It's always refreshing to hear the head of a major corporation cop to past mistakes -- particularly in front of a large crowd of on-lookers. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson admitted some misgivings about the way the carrier handled iPhone data, telling a crowd at the Milken Institute's Global Conference in Los Angeles, "My only regret was how we introduced pricing in the beginning, because how did we introduce pricing? Thirty dollars and you get all you can eat." Stephenson drove the point home by adding, "Every additional megabyte you use in this network, I have to invest capital."

And, for the record, that certainly wasn't the only thing about the iPhone that kept the exec up at night. Stephenson again,

You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model," he said. "Apple iMessage is a classic example. If you're using iMessage, you're not using one of our messaging services, right?

No one ahead said it was easy being the chief.

AT&T CEO voices regret over iPhone unlimited data model originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 17:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barnes & Noble’s Nook eReader business is expected to see continued growth and was recently spun off into a new subsidiary that Microsoft invested $300 million in. The company’s CEO William Lynch sat down with Fortune and spoke about the future of the Nook business, and the executive said NFC-equipped Nook eReaders will be released as early as this year. “We’re going to start embedding NFC chips into our Nooks,” the CEO said. “We can work with the publishers so they would ship a copy of each hardcover with an NFC chip embedded with all the editorial reviews they can get on BN.com. And if you had your Nook, you can walk up to any of our pictures, any our aisles, any of our bestseller lists, and just touch the book, and get information on that physical book on your Nook and have some frictionless purchase experience. That’s coming, and we could lead in that area.”

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Here's something—other than reactivated coupons—that might cheer up disgruntled users of Groupon: its CEO does at least admit that the company's been acting like a bunch of irresponsible asses. More »

Barclays on Thursday announced the launch of the Barclaycard PayTag, a sticker that can be placed on any handset to equip it with instant NFC compatibility. The PayTag is an extension of a customer’s credit card account that can be used to make payments of £15 and under, though the limit will rise to £20 in June, and it is available at no cost to Barclaycard owners. “Today, we are offering the choice of mobile payments to millions of our customers at no additional cost to them,” David Chan, CEO of Barclaycard Consumer Europe, said. “More than half of us say that the item we’re most lost without is our mobile phone, so we’re giving people the option of using them to make easy, convenient, everyday payments without the need to upgrade their current handset.” The PayTag will be released to a select group of customers in the coming weeks, with mass availability coming later this year. Barclays’ commercial and press release follows below.

Barclaycard today announced the launch of Barclaycard PayTag, a new way to pay with your mobile telephone

Barclaycard today announced the launch of Barclaycard PayTag, a new way to pay with your mobile telephone. Millions of Barclaycard customers will be offered the chance to make payments with any mobile phone by simply sticking a Barclaycard PayTag to the back of their handset.

Available at no cost, and exclusively to Barclaycard Visa cardholders, Barclaycard

PayTag is an extension of a customer’s credit card account. At a third of the size of a normal card, it can be discreetly and simply stuck to the back of any mobile phone. Once attached, it can be used to make payments of £15 and under, rising to £20 in June, by simply being held over a contactless payment terminal.

David Chan, CEO of Barclaycard Consumer Europe, said: “Today, we are offering the choice of mobile payments to millions of our customers at no additional cost to them. More than half of us say that the item we’re most lost without is our mobile phone[1], so we’re giving people the option of using them to make easy, convenient, everyday payments without the need to upgrade their current handset.”

The announcement comes as Visa predicts that the number of contactless point-of-sale terminals in the UK will rise by 50% to 150,000 this year. Major retailers that offer, or are introducing, contactless include Waitrose, McDonalds, Boots, WH Smith and Tesco. By the end of 2012, London buses will also accept contactless payments, followed by the Tube and the rest of the transport network in the Capital in 2013.

Barclaycard PayTag is safe and secure, and comes with the same 100% fraud protection as any Barclaycard. An exclusive group of customers will be invited to receive their Barclaycard PayTag in the coming weeks, before they are offered to millions of Barclaycard customers later in the year.

