Business

Google on Wednesday announced that it would ban advertising for payday loans in its ad systems. Starting July 13, the company will prohibit ads for payday loans and related products where funds are due within 60 days of the date of issue, as well as ads for loans with an APR of 36 percent, said Goog...

What's not to like about the U.S. government offering information technology vendors $17.5 billion for products and services? The opportunity is attractive, and many vendors have expressed interest in a U.S. Department of Defense contract that covers the acquisition of a broad range of IT capabiliti...

Apple and SAP last week announced an agreement to create applications for the iPhone and iPad using SAP's HANA data management platform as well as an iOS software development kit and training academy for outside developers and customers. The move marks Apple's latest attempt to break through to the ...

Pivotal last week announced a $253 million round of Series C financing. Led by new investor Ford, together with Microsoft and previous investors GE, EMC and VMware, the deal is expected to close this month. Pivotal's customers include seven of the top 10 U.S. banks, three global automakers and half ...

Amazon has entered a 10-year lease agreement with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, the aircraft company announced last week. Under the agreement, Amazon has the right to buy up to 30 percent of Atlas Air. Amazon will lease a fleet of 20 Boeing 767-300 converted freighters -- including crew, maintenance...

Twitter reportedly has blocked U.S. intelligence agencies from accessing information from Dataminr, a firm that tracks tweets in real time to provide actionable information for financial, media, security and other types of institutional clients. The block suggests Twitter is unwilling to cooperate w...

Microsoft last week announced the acquisition of Solair, a move to expand its global Internet of Things business. Solair's IoT customization and deployment solutions, which are built on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, have helped a wide range of businesses improve efficiencies and profitability, a...

India's telecommunications ministry has rejected Apple's proposal to sell refurbished iPhones in the country. Officials apparently based their rejection of the proposal on rules that prohibit importing used electronics. The country's environmental ministry nixed a similar request last year. With sma...

Hulu reportedly is in talks to launch a cable TV-like service early next year. Hulu, which is a joint venture of Walt Disney, 21st Century Fox and Comcast's NBCUniversal, is said to be negotiating with Disney and Fox to deliver live broadcast and paid channels, including ABC, ESPN, Disney, Fox, Fox ...

Google has rehired former executive Rick Osterloh to lead its hardware businesses, which it plans to consolidate under a single division, according to news reports published last week. Osterloh, who recently stepped down as president of Motorola, reportedly will head up Google's Nexus business, whic...

Facebook on Wednesday announced its board of directors is proposing a new class of shares that will allow its founder to pursue a number of different initiatives while maintaining long-term control over the company. The news came on the heels of a blockbuster first quarter earnings report. The plan ...

Yahoo on Wednesday announced that it has reached a deal with Starboard Value to add four independent directors, thus avoiding a proxy fight with a key investor that has been seeking radical changes at the company. Under the agreement, Starboard CEO Jeff Smith will join Yahoo as an independent direct...

Apple shares were trading at around $95 as of mid-day Thursday in the wake of the company's disappointing Q2 earnings report. That was even lower than Wednesday's opening price, which was down more than $8 from Tuesday's $104.35 at market close. The company's second-quarter performance was dismal. T...