By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – If Jack Dorsey becomes permanent CEO of both Twitter Inc and mobile payments company Square, he could struggle with conflicts of interest in the business that is key to both companies' futures: e-commerce. Corporate governance experts and some investors have already expressed concern that Dorsey faced tough choices in his role as interim Twitter chief and head of Square
Read moreBy Brendan O'Brien MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Wisconsin wildlife officials have taken to social media to refute a hoax letter that suggested they had mistakenly added deer lawn ornaments to the last two annual statewide deer tallies.
Read moreBy Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. intelligence official said he was skeptical that a new U.S.-China cyber agreement would slow a growing torrent of cyber attacks on U.S. computer networks, adding that his approach will be to “trust but verify.” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the agreement did not include specific penalties for violations but that the U.S
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By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc introduced a slate of new advertising products on Sunday, most of which are aimed at luring television advertisers onto the 1.5-billion user social network. Facebook is trying to convince advertisers, especially those who use video, that their dollars will be better spent on mobile platforms rather than on TV as users, especially millennials, spend more time on their phones than watching television
Read moreBy Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – Insurer Ace Ltd plans to start offering cyber security policies providing up to $100 million in coverage at a time when experts say it is hard for businesses to obtain such large coverage following the surge in high-profile breaches. The plan comes with services from firms that help identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities and respond to cyber attacks.
Read more(Reuters) – Chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd said it would cut about 17 percent of its global workforce as the company trims its mobile business. Marvell said it would now focus on emerging opportunities in businesses such as automotive and Internet of Things, the concept of connecting household devices to the Internet.
Read moreBy Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip this weekend to Silicon Valley gives Facebook and Google the chance to press him on issues that have bedeviled them in that country, a market they see as vital to their aggressive global expansion. For Facebook and Google, India is a crucial market. With 1.3 billion people, it is the world's second most-populous country – and they are blocked from China, the most populous, making success in India even more critical for their global growth.
Read more(Reuters) – Internet radio service Pandora Media Inc said it paid nearly $500 million in artist royalties over the past 12 months, bringing the total to more than $1.5 billion in about 10 years. “It took us nearly nine years to generate the first billion dollars in royalties, and just over a year to increase that total by 50 percent,” Chief Executive Brian McAndrews said in a statement on Wednesday. Pandora gets revenue from advertising and paid subscriptions
Read moreBy Paul Carsten BEIJING (Reuters) – China's “Great Firewall” may have been partly to blame for the first major attack on Apple Inc's App Store, but experts also point the finger at lax security procedures of some big-name Chinese tech firms and how Apple itself supports developers in its second biggest market. A malicious program, dubbed XcodeGhost, hit hundreds – possibly thousands – of Apple iOS apps, including products from some of China's most successful tech companies used by hundreds of millions of people. The hackers targeted the App Store via a counterfeit version of Apple's Xcode “toolkit” – the software used to build apps to run on its iOS operating system – which Chinese developers used because they could download it faster.
Read moreXiaomi Inc, China's leading smartphone maker, announced on Tuesday two prepaid wireless plans to mark its debut as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) competing against China's national carriers. MVNOs, which purchase network capacity from large carriers and resell mobile plans under their own branding, have failed to gain traction in China, where three state-owned giants dominate the telecoms industry.
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