David Chan, adds: “Barclaycard is developing a wide range of initiatives which will ultimately enable everyone to enjoy the benefits of mobile payments. Barclaycard PayTag is another milestone on our journey to make paying easier, and sits alongside other easy ways to pay with your mobile such as those we offer in partnership with Orange.”

Last week Barclaycard and Orange announced that credit or debit card holders from all UK banks would be able to load money onto Barclaycard’s mobile payments application, in the Quick Tap wallet. This will open up the opportunity for contactless payments to more Orange customers. Orange also confirmed that it would be making Quick Tap available on a range of Android smartphones, with the first to be announced in the coming weeks.

Research carried out on Barclaycard’s behalf predicts that £3 billion worth of purchases will be made with mobile phones in the UK in 2016[2]. Barclaycard PayTag provides customers with the choice of simple mobile phone payments now, without having to wait to upgrade, and at no additional cost.

To find out more and to register interest in Barclaycard PayTag, please visit barclaycard.co.uk/paytag.

Verizon Wireless confirmed plans on Thursday to launch a new feature this summer that will allow families to share a single data plan. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has discussed the carrier’s plans to launch the new data feature in the past, and the executive stated that shared data plans will become available by the end of this year. Now, during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, McAdam clarified that shared data plans will become available to Verizon Wireless subscribers by the middle of the summer. McAdam did not share any details regard pricing.

Nokia warned that its first-quarter earnings would be weak, and the numbers are now in. Revenue declined 30% to €7.4 billion, or $9.7 billion USD last quarter, down from €10.4 billion, or $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year. The company posted a massive €1.3 billion loss, or $1.7 billion USD, which breaks down to a loss of €0.25 per share. Smartphone sales plummeted 52% to 1.7 billion units in the first quarter, and net device sales dropped 40% to 4.2 billion units. Read on for more.

“We are navigating through a significant company transition in an industry environment that continues to evolve and shift quickly,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said. “Over the last year we have made progress on our new strategy, but we have faced greater than expected competitive challenges. We have launched four Lumia devices ahead of schedule to encouraging awards and popular acclaim. The actual sales results have been mixed. We exceeded expectations in markets including the United States, but establishing momentum in certain markets including the UK has been more challenging.”

Nokia confirmed earlier this month that it sold 2 million Lumia Windows Phones in the first quarter, and it said on Wednesday that sales of its Lumia 900 smartphone at AT&T have been “encouraging” thus far. The Lumia 900 launched on April 8th, so sales are not reflected in Nokia’s first-quarter report.

The company confirmed in a separate statement that Colin Giles, executive vice president of sales, has resigned.

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According to Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page, the Android mobile operating system is an important asset for Google, but it is not critical. Page made the claim during courtroom testimony as he took the stand for a second day in the company’s legal dispute with Oracle. The CEO’s testimony is rather puzzling — Page has previously claimed the company’s Android platform was “on fireâ€� and a “tremendous example of the power of partnership” that “gets better with each version.” During an earnings call in October, Page said the company was “seeing a huge positive revenue impact from mobile, which has grown 2.5 times in the last 12 months to a run rate of over $2.5 billion.â€� Furthermore, Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility was meant to protect Android and further its mobile dominance according to statements the CEO made when the deal was announced.

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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings let loose a mini rant on Facebook Sunday, setting his sites squarely on Comcast and its data accounting practices. Highlighting one of the arguments for net neutrality, Hastings pointed out that viewing streaming videos using the Comcast Xfinity app on his Xbox doesn't count against his monthly cap, but other services do. "If I watch last night's SNL episode on my Xbox through the Hulu app, it eats up about one gigabyte of my cap, but if I watch that same episode through the Xfinity Xbox app, it doesn't use up my cap at all." It's slightly odd that different rules would apply to the same device using the same connection to stream the same content from different sources -- and exactly the sort of preferential and self-promoting behavior that net neutrality advocates are afraid will become the norm in an unregulated market. Of course, Hastings is also irate because his own company would love the same preferential treatment, but hasn't been able to close any deals. For the full rant hit up the source link.

