VentureBeat |
- Firefox 4 doubles Internet Explorer 9’s usage share in half the time
- CertiVox raises $1.46M to make the cloud more secure
- Google to tap LG for Nexus tablet?
- Apple to “unveil future of iOS and Mac OS” at WWDC June 6
- Demystifying the VC term sheet: Protective Provisions
- American Express launches digital payments platform
- Google teams up with MasterCard, Citigroup for NFC mobile payments
- Tabula raises $108M, in largest round “in a decade” for a chip company
- Warner Bros. releases five more movies for rent on Facebook
- Intellectual property theft fuels underground cyber economy
- Next iPhone software update delayed until the fall?
- Apple out of overseas iPad 2 stock by Saturday afternoon
- The IRS isn’t playing games with Trip Hawkins
| Firefox 4 doubles Internet Explorer 9’s usage share in half the time Posted: 28 Mar 2011 09:20 AM PDT
As of March 26, Firefox 4 had 3.64 percent of usage share after only being available for 5 days. IE9, in comparison, had 1.78 percent after 12 days. The numbers are a clear sign that Mozilla’s hard work has paid off for Firefox 4, and that IE9 will be at a disadvantage for some time since it runs on far fewer platforms (it only supports Windows Vista and Windows 7). Firefox 4, owing to its open source roots, runs on pretty much every major operating system available, including Windows XP (which Microsoft is no longer developing software for), Mac OSX (don’t expect to see IE there, ever), and Linux. Firefox’s big advantage is Windows XP compatibility, a platform that as of last November held around twice as much market share as Windows 7 and Vista combined. Given the massive amount of new features in IE9, it would be difficult for Microsoft to offer a Windows XP version of the browser. The news also further emphasizes the fact that Firefox’s big browser competitor this time around is Google Chrome, not IE9. Chrome has been steadily growing in popularity over the last few years, thanks in large part to its fast browsing engine, while Firefox’s market share has fallen. With Firefox 4, Mozilla has a shot at convincing its traditional base of tech-savvy users, many of whom switched to Chrome, to give its browser another shot. As we've previously reported, Firefox 4 brings with it a completely new interface that, like Chrome and IE9, aims for minimalism. It also has a faster JavaScript rendering engine, hardware acceleration support, and synchronization capabilities. Companies: Google, Microsoft, Mozilla
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| CertiVox raises $1.46M to make the cloud more secure Posted: 28 Mar 2011 08:02 AM PDT
CertiVox provides application and content security, as well as on-demand encryption key generation services. The company's cloud-based infrastructure aims to satisfy the need for privacy, authentication, integrity and non-repudiation. Businesses can use the service to reduce identity theft and data loss, secure emails, and to implement digital rights management. Say Brian Spector, CEO at CertiVox, “Our breakthrough security technology is so easy to implement it effectively removes the barrier that has prevented enterprises and ISVs from fully embracing cloud-based services because of their concerns over protecting sensitive information.” The round was led by Pentech Ventures with participation from Octopus Investments. Dr. Sandy McKinnon, a partner at Pentech Ventures, and Mr. Bruce Leith, an ex-managing director at London Bridge software, will be joining the board of directors. The funding will be used to bring to market CertiVox’s key management infrastructure as a service. CertiVox, which was founded in 2009, has offices in London and San Francisco and had previously raised $250K in funding. Companies: CertiVox, Octopus Investments, Pentech Ventures People: Brian Spector, Bruce Leith, Sandy McKinnon
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| Google to tap LG for Nexus tablet? Posted: 28 Mar 2011 07:57 AM PDT
While still a rumor, a Nexus tablet would make sense for Google. Both Nexus phones served to dictate features that Google wanted other Android manufacturers to follow, and they also offered “pure Google experiences” — meaning they didn’t have any third-party software that would distract from the Android user experience, which made them compelling to developers. Just like it did with HTC (for the Nexus One) and Samsung (for the Nexus S), Google would likely work closely with LG to develop the Nexus tablet. It would most likely be optimized for Android 3.0 “Honeycomb,” and would be free of the software issues that have been plaguing Motorola’s Xoom, the first Honeycomb tablet on the market. At first glance, LG seems like an odd choice for Google to rely on for a flagship tablet. The company’s inexpensive Optimus One Android phones have been a hit with price-conscious consumers, and it’s also bringing the 3D-capable G-Slate tablet to T-Mobile (pictured above), but LG has yet to prove that it can deliver a flagship mobile device. Then again, by taking LG under its wing, Google could also be helping the company to deliver better Android products in the future. That’s likely why Google has been jumping between manufacturers for its Nexus phones — by not playing favorites, Google is also helping budding manufacturers catch up to more established Android competitors.
