Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion
Yesterday, Facebook released some of the most surprising news of the year so far, that the social network has purchased Instagram for $1 billion, or nearly £630 million. This comes just a few days after the app was released for Android, after being an iOS exclusive since its release. It’s also a few months after the photo startup was valued at $500 million, indicating Facebook was very, very keen to snap up the popular app. The money paid is a combination of cash and shares in Facebook, and the deal is expected to close by the end of June.
Dial-a-Phone
The Lumia 900 Becomes Amazon’s Best Selling Phone, Topping The RAZR MAXX And Galaxy Nexus
And we’re off! Even though the Nokia Lumia 900 launched yesterday and was largely unavailable thanks to the Easter Bunny, the phone quickly skyrocketed to the top of Amazon’s best sellers list. The phone hovered around the 5th spot yesterday but jumped to the first and second spot today with the black version preferred over the cyan edition. This puts the Nokia’s large Windows Phone over top of Android’s star players, the Droid RAZR MAXX and Galaxy Nexus.
TechCrunch
Carriers to Help Government Block Service for Stolen Phones
The nation's top four wireless network operators have agreed to work with the Federal Communications Commission to build and maintain a database of stolen cell phones IDs. The database would be used by the network operators to deny voice and data services to stolen devices registered on the list. The impetus behind the drive to create the database is to make it difficult to use stolen phones, thereby reducing the resale value of stolen phones, and ultimately curbing the theft of mobile devices.
PhoneScoop
Sony to Cut Approximately 10,000 Jobs
Sony will reportedly cut 10,000 jobs, or roughly 6% of its global workforce, in an effort to bring the electronics giant back to profit, Nikkei reported on Monday. The majority of the layoffs will apparently come from consolidating the company’s chemicals and small and mid-size LCD operations, and are expected to be made over the next two years.
BGR