. The change is intended to make the board more diverse. The board may expanded or shuffled to represent directors from diverse backgrounds, such as minorities and those with experience in adjacent industries, including advertising and e-commerce, the people familiar with the

People are silhouetted as they pose with mobile devices in front of a screen projected with a Samsung logo, in this picture illustration taken in Zenica October 29, 2014. Reuters/Dado Ruvic LAS VEGAS Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) will release monthly security fixes for Android phones, a growing target for hackers, after the disclosure of a bug designed to attack the world's most popular mobile operating system. The change came after security researcher Joshua Drake unveiled what he called

CHAUMUHANI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A fisherman's son and now a fisherman himself, Kulamani Tarai knows all too well that while the sea has provided sustenance to his family for generations, it can also be a cruel and deadly place. Every morning, when he leaves his mud-and-thatch home on India's east coast to venture out on his wooden boat into the Bay of Bengal, he knows there is a chance he will not return. Deaths of fishermen are common along this

An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Has the "curse of the Dow" finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of $113.25 on Tuesday. The recent declines have wiped out nearly $100 billion of Apple's market value - about as

Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Taiwan's Foxconn Technology, gestures during a news conference in New Delhi, India, August 4, 2015. Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee NEW DELHI/MUMBAI Foxconn, the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, will invest in India as it builds a supply chain in the country, in a move that may help the country's efforts to build a technology manufacturing base. Taiwan-based Foxconn is the world's largest contract maker of electronic products and counts Apple, Blackberry, Xiaomi and Amazon among

Police secure the main entrance of the German Axel Springer publishing group headquarters in Berlin January 8, 2015. Reuters/Hannibal Hanschke/Files FRANKFURT After its failed bid to buy the Financial Times, Germany's biggest news publisher Axel Springer will concentrate on digital expansion through small and medium-sized deals, the company said on Tuesday. Springer was outbid last month by Japan's Nikkei in an attempt to buy the FT from Pearson. Nikkei's bid of $1.3 billion pipped Springer's by just 100 million euros ($110 million). Chief

A BMW i3 electric car is seen during the opening of the 85th International Motor Show in Geneva March 5, 2015. Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann/Files VIENNA The chief executive of BMW (BMWG.DE) hinted in a German paper that there was potential for another of its "i" electric car models. "Between the i3 and the i8, there is space if you look at it from the number point of view," Harald Krueger told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, when asked if he was planning new models. He added that

Mark Karpeles, chief executive of Mt. Gox, attends a news conference at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo February 28, 2014. Reuters/Yuya Shino/Files TOKYO Mark Karpeles, the former head of defunct bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency, Japanese media reports said. The French-born Karpeles, 30, is suspected of falsifying data on the outstanding balance of the exchange, at one point the world's largest hub for

The logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street is seen in this photo illustration taken in Madrid on December 10, 2014. Reuters/Sergio Perez Uber Technologies Inc has closed a new round of funding that values the online taxi-hailing company at nearly $51 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Uber raised close to $1 billion in the round, bringing its total funding to more than $5 billion,

FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO BMW (BMWG.DE) and Apple (AAPL.O) may rekindle a courtship put on hold after an exploratory visit by executives of the world's top maker of electronic gadgets to the headquarters of the word's biggest seller of premium cars. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook went to BMW's headquarters last year and senior Apple executives toured the carmaker's Leipzig factory to learn how it manufactures the i3 electric car, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The dialogue ended without conclusion

An employee works inside the office of U.S. online cab-hailing company Uber, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 24, 2015. Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee REUTERS - Uber Technologies Inc will invest $1 billion in India in the next nine months, as the online taxi-hailing company looks to expand its services in its biggest market outside the United States. Uber said it would use the additional investment to improve operations, expand beyond the 18 Indian cities where it now operates, and develop new products