Companies: Google, HTC, Lg, Samsung
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| Apple to “unveil future of iOS and Mac OS” at WWDC June 6 Posted: 28 Mar 2011 07:04 AM PDT
While primarily an event for developers, Apple has also made major announcements at past WWDCs. Last year, Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 4 at the event, so many are expecting that we’ll catch a glimpse of the iPhone 5 this time around. The event may also be a sign that Apple will indeed delay the release of the next version of the iPhone’s software, iOS 5.0, until the fall, as we reported yesterday. Apple typically holds an iOS preview event in early spring — last year it showed off multitasking in iOS 4.0 at the beginning of April. Today’s WWDC announcement is the first we’ve heard of Apple showing off new iOS features for this year — and if we have to wait until June to get our first glimpse at iOS 5.0, a fall release seems more likely. In addition to iOS and iPhone announcements, the 2011 WWDC will also feature over 100 technical sessions to help developers get the most out of Apple’s platforms, as well as Apple’s annual Design Awards for iPhone, iPad, and Mac OSX apps.
Companies: Apple
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| Demystifying the VC term sheet: Protective Provisions Posted: 28 Mar 2011 06:00 AM PDT (Editor's note: Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.) For the past several weeks, I've been exploring some of the more confusing terminology of VC term sheets. In my last post, I discussed who should control the Board following a Series A financing. Today, we’ll examine so-called "protective provisions," which is a related control issue – and something investors always require. Protective provisions grant the investors the right to veto or block certain corporate actions. Accordingly, even if the Board of Directors authorizes a particular action, the consent of a certain percentage of the preferred stockholders would be required prior to the company taking such action. The rationale for these provisions is to protect the investors (who are usually the minority stockholder following a Series A financing) from the majority stockholders. Standard protective provisions: The following protective provisions are viewed as pretty standard and non-controversial (and are actually the provisions agreed-to in FourSquare's Series B financing led by Andreessen Horowitz):
Non-standard/Controversial protective provisions: Beyond the usual provisions, some investors will push for additional items, such as the following:
Founders should push back on these – and should be able to knock most (if not all) of them out if they have strong negotiating leverage. Other Key Issues: There are two other issues you should focus on. First, founders should require a minimum threshold of outstanding shares of Preferred Stock in order for the protective provisions to remain in place. Thus, language should be inserted into the term sheet providing that the protective provisions would only be applicable "so long as [25]% of the originally issued Series A Preferred remains outstanding." Also, watch-out for high voting thresholds, particularly upon a Series B or later financing round. Founders are often able to negotiate a single vote for all investors (i.e., the Series B or later investors would not have a separate vote for their respective protective provisions). However, the requisite consent percentage should generally not be higher than 66 2/3 percent to avoid the scenario where an investor holding a small percentage of shares effectively has veto rights. (Missed previous installments in this ongoing series? Click to learn more about the following issues:)
Startup owners: Got a legal question about your business? Submit it in the comments below or email Scott directly. It could end up in an upcoming "Ask the Attorney" column. Disclaimer: This "Ask the Attorney" post discusses general legal issues, but it does not constitute legal advice in any respect. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information presented herein without seeking the advice of counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. VentureBeat, the author and the author's firm expressly disclaim all liability in respect of any actions taken or not taken based on any contents of this post.
