Citibank won approval to issue its own credit card in China, making it the first non-Asian bank to enter that market.
From Autoblog: Report: Two Japanese suppliers plead guilty for bid-fixing, will pay record fines
Two more Japanese auto industry suppliers, Yazaki and Denso, have been fined by the U.S. Department of Justice and four executives from Yazaki will go to jail, according to reports in the New York Times and Automotive News. Yazaki’s $478 million fine and Denso’s $78 million fine come on top of the $200 million penalty paid by another Japanese supplier, Furukawa Electric Company, last November as part of a probe into price fixing. Three Furukawa execs also were sentenced to prison.
The DoJ opened the investigation two years ago into collusion among firms setting prices for parts like wire harnesses and ECUs, but is said to have found evidence of such practices since 2000. Yazaki was charged with three felonies, fixing the prices of wire harnesses, instrument panel clusters and fuel senders. Denso was charged with two felonies, conspiring to fix the prices of ECUs and heating control units. Four Yazaki employees, working mainly for its North American operations in Ohio and Kentucky, were charged with violating the Sherman Antitrust Act and will serve from 15 months to two years in prison.
Both companies have pledged to retrain their employees and bolster their antitrust compliance, and both Yazaki’s Chairman and CEO said they would return half their pay for three months. The Justice Department investigation continues, and said the CEO of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, “I’m dead certain that there has to be a lot of concern out there.”
Feel free to read over the official statements from both Yazaki and Denso after the break.
Continue reading Two Japanese suppliers plead guilty for bid-fixing, will pay record fines
from Autoblog
From Engadget: Motorola wins permanent injunction against Apple’s iCloud in German court (update: ban lifted)
There’s another legal brouhaha brewing in Germany, where Motorola today won an injunction against Apple’s iCloud. In a decision handed down from the infamous Mannheim Regional Court this morning, Judge Andreas Voss issued a permanent injunction against Cupertino’s cloud-based service and any devices that use it, following a complaint that Motorola originally filed in April of last year. The two companies, as you may recall, have been going at each other rather aggressively in Germany, where Motorola scored a similar victory, back in November. At issue in today’s ruling is a European Patent that outlines a “multiple pager status synchronization system and method,” upon which iCloud, Motorola claims, infringes. The injunction, as FOSS Patents explains, targets Apple’s Ireland-based European distribution branch, but it only applies to the German market — not Europe, as a whole. And while it’s technically “permanent,” it’s still “preliminarily enforceable,” which means Apple can (and likely will) appeal. Motorola, meanwhile, can seek to enforce it, if it’s willing to post a €100 million bond. Apple had been seeking a bond of €2 billion, but was ultimately denied. For more of the legal nitty gritty, check out the source link below.
Update 1: Citing a statement from Apple, Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency is now reporting that the company has pulled the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS, and the iPhone 4 from its German online store, along with any 3G/UMTS-enabled iPads. The move appears to come in response not to today’s ruling, but to a decision issued in December, when Motorola won an injunction against Apple, on the grounds that its 3G/UMTS technology infringes upon one of Moto’s European patents. According to FOSS Patents, Apple presumably lost its appeal to the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court, after Motorola sought to enforce the injunction.
Update 2: Apple has formally responded to each of today’s events, confirming its plans to appeal the court’s ruling on iCloud, and explaining its reasoning for pulling its products. “Apple believes this old pager patent is invalid and we’re appealing the courts decision,” the company said in an e-mailed statement to PaidContent. As for the 3G/UMTS case, Apple says it’s still lobbying for a reversal, and that the pulled devices are still available at brick-and-mortar retailers within Germany. “While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple’s online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an authorised reseller,” the statement reads. “Apple is appealing this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.”
Update 3: And just like that, the BBC is reportingthat Apple’s exhortations have been heard, and the ban has been lifted. Details are few, but Cupertino had this to say about this latest turn of events:
“All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly.”
from Engadget
Verizon Wireless Leads Industry in Customer Care? Really?!
According to J.D. Power & Associates survey, Verizon is leading in customer care… Really?!
You see, I have been a loyal customer for almost a decade. Â You’d think that they’d treat you well for loyalty… well, no! Â 😡 I got a new phone (Droid Charge) back in end of October just a day before I left for work. Â I figured I’d have few days left (I was going for 2 weeks) if I wanted to exchange the phone. Â The phone was crap. Â Slower and crappier than its predecessor, Droid X. Â And since I didn’t want to be without a phone while I was on travel, I decided to call in when I returned.
Big mistake. It turns out the 14-day return period begins from the day they SHIP IT OUT! Â WTH?! Â I kept complaining and they eventually said that they’d let me swap it out with HTC Thunderbolt (which is way better!). Â They would re-imburse me later on once I ship back Droid Charge. Â Well, they didn’t come through and after much crap, I was given the short end of the stick! Â I was beyond mad.
I am thinking about not renewing my contract. Â I tend to be very loyal… unless you screw me over big time. Â Verizon did. Â But my other problem is… who would I switch to?! Â Surely not AT&T! Â No thanks… Â Sprint? Â Too much doubt… Â erg… Â Ok. Â I am done with my ranting… but just had to laugh and rant on J.D. Power & Assoc. survey results… Â who do YOU ask?! Â Big sets of walls?! Â Please… both Verizon and J.D. Power & Associates… get in touch with REALITY!
From News: Could Cheap Gas Slow Growth Of Renewable Energy?
The relatively clean gas is replacing dirty coal-fired power plants. That’s good news for the environment. But in the long run, cheap natural gas might delay the transition to even cleaner sources of energy, such as wind and solar power.
from News
From News: Automaker Chrysler Posts First Profit Since 1997
The Auburn Hill, Mich.-based company, which is now majority owned by Italy’s Fiat SpA, said it earned $183 million last year after a loss of $652 million in 2010. Better sales, especially those of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, turned things around.
from News
From Engadget: IDC: Nokia, Samsung, Apple are the new top 3 handset makers
The latest figures are in from IDC: the top three global smartphone makers are Nokia, Samsung and Apple, in that order. Drilling down into the figures finds some surprises: Cupertino’s third-place with only 8.7 percent of the market, while the giants of Korea and Finland are duking it out with 22.8 percent and 26.6 respectively. LG and ZTE are tied for fourth, but that’s hardly good news for Goldstar, given that it’s lost a staggering 42.2 percent of its market share in the last twelve months (Nokia was the other loser, eating 8.2 percent). The cause for the drop is in part the world’s rejection of feature-phones (dropped faster than fashionistas rightly abandoned Ugg Boots and Jeggings) as millions upgraded to smartphones. After the break we’ve got the tables in full for anyone who wants to have their mind blown at the sheer quantity of handsets shipped in the last year, both financial and calendar.
Continue reading IDC: Nokia, Samsung, Apple are the new top 3 handset makers
from Engadget