People talk in front of a Baidu's company logo at Baidu's headquarters in Beijing January 16, 2014. Reuters/Jason Lee Baidu Inc's (BIDU.O) quarterly profit missed analysts' estimates as China's biggest Internet search company spent heavily to diversify away from its core search advertising business, which is becoming less profitable and more competitive. Baidu's shares fell more than 8 percent in extended trading on Monday after the company's current-quarter revenue forecast also fell short of analysts' expectations. The Chinese company has been investing heavily to

A salesperson cleans next to an iPhone 6 at an Apple store in Beijing, October 17, 2014. Reuters/Jason Lee/Files BEIJING Police in Beijing have busted a factory that produced more than 41,000 fake iPhones worth as much as 120 million yuan ($19 million), including some that reached the United States, and have arrested nine suspects in the counterfeiting operation. Apple is one of the most popular brands in China, where authorities have stepped up efforts in recent years to dispel the country's

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, addresses a gathering during the Internet.org Summit in New Delhi October 9, 2014. Reuters/Adnan Abidi/Files MUMBAI Facebook Inc plans to scale up its service to offer free basic Internet on mobile phones, an executive said, after introducing the application in 17 developing countries over the past year. In a blog post released to mark the first year of the initiative, Facebook said it will open a portal allowing any mobile operator to offer the service

REUTERS - Amazon.com Inc's shares surged more than 20 percent in early trading on Friday, adding more than $46 billion to the company's market value, after strong growth in the e-commerce giant's cloud business drove a surprise quarterly profit. The company's market capitalization soared to more than $270 billion, overtaking that of Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer. Revenue from Amazon's cloud operations - Amazon Web Services (AWS) - nearly doubled in the second quarter, indicating that the business was poised

An AT&T Logo is pictured on the side of a building in Pasadena, California, January 26, 2015. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni WASHINGTON The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier AT&T Inc (T.N) and the biggest satellite-TV provider DirecTV (DTV.O) became the country's largest pay-TV company on Friday, completing their $48.5 billion merger after receiving final regulatory approval. The newly expanded AT&T leapfrogs the biggest U.S. cable company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O). The company said it will serve more than 26 million U.S. customers and more than

Delegates arrives for a special meeting of the General Council Preparatory Committee on Trade Facilitation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva November 27, 2014. Reuters/Denis Balibouse/Files GENEVA The World Trade Organization finalised a list of 201 information technology products to be freed from import tariffs in a $1.3 trillion deal on Friday, but said it was still short of the critical mass of countries needed to put it into force. The first global tariff-cutting deal in 18 years will

A zoomed image of a computer screen showing the Amazon logo is seen in Vienna November 26, 2012. To match Special Report TAX-AMAZON/ Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) swung to an unexpected quarterly profit on higher sales in North America, its popular Prime subscription service and growing demand for its Web services, sending the online retailer's shares up more than 17 percent. Amazon also forecast third-quarter revenue above estimates. Sales in North America, the company's biggest market, rose 25.5 percent to $13.8 billion

It could be a match made in heaven. Wall Street says Intel Corp (INTC.O) is the best suitor for Qualcomm Inc's (QCOM.O) chip unit, if the maker of Snapdragon mobile processors decides to break itself up. "The chip deal to end all chip deals," says Cowen and Co analyst Timothy Arcuri, would give Intel's smartphone chip making business a much-needed boost. It would also allow Intel to expand its footprint in the key Chinese market. Other suitors for Qualcomm's chip business, valued at

MUMBAI With only a tiny share of the world's fastest-growing major smartphone market, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is stepping up its push into India, with a first targeted TV advertising campaign, expanded retail network and promotional financing schemes. For years, India has been a low priority for Apple as spending power is weaker than in China, where the company's iPhones swiftly became must-have devices after their 2007 launch. But Apple is now looking to build on a 93 percent increase in its

An Apple iPhone 6 is seen on display at the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar Forget that iPhone unit sales were not as strong as many had expected; that the revenue forecast fell short of the average estimate, and that there was no clarity on Apple Watch sales. Analysts, for the most part, remain as upbeat as ever on Apple Inc (AAPL.O) after investors knocked more than $65 billion