A third Google (GOOGL) exec has motored over to join Web-based ride-summoning service Uber, as the company that upended the taxi business develops its own transportation technologies and hires top talent in the process. Former Google Maps chief Brian McClendon will head Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh, directing Uber’s mapping, self-driving cars, and car safety programs, according to tech news site Re/Code. McClendon will be
Technology companies — led by Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOGL) — rule the corporate cash kingdom, says Standard & Poor’s, with much of that cash overseas. And, like much of corporate America, tech companies are adding debt even as their cash holdings climb. Apple’s cash rose 12% to $178 billion in 2014, says S&P in a research report, with 89% of that overseas. Apple’s debt more than doubled last year to $36 billion. Apple has
Apple’s (AAPL) new iPhone trade-in program for China has gained traction in the low to midrange market, pressuring local makers of Google (GOOGL) Android mobile phones. Apple launched the iPhone trade-in program in early April, partnering with Taiwan-based Hon Hai’s Foxconn Technology. Apple’s U.S. trade-in program started in mid-2013 prior to the release of the iPhone 5. The program let iPhone users trade in devices for gift card credit toward the purchase of a new iPhone. In China’s iPhone trade-in program, Foxconn refurbishes the iPhones and distributes them on secondary markets. In a research report Monday, Morgan Stanley analysts Joseph Moore and Katy Huberty said the trade-in program is helping boost iPhone 6 sales and is affecting the lower-priced Android market. “Most suppliers expect seasonal quarter-over-quarter growth for total iPhones in the September quarter, which could imply another quarter of at least 40% year-over-year growth,” said the Morgan Stanley analysts…