Lenovo to add jobs in Triangle
MORRISVILLE — Lenovo, which wants to continue winning over U.S. consumers, has decided to relocate its customer-support operations to the Triangle – creating 300 local jobs in the process.
“Our business has momentum across the planet,” an ebullient Rory Read, president of the PC maker, said during a Friday afternoon announcement at the Chinese company’s customer briefing center.
Lenovo’s desktop and laptop computers are dominant in China and are more popular in the rest of the world than in the United States. Here, Lenovo ranks sixth behind HP, Dell, Toshiba, Apple and Acer.
But it’s been gaining ground quickly of late. U.S. sales in the first quarter rose “well over 25 percent,” even as industry sales as a whole declined, according to Jay Chou, senior research analyst at market research firm IDC. Read more
Facebook Images Open to Access
The social networking giant is flexible with how images are shared — a member can send a URL containing images to others who can then view the photographs without being a Facebook user.
People don’t realize that they don’t have to be logged into Facebook to view photographs, according to Pure Hacking chief technology officer Ty Miller.
Sony Announces PlayStation Network Restoration Plan, Freebies
Sony said Saturday night that it would begin restoring its PlayStation Network services this week, and would also give its customers several freebies in appreciation for their patience.
The announcement was made shortly before Kazuo Hirai, the executive deputy president of Sony, was expected to hold a press conference discussing the outage in Tokyo.
“‘We apologise deeply for causing great unease and trouble to our users,’ Kazuo Hirai, the frontrunner to take over the top job at Sony, said before he and two other executives bowed deeply,” Reuters reported.
Tablet PC Frenzy
The Apple iPad2 is now in stores in India and 25-year-old Rachit K Pandeya is one of those fanboys who waited patiently outside an Apple premium reseller’s shop in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, to get his unit. “I hadn’t bought any tablet PC and was happy with my HP notebook but this second-generation device was something I was waiting for ever since its launch early this year,” he says while uncovering his new 64GB iPad2. Proudly fiddling with his prized buy, Pandeya adds, “I have used tablet products from other brands too – some of my friends bought them – but I had my heart set on the iPad2 after seeing Steve Jobs demonstrate its features in his keynote speech.”
Samsung Electronics profit tumbles 30pc in the first quarter
SAMSUNG Electronics said today its first-quarter profit fell 30 per cent to 2.78 trillion won ($2.4 billion) as its TV-component business tumbled into the red and semiconductors and TVs brought smaller profits.
Samsung’s mobile phone business remained the company’s main bright spot, as it was in the fourth quarter, as its operating margin grew due to increased sales of higher-margin smartphones.
Microsoft Slips as Windows Disappoints
MICROSOFT reported a 4 per cent decrease in revenue from its core Windows franchise, which dimmed an otherwise strong third-quarter performance by its Office, Xbox and server divisions.
Businesses have been replacing aging computer hardware with new gear running software from the tech giant, but the weak Windows performance suggests that a share of that spending may be directed toward mobile devices where Microsoft isn’t expected to have a major presence until next year.
Research In Motion Warns of Weak BlackBerry sales
RESEARCH In Motion warned of slack sales for its BlackBerry smartphones in the current quarter, sending its shares plunging 11 per cent in after-hours trading.
The warning, just a month after the company reported earnings and gave a weak short-term outlook, is fresh evidence that RIM is struggling to compete with Apple and other smartphone makers, especially in the US market.
Sony Sued Over PlayStation Hacking
SONY is being sued in US courts by gamers irked by news that a hacker had cracked PlayStation Network defences and pilfered data that could potentially be used for fraud or identity theft.
Separate cases filed in different district courts in California have accused Sony of being negligent and breaching its contracts with PlayStation Network users.
