Bloomberg Apple Inc said a “very small percentage” of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices have an audio problem and pledged to repair the products for affected customers. The phones in question, manufactured between October 2020 and April 2021, have a defect with a component on the receiver module, Apple said on its website. The repair will be free …

Bloomberg Facebook Inc is bringing voice and video calling to its flagship social networking service, the latest attempt to fine-tune its communications features after spinning off Messenger as a separate app in 2014. Some users, including those in the US, will be able to place voice or video calls from the Facebook app. The new feature is just a test, …

Bloomberg Japan’s Rohm Co. says that vital semiconductors for automobiles and industrial machinery will likely remain in short supply at least throughout next year, adding to ominous warnings about further fallout from the global chip crisis. The Kyoto-based chipmaker, whose customers include Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co and Honda Motor Co., has been hampered by a severe shortage of …

Bloomberg Sales of previously owned US homes rise in July for a second month, indicating firmer housing demand as inventory constraints showed signs of easing. Contract closings increased 2% from prior month to an annualised 5.99 million, a four-month high, according to National Association of Realtors. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 5.83 million …

Bloomberg Stocks and US futures were steady as a rebound in Chinese technology shares stalled and markets settled into a holding pattern ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole policy symposium later this week. The Stoxx Europe 600 index posted a modest gain at the open, while contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fluctuated after the indexes reached …

Bloomberg Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler has a warning for hundreds of Chinese companies that have raised billions of dollars in US markets: Submit to more scrutiny soon or get kicked out. In an interview, he pledged to strictly enforce a three-year deadline that requires Chinese firms to permit inspections of their financial audits. If businesses refuse, …

Bloomberg Oil prices gained for a second session, building on the biggest one-day gain in five months, amid glimmers of optimism among bulls that the Delta coronavirus variant’s hit to demand may be passing. Brent futures topped $70 a barrel, after falling below that level last week, when the market underwent its longest sell-off in years on concern about demand …

Bloomberg The Delta variant of Covid-19 is scything through aviation just as key markets were getting back on their feet. In the US, Southwest Airlines Co is blaming the Delta strain for a rash of cancelled bookings and a slowdown in demand that may push it and several others to quarterly losses. After leading the industry’s recovery for much of …

Bloomberg US aviation regulators are opening a new review of Boeing Co after a survey of company engineers found a sizable percentage said they couldn’t raise safety concerns without interference. A survey conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from May through July found that 35% of Boeing employees raised issues of conflicts of interest and a lack of independence, …

Bloomberg Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit agreed to go public through a reverse merger with NextGen Acquisition Corp II that will value the satellite-launch company at $3.2 billion. Investors including Boeing Co and AE Industrial Partners committed $100 million to Virgin Orbit through a private investment in public equity, according to a statement. The merger is expected to provide the new …