New Intel unit focused on tablets, smartphones

Intel on Wednesday formed a new unit devoted to making chips for smartphones and tablets that have become must-have gadgets in a post personal computer age.

Four units were combined into a Mobile and Communications Group headed by Hermann Eul and Mike Bell, whose background includes having worked on the iPhone at Apple, according to Intel spokesman Robert Manetta.
"We are trying to

Pilots cleared to use iPad during takeoff, landing

Apple's iPad has been cleared for use by American Airlines pilots during takeoff and landing in a move that could make bulky flight bags crammed with manuals and charts a thing of the past.

American Airlines began testing iPads as "electronic flight bags" last year and a number of other carriers, including United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, have followed suit.

But pilots were barred from using the touchscreen tablet computers during "critical phases of flight" -- operations below 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) -- pending further evaluation.

Les Dorr, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said American Airlines received authorization from the FAA on December 1 to use the iPad in the cockpit during all phases of flight, including takeoff and

Sony eyes Vita push, feels Fitch heat

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp, set to report a $1 billion loss this year, is banking on a big slate of new software to drive sales of its new PlayStation Vita handheld games device, even as Fitch downgraded the Japanese electronics giant to a notch above junk.

Welshman Andrew House, who took the top job at Sony Computer Entertainment in September, must plot a much-needed success story for the Vita, negotiating a minefield of consumer gloom and competition from smartphones and tablet PCs such as Apple Inc's iPhone and iPad.

Sony, which has forecast a fourth straight annual loss this year, launches the Vita in Japan this weekend.

It hopes a package of 24 software titles at launch will help the gadget avoid the fate of rival Nintendo's 3DS, which flopped shortly after launch, forcing a hefty price cut.

"It's unprecedented for us to achieve that degree of publisher and development support ... we adopted a different approach to the lead-up to the platform in terms of our relationships with publishers and developers," House told reporters at Sony's Tokyo head office on Thursday.

He said he hoped the Vita would outsell its predecessor, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), which has

RIM: Next-generation phones not out till late 2012

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. said Thursday that new phones deemed critical to the company's future will be delayed until late 2012.

Mike Lazaridis, one of the company's co-CEOs, said the BlackBerry 10 phones will need a highly integrated chipset that will not be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect them to ship late in the year. He disclosed the delay on a conference call with analysts.

Analysts say RIM's future depends on the new software platform. RIM needs to come up with a compelling BlackBerry as U.S. users have moved on to flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and various competing models that run Google's Android software.

Earlier Thursday, RIM said BlackBerry sales will fall sharply in the holiday quarter, providing further evidence that it is struggling to compete. It also has been having a hard time finding a niche in the tablet-computer market, which is dominated by Apple's iPad.

RIM continues to enjoy success overseas, but market researcher

Exclusive: Made in Texas: Apple's A5 iPhone chip

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc is famous for relying on low-cost Asian manufacturers to both source and assemble its popular gadgets, but the consumer device giant recently started receiving a critical component in its iPad and iPhones from closer to home - Texas.
The A5 processor - the brain in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 - is now made in a sprawling 1.6 million square feet factory in Austin owned by Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics, according to people familiar with the operation.
One of the few major components to be sourced from within the United States, the A5 processor is built by Samsung in a newly constructed $3.6 billion non-memory chip production line that reached full production in early December.
Nearly all of the output of the non-memory chip production from the factory - which is the size of about nine football fields - is dedicated to producing Apple chips, one of the people said. Samsung also produces NAND flash memory chips in

Angry Birds maker eyes 2013 Hong Kong IPO: report

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish gaming firm Rovio, creator of "Angry Birds," the world's most popular computer game, is planning an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2013, Finnish weekly Tekniikka&Talous reported on Friday.

Rovio's marketing chief Peter Vesterbacka told the paper the aim is to build the company into a media firm which would have a market capitalization similar to that of Walt Disney Co, whose shares are valued at $65.3 billion.

"That is the target. There is no reason why we should not be able to build a company of that size," Vesterbacka was quoted as saying, adding Rovio's 2011 revenues would be around $100 million, compared with $10 million a year before.

In May Rovio Chief Executive Mikael Hed told Reuters the firm was aiming for a stock market listing in New York in 2-3 years time.

Unlike most mobile game crazes, Angry Birds, in which players use a slingshot to

Zynga prices IPO at top end of range

(Reuters) - Online games maker Zynga Inc is expected to make a strong debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday after it priced its initial public offering at the top end of a preliminary range but did not increase the size of the $1 billion deal.
Analysts and investors had expected Zynga to raise the price or boost the number of shares it was selling, since demand had seemed strong in recent weeks. The IPO, from the maker of "CityVille" and "FarmVille" games, has been highly anticipated because it is seen as a way for investors to get a slice of Facebook's growth before the social network goes public itself.
Zynga sold 100 million shares of Class A common stock at $10 per share in the IPO, the top end of the $8.50 to $10 indicative range.
In addition, certain of Zynga's stockholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15 million shares to cover over-allotments, Zynga said in a statement late on Thursday. Zynga will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.
Zynga publishes four of the top five games played on Facebook and has more than

Better manufacturing, jobs news sends stocks up

NEW YORK (AP) — Stronger reports on the job market and manufacturing sent stock indexes higher in afternoon trading Thursday. FedEx jumped 8 percent after reporting a surge in earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,896 at 3:15 p.m. Eastern. The Dow lost 360 points over the past three days on worries that Europe's latest plan to keep its currency union intact would fail.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Bank, said the upturn reflects a shift in investors' attention back to recent signs of strength in the U.S. economy.
"We're not completely insulated (from Europe), but trouble there doesn't necessary spell problems for us," Ablin said.
The number of people applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week to 366,000, the lowest level since May 2008. That's a sign that layoffs are easing, a first step toward bringing down the

Coca-Cola Enterprises sees '11 EPS at top of range

ATLANTA (AP) — Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., which bottles and sells Coca-Cola drinks in Europe, said that its full-year earnings will likely come in at the higher end of its prior forecast.
Coca-Cola Enterprises previously predicted earnings between $2.14 and $2.18 per share, which includes a 15 cent per share foreign exchange benefit.
Analysts expect full-year earnings of $2.16 per share, according to a FactSet survey.
The company also anticipates a mid-single-digit percentage increase in revenue compared to "pro forma" revenue in 2010. Coca-Cola Enterprises posted revenue of $6.71 billion in 2010. But "pro forma" revenue came to $7.4 billion. That figure reflects which Coca-Cola Enterprises' sale of its North American operations to Coca-Cola Co. and its acquisition of other assets.
Coca-Cola Enterprises predicts its 2011 gross margins will probably decline modestly but that operating margins will be

RIMM Co-CEOs Cut Pay To $1 Each A Year; No BB 10 Phones 'Till Late 2012

Research in Motion Co-CEO Jim Balsillie this afternoon told investors on a post-earnings report conference call that he and co-chief Mike Lazaridis will reduce their cash compensation to $1 a year as part of its program to fix what ails the company.
He says management is open to reviewing what's best for the company and the shareholders.
On the other hand, I would note that what the Street might have preferred is to have the dynamic duo step down in favor of fresh management.
Balsillie said the company plans to ramp up advertising and promotional activity in the U.S. and some other key markets.
The company this afternoon reported FY Q3 results in line with its previous warning, but also

Anonymous donors pay off Kmart layaway accounts

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.
He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.
"She told him, 'No, I'm paying for it,'" recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. "He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn't, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears."
At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.
Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and