Qualcomm raises offer for NXP, Elliott backs new bid

(Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.O) to $127.50 per share on Tuesday, and said it now has the backing of the shareholder group led by Elliott Management that opposed the previous proposal. Qualcomm said it needs to buy a minimum 70 p...

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Medtronic quarterly profit meets expectations

(Reuters) - Largest U.S. standalone medical device maker Medtronic Plc reported a third-quarter profit in-line with analysts’ estimates, as sales across all its units, except the minimally invasive therapies business, grew. Sales in its cardiac and vascular unit — which sells defibrillat...

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Medtronic posts loss due to $2.2 billion U.S. tax law charge

(Reuters) - Medtronic Plc reported a third-quarter loss on Tuesday, compared with a year-ago profit, hurt by a $2.2 billion charge related to recent changes in U.S. tax laws. The net loss attributable to Medtronic was $1.39 billion, or $1.03 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 26, compared with a p...

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Qualcomm raises offer for NXP to $127.50/share

(Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.O) to $127.50 per share from $110, after being pressured by shareholders led by activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp. Qualcomm said it need to buy a minimum 70 percent of NXP’s outstandi...

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Qualcomm to raise offer to buy NXP: WSJ

(Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV to $127.50 per share from $110, after being pressured by shareholders led by activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The raised offer v...

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Japan's cryptocurrency exchanges to form new self-regulating body: sources

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sixteen Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges will fix plans as early as next week to create a self-regulating body in a bid to better safeguard investors after a $530 million digital money heist last month, two source familiar with the plan said. A plan to merge two separate industry ...

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Language app Babbel translates European success to U.S. market

BERLIN (Reuters) - It might seem a tall order to persuade people to spend as much to learn a language on their smartphone as it costs to subscribe to a music streaming or video-on-demand service. But Berlin-based startup Babbel says that, after 10 years in business, it has finally cracked the U.S. m...

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Malaysian firm adds Islamic certification to cryptocurrency

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Malaysia-based firm HelloGold has received a sharia-compliant certification for its gold-backed cryptocurrency and plans to launch its online gold platform in Thailand later this year, the company said. Its cryptocurrency product, dubbed GOLDX, was launched at the end of last year...

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Uber CEO sees commercialization of flying taxis in 5-10 years

TOKYO (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said on Tuesday he can see commercialization of the Uber Air flying taxi service happening within five to 10 years. The U.S. ride-hailing app maker has said it expects flying vehicles to eventually become an affordable...

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Adecco buys digital recruitment firm Vettery, price not disclosed

ZURICH (Reuters) - Staffing company Adecco (ADEN.S) said on Tuesday it bought U.S.-based online recruitment platform Vettery for an undisclosed sum to increase its footprint in the digital permanent recruitment market. Vettery, founded in New York in 2014, connects over 4,000 employers with candidat...

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Japan's Sony to form alliance to build taxi-hailing system

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp said on Tuesday it would become the latest blue-chip firm to jockey for position in Japan’s taxi and ride-hailing market, with plans for a joint venture to develop an artificial intelligence-based hailing system. Japan is seen as a potentially lucrative ride-hailing...

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Samsung Electronics to slash OLED panel production as iPhone X demand disappoints: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) will slash output of its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in response to its customer Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) decision to cut production of iPhone X amid weak demand, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday. Samsung Display now plans to make O...

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Japan's Sony to form alliance to build taxi-hailing system: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp looks set to become the latest blue-chip firm to jockey for position in Japan’s taxi and ride-hailing market, with plans for a joint venture to develop an artificial intelligence-based hailing system, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Japan is seen as a potentially luc...

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Israeli visual aid company OrCam valued at $1 billion

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s OrCam, which has developed a visual aid for the blind, has completed a funding round that values the company at $1 billion, putting it on track for a planned initial public offering (IPO), its chief executive said on Tuesday. The company raised $30.4 million by s...

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Japan's Sony Corp to form alliance to build taxi-hailing system: Nikkei

(Reuters) - Japan’s Sony Corp plans to form a joint venture to develop an artificial intelligence-based taxi-hailing system in Japan, the Nikkei Asian Review reported on Tuesday. Partners for the joint venture include Daiwa Motor Transportation, Hinomaru Kotsu, Kokusai Motorcars, Green Cab and...