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| American Express launches digital payments platform Posted: 28 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PDT
The move to give consumers new ways to spend, send and receive money online will help American Express go to war with PayPal and Visa, which bought PlaySpan for $190 million in February. And it suggests that the battle to control digital payments online is going to be a big one, since billions upon billions of dollars in transaction fees are at stake. The overall goal is to provide a digital alternative to cash. “This provides us with an opportunity to deepen our relationships with consumers to fit their increasingly digital lifestyles,” said Dan Schulman, group president of enterprise growth at American Express, in a conference call on Monday morning. The announcement shows that American Express wants to go after a new demographic of consumers, including those who are young and tech savvy but aren’t fans of credit cards or other traditional payments. It will also help American Express penetrate emerging markets overseas where cash rules. Just last week, mobile payments firm Boku hooked up with O2 in Germany to offer mobile payments for physical goods as well as digital goods. With Serve, consumers can make purchases and person-to-person payments through a variety of ways: via online, via mobile phones or via the millions of merchants who accept American Express Cards. American Express says that Serve unifies multiple payment options into a single account that can be funded from a bank account, debit, credit or charge card, or by receiving money from another Serve account. Serve’s aim is to get rid of cash, check, or debit cards by being more convenient. Serve accounts can be access from apps on Apple iOS and Android devices. Users can also access accounts on Serve.com and on Facebook. Schulman said Serve is an open platform, allowing users to fund the accounts from any source available. It’s not tied to a particular device, bank, credit card or debit card. Until now, American Express wasn’t reaching a lot of consumers who don’t use traditional credit cards. Over time, the company will add new features and functions to Serve. American Express will also promote serve with a wide range of partners and deliver customized offers to consumers. "Serve is a new type of payment platform that isn't tied to a single card or mobile operating system,” said Schulman. “It's a flexible, easy to use platform, which from day one brings tremendous assets to the alternative payments space, including the millions of merchants who accept American Express.” For the first six months, American Express will waive fees for consumers. Consumers can set up an online account with Serve, funding it from bank accounts, debit cards, credit or charge cards, or other Serve accounts. Customers can use those accounts to send and receive money to friends, pay bills and make purchases online. The account comes with a reloadable Serve prepaid card that you can use at any merchant or automated teller machine that accepts American Express cards. In contrast to debit cards, Serve lets users create sub-accounts, for spouses or children. That allows parents to set allowances for children or others in the family. The parents can specify what the money can be spent for, such as allowing cash withdrawals or limiting spending to merchant transactions only. The parents can also receive reports back on how the children spent the money. The same accounts could be used for small businesses, such as authorizing sub accounts for delivery drivers who have to incur expenses on the go. American Express acquired the foundation for serve from its acquisition of Revolution Money in early 2010. Serve is starting in the U.S. now and will roll out overseas in the coming year. It is doing a marketing pilot with merchants in Eugene, Ore. Schulman said the company will test a bunch of marketing messages in that market and otherwise experiment. “This is a beta world we live in,” Schulman said. “We will listen and learn.” The first partners for the platform are Ticketmaster, expense reporting firm Concur and Flipswap. American Express plans to go after partners in commerce, gaming, entertainment and social networking, Schulman said. Ticketmaster will use Serve as an option for customers to buy and sell tickets with other customers. Concur will use it as an expense management and reimbursement method for transactions processed by Concur’s small business expense reporting service, Concur Breeze. Another partner, Flipswap will use Serve to issue refunds more quickly to consumers who sell or trade in their old mobile phones for reuse or recycling. Serve is also working with five charities: Autism Speaks, Best Friends Animal Society, Malaria No More, Save The Children and Stand Up For Kids. Users can make donations to those charities via a donations widget, which can be downloaded from Serve.com or its Facebook site. That widget can be shared on other web sites to solicit donations. American Express will match contributions via the widget, up to $100,000 for each charity. After the six month