Corporate and legal

Gigabit Seattle sets price for its high-speed Internet service

While setting up gigabit infrastructure can be prohibitively expensive for many local communities, it appears that the cost users will have to pay for Gigabit Squared's high-speed Internet in Seattle won't be off the charts.

Gigabit Squared announced the pricing for its local fiber network in the Seattle area on Monday -- and, the monthly cost is actually cheaper than what people pay for Comcast broadband.

The fastest level of service from Gigabit Squared will cost $80 per month, which includes 1000 Mbps download and 1000 Mbps upload. The next level is $45 per month with 100 Mbps … Read more

AT&T's mobile chief: We've sold out of the Facebook phone

So, the HTC First wasn't a complete disaster after all.

AT&T managed to get rid of most of its inventory, according to AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega. The move to a 99-cent price tag helped spur sales of the Facebook phone, which struggled to catch on with consumers.

"We sold a bunch more when we lowered the price," he said in an interview on Monday. "We sold everything we had on that."

It's unclear how many HTC First phones AT&T had in its inventory, and the … Read more

T-Mobile says it has a fix to FCC auction rule debate

T-Mobile USA says it has the answer on how to make the upcoming spectrum auction fair for all participants without sacrificing potential revenue for the government, as larger carriers have suggested will happen if restrictive rules are imposed.

In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Monday regarding the 600MHz spectrum auction, T-Mobile described what it is calling "dynamic spectrum rules" that it claims will help preserve competition in the wireless market by not allowing the biggest wireless carriers with the deepest pockets to walk away with the bulk of the new spectrum, without sacrificing revenue that … Read more

Apple shares loiter below $400 again

Apple's shares slipped notably for a portion of Monday's trading.

The company's shares fell as low as $398.05 Monday morning and spent a good portion of the day below the $400 mark. The shares, which started the day at $407.40, had stayed above the $400 mark for the last couple of months.

The saggy shares rallied toward the end of trading Monday to close at $402.54, down more than 2 percent from Friday's close.

It's not clear why Apple's shares trended downward today, but that movement might have been connected to … Read more

Dell special committee says Icahn bid lacks credibility

Activist investor Carl Icahn's bid for Dell lacks credibility, the computer maker's board said in a regulatory filing Monday.

The comments echo remarks made last week by the group managing Dell's efforts to go private. At that time, the board rejected the latest takeover proposal put forth by Icahn as lacking key details necessary for its approval.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday, the board said that Icahn "has failed to provide any of the key provisions and mechanics" of letters he sent on May 9 or June 18, as requested by … Read more

Qualcomm finally completes $120M investment in Sharp

Qualcomm's $120 million investment in Sharp has officially been completed.

Back in December, Qualcomm announced that it would invest $120 million in the ailing Sharp in return for about 3.5 percent ownership. Qualcomm dropped $60 million into Sharp when the deal was announced, but decided to keep the balance until Sharp met several conditions, including the fabrication of power-conserving screens.

In March, Sharp announced that it wouldn't meet all of the conditions, prompting Qualcomm to withhold its remaining $60 million investment until the company could get to where it needed to be.

In a statement (PDF) on … Read more

Bitcoin Foundation ordered to cease operations in California

The Bitcoin Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to promoting best practices for the virtual currency, has been ordered to cease operations in California.

The California Department of Financial Institutions, which oversees banks, credit unions, and other financial organizations operating in the state, sent a cease-and-desist letter (see below) last month to the foundation accusing it of "engaging in the business of money transmission without a license or proper authorization."

If found to be in violation of the California Financial Code, the Seattle-based foundation could be fined up to $2,500 a day per violation and face criminal prosecution, according … Read more

Google deal for map app Waze attracts FTC antitrust review

Google has reportedly been contacted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding its $1.1 billion acquisition of map-app maker Waze.

The Web giant confirmed that it had been contacted by the agency but declined to comment on the antitrust review, according to a Wall Street Journal report Saturday. The paper noted that while Waze's revenue was not high enough to automatically trigger a review, the agency has the option of examining deals even after they close.

CNET has contacted Google and the FTC for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

The deal for … Read more

Whistle-blower update: Snowden lands in Moscow; WikiLeaker's Gmail searched

Several stories involving whistle-blower/espionage suspect Edward Snowden cropped up over the weekend, including word of a U.S. demand for his extradition and that he flew to Moscow Sunday, and is likely heading for another destination. And news of a Justice Department search of a former WikiLeaks volunteer's Gmail account has also surfaced. Here's a quick summary:

Snowden was allowed to leave Hong Kong because a U.S. extradition request did not fully comply with Hong Kong law. He landed in Moscow early Sunday morning, but his final destination is unclear. According to a report in the New York Times, … Read more

Apple wins patent case against Samsung in Japan

A Tokyo court has ruled that Samsung infringed on Apple's patent covering a "bounce-back" feature used on the latter's smartphones and tablets.

Reuters reported Friday that Apple had alleged Samsung copied its "bounce-back" function, in which icons on smartphones and tablets quiver back when users scroll to the end of an electronic document. Samsung has already changed its interface on recent models to show a blue line at the end of documents, the report noted.

The court's decision comes after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in April said Apple's patent … Read more