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A wireless TiVo adapter. (AP)
The Associated Press | TiVo Inc. prevailed yet again in a long-running dispute with Dish Network Corp. over patents for digital video recorders, as a federal appeals court cleared the way Thursday for TiVo to collect hundreds of millions of dollars. TiVo shares jumped more than 50 percent.
Despite repeatedly losing, however, Dish said it will seek a review of the three-judge panel’s decision by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
By Sandra M. Jones | Peerless Industries Inc., a manufacturer of audio visual equipment, said it is closing its China plant and consolidating operations at a new 22.5-acre headquarters campus in Aurora, a move aimed at cutting costs and exerting more control over operations.
The Melrose Park-based company plans to begin manufacturing at the site in May. The move to the 307,813-square-foot office complex replaces four older buildings in Illinois along with the plant in China, the company said.
From the Ventura County Star | Lincolnshire-based Zebra Technologies Inc. is continuing to shed jobs at its Camarillo, Calif. plant in a planned shift of production to China by mid-year.
Get the full story: vcstar.com
By Sandra M. Jones | United Stationers Inc. said it acquired Denver-based technology firm MBS Dev Inc. for $15 million to help boost its Internet presence.
The Deerfield-based wholesale distributor of business products said the purchase price could include an additional $3 million based on achieving certain financial goals.
From the Daily Mail | Apple Inc. admitted that child labor was used at some Chinese factories where its iPod, iPhones and computers are made. The company said underage workers were no longer being used or became of age.
Get the full story: dailymail.co.uk
From Marketwatch | UBS downgraded Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc. to neutral from buy, citing after its stock rebounded 11 percent from recent lows.
Get the full story: marketwatch.com
(Zoe Galland/Chicago Tribune)
Macworld | Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises has escaped Apple’s crackdown on adult content apps so far. Apple’s App Store policy allows the company to reject applications
deemed “obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.” Last week, an app called
“iWobble” was nuked after Apple gave iWobble’s developer a list of
seven “new rules” that cover banned App Store content, including “no
skin” and “nothing that can be sexually arousing.”
Playboy’s flagship magazine app and Time’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2010 app are still available.
Get the full story: macworld.com.
Associated Press | More than half of the people in the developing world are now cell phone
subscribers, a U.N. report said Tuesday, highlighting strong global
growth in telecommunications.
There were an estimated 4.6 billion mobile phone subscriptions at the
end of last year, compared with about 1 billion in 2002, the
International Telecommunication Union said in a report. In developing
nations, 57 percent of people were signed up.
“The rate of progress remains remarkable,” the U.N. agency said.
By Wailin Wong | Motorola Inc. may be moving its headquarters to California after its mobile-phone unit splits off to become its own company.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal quoted co-Chief Executive Sanjay
Jha as saying in an interview: “We’ll go where that talent is, and
right now, that looks like California.”
The interview was held last week at Mobile World Congress, an industry show in Spain.
By Wailin Wong | Motorola Inc. said Dan Moloney, the president of its cable TV set-top box business, is leaving the company to be the chief executive for an electrical components manufacturer in Philadelphia.
Moloney was president of Motorola’s Home and Networks business, which comprised both set-top boxes and wireless network infrastructure. Earlier this month, the company restructured its business units ahead of a planned separation and moved the Home unit to reside with the mobile-phone division. As a result, Moloney became president of just the Home business.
By Wailin Wong
| The U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate a claim by Motorola Inc. that Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, infringed on five of the Schaumburg-based company’s patents.
In late January, Motorola filed a complaint against RIM with the agency, alleging that the Canadian phone maker is importing and selling products that infringe on patents for technology such as Wi-Fi access, user interface and power management. The inquiry at the ITC opens a new front in a two-year legal dispute between the two companies.
Associated Press | The Internet attacks that may end up driving
Google Inc. out of China originated from two prominent schools in the
country, according to a story published late Thursday.
The New York Times reported security investigators have traced the
hacking to computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang
Vocational School in China. The newspaper attributed the information to
unnamed people involved in the investigation.
Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Associated Press | Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. have received clearance from regulators
in Washington and Europe to proceed with a search partnership intended
to challenge industry giant Google Inc.
The companies announced Thursday that the partnership has been approved
without restrictions by the Justice Department and the European
Commission. Under the 10-year agreement, Microsoft’s Bing search engine
will process all search requests and steer search-related ads on Yahoo.
By Wailin Wong
| Motorola Inc. confirmed Thursday that its Backflip mobile phone will be available at AT&T in March, making it the carrier’s first device powered by Google’s Android operating system.
Motorola announced the Backflip at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. It was widely expected that the phone was headed toward AT&T, which plans to release five Android smart phones during the first half of 2010. The phone will be available on March 7 and cost $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Consumers must sign up for a smart phone data plan and two-year contract with AT&T.
The Backflip folds over to reveal a physical keyboard that is larger
than that of the Droid, Motorola’s Android smart phone at Verizon
Wireless. The Backflip also has a small touch pad on its rear so that
users can navigate the main screen from behind. With this design
feature, users can swipe through a photo slideshow without covering the
main screen with their fingers, for example.
By Tribune staff | Vasco Data Security International Inc. said profits doubled in its 2009 fourth quarter on strong sales.
The Oakbrook Terrace-based developer of security hardware and software said net income jumped to $5.6 million, or 15 cents a share in the fourth quarter of last year compared to $2.8 million, or 7 cents a share in the year ago period.
Revenue rose 10 percent to $31.9 million.