free period ends, American Express will charge 30 cents per load and a 2.9 percent fee for each transaction where a user transfers money into a Serve account. The first ATM transaction is also free in a given month, but subsequent transactions cost $2 each. Schulman said that the system will be able to evolve to work with near-field communication, an emerging technology where you can pay for something with a mobile phone by waving it over a wireless reader. American Express will judge success by the number of customers, partners, customer satisfaction, the number of developers coming on board, and the mix of funding sources, Schulman said. He said the company will be very focused on making Serve as secure as possible. The company has made an upfront investment in the technology and it will have incremental expenses as it signs up more customers. Companies: American Express, Boku, Concur, Flipswap, o2, paypal, PlaySpan, Ticketmaster, Visa People: Dan Schulman
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| Google teams up with MasterCard, Citigroup for NFC mobile payments Posted: 27 Mar 2011 10:26 PM PDT
The technology is known as “near field communication” and it has been used in Japan for some time. But it’s not easy to implement, since it requires standardized readers at merchants and wireless radio chips built into phones. Still, the companies are launching an effort to make it happen. If it works, the phone can become your electronic wallet. The enticement for the merchants is that Google will be able to offer them more data about their customers and help them target ads and discount offers to the customers via their wireless devices, while they are inside stores and more likely to engage in an impulse purchase. Google is not asking for transaction fees, according to sources cited by the Journal. The project will allow holders of Citigroup debit and credit cards to pay for purchases by activating a mobile payment app for the existing Nexus S smartphone as well as future models of Android phones. Besides getting targeted offers, users could also manage their credit card accounts and track spending via a smartphone app. Another participant is VeriFone Systems, which makes credit-card readers for cash registers. VeriFone will roll out more “contact-less readers,” or those that can enable consumers to pay by waving a phone over them. That establishes a short-range, or near field, wireless connection. Some thousands of merchants have the readers in place across the country, but near-field communications is still in its infancy in terms of users. Google’s latest Android mobile operating system supports this technology. The system is expected to be released this year. Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, showed off a trial NFC phone (the Nexus S) last fall. But the effort has been a long time coming because it requires so coordination among a lot of players in the payment and mobile phone ecosystems. Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile also said last fall that they would team up on a mobile payment system — dubbed Isis — for smartphones last fall. Discover Financial Services said it will process those payments. Apple is also rumored to be toying with the technology, but it is worried about the absence of standards in the market. The market for mobile payments is expected to grow to $618 billion by 2016, according to a report by consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Co. That report is sponsored by MasterCard. Companies: Citigroup, Google, Mastercard People: Eric Schmidt
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| Tabula raises $108M, in largest round “in a decade” for a chip company Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:39 PM PDT
Chip company Tabula, which has developed a semiconductor architecture that it boasts gives it a significant advantage over competitors, has just announced one of the largest rounds in a decade for a chip company. It has raised $108 million in a fourth round of funding, from venture capital firms including DAG, Benchmark, Greylock, NEA and Crosslink. The company makes programmable chips that it says can support almost any electronic device, from HDTVs, to MRI machines to Internet routers. The company says its competitors Altera and Xilinx serve a $5 billion market. But it says it can create programmable logic devices for $200, compared to a cost of more than $1,000 offered by these competitors (and as Georgi points out in the comments below, Tabula has apparently poached key people from those competitors). The company boasts a “3D chip architecture” that is called Spacetime, with “time” being the third dimension of the 3D architecture. Heady stuff. Tabula’s product has between “2x to 4x the advantages over 40nm Xilinx and Altera high-end FPGAs and will target the sweet spot of the communications infrastructure market (Cisco, Alcatel, Juniper, Huawei, Etc.),” the company said in a statement. The company, based in the heart of Silicon Valley, where silicon-based chip companies have traditionally been based (Santa Clara, Calif.), has now raised a total of $214 million. The company says