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BoE's Carney says Bitcoin has 'pretty much failed' as currency

LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin BTC=BTSP has failed as a currency measured by standard benchmarks, and is neither a store of value nor a useful way to buy things, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Monday. “It has pretty much failed thus far on ... the traditional aspects of money. It is ...

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Uber drops opposition to London language test

LONDON (Reuters) - Taxi app Uber [UBER.UL] is dropping a legal appeal against the introduction of more stringent English language tests for drivers in London after the city’s transport regulator said it would water down its stringent proposals. Uber took legal action in 2016 against Transport ...

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U.N. chief urges global rules for cyber warfare

LISBON (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for global rules to minimize the impact of electronic warfare on civilians as massive cyber attacks look likely to become the first salvoes in future wars.

Congress sets sights on federal cryptocurrency rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jolted by the global investment craze over bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, U.S. lawmakers are moving to consider new rules that could impose stricter federal oversight on the emerging asset class, several top lawmakers told Reuters. Bipartisan momentum is growing in the Se...

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Russia looms large as U.S. election officials prep for 2018

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ten months before the United States votes in its first major election since the 2016 presidential contest, U.S. state election officials huddled in Washington this weekend to swap strategies on dealing with an uninvited guest: Russia. A pair of conferences usually devoted to s...

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Singapore competition agency to look closer at Uber tie-up with ComfortDelGro

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore’s competition commission said on Monday it plans to do further in-depth assessment of the tie-up between the city-state’s top taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, and Uber [UBER.UL], after an initial review. The agency said it had requested further information fr...

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Alibaba, Tencent rally troops amid $10 billion retail battle

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), worth a combined $1 trillion, are on a retail investment binge, forcing merchants to choose sides amid a battle for shoppers’ digital wallets. Since the start of last year, the...

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India's Reliance, global tech firms to invest $9.3 billion in industrial area

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s Reliance Industries Ltd and global technology companies will invest 600 billion rupees ($9.34 billion) over 10 years to set up an integrated industrial area in the western state of Maharashtra, the company’s chairman Mukesh Ambani said. More than 20 global firm...

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Software may have helped Daimler pass U.S. emissions tests: report

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. investigators probing Mercedes maker Daimler (DAIGn.DE) have found that its cars were equipped with software which may have help them to pass diesel emissions tests, a German newspaper reported on Sunday, citing confidential documents. There has been growing scrutiny of diese...

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India's City Union Bank CEO says suffered cyber hack via SWIFT system

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s City Union Bank (CTBK.NS) said on Sunday that “cyber criminals” had hacked its systems and transferred nearly $2 million through three unauthorized remittances to lenders overseas via the SWIFT financial platform. The comments come after the small private...

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Careem acquires Middle East online restaurant listing platform, to trial food delivery

DUBAI (Reuters) - Careem, a Middle East competitor to Uber Technologies [UBER.UL], said on Sunday it had acquired RoundMenu and would start trialing food delivery services through the restaurant listing and reservation online platform this month. The Dubai-based ride hailing firm acquired the websit...

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Facebook plans to use U.S. mail to verify IDs of election ad buyers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) will start using postcards sent by U.S. mail later this year to verify the identities and location of people who want to purchase U.S. election-related advertising on its site, a senior company executive said on Saturday. The postcard verification is Facebo...

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Proxy advisory firm ISS says Qualcomm should negotiate sale to Broadcom

(Reuters) - U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc should try to negotiate a sale to Broadcom Ltd following the latter’s sweetened $121 billion offer, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) said. Qualcomm has been seeking to walk a fine line between resisting Broadco...

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Facebook faces big challenge to prevent future U.S. election meddling

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Russian influence operation designed to tamper with the 2016 U.S. presidential election used a combination of old-school espionage tactics and 21st-century technologies that will not be easy to stop, even now that the methods have been exposed, experts said. ...

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Venezuela cryptocurrency to draw investment from Turkey, Qatar: official

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s new “petro” cryptocurrency will attract investment from Turkey, Qatar, the United States and Europe, the country’s cryptocurrency regulator, Carlos Vargas, told reporters on Friday. The first sale of petros is scheduled for Tuesday. Reporting b...

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