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AP Technology NewsBrief at 12:15 p.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) HP stock hits 6-year low after Whitman named CEONEW YORK (AP) _ Hewlett-Packard Co.'s stock sank Friday to its lowest level in six years, as investors worried that new CEO Meg Whitman isn't the right person to turn the company's fortunes around. The stock was down 90 cents, or 4 percent, at $21.90 in midday trading. In the morning, the stock hit $21.50, its lowest level since May 2005. Broader market gauges were up slightly after a week of volatile trading. AP Interview: Samsung to step up Apple patent warSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ A top Samsung executive says the company will take a bolder stance in its patent battle with smartphone and tablet rival Apple, which Samsung claims has been "free riding" on its patented wireless technologies. "We'll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on," Lee Younghee, head of global marketing for mobile communications, said Friday in an interview. Cellphone service coming to 6 NYC subway stationsNEW YORK (AP) _ The long-delayed project to wire New York City subway stations for cellphone service is finally bearing fruit. A person close to the matter said six stations will go live with the service on Tuesday. The person speaking Friday on condition of anonymity said that AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA subscribers will be able to use their phones at six stations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Sprint and Verizon phones won't work there for now. The person asked not to be identified because the official announcement is on Tuesday. Facebook looks to extend online reach, sharingSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Facebook is trying to evolve from an Internet hangout where people swing by to share tidbits, links and photos to a homestead decorated with the memories, dreams and diversions of its 800 million users. In what may be the boldest step yet in the company's seven-year history, Facebook is redesigning its users' profile pages to create what CEO Mark Zuckerberg says is a "new way to express who you are." Questions and answers on the latest 'New Facebook'NEW YORK (AP) _ Every year or so _ and sometimes more often _ Facebook manages to miff a vocal percentage of users by changing the look and feel of its site. As it adds new features, it invariably takes away things that people have grown attached to. It's no different with the changes unveiled this week. Some have already gone live while others will be coming to your Facebook page soon. Here are some questions and answers on Facebook's latest transformation. Music, media firms pin hopes on new Facebook tiesLOS ANGELES (AP) _ Music and media companies are pinning fresh hopes for reviving their businesses on a small ribbon that Facebook has begun putting on user profiles called the "ticker." The new, slim stream of updates automatically lists users' activity on a range of apps made for listening to music, watching movies, reading news and playing games. The updates come after users consent to the continuous sharing just once. Whitman has hit rough spots in business, politicsSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ Meg Whitman may be best known as the billionaire Republican who spent nearly $175 million on a failed effort to become California governor, offering little insight into her motivation in the process. To the business world, she's the former CEO star of eBay, the online auction site she took to its height during the dot-com boom but left amid slowing growth and her unsuccessful gamble to buy the Skype Internet phone service for $2.6 billion. HP fires second CEO in 2 years; Whitman in chargeSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Hewlett-Packard has performed another extreme act of corporate remodeling, firing its CEO Leo Apotheker after just 11 months and replacing him with billionaire businesswoman and political aspirant Meg Whitman. Yet it's done little to convince investors that the company has its house in order. HP has now removed two CEOs in two years, and the stock has dropped precipitously, shedding $60 billion of HP's market value. Based on shareholder reaction to Thursday's CEO shuffle, more punishment is likely in store. Arizona student charged in Sony hacking caseLOS ANGELES (AP) _ An Arizona college student was arrested and charged Thursday in a breach of computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment early this summer where more than 37,000 customers had their information stolen. An indictment unsealed in Los Angeles charged Cody Kretsinger, 23, of Tempe, Ariz., with one count each of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. If convicted of both counts, he faces up to 15 years in prison. Physicists wary of junking light speed limit yetGENEVA (AP) _ Physicists on the team that measured particles traveling faster than light said Friday they were as surprised as their skeptics about the results, which appear to violate the laws of nature as we know them. Hundreds of scientists packed an auditorium at one of the world's foremost laboratories on the Swiss-French border to hear how a subatomic particle, the neutrino, was found to have outrun light and confounded the theories of Albert Einstein. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |