Corporate and legal

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have emerged as two of the more steadfast advocates for the digital currency Bitcoin.

What is the Winklevoss' interest with the cryptic digital currency that is under scrutiny by governments around the world? Apparently, money.

The twins are best known for suing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with claims that he stole the idea of the social network from them. But, they've now moved on to new endeavors. The Winklevoss twins filed a trust registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The "Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust" aims to give commodity buyers more … Read more

Microsoft's head of Interactive Entertainment Business, the unit responsible for the Xbox, is leaving the company to work for struggling social gaming company Zynga, All Things Digital reported Monday.

Unnamed sources told AllThingsD that Don Mattrick will take a job at Zynga, possibly working as CEO under founder and current Chief Executive Mark Pincus. The announcement about Mattrick's new job could come as early as Monday, after the market closes.

Mattrick, who left Electronic Arts in 2007 to join Microsoft, became the head of the Interactive Entertainment Business unit in 2010. He also has overseen PC and mobile … Read more

Activist investor Carl Icahn, along with his partner Jefferies & Co., have secured billions in financing for their Dell bid, a new report claims.

The investors have secured $5.2 billion in loans from several banks and institutional investors, Reuters is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the deals. Those funds will help Icahn and company finance their Dell buyout proposal.

According to Reuters' sources, the $5.2 billion includes a 6-year loan worth $2.2 billion, as well as a 3.5-year loan for $3 billion. The sum is part of a much broader plan on … Read more

A federal appeals court has decided that the lawsuit against Google's digital scanning of books shouldn't be classified as class-action suit just yet.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said in New York on Monday that Circuit Judge Denny Chin should not have certified a class-action suit against Google, Reuters is reporting. By classifying the case as class action, the judge effectively allowed hundreds of thousands of authors to possibly net some cash in the ongoing lawsuit against the search giant.

Google and the Authors Guild have been embroiled in a lawsuit for nearly a decade. The Authors … Read more

Apple and Samsung are arch-rivals in the mobile market and in the courtroom but they still need each other to do business.

A story from Monday's Wall Street Journal highlights the co-dependency between the two competitors, pointing out that neither company can truly afford to upset that tenuous fruit cart.

Apple reportedly reached an agreement last month to shift more of its chip production away from Samsung in favor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The deal was described by DigiTimes as one "whereby TSMC replaces or supplements Samsung, the incumbent supplier of Apple processors." In recent, … Read more

Apple has found a way to save itself from paying taxes to the U.K., a new report out of the country claims.

Despite generating pre-tax profits of 68 million pounds ($103.6 million) during its last fiscal year that ended in September 2012, Apple didn't pay a single dime in taxes to U.K. authorities, The Financial Times reported Sunday, citing corporate filings with the U.K. government. In the prior year, Apple paid 11.4 million pounds.

So, how did Apple sidestep those taxes? According to The Financial Times, the company awarded millions in stock awards to … Read more

Nokia has agreed to purchase Siemens' 50 percent stake in Nokia Siemens Networks, the struggling joint venture between the two companies, for 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

The Finnish smartphone maker released a statement on Monday, local time, confirming the transaction, which is expected to close during the third quarter.

"Nokia Siemens Networks has structurally improved its operational and financial performance," Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia, said in a statement. "Furthermore, Nokia Siemens Networks has established a clear leadership position in LTE, which provides an attractive growth opportunity."

The purchase had been … Read more

BlackBerry's "solid ground" just got shakier.

The company on Friday posted a loss in its fiscal first quarter, whereas analysts had projected at profit. Compounding the negativity was the eventual disclosure that it only sold 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices in the quarter and saw its subscriber base fall by 4 million to 72 million.

It was a bad day for BlackBerry all around. The surprising and disappointing numbers underscore the continued challenges the company faces as it continues its slow efforts for a recovery. But with losses expected to continue piling up, some are wondering … Read more

BlackBerry sold a humbling 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 devices in its fiscal first quarter.

The company disclosed on a conference call Friday that 40 percent of the 6.8 million total BlackBerrys it sold in the period, which ended June 1, ran on its much-ballyhooed next-generation platform.

That's a number that most on Wall Street regarded as disappointing. Sanford Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu, for instance, had expected sales of 3 million units.

The sales figure likely represents the number of units sold to carriers, or the "ship in" figure. It's unclear what the "sell … Read more