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The Dallas-based bank Comerica today announced it has repaid $2.25-billion to the U.S. Treasury after participating in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
The financial intermediary more recently rose $880-million in capital from an equity issuance, allowing the bank to repay the TARP funds.
Ralph Babb Jr., said in a statement “The investment the government made in Comerica resulted in excellent returns for U.S. taxpayers,”
Google is reportedly set to launch a new product dubbed Google TV that will be an actual hardware box that would connect to televisions and would be powered by Google’s Android operating system.
Google reportedly has sealed partnerships with content providers such as Sony to license content on the new product.
Google TV would allow consumers to access the Internet, including e-mail, browsing (with Google Chrome), chat, stream media, run web apps (including social networking apps), among other features, directly to their television sets with home theater connectivity.
According to a Times report, Google TV would be powered by Intel Atom processors, and the technology will be integrated directly into Sony televisions and blu-ray players.
A new lawsuit has been filed against the popular online review site Yelp as business owners claim the company is extorting them for advertising dollars.
Mr. Boris Levitt, the owner of a furniture restoration business called Renaissance, has filed the latest lawsuit against Yelp.
Mr. Levitt is claiming Yelp has removed positive reviews of his business on the community, leaving mainly the negative ones, after Mr. Levitt allegedly declined a solicitation for monthly advertising dollars by Yelp. He is claiming Yelp is advertising its business as an unbiased reviews website, when in fact they are removing and manipulating reviews when businesses chose not to advertise with them.
The video game and movie rental giant Blockbuster made interesting comments found in the latest 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today.
The company warned, “Over the next 12 to 18 months, we expect to continue facing the challenges of the macroeconomic environment, increased industry competition and fragmentation,”
Blockbuster recently has experienced a significant decline in total revenue as consumers shift to different more efficient and cost effective channels from competitors to get their movies.
News Corporation today announced job cuts at IGN Entertainment across every functional unit at the company.
The video-game maker says the company is profitable and grew its aggregate audience size by 40-percent over last year but says, “we’re still feeling the effects of the economy,” and for that reason must ensure it operates as efficiently as possible by reducing costs.
IGN Entertainment is the owner of various web properties, including AskMen.com, among other online properties.
The company went on to say in a statement today, “We are making every effort to be compassionate and fair to the people whose roles we’ve eliminated.”
Google today announced the availability of its flagship Nexus One smartphone on the AT&T network and on Rogers Wireless in Canada.
The company is offering the Nexus One directly to consumers for use on either of the two networks for $529, without any telecom subsidy in sight at least for now. There is no comment from the two carriers as to whether or not they would subsidize the device.
The Nexus One is currently offered exclusively through T-Mobile in the U.S. priced at $179 on a two-year term.
Google originally announced it intended to offer a version of the Nexus One for use on the Verizon network by spring 2010. Reports today indicate the Verizon version could launch on March 23, 2010.
Canada’s third-largest mobile telecom today confirmed the company will further diversify its product line by offering tablet computers.
The confirmation came from David Fuller, the VP of product marketing today.
The comments raise speculation as to whether Telus will offer the Apple iPad. The iPad is slated for an April 3rd U.S. launch, with the device being available in Canada by the end of the same month, according to Apple.
Mr. Fuller confirmed the iPad is in fact compatible on the new Telus network, but did not further elaborate.
We can confirm Microsoft Corporation is working on its own iPad competitor, dubbed Microsoft Courier, but the company has yet to officially acknowledge it is working on such a device. Judging from recent leaks, the device seems more advanced and intuitive than the iPad, but the iPad still has a major competitive advantage, the app store. Microsoft Courier is reportedly to launch by the end of this year.
BMW Inc. today announced full year 2009 earnings, reporting significant declines in net profit and total sales.
The company said net profit was EUR 210-million, down 36.36-percent from EUR 330-million in fiscal 2008.
Operating income before taxes was up to EUR 413-million, 18-percent up from 2008.
BMW said it sold 1.28-million vehicles in 2009, a sharp drop of over 12-percent from 2008 as people shifted to smaller, less luxurious and more affordably priced vehicles because of the financial and credit crunch.
Sony Corporation today confirmed it would begin selling 3D televisions starting June 10, 2010 starting in Japan. The company will later offer the 3D capable televisions in other countries but failed to specify when.
Manufacturers are hoping to capitalize on the recent explosion of 3D content, such as the hugely successful movie “Avatar” directed by James Cameron, which has now become the highest grossing movie in history.
Sony will offer up to eight 3D BRAVIA models (with 3 series, the LX900, HX800, HX900), with the LX900 series being offered first starting June 10. The other two series will be available on June 16.
Microsoft Corporation today launched a redesign of its popular Internet portal MSN.com.
The company has updated the site with a far more simple and clean design, along with new social networking features that display information from various social networks you set up such as Facebook and Twitter. A new featured called TrendWatch was also implemented, which essentially scans Twitter for local news content.
The company has also now implemented full Facebook support.
Canada’s third-largest Bank, the Bank of Nova Scotia, reported today first quarter 2010 earnings, beating analyst expectations.
The bank earned just under $4-billion in total revenue for Q1, reporting $988-million ($0.91 per share) in total profits for the period, compared to $842-million net income in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting $3.8-billion in total revenue and profits of $0.88 on a per share basis.
![microsoft courier draw Microsoft Courier, Microsoft’s answer to the iPad [leaked pictures]](http://business2press.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/microsoft-courier-draw.jpg "microsoft-courier-draw")
Meet Courier, Microsoft’s answer to the Apple iPad.
Microsoft has yet to confirm it is working on such a device, dubbed a digital journal, but recent leaks, including the latest leaked images published by AOL’s popular tech blog Engadget, confirms the device.
Unconfirmed reports suggest Courier will be powered by the new Windows Phone 7 Series operating system, and not the traditional Windows 7 OS found on PCs.
The German apparel company, Adidas, today announced full year 2009 and fourth quarter 2009 financial earnings.
Fourth-quarter profits were €19-million, down more than 60-percent compared to the same period last year. The company said write-downs and higher costs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup this June attributed to the lower than expected operating profits.
Analysts were expecting €25-million in total profits in Q4 2009.
The company warned of an expected weakening in 2010, but increased its forecasted diluted EPS that is estimated to be up to €1.90-2.15 in 2010. 2009 diluted EPS was €1.22.
A new batch of vehicle recalls were announced early today by Japanese carmaker Nissan, as the industry struggles with record recalls due to component failures.
Nissan said it is recalling more than 540,000 vehicles mainly for two problems. First, on select models, the fuel gauge displays inaccurate fuel levels, indicating the car is plenty of fuel when it is almost empty.
The second problem, and potentially a more serious problem, that Nissan has identified is related to braking pedal pins that come lose in turn not allowing the drive to slow the car down. The affected models with the brake issue include the 2008-2010 Nissan Titan, Infiniti QX56 (also affected with the fuel gauge issue), Nissan Armada, and the Nissan Quest.
A new AOL Inc. 10-K filing with the SEC today revealed the company is warning shareholders it expects lower than expected advertising revenue in 2010 from its online web properties.
AOL confirmed via the filing that total advertising revenue in Q1 2010 will be lower than Q1 2009.
The company attributed the decline in advertising revenue in both 2008 and 2009 as a direct casualty of the global financial crisis.
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