Reed Hastings takes Comcast to task for skirting net neutrality originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew Best Buy planned to close 50 of its big box retail locations by the end of its 2013 fiscal year, and now (just days after Mike Mikan took the CEO-reigns from Brian Dunn) it's detailed all of the stores that'll be getting the boot. As it stands, two locations have already been shut down, with six others set to close before the year is out -- and the company hopes to clear out the remaining 42 before May 12th. Employees at most of the stores were informed of the news this weekend, and despite the impending closures, the company says it'll try to re-position them within the company or offer up severance packages. Past that, Best Buy is also reaching out to the customers of these stores, noting that they'll still have other nearby locations to choose from -- try-before-you-buy online shoppers rejoice. There's still no specific word about the 100 Best Buy Mobile stores it hopes to setup, but more information will be forthcoming later in the year. Hit up the press release after the break if you'd like to parse the full list of affected locations or find out more details about the planned closures.

Continue reading Best Buy details its 50 big box store shutdowns in the US, most will close by May 12th

Best Buy details its 50 big box store shutdowns in the US, most will close by May 12th originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Research In Motion co-chief executive Jim Balsillie sought a radical shift in strategy before he stepped down, Reuters reported on Friday. Citing two unnamed sources, the publication claims Balsillie wanted to allow wireless companies in North America and Europe to use RIM’s proprietary network for services on non-BlackBerry devices. The plan would help carriers entice customers to upgrade from feature phones to smartphones and allow them to offer inexpensive data plans that were limited to social media and instant messaging via the company’s BlackBerry Messenger service. Despite RIM’s network bringing in nearly $1 billion each quarter, the plan was vetoed, leading to Balsillie’s resignation soon after he stepped down as co-CEO. The Blackberry-maker will instead focus more on its next-generation BlackBerry 10-powered smartphones, and on regaining enterprise momentum.

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Sony will reportedly cut 10,000 jobs, or roughly 6% of its global workforce, in an effort to bring the electronics giant back to profit, Nikkei reported on Monday. The majority of the layoffs will apparently come from consolidating the company’s chemicals and small and mid-size LCD operations, and are expected to be made over the next two years.  The report claims Sony’s new CEO Kazuo Hirai will announce his restructuring plan on April 12th, and the company may also ask seven executive directors, including Hirai and former CEO Howard Stringer, to give up their bonuses for the fiscal year that ended in March. Sony has denied the report.

[Via The Wall Street Journal]

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Time to put on our "skepticles" as we pore over some reportedly leaked Tegra 4 details. NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang went on record saying that we could expect a new Tegra "every single year", so if anything, the fourth iteration of the series is slightly overdue. Chinese site VR-Zone, however, thinks it's got the inside skinny on how the next deployment might look. If its alleged roadmap leaks are to be believed, there will be four variants, three with a quad-core ARM Cortex A15 configuration, with clock speeds from 1.2 to 2.0GHz. What caught our eye a little more, though, was the "SP3X" flavor. Not because it favors the A9, but because it appears to bring LTE to the table right off the bat. That said, given that it's not that long since NVIDIA announced the same for Tegra 3, we can't help but wonder if something just got lost in translation.

[Thanks Rizwan]

Reported Tegra 4 roadmap hints at LTE, Q1 2013 release originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skyhook Wireless CEO Ted Morgan claims that a “major” non-Google Android smartphone will be released at the end of this year. The handset will reportedly be based on the Android operating system, however it will not be controlled by Google — similar to Amazon’s Kindle Fire. “I’m spending a lot of time with companies forking Android,” Morgan said to Technology Review. “Nobody wants to just be a manufacturer for Google. You see that with what Amazon has done, where they made it their own, and you also see a whole host of manufacturers taking Android down their own path.” Read on for more.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet runs a highly modified version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Because Android is open source, companies can take the Android code and use it however they please. Non-Google Android devices do not have access to the Mountain View-based company’s closed-source apps and Google Play marketplace, however, but thanks to Amazon’s Appstore for Android, non-Google devices finally have a decent alternative.

“[Google] really [does] restrict anything a device maker can do to stand out, for their own purposes,” Morgan argued. “It’s very unappealing to a device maker. They don’t want to be just a commodity hardware maker because they’ll all lose out to cheaper players in China. Everyone’s emboldened by the success of Amazon. Everyone’s saying ‘we need to go our own way.’”

While Morgan may have a personal vendetta against Google, reports have surfaced time after time claiming both Facebook and Amazon are looking to release their own smartphones.

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Wealthy smartphone users are more likely to own an Apple iPhone and less likely to play games or post on Twitter than average users. According to research from The Luxury Institute, 62% of U.S. consumers earning at least $150,000 per year own a smartphone. 45% of people falling to that category own an iPhone, 35% use an Android-powered device and 25% have a BlackBerry. More than 80% of wealthy smartphone owners download mobile apps, with the most popular categories being weather (63%), news (51%), travel (42%), business/finance (39%) and sports (34%). Facebook, Angry Birds and Words With Friends are the most popular apps, however higher-income consumers use far less entertainment apps than the average smartphone user. “As you get older and have family and significant others, aging parents, and a lot more assets and investments, you’re going to need apps for far more relevant things than playing games and chatting with your peers,” The Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza noted.

[Via Reuters]

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Wealthy smartphone users are more likely to own an Apple iPhone and less likely to play games or post on Twitter than average users. According to research from The Luxury Institute, 62% of U.S. consumers earning at least $150,000 per year own a smartphone. 45% of people falling to that category own an iPhone, 35% use an Android-powered device and 25% have a BlackBerry. More than 80% of wealthy smartphone owners download mobile apps, with the most popular categories being weather (63%), news (51%), travel (42%), business/finance (39%) and sports (34%). Facebook, Angry Birds and Words With Friends are the most popular apps, however higher-income consumers use far less entertainment apps than the average smartphone user. “As you get older and have family and significant others, aging parents, and a lot more assets and investments, you’re going to need apps for far more relevant things than playing games and chatting with your peers,” The Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza noted.

[Via Reuters]

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Following a massive security breach, Visa has dropped Global Payments from its registry of providers that meet data security standards, The Associated Press reported on Monday. Global Payments CEO Paul Garcia said that the company will continue to process Visa transactions, however being dropped from the registry “could give our partners some pause that they’re doing business with someone who experienced a breach.” Garcia fully expects his company to be reinstated once it has been issued a new report of compliance, although he declined to specify when that might happen. The CEO maintains that the situation is “absolutely contained” and is being fully investigated. Global Payments confirmed on Sunday that hackers stole credit card numbers belonging to as many as 1.5 million MasterCard and Visa customers, however cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not compromised. The company plans to set up a website to assist consumers who might have been affected by the breach.

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Glassdoor on Friday revealed its latest list of the “Top 25 Highest Rated CEOs of 2012.” Apple’s Tim Cook took the top spot with a 97% approval rating, leading Ernst & Young’s Jim Turley, Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs and Google’s Larry Page. “I think leadership is doing an amazing job,” said one Apple employee. “We have the best management team anywhere.â€� When Steve Jobs stepped down in August 2011, the late Apple co-founder garnered a cumulative approval rating of 97%, however Cook leads Jobs’s rating of 95% from March 2010 to March 2011. While it has been a tough year for Hewlett-Packard, the company’s new CEO Meg Whitman also made the list with an 80% approval rating, placing her in the  No. 24 spot. Glassdoor bases the list entirely on feedback from anonymous employees who were asked one question — do they approve of the way their CEO is leading the company?

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