Technology

  Bloomberg Consumers think smartphone makers are releasing too many new models each year, a survey showed. The survey conducted in six countries, commissioned by the environmental group Greenpeace, showed that more than half of those who responded would prefer to change their phones less frequently. Handset devices are one of the most frequently replaced electronics products. The top cellphone ...

  AFP Facebook took direct aim at video-loving adolescents, and Snapchat, with the release of a new iPhone app that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates. The app, called Lifestage, was released with no fanfare, and is available for anyone to download on iPhone, although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for those 21 ...

  AP Casey Cooper is one of the most famous drummers on the planet right now. He has a million followers on YouTube, and his flaming-sticks drumming cover of Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” is insane. But he’d just prefer you skip his recorded performances and instead catch him live — on streaming video, that is — because he can make more ...

  Bloomberg Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s shopping spree on premium content from Game of Thrones to NBA broadcasts has again helped defy investors’ expectations and a slowing Chinese economy. Second-quarter sales and profit beat analysts’ estimates as the operator of the WeChat and QQ social network services splashed out on mobile games and content — including anything from anime and comics ...

  Bloomberg Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of equipment that runs the internet, plans to cut about 7 percent of its workforce, trying to recast itself as a provider of software-based systems and services. The company will eliminate 5,500 positions from its workforce of more than 73,700, Cisco said Wednesday in a statement. Savings from the job reductions will ...

  Bloomberg Lenovo Group Ltd. expects its loss-making smartphone business to turn a corner next fiscal year as it shifts toward higher-end devices and ramps up marketing in the US and China. The world’s largest PC maker is counting on a revival of the Motorola smartphone business it bought for $2.8 billion to make up for a declining computer industry. ...

  Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp.’s Masayoshi Son has a 300-year plan, so if combining Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. takes a few years longer than he hoped, that’s OK. Son, who became one of the world’s wealthiest men by turning Tokyo-based SoftBank into a telecommunications and technology powerhouse, still would like to merge the U.S. wireless providers, according to ...

  Bloomberg Ford Motor Co., which put the world on wheels a century ago, is now taking the driver out of the driver’s seat. The company said it plans to have a fully autonomous vehicle — no steering wheel, no gas or brake pedals — available by 2021 for ride-hailing services. “We see the autonomous car changing the way the ...

  Bloomberg A former top executive behind China’s biggest acquisition of an overseas carmaker is setting out to make history twice, raising $1 billion in an initial fundraising round as the latest homegrown electric vehicle startup to challenge Tesla Motors Inc. Freeman Shen left Volvo Cars owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. in 2014 and last year founded WM Motor, ...

  Bloomberg A year-old technology firm wants to simplify currency markets by streamlining the way trading data is stored using blockchain-based technology. Cobalt DL, a London-based firm created last year by former Traiana Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andy Coyne, announced Wednesday that it began beta testing on a distributed ledger network, which the firm hopes can cut post-trade costs and ...