By Gilbert Falso :: 2:29 PM
According to reports, Google is looking to provide financing for an acquisition of Yahoo! Inc. by a unnamed group of bidders.
Yahoo recently fired its former CEO, Carol Bartz,and cited her failure to keep pace with Google in the market for online advertising as one of the reasons for her termination. Google is currently sitting on nearly $43 billion in cash and short-term investments, and is looking to back the acquisition of rival Yahoo! rather than buying it outright.
Neither Yahoo! nor Google have commented publicly on the matter.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 9:26 PM
Samsung said today that it had held back on launching a new Android smartphone in the wake of the death of Apple founder, chairman and former CEO Steve Jobs last week.
The company had been planning to roll out its new phone, running Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich release, on Tuesday at its Mobile Unpack event in San Diego, Calif.
In a statement, Samsung said, “We decided it was not the right time to announce a new product while the world was expressing tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing.”
Samsung is the biggest Android mobile phone manufacturer. Android phones have a greater share of the market, combined, than Apple’s iPhone, which is still the best-selling smartphone in the world.
In addition to needing to wait out the mourning period over Jobs, Samsung is also embroiled in legal battles over smartphone technology with Apple Corp. Samsung and Apple are in the midst of over 20 lawsuits across at least a dozen countries, many of them running since earlier this spring. The day before Jobs’ death, Samsung widened its patent-infringement cases to attempt to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in France and Italy.
Samsung has not yet set a new date for the delayed launch.
By Gilbert Falso :: 6:43 PM
Lenovo’s tablet offering, the IdeaPad K1, has recently seen a sharp price drop at BestBuy and online retailers, from $449 to the mid $300s. Amazon is currently offering the K1 for $364.
The K1 features a 10.1-inch display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 T20 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. It has two cameras, a 5 MP rear facing lens and 2 megapixel front facing one. Google’s Android ‘Honeycomb’ 3.1 is the operating system.
Lenovo has tinkered slightly with some of the Android buttons on their offering, including adding one of their own, a favorites-style button that launches a carousel of apps that can be selected.
Like all other Android offerings, the K1
By Cynthia Herbert :: 12:22 PM
Apple’s newest showing in its iPhone lineup, the iPhone 4s, has been completely sold out during the pre-order period, which launched on Friday morning.
Wireless carrier AT&T claimed it was the most successful iPhone launch to date, as more than 200,000 orders were placed within the first 12 hours. The new iPhone will be physically available on Friday, October 14, at the Apple store and other retailers. Customers who successfully pre-ordered, will have their phones delivered on that date as well.
Apple has said that they will open their retail stores early on the 14th, to accommodate the expected high demand for the new phone.
By Gilbert Falso :: 8:37 PM
Apple co-founder and chairman Steve Jobs has died at the age of 56.
Jobs’ health had been faltering for the last several years. He underwent surgery in 2004 to treat a rare strain of pancreatic cancer. Although he returned to work soon after that surgery, he left Apple for 6 months in 2009 to treat a hormone issue.
While on leave for the hormone treatment, he also underwent a liver transplant. Earlier this year he took an indefinite leave of absence to address is health issues, and at the end of August, resigned his position as CEO. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook took over and Jobs was elected chairman of the board.
He launched Apple with partner Steve Wozniak in 1976, and one year later, the pair released their popular Apple II computer. It was hailed as the first successful mass-market computer that was easy for people to use.
The company released the following statement about Jobs’ death:
“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”
The news of his death comes just one day after Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 4S. It was the first major announcement by the company in the post-Jobs era and was presided over by new CEO Cook. Jobs was not present at the Cupertino event.
Apple has established an e-mail address for people to send their thoughts and remembrances to: remembersteve@apple.com.