it was able to raise such a large round because programmable logic device (PLD) chips are the most profitable sector in the semiconductor market, with gross margins of 65 percent. It says it can take market share from ASIC suppliers such as IBM and NEC and ASSP suppliers like Broadcom and Marvell, which it says account for a “$105 billion opportunity.” The company cites data from the Global Semiconductor Alliance to claim the round is the largest in a decade, however the WSJ reports calls its bluff, noting that one chip company, Cortina Systems, raised $132 million in 2006. (Update: Tabula responds by saying Cortina was a “special case as they raised capital to fund a $100M purchase of the Intel optical components business.”) The company also announced that Cisco Systems is a customer. Companies: Altera, Tabula, Xilinx People: Benchmark, Crosslink, DAG, Greylock, NEA
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| Warner Bros. releases five more movies for rent on Facebook Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:04 PM PDT
As video stores die off and consumers become more comfortable watching digital movies, Warner Bros. and other studios are moving to capitalize on digital revenues through newfangled models such as the deal with Facebook. The social network movie rentals are also a way to bypass services such as Netflix, which is perceived as being increasingly powerful in digital movie distribution. Warner Bros. Digital Distribution announced it will now offer five movies — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Inception, Life as We Know It and Yogi Bear — directly on Warner Bros. Entertainment’s Facebook Movie Pages. On March 7, Warner Bros. released Batman: The Dark Knight on Facebook as the first in a groundbreaking experiment. Consumers in the U.S. will be able to rent films by clicking on the “watch now” icon and pay for the transaction with Facebook Credits, which is the social network’s new virtual currency. Users can buy Facebook Credits with real money sources such as credit cards. It’s a small step, but it suggests that the experiment is going well. Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, said that the new titles will appeal to a broad audience and that these particularly titles have a lot of fans on Facebook. Fans can rent a film for 488 hours and have full control of it in terms of pausing, rewinding, fast forwarding and resuming. They can also post comments on the movie, interact with friends as they watch, and update their status. Companies: Facebook, Netflix, Warner Bros, Warner Bros Digital Distribution People: Thomas Gewecke
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| Intellectual property theft fuels underground cyber economy Posted: 27 Mar 2011 09:01 PM PDT
The Underground Economies report being released today by McAfee and SAIC reveals that cyber thieves are now stealing secret company information so they can sell it at much higher prices to competitors and foreign governments. Once the data is stolen, the underground economy has become very efficient at exploiting it. The report concludes that companies have to make it a priority to protect their assets and anticipate rising attacks. A company’s legal documents can fetch far more money than a list of credit card numbers, which go for something like $6 a piece on the internet. The problem outlined by the report is that many companies have too little security protecting their secrets. Cyber criminals are making money selling trade secrets, marketing plans, research and development findings and even source code. "Cybercriminals have shifted their focus from physical assets to data driven properties, such as trade secrets or product planning documents," said Simon Hunt, vice president and chief technology officer, endpoint security at McAfee. One of the most sophisticated attacks was Operation Aurora, a coordinated attack against Google and 30 other companies, allegedly orchestrated by Chinese authorities. Another was a less sophisticated but still damaging cyberattack known as Night Dragon. Starting in November, 2009, Night Dragon attackers conducted cyber raids against oil, energy and petro-chemical companies. Those attacks also allegedly originated in China and involved attackers observing and lurking within compromised systems for a period of months, collecting gigabytes of highly sensitive data. The latest incidents involving Wikileaks and the theft of Bank of America’s internal documents also highlight the trend. Those attacks demonstrated that hackers could penetrate some of the most well-protected companies in the world. Often, insiders make the attacks much easier. In 2008, three people were convicted of stealing marketing plans from Coca-Cola, and in 2009, a former Goldman Sachs computer programmer was arrested for stealing computer code used to perform proprietary trading. On average, data breaches now cost $1.2 million, compared to $700,000 in 2008. "A single mistake by an unaware employee can have dire consequences," said Dinesh Pillai, chief executive officer of Mahindra Special Services Group, a leading corporate security risk consulting firm in India.
