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[ashainagle-blog]

Tech wrap: Lineups long as ever for Apple’s iPhone 4S

Apple looked to ring in record first day sales as long lines made up of eager wannabe iPhone 4S owners formed at its stores around the world. In New York, the line outside Apple’s flagship Manhattan store no longer extended around the block after a half-hour of sales, but more people joined it as the morning progressed. Queues in Paris were smaller than those normally seen for a brand-new iPhone, with some fans there wondering if the somewhat underwhelming introduction had put people off, but in London and elsewhere the lines were as long as ever. Apple took more than 1 million online orders in the first 24 hours after its release, exceeding the 600,000 for the iPhone 4, which was sold in fewer countries initially. Despite the enthusiasm at Apple stores, the launch was marred somewhat by widespread complaints this week online about problems downloading iOS 5, the latest version of Apple’s mobile software. There were also problems with iCloud, Apple’s online communications, media storage and backup service formally launched on Wednesday, with users reporting glitches such as losing their email access. A judge in California said that Samsung’s Galaxy tablets infringe Apple’s iPad patents, but added that Apple has a problem establishing the validity of its patents. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh did not rule on Apple’s request to bar some Galaxy products from being sold in the U.S. but said she would do so “fairly promptly”. Apple must show both that Samsung infringed its patents and that its patents are valid under the law. Samsung attorney Kathleen Sullivan argued that in order to defeat an injunction bid, Samsung need only show that it has raised strong enough questions about the validity of Apple’s patents. Apple attorney Harold McElhinny said Apple’s product design is far superior to previous tablets, so Apple’s patents should not be invalidated by designs that came before. Shares of Google jumped over seven percent on Friday, closing up 5.85 percent, a day after the Internet search giant said robust growth at its mobile business and a strong emerging market lifted its third quarter, allaying worries that a slowing Europe was hurting business. Google announced that it will axe its microblogging service Buzz, to concentrate on its social networking service  Google+. The launch of Google Buzz was marred by privacy snafus. Britons are now including Internet passwords in wills to ensure their online music, photographs, videos and other digital data are not lost when they die, a British study showed. Around 11 percent of the 2,000 British people surveyed by the Center for Creative & Social Technology at the University of London for their “Cloud Generation” report said they had included Internet passwords or plan to include them in their wills in a trend that CAST labeled “digital inheritance.”

[ashainagle-blog]

Toymaker to pay $1.1 mln over recalled toy dart gun

The commission has provisionally accepted the settlement with the Plainfield, New Jersey, company, the CPSC said in a statement."In agreeing to the settlement, Henry Gordy denies CPSC staff allegations as to the existence of a defect or that it knowingly violated the law," the statement said.CPSC staff alleged that Henry Gordy knew around May 2006 that its Auto Fire Target Set was defective because the soft plastic toy dart could pose a choking hazard. However, the company failed to report the defect, the agency said.CPSC staff also said that Henry Gordy "made a material misrepresentation" during agency's investigation in 2009 by not reporting all the information the company had.The CPSC and Family Dollar Stores announced the recall of about 1.8 million of the sets in May 2010 because Henry Gordy refused to conduct the recall, the CPSC statement said."By that time, there were three deaths associated with the target set," the agency said.

[ashainagle-blog]

Walmart Foundation gets leader from Gates' group

Burwell, who will join Wal-Mart in January, will also lead the company's global women's economic empowerment initiative, an effort that was launched one month ago.She will also guide the world's largest retailer's social, environmental and economic opportunity efforts in Africa, Wal-Mart said on Friday.Burwell will report to Leslie Dach, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of corporate affairs.Wal-Mart is working on efforts in a number of areas, including sustainable agriculture, fighting hunger and working to make it easier for U.S. shoppers to buy more affordable healthy food.Last year, Wal-Mart gave more than $799 million in cash and in-kind gifts around the world. In 2010, Wal-Mart and the foundation pledged $2 billion through 2015 to fight hunger in the United States.Before joining the Gates Foundation, Burwell served as deputy director of the office of management and budget, deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and as chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.McKenna announced her retirement this spring. Friday is her last day with Wal-Mart, though she will consult with the company through the transition.

[ashainagle-blog]

GLOBAL MARKETS-Italian debt sale to test euro zone mood

European shares were flat after recent gains and following data showing China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September, with both imports and exports lower than expected.It reflected global economic weakness, which along with the euro zone debt crisis has kept investors avoiding aggressive risk taking over the past months.In Europe, however, there appeared some traction to the idea that policymakers were working on a cogent plan to solve the debt crisis, or at least reduce its threat.Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, outlined a broad plan on Wednesday to tackle the euro zone's two-year debt crisis, fuelling optimism."Maybe the political decisions are finally coming through," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management.This was to be tested later in the day by a sale of up to 6.5 billion euros in Italian bonds across four separate maturities. Italy is one of the euro zone countries most under stress in the crisis and is seen as too big for the rest of the bloc to bail out.Of particular interest was the fate of a reopening of 2025 bonds, marking the first sale since mid-July of bonds that fall outside the current scope of the European Central Bank's bond-buying programmes.Yields on Italian 10 year bonds were up ahead of the sales, trading around 5.78 percent.STOCKS MIXEDOn stock markets, the FTSEurofirst 300 recovered early losses to sit flat to slightly lower still heading for its third straight week of gains, something it has not achieved since March/April.World stocks as measured by MSCI were up a quarter of a percent.Earlier, Japan's Nikkei rose nearly 1 percent, catching up with U.S. and European gains from Wednesday.The euro hovered near a one-month high holding gains made the previous day as traders continued to cover short positions in the single currency, which may eke more gains in the near-term even if a sustained rally seems unlikely.Analysts said the euro may have a little more room to rise as investors clear out bets to sell the currency, which have piled up in past weeks.But they added that few in the market were keen to take on fresh "long" positions betting on further gains by the single currency unless euro zone authorities unveil a comprehensive strategy to fight the region's debt crisis at a summit on Oct. 23.