HP Stock at 9 Year Low, T-Mobile Merging with MetroPCS

By RyanKamauff

The top tech news and stories from October 3, 2012.

• HP has outlined their 5-year recovery plan, while the stock plummets – HP’s stock dropped 10% today to sit at 9-year low. With the loss of any viable mobile game, and a management team that seems to have no idea where the market is headed. HP CEO Meg Whitman does not even expect HP’s revenues to align with the US GDP until 2016. Via TechCrunch, more here.
• Rap Genius gets $15M from Andreessen Horowitz – AH has invested in the lyric-centric social network not for their “rap game,” but perhaps for their ability to be a social network focused on text. The site began as a site “where fans could crowd-source explanations of rap lyrics” through annotation. Via GigaOM, more here.
• Amazon adds closed captions to some Instant Video – This a great step for the video delivery service which has been growing by leaps and bounds. Amazon is clearly nudging Netflix, Hulu Plus and the rest out of the market, and it will be interesting to see if they continue to do so. Via Engadget, more here.
• Samsung is asking for the patent verdict to be thrown out over Juror misconduct – from everything I’ve read about Vel Hogan (jury foreman in the trial), he seems like an utter clown with no knowledge of patent law. It is truly unfortunate that he was a part of the largest patent trial of the past 20 years, and now Samsung is looking for the case to be thrown out due to some questions they believe he did not answer honestly. Via Droid-Life, more here.
• While the Apple/Google Maps debacle is continuing to unfold, it appears there was major strife behind the scenes – Bloomberg Business has reported that Steve Jobs was also angry at Google for not implementing turn-by-turn directions on the iOS application. While the lack of turn-by-turn probably actually created revenues for Apple (in the form of 30% of millions of $10+ navigation application sales), apparently it was quite the concern. Via TechCrunch, more here.
• Citrix and Palo Alto Networks form strategic partnership – The combination of these two firms is most likely aimed at delivering secure business applications to corporations as a service. The partnership should create strong dividends both in PC, Mac and mobile environments. Via Reuters, more here.
• T-Mobile USA merging with MetroPCS – the mixture of the two mobile firms ought to provide a boost for the (incredibly) struggling T-Mobile. It will give them access to more bandwidth and the opportunity to add to subscribers without losing capability. Via LA Times, more here.
• Logitech Announces New Harmony Touch Remote Control – Logitech, the maker of the best universal remotes out there, has unveiled their latest effort, the Harmony Touch. Via MacLife.com, more here.

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