xin wang's Page

Apple enjoyed Irish tax holiday from the start

By Poornima Gupta and Padraic Halpin SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest country, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism from a Senate subcommittee in Washington on Tuesday over the iPad and iPhone maker's tax practices, which had been shrouded from full view behind secretive tax-exempt Irish-based corporate entities. ...

More signs of imminent doom for ‘Facebook phone’: U.K. launch canceled

BGR exclusively reported last week that HTC’s First, also known as the “Facebook phone,” will soon be discontinued at AT&T. Sales during the phone’s first month of availability totaled less than 15,000 units according to our source, and AT&T has given up hope that things might turn around. According to a new report, AT&T isn’t alone. Mobile News on Thursday reported that the HTC First’s launch has been canceled in the United Kingdom. Facebook, which is footing the bill for HTC’s new handset, reportedly made the decision and all preorders will be canceled. “The HTC First has been pulled and will never go on sale in the UK,” the blog’s unnamed source said. “Sales in the US were poor and Facebook

The Return of the Mac-vs.-PC Ad Wars, Siri-vs.-Surface Edition

After taking a little break from the classic Mac-vs- PC wars to punch a little lower (at Samsung), Microsoft has decided to return to its old rivalry, hoping to revive slow Surface tablet sales with a little anti-Apple advertising. This latest spot is a robot-future version of the cool Mac-guy-and-dorky-PC-guy campaigns that Apple used to build up its hip-cred in the aughts. But instead of getting actors to do its bidding, Microsoft used dueling tablets, creating a Siri-vs. ...

GameStop results beat on higher mobile sales

(Reuters) - GameStop Corp, the world's largest retailer of video game products, reported quarterly results ahead of Wall Street estimates helped by higher sales of mobile devices and digital content. Net income fell to $54.6 million, or 46 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with $72.5 million, or 54 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell about 7 percent to $1.87 billion. Mobile sales rose 290 percent to $46.8 million. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 40 cents per share, on revenue of $1.82 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ...

It’s official: Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is the fastest-selling Android phone ever

We all expected Samsung to reach its goal of selling 10 million Galaxy S4 smartphones into distribution channels within the phone’s first month of availability. An unnamed Samsung executive confirmed last week that shipments had reached 6 million units in two weeks following the phone’s launch, and now Samsung is on record confirming that global channel sales of the Galaxy S4 have reached 10 million units. “On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung GALAXY S4. At Samsung we’ll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for people,” Samsung’s mobile boss JK Shin said in a statement. Samsung’s Galaxy S III previously held the title of fastest-selling

EU wants big companies to reveal national tax bills

By John O'Donnell BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's top regulatory official is seeking to force large companies to disclose how much tax they pay in each country where they operate, a measure some politicians say could curb tax avoidance. Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of drafting business regulation, said in a speech in Amsterdam that rules which will force banks to report their profits, taxes and subsidies by country from 2015 should be extended to cover other companies. "We will expand these reporting obligations to large companies and groups," he said on Thursday. ...

SoftBank would add 'security director' to Sprint board

(Reuters) - SoftBank Corp would appoint a "security director" to Sprint Nextel Corp's board if its takeover bid succeeds and give the U.S. government right of approval on the appointment in hopes of easing national security concerns raised by the proposed deal. Sprint said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1 that the new director appointed by Tokyo-based SoftBank would oversee public safety concerns related to Sprint's wireless and wireline operations. ...

Aixtron shake-up aims for LED equipment top spot

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Aixtron's new chief executive laid out a strategy focused on returning to profit and wrestling back leadership of the global market for LED chip-making equipment from U.S. rival Veeco Instruments. The German company swung from a profit in 2011 to a net loss of 103.2 million euros ($132.9 million) last year as orders from customers making light-emitting diode (LED) chips for televisions and lighting equipment dried up. ...

The Art and Science of the Diagram: Communicating the Knowledge of the Heavens, the Earth and the Arcane, Final Part

The Art and Science of the Diagram: Communicating the Knowledge of the Heavens, the Earth and the Arcane, Final Part

New Android apps worth downloading: Gravy - local events, CallSnap, Sonic the Hedgehog

Need help finding things to do? Grab Gravy, today's first app worth downloading, and find local events and all the information you need to plan to attend them. We've also got CallSnap, an app that lets you respond to a call you can't take by snapping and sending a photo. Finally, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega's classic high-speed platformer, has finally come to Android for your old-school gaming approval.