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Google Buzz screen shot. (AP/Google)
Associated Press | Google is making it easier to socialize on
its e-mail service. It’s unveiling a new “Google Buzz” feature that
sets up a face-off with Facebook.
The feature unveiled Tuesday will enable Gmail users to create status
updates on Google Buzz and read and comment on the updates posted by
their friends.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Licolnshire-based
Zebra Technologies Corp. said it returned to profitability in the
fourth quarter due to lower restructuring, integration and asset
impairment charges.
The company reported net income of $17.6 million, or 30 cents a share,
compared with a loss of $117.3 million, or $1.88 a share, in the
comparable period a year ago. Special charges totaled $5.4 million
during the final quarter of 2009 and $165.4 million in the year-ago
period.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Strong
demand for its crystalline products used by LED chip manufacturers
enabled Rubicon Technology Inc. of Franklin Park, to lessen its
fourth-quarter loss.
The company said it lost $755,000, or 4 cents a share, compared to a
loss of $1.8 million, or 10 cents a share, in 2008’s fourth quarter.
Revenues during the quarter increased 49 percent to $8.5 million.
Associated Press | Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it
charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new
Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.
The Google fee was dropped to $150 from $350, but customers who break a
contract on the phone will still have to pay an early termination fee
of $200 to T-Mobile.
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Shares of Littelfuse Inc., rose almost 10 percent in mid-day trading
Monday, after the Chicago-based maker of circuit protection systems
beat its own fourth-quarter earnings guidance.
Littelfuse Inc., reported fourth-quarter net income of $11.7 million,
or 53 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of $9.2 million, or
42 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales totaled $127.9 million,
a 21 percent increase from the year-ago period, although the quarter included
14 weeks instead of the 13 weeks included in 2008’s fourth quarter.
Models pose with Motorola’s new Android 2.0-based Motoroi during a press conference in Seoul in January. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)
| By Greg Burns | Motorola Inc. may look like it has its share of problems going forward, but the folks at Barron’s evidently believe there’s nothing wrong that a break-up can’t solve.
In the original Barron’s piece, analysts speculate that Motorola would be worth $9 a share if it follows through on plans to spin off its cell-phone handset division. That’s a better-than-$2 premium on its current market value. Read the full story: Burns on Business |
See also • Greg Burns: Why breaking up Motorola may be hard to do |
Dow Jones Newsires | The U.N. says the number of international patent filings dropped last
year for the first time since 1978 as companies hit by the global
economic downturn sought fewer new protections on their intellectual
property.
Andrew Mason, founder and CEO of Groupon, at his office in Chicago this summer. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Groupon launched its shopping Web site in three new markets Monday,
bringing the number of cities for the Chicago-based company to 35. The company established its Web site in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Memphis and Louisville.
Tribune staff report | Motorola’s strategic investment arm, Motorola Ventures, said it has invested inTuneWiki Ltd., a provider of next-generation social media music players and related applications. Motorola acted as lead investor and was joined by several other investors.
Read the announcement: prnewswire.com
Associated Press | Facebook is redesigning its site yet again, this time to better emphasize applications, games and search.
The latest evolution continued Friday after Facebook started rolling the changes out late Thursday, the company’s sixth birthday. Links and items have moved around the home page as Facebook tries to streamline navigation and make games and apps stand out more.
Tribune staff report | Anixter International Inc. announced a share repurchase program under which it may repurchase up to 1 million of its outstanding shares. The exact volume and timing depend on market conditions. Anixter currently has approximately 34.5 million shares outstanding.
By Gail MarksJarvis | Cisco chief executive John Chambers has provided the type of encouraging outlook for the economy that you want to hear.
He said he’s seen a “dramatic improvement” across Cisco’s various businesses. That matters because Cisco is a technological giant and one of the key companies investors watch for a clue into business conditions.
Read more: MarksJarvis on Money
From the Montreal Gazette: A British judge invalidated a Motorola patent on the way smart phones access email. The ruling was a victory for Blackberry-maker Research in Motion.
Read the full story: montrealgazette.com
Associated Press | A Delaware bankruptcy judge has
dismissed claims brought by Midway Games’ creditors committee against
former directors and media mogul Sumner Redstone.
The judge last week dismissed claims alleging that the directors,
Redstone, and his National Amusements holding company breached their
fiduciary duties to Chicago-based Midway.
By Wailing Wong | Motorola Inc. unveiled a new Android-powered mobile phone that will be available next month from Verizon Wireless.
The phone, called the Devour, has a touchscreen and slide-out keyboard and runs Motoblur, a proprietary service that aggregates social networking data such as Facebook and Twitter updates, and streams that content to the phone in real time.
Motorola introduced Motoblur late last year with the Cliq phone, available through T-Mobile.
The price was not disclosed.
