COMPANIES

The ongoing kerfuffle between classic TV services and the web's intermediaries has a new web-streaming combatant, Aereo, which announced on Wednesday a $20.5 million infusion of funding from media veteran Barry Diller.

Australia's flagship airline, Quantas, is expected to cut hundreds of employees when it discloses its half-year results on Thursday, the nation's Herald Sun newspaper reported.

Shares of Zynga, the principal game site on Facebook, plunged nearly 18 percent after the company posted a huge fourth-quarter loss, its first as a public company.

Apple iPhone 4S is stealing your contact information and you don't even know it. Worse, there could be dozens of iPhone apps doing the same thing. Now Congress wants answers.

Citigroup Inc has agreed to pay $158.3 million to settle U.S. civil claims that it defrauded the government into insuring thousands of risky home loans made by its CitiMortgage unit.

Cisco Systems Inc has challenged EU clearance of Microsoft Corp's acquisition of Internet voice and video service Skype at Europe's second highest court, saying the commission should have put tougher conditions on the deal.

Kellogg Co agreed to swallow Pringles potato chips for $2.7 billion in a cash deal that makes the cereal company second only to PepsiCo Inc in the global snack food market.

The Associated Press, the world's oldest and largest news-gathering organization, is making good on its threat to sue content aggregation news services, alleging Tuesday that a paid-subscription company's repackaged content works on a parasitic business model. The 135-page suit against San Francisco-based company Meltwater News begins with a thudding blow: Meltwater has built its business on the willful exploitation and copying of AP's and other publishers' news articles ...

Apple will reportedly unveil its next-generation iPad -- presumably called iPad 3 -- on March 7. But while most reports say Apple's third iPad will mirror the form factor of the iPad 2, is there a chance that Apple will release an 8-inch iPad instead?

News Corp., the vehicle of controversial publisher Rupert Murdoch, could be probed by British authorities “for sustained criminality over a sustained period of time” for many activities.

Roche Holding AG, the Swiss drugmaker, warned that a counterfeit version of the widely used anti-cancer drug Avastin may have been purchased and used in a number of medical facilities in the U.S, potentially putting patients at risk.

LightSquared, a closely held firm based in Reston, Va., had invested $4 billion in airwaves in order to offer wireless Internet service at higher speeds to as many as 260 million customers. The company received conditional approval from the FCC in early 2011.

The Federal Reserve unanimously approved Capital One Financial (COF)'s $9.2 billion purchase of ING Groep NV (INGA)'s online banking unit in the United States, sealing the biggest merger since the Dodd-Frank law enacted stricter reviews of such deals.

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke briefly about Apple TV--the set-top box Apple product--at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference on Tuesday. Cook alluded to the fact that Apple may be exploring other ways to market a TV product.

The murder trial of George Huguely is moving forward in Charlottesville, Va. Huguely has been accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love in 2010. A medical examiner in the Huguely murder trial testified yesterday that Yeardley Love could have survived if someone would have called for help. Love, 22, had suffered a brutal beating, but died slowly over the course if two hours while face down on her bed.

New Yahoo CEO Scott Thomson faces a new nightmare: activist shareholder Third Point Capital has upped its holdings and launched a proxy battle to control the company.

Amanda Knox was acquitted of murder in October, but Italian prosecutors are challenging the judges' ruling. Prosecutors in the city of Perugia, where the Seattle-born student was found guilty of killing her roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007, have filed for an appeal with Italy's Supreme Court.

Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of farm tractors and combines, reported a 3.7 percent fiscal first quarter earnings increase that topped analysts' estimates, as U.S. farmers flush with cash update aging fleets.

Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit driven by strong video and Internet subscriber additions, though it was hindered by weak performances at its NBC Universal broadcast and movie units.

Kellogg Co. said on Wednesday it will buy the Pringles business from Procter & Gamble Co for $2.7 billion in cash, as it aims to build its position in the global snacks market comparable to its strength in the cereal business.

The 109th American International Toy Fair 2012 kicked off this week at the Jacob K Javits Convention Center, New York City. The fair is bringing together more than 1,100 exhibiting manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents from around the globe to showcase their toys and entertainment products.

Deere & Co. reported a 4 percent rise in quarterly earnings on Wednesday due to growing demand for farming and construction machinery and higher prices.

Proview Technology, the Chinese firm embroiled in a legal battle with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) over the iPad name, said on Wednesday that Chinese customs authorities had told it that any ban on the import or export of the popular tablet PCs would be difficult to impose due to the sheer size of the market.

The Acer Iconia Tab A500 currently runs on Android 3.0 or Honeycomb.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket HD, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronic Show 2012 and is expected to be launched within few months, is a 9.27-millimeter sliver of a smartphone with an HD Super AMOLED screen (1280x720). The Nokia Lumia 900, which was launched at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) on Monday, is the first of Nokia's Windows Phone-based range to feature high-speed LTE connectivity.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 is heavily rumored to be the next big thing.

Talks between Yahoo Inc and China's Alibaba Group over the U.S. Internet giant's Asian assets have hit an impasse, throwing their plans for a $17 billion tax-free asset swap into question, according to sources briefed on the situation.

As the fashion world moves toward the departure of grunge, Prete & Bruno, led by Italian design team Salvatore Prete and Filippo Bruno, have showed up at just the right time. Drawing inspiration from old Hollywood glamour, Prete & Bruno took Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York by storm with their Fall 2012 collection on Monday night, captivating with classic elegance. View the slideshow to see photos from the Prete & Bruno Fall 2012 runway show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.

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