This week Apple unveiled the iPad as rival Nokia surprised with a leap in earnings.
Steve Jobs finally showed the world Apple’s long-awaited e-book reader and multimedia device.
The name provoked some sniggers but may also create a lawsuit from Fujitsu, which began selling a handheld iPad in 2002.
Some critics focused on the missing camera and USB ports and the inability to run Flash, while others argued that it would put Kindle out of business – or not.
The launch followed news of a bumper quarter for Apple, with net earnings up 50% as iPhone sales doubled.
Amazon announced a 71% boost in Q4 earnings, thanks to a strong holiday season, though CEO Jeff Bezos was coy on Kindle sales.
Ericsson said it would axe another 1,500 jobs as profit dived 65%.
After taking a beating for most of last year, Nokia surprised the market with a 65% hike in profit as it took back some of the smartphone market that it had lost to the iPhone and the BlackBerry.
AT&T added 2.7 million net subs for the quarter, its second highest ever, as profit surged 26%, while Microsoft net soared 60% thanks to Windows 7 sales.
The Google-China-US dispute rumbled on. China seized on Bill Gates’ remarks that its censorship was “very limited” and told Google it would not block the adoption of Android.
A survey of IT execs in 14 countries found a growing concern over sophisticated cyber-attacks by government intruders.
A Beijing court ruled that Baidu did not violate copyright when it provided direct links to music downloads. Baidu hooked up with Japan’s Rakuten for a $50 million e-commerce venture for Chinese consumers and businesses.
KDDI offered $4 billion to take control of Japan’s biggest cable firm, JCOM.
India eased restrictions on foreign borrowing to allow telcos to raise cash for the coming 3G auction.
Google Voice – whose rejection from the App Store sparked an anti-competition probe – made a return as a web-based app.
Vodafone said it had notched up 450,000 mobile music subs in Europe since March.
SmarTone-Vodafone became the second Hong Kong operator to sell the iPhone.
Telkom flagged a drive into healthcare as it picked up 75% of Indonesia’s largest health care administration provider.
And Juniper Research has forecast that the mobile cloud will be worth $9.5 billion by 2014.