"The distinction between insiders and outsiders is blurring," said Scott Aken, vice president for cyber operations at SAIC. "Sophisticated attackers infiltrate a network, steal valid credentials on the network, and operate freely – just as an insider would. Having defensive strategies against these blended insider threats is essential, and organizations need insider threat tools that can predict attacks based on human behavior." The results of the attacks have been severe. A quarter of the companies and other groups surveyed said they have had a merger or product launch disrupted, stopped, or delayed by a data breach. But not every company that was hit took corrective measures to stop a repeat attack. One of the contradictions among security policies is, despite the risk of foreign theft, half of all organizations are considering storing sensitive information abroad. That’s because overseas storage options are often cheaper. Companies in the U.S., China, and India are spending more than $1 million a week to secure sensitive information that is stored abroad. The report says that the United Kingdom, Germany, and the U.S. are perceived to be the safest places for storing data. China, Russia and Pakistan are perceived to be the least safe. Only three in ten organizations report all data breaches suffered, presumably out of embarrassment or the need “to keep things quiet.” Six in ten selectively choose which breaches to report. A large number of companies are failing to conduct frequent risk assessments. About a quarter of organizations assess their risks for data loss only twice a year or less. One of the big challenges is protecting data that is stored on mobile devices such as iPads, iPhones and Android mobile phones or gadgets. Sixty-two percent of respondents agree that securing such devices is a challenge. Companies: McAfee, SAIC, Vanson Bourne People: Dinesh Pillai, Simon Hunt
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| Next iPhone software update delayed until the fall? Posted: 27 Mar 2011 07:55 PM PDT
That’s an interesting tea leaf, but it’s not clear what it means. It may mean that the iPhone 5 itself is delayed until the fall, since Apple typically times the release of new hardware and software features together. For the iPad 2, Apple issued a relatively minor update to iOS, dubbed iOS 4.3. The rumor leads to some interesting speculation about what Apple might do next. TechCrunch says there could be another Apple event coming in April to talk about iOS 5 and MobileMe, but now that event is looking less likely. Apple may do a preview of the iOS 5 at its Worldwide Developers Conference this summer. TechCrunch says that iOS 5 might be timed to a new type of iPad, something beyond the iPad 2. It will also be heavily based on cloud computing, and Apple may launch several new services around it. One of those would likely be a music service. Another cloud service is a location service that helps you find friends and family members. The new version of the Mac OS, code-named Lion, is also coming this summer. Companies: Apple
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| Apple out of overseas iPad 2 stock by Saturday afternoon Posted: 27 Mar 2011 03:03 PM PDT
If it’s true, then Apple is well on its way to having another worldwide hit with the iPad 2. The company is in a race to hang on to its No. 1 position in tablets and beat rivals using Android, WebOS, RIM’s QNX and other mobile operating systems. Pocket-lint said the Apple stores in London are completely out of stock and won’t get more before Monday. Electronista and The Province said stores were sold out in Canada as well. Apple’s Paris store sold all its supplies on Friday. Third party retailers also had limited stock and sold out quickly. Apple will likely disclose its numbers of iPad 2 units sold in a few weeks when it reports its second fiscal quarter earnings. It will be interesting to see if Nintendo sees the same kind of results with the launch of its Nintendo 3DS portable gaming handheld. Expectations are high for that system as well. It may be no accident that both launches are happening now. [picture credit: Huffington Post/Getty Images of London launch] Companies: Apple
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| The IRS isn’t playing games with Trip Hawkins Posted: 27 Mar 2011 01:07 PM PDT
