Apple shareholders nix succession but OK board rule

CUPERTINO (Reuters) – Apple Inc shareholders rejected demands that the company disclose a succession plan for ailing chief Steve Jobs but approved a proposal giving them a bigger say in appointing directors.

At Apple's annual meeting on Wednesday, about 74 percent of votes cast favored a proposal by Calpers that unopposed candidates for the company's board receive a majority of votes to win election, according



( Read More

British group sets up suicide alert on Facebook

LONDON (AFP) – Support group Samaritans launched a service on Facebook on Monday to help people who express suicidal thoughts online.

Facebook users who see a friend has posted status updates or wall posts that suggest they may be considering taking their own life will be able to report them confidentially to Samaritans via the website's help centre.

The charity, which



( Read More

Google Tried To Convince Nokia To Adopt Android

 

Google "certainly tried," without success, to convince Nokia to convert to Android rather than Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system. That's the picture painted by Google CEO Eric Schmidt Tuesday in a keynote address at the Mobile World Congress currently in Barcelona, Spain.

Schmidt said Google "would have loved Nokia to choose Android and we certainly tried." He added that, if the Microsoft-Nokia collaboration doesn't work out, "the offer remains open for the future."

'Fastest Growing Mobile Platform'

In a bombshell announcement, Nokia

( Read More

Apple to host event, iPad 2 in the wings

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc is hosting a media event next week to show off the next-generation of the iPad, as it prepares to take on new rivals in the fast-growing tablet market.

Apple, which sent an invitation to reporters on Wednesday via email, will host the March 2 gathering at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the same venue where Apple unveiled the original iPad in January



( Read More

Motorola Atrix a powerful smart phone

SAN FRANCISCO – As smart phones get an increasing array of features, they need faster processors. The Motorola Atrix 4G, billed as "the world's most powerful smart phone," arrives with 2 gigahertz of processing power_ the kind you're more likely to find on a laptop than a phone.

That's notable because there's an optional laptop dock,

( Read More

Why iPad costs less than new rivals

Presidents Day is famous for sales. Lay down your dead Presidents for linens or shirts. But app fans, don’t expect any deals on tabs, not now or in the future.

You might expect the invasion of the tablets to drive down prices, pressuring Apple (AAPL) to lower the price on its market-leading iPad. But Apple

( Read More