Corporate and legal

Google Glass spurs privacy questions from Congress

Several members of Congress sent a letter to Google to ask about privacy concerns related to Google Glass, including how the company will prevent Glass from unintentionally collecting data without user consent.

"Because Google Glass has not yet been released and we are uncertain of Google's plans to incorporate privacy protections into the device, there are still a number of unanswered questions that we share," the Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, led by Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) wrote in a letter to Google CEO Larry Page.

Eight members of Congress signed the letter, and they want information from Google … Read more

PC slump hits Dell earnings

As the PC market continues to spiral downwards, the world's third-largest PC maker is tumbling down with it.

Dell on Thursday reported its first-quarter earnings five days earlier than expected, due to a report by The Wall Street Journal detailing leaked numbers on Monday.

The PC make reported $372 million on revenue of $14.07 billion, or 21 cents a share.

According to average analyst estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters, Dell was expecting to report net income of $607.1 million on revenue of $13.5 billion, or 35 cents per share.

The Journal said Dell would exceed revenue … Read more

Opera settles secrets-theft suit against ex-employee

Opera Software and Trond Werner Hansen have settled a lawsuit against that alleged the former employee spilled trade secrets to rival browser maker Mozilla.

Werner on Thursday told CNET said the suit was settled, but said he couldn't share details.

"But I'm very happy it's over and look forward to being able to focus on my music and other projects again," he said.

Opera said it was happy, too. "I can confirm that the case against Trond Werner Hansen has been dropped by Opera by reaching an agreement which has been satisfactory to both … Read more

Apple looks to move SF store a few blocks away

If Apple can obtain the go-ahead from the city, its San Francisco store on Stockton and Ellis streets will be moving -- but not too far.

According to SFGate, Apple recently applied to move its current store to Union Square in a new silver box-shaped building. The current store opened nine years ago, but Apple has outgrown it, the company claims. By building a new store in Union Square, it believes that it can increase the number of people employed at the store by 50. Apple currently employs 350 people at the retail location.

Apple has so far not presented … Read more

New Groupon CEO won't be named until next year

Groupon is not racing to find a new CEO, say the interim leaders who've been running the show since the company's founder resigned earlier this year.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Tuesday, Groupon's interim CEOs Ted Leonsis and Eric Lefkosky said that "are not in a rush" to name a new, permanent chief executive, adding that they have only just kicked off the process of finding a replacement.

"We want to bring in a world-class leader, but the talent pool is not huge," Leonsis told the Journal. &… Read more

Twitter users in Bahrain jailed for allegedly insulting tweets

The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow officials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.

It appears that the government is now taking action.

Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.

The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter."

Bahrain, which … Read more

Google announces e-mail money transfers for Google Wallet

SAN FRANCISCO--Google Wallet is growing up and it's not just about paying for stuff by tapping your phone anymore.

On Wednesday, the company made three announcements at its Google I/O developer conference with regard to Google Wallet that take the service well beyond specialized tap and go technology to make Google Wallet more usable on the Web.

"We are not pulling away from NFC," Peter Hazlehurst, director of product management for Google Wallet said in an interview. "We are simply making a much richer Wallet experience. There are still places where NFC can't be … Read more

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo talks shop about the social network

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave a rundown on life, goals, and business at the social network during an interview Wednesday at the National Venture Capital Association's VentureScape, according to the Mercury News.

Addressing whether Twitter will go public (no), who he admires (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos), and what annoys him (Silicon Valley snarkiness), Costolo riffed on what it's like steering the helm of one the world's top social networks.

"One of the things I'm always challenging people inside the company is, you have to take more risks," Costolo said, according to the Mercury News. &… Read more

Allure Energy latest to file infringement suit against Nest

Allure Energy sued Nest Labs yesterday, claiming that the company's much-celebrated Nest Learning Thermostat infringed on its patent.

Filing the suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Austin, Texas-based Allure alleged that its patent for the invention of an "Auto-adaptable energy management apparatus" trumped Nest's right to develop, market, and sell a smart thermostat.

Allure said it first began designing its product, which is known as EverSense, in 2009, and filed it patent application in 2010. The company said in a release that it also got a patent for &… Read more