The story is a cautionary for any entrepreneurs who strike it rich and then tangle with the Internal Revenue Service. U.S. District Court judge Jeffrey S. White upheld an earlier bankruptcy court ruling related to tax shelters Hawkins used to shield the vast personal wealth he gained from founding Electronic Arts nearly three decades ago. The judge said Hawkins knew he was insolvent after the IRS disallowed his tax shelters but "continued to spend money extravagantly with knowledge of his (federal and state) tax liabilities.” The judge said that “Hawkins planned to defeat his taxes via bankruptcy and continue living the lifestyle to which he had grown accustomed.” Evidence cited in the case included the $70,000 purchase of a fourth car in a two-driver household. Forbes could not reach Hawkins or his company for comment. VentureBeat also hasn’t heard back from Hawkins, who recently appeared at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, offering a rant on how there are too many developers making games for Apple’s iOS mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad 2. Hawkins, 57, recently raised $12 million in venture financing for Digital Chocolate. Investors included Intel Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures and Bridgescale Partners. He and his wife filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006. In court filings, he listed assets of $5 million and liabilities of $28 million owned to the state of California’s tax agency and the IRS. They received a general discharge of their debts but the two agencies fought back under a provision of the law that prohibits a discharge of debts if the debtor “willfully attempted in any manner to evade or defeat such tax.” In 2006, the IRS rejected a proposal to settle the case for $8 million. The case is a sad one since Hawkins is one of the founding fathers of modern video games. He founded EA in 1982, scoring big hits with EA Sports and other franchises that rocketed EA to the top spot in video games. He stepped away in 1991 to create 3DO, which attempted to wrest power from Nintendo by creating 3DO’s own video game console. By the mid-1990s, his net worth was more than $100 million, thanks to the value of his EA stock holdings. He began selling that in 1994 to fund 3DO. The sales generated large capital gains taxes. His accountants at KPMG convinced him that he could avoid taxes by creating the appearance of large capital losses without the real risk of loss, Forbes said. These ploys were known as FLIP and OPIS tax shelters and they involved the use of offshore corporations, options and investments in offshore companies like UBS AG. From 1996 to 2000, Hawkins claimed $56 million in capital losses, but in 2001, the IRS challenged the legitimacy of these “basis-shifting tax shelters,” affecting hundreds of other entrepreneurs. In 2001, the IRS started an audit of Hawkins. Meanwhile, Sony and Nintendo trounced 3DO, which filed for bankruptcy in 2003. Hawkins sold off a home in Atherton, Calif., sought to reduce child support payments to his first wife, and made some tax payments. But the judge ruled that Hawkins continued to make unreasonable expenditures, noting that Hawkins’ monthly expenses in 2005 were $94,900. Hawkins argued in court that the tax debts could be denied discharge only if the IRS proved fraud, but the judge rejected that argument. Other judges have also come down hard on others with similar tax bills. Companies: 3DO, Digital Chocolate, Electronic Arts People: Jeffrey White, Trip Hawkins
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After 
Following in the footsteps of Google’s Nexus One and Nexus S flagship smartphones, it appears that the company may also be planning for a Nexus tablet device — and this time around, it may be tapping LG to be its manufacturing partner, 
Apple 
Making payments with your mobile phone is one of the great dreams of technophiles. Wave your phone in front of a reader and buy something just like that. To make that a reality, Google is teaming up with MasterCard and Citigroup to embed the technology in Android mobile phones, the 
Updated
It used to be that cyber criminals hacked into accounts to steal credit card numbers or social security numbers. Now they’re moving upscale, building a huge underground economy around stealing more valuable intellectual property.
Antivirus vendor McAfee and engineering firm SAIC collaborated with marketing firm Vanson Bourne to survey more than 1,000 senior information technology decision makers in the U.S., U.K., Japan, China, India, Brazil and the Middle East. The study is a follow-up to a report released in 2008 called "Unsecured Economies,” which found that companies lost $1 trillion due to data leaks.
Apple
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