Corporate and legal

Dish Network said on Thursday that it was withdrawing its offer for Clearwire, ensuring that Clearwire will be acquired by Sprint Nextel.

Dish and Sprint were embroiled in a furious back and forth over the 4G wireless provider, but Sprint had taken control after raising its offer above Dish's own offer for a second time last week, winning the backing of major Clearwire shareholders.

Dish had sought to insert itself into what looked like a regular roll-up of Sprint and Clearwire by Japanese carrier SoftBank. Dish initially had its sights on Clearwire, which provides 4G wireless services to Sprint … Read more

AT&T has expanded its LTE presence in the U.S.

The company announced Wednesday that it has turned on seven new LTE markets in the U.S. The new markets include Grand Rapids, Minn., Hot Springs, Ark., and Mount Vernon, Ohio. In addition, AT&T has expanded LTE coverage in Atlanta, New York City, and Columbia, S.C., among other areas.

With the new markets, AT&T now has 291 areas with LTE, covering over 200 million people across the U.S. By the end of this year, AT&T expects its LTE rollout to … Read more

Hon Hai Precision Industry, which operates under the Foxconn brand, will generate higher profits this year, the company's chairman and CEO said on Wednesday.

Speaking to shareholders at his company's annual meeting in Taipei, Terry Gou guaranteed that Hon Hai's profits this year "will surpass last year's" and added that growth will hit 15 percent year over year.

There has been some concern over Hon Hai's performance as analysts have predicted that iPhone and iPad shipments will stall, leading to Hon Hai generating less revenue. However, the company thinks it can overcome declining … Read more

What do Ethernet co-founder Bob Metcalfe, tech investor Marc Andreessen, and the late Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz have in common? They are new inductees into the Internet Hall of Fame.

The Internet Society announced the names of 32 influential people Wednesday who helped shaped the Web into what it is today. This is the second year for the annual event.

"This year's inductees represent a group of people as diverse and dynamic as the Internet itself," Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St. Amour said in a statement. "As some of the world's leading thinkers, … Read more

Verizon Wireless has built a loyal following by having a rock-solid network. But the carrier is not known for having the widest selection of cool devices.

Getting Apple's iPhone a couple of years ago helped ease the frustration. But Verizon's slow adoption of one of the season's hottest smartphones has some subscribers scratching their heads.

In this Ask Maggie edition, I offer my insights on choosing a Verizon smartphone. I also explain to another reader the best option for making sure you are never left out of a Google Android software update.

Apple lost market share to Android in Western Europe, according to market researcher IDC.

Market trends in Western Europe are not looking good for Apple's iPhone. "Apple's iOS continues to lose ground as market share declined to 20% from 25% in 1Q12 [first quarter 2012]," IDC said Tuesday.

Android, meanwhile, is gaining operating system market share, up 14 percent year-to-year in the first quarter. "Android continues to dominate the smartphone landscape," according to IDC.

In the quarter, Google's OS shipped 21.9 million units and market share increased to 69 percent in the … Read more

A former Oregon gubernatorial candidate has pleaded guilty in a $13 million securities scam to sell pre-IPO shares of Facebook before the social network went public.

Craig Berkman, a Florida financier who ran for governor in 1994, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to one count each of securities fraud and wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Prosecutors said Berkman, 71, bilked more than 120 investors out of $13.2 million with promises of an early shot at the highly coveted shares. He also admitted falsely telling investors … Read more

Los Angeles is the newest in a long line of cities to pick a fight with ride-sharing apps. Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar all received cease-and-desist letters from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation on Monday.

The Department of Transportation claims the companies are operating "unlicensed commercial transportation service in the City of Los Angeles in violation of Los Angeles Municipal Code." The Department is demanding that the companies halt all vehicle operations "immediately."

"In the interest of public safety, your company and all drivers and vehicles dispatched via your mobile app sysem [sic] are hereby … Read more

In letters to Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft's Bing, and several other search engines, the FTC updated its guidance from 2002 about the need to distinguish between advertisements and search results. Since that original letter in 2002, the FTC has seen a decline in compliance with its guidelines.

"The letters note that in recent years, paid search results have become less distinguishable as advertising, and the FTC is urging the search industry to make sure the … Read more