The US Department of Justice has sent Google a request for additional information as part of their scrutiny of the search giant’s proposed purchase of Motorola Mobility.
As with any deal of this magnitude, the DOJ must conduct an investigation before it can be finalized. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission may have a say in the matter.
Google Senior Vice President David Drummond announced the DOJ request on the company’s Public Policy blog, writing, “Today we received what is called a “second request,” which means that the DOJ is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal.”
He added that he doesn’t believe there is any reason to believe the Justice Department will not approve the sale.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be additional hurdles to clear before everything is said and done. At a US Senate antitrust hearing last week Google’s Erich Schmidt faced hostile legislators who accused Google of anticompetitive behavior.
Even though the hearing was focused on their search business, more than one Senator intimated Google uses the Android OS primarily to further their dominance.
With national elections for the US presidency and more than half of all legislators coming up next year, political pressure and grandstanding could easily lead to significant delays.
Result for: AVI
Amanda Foote, a student at Manhattan Community College spent 41 hours in line at the flagship Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York City before selling her spot to an app developer for $900.
Foote began waiting on line at 5pm on Wednesday, and was there (through a huge downpour on Thursday) before giving up the spot to Hazem Sayed at 9am on Friday, hours before the 5pm launch.
Sayed said he was willing to pay the large premium for the spot because he wanted to take the tablet on a business trip for which he was leaving on Friday night.
After the sale, Foote says she will probably use the money to see Lady Gaga in concert.
Result for: AVI
Multiple reports today have posted different rumors about the upcoming iPhone 5, which still remains unconfirmed but is expected to launch during the summer, one year after the release of the iPhone 4.
Apple will move the iPhone to a 4-inch screen and use a dual-core A5 processor, likely running at 1.2GHz.
The reports come from Taiwanese component suppliers.
Samsung will provide brand new Super PLS (Plane-to-Line Switching) displays to Apple for the iPhone 5, with Apple having purchased a rumored whopping $7 billion worth of the component for the year.
As compared to the IPS displays seen in the iPad/iPhone 4, the Super PLS screens are brighter, have better viewing angles and are cheaper to produce.
