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AP Technology NewsBrief at 7:08 p.m. EDT
[August 08, 2012]

AP Technology NewsBrief at 7:08 p.m. EDT


(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Google to include people's Gmail in search resultsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Google is creating an information bridge between its influential Internet search engine and its widely used Gmail service in its latest attempt to deliver more personal responses more quickly. The experimental feature unveiled Wednesday will enable Google's search engine to mine the correspondence stored within a user's Gmail account for any data tied to a search request. For example, a query containing the word "Amazon" would pull emails with shipping information sent by the online retailer.



Source: NYTimes to sell About to Answers for $270MLOS ANGELES (AP) _ The New York Times Co. has agreed to sell its troubled online information service, About.com, to rival Answers.com for $270 million, or two-thirds what the Times paid for it in 2005, according to a person familiar with the matter. About.com provides information on a wide variety of topics and also operates ConsumerSearch.com and Calorie-Count.com. Content is written by paid experts known as guides. Answers.com, by contrast, relies on users to answer questions.

Obama may act to stop infrastructure cyberattacksWASHINGTON (AP) _ The Obama administration is weighing plans to use its executive power to press U.S. businesses to better protect critical industries from potentially crippling computer attacks, after Congress failed to pass such legislation last week. President Barack Obama may use his authority to issue orders compelling or encouraging private industry to meet minimum security standards to protect their computer networks from attacks by hackers or foreign governments, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said Wednesday.


Mighty Mouse: Investors flock to safety of DisneyLOS ANGELES (AP) _ These are happy times in the Magic Kingdom. The Walt Disney Co.'s stock is up 35 percent so far this year, outpacing its media company rivals.

New app lets riders hail a NYC cab by smartphoneNEW YORK (AP) _ Hailing a taxi on a New York street is going high-tech _ with a smartphone application. Starting Wednesday, a passenger can send out a hailing signal to cabs with a matching app, within about a five-block area.

HP to absorb record quarterly loss of nearly $9BNEW YORK (AP) _ Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday said that it will take a massive charge against its earnings for the latest quarter, leading to a record loss of nearly $9 billion. The charge is the result of a writedown of the value of its services business, a bookkeeping measure reflecting that the company overpaid for when it bought Electronic Data Systems in 2008 for $13 billion. The EDS deal was engineered under the reign of Mark Hurd, who stepped down as HP's CEO two years ago amid a scandal revolving around the nature of his relationship with a former actress who worked as a company contractor.

Android extends dominance in smartphones worldwideNEW YORK (AP) _ Got an iPhone You're in the minority. There were four Android phones for every iPhone shipped in the second quarter, research firm IDC said Wednesday. That's up from a ratio of 2.5 to 1 in the same period last year.

Wis. boy, 17, is the fastest texter in AmericaNEW YORK (AP) _ The reigning 17-year-old champion of cellphone texting has retained the title of fastest texter in America. Austin Wierschke (WARE'-skee) of Rhinelander, Wis., won after eight rounds at the texting competition Wednesday in New York's Times Square. He gets $50,000 in prize money, which he says he'll put away for college.

Starbucks to accept Square mobile paymentsNEW YORK (AP) _ Starbucks Corp. will soon be the first national chain to let customers pay with Square's mobile payment application. Square was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter. Users of Square mobile payments app are currently mostly small businesses and individuals, meaning the partnership with Starbucks could significantly raise the company's profile.

Liberty Media plans Starz spinoffENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) _ Liberty Media Corp. on Wednesday said that it will spin off its Starz cable channels into a separate company, continuing a series of financial machinations in the Liberty family, which is controlled by cable magnate John Malone. The move will give investors a better view of how Starz is doing, improve its capital structure and create two "currencies" in the form of shares that can be used for acquisitions, said Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei.

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