Last week was very eventful for the technology sector such that it was hard to pick the top stories. But here’s an attempt to recap-

Cisco Results

Cisco (CSCO) met our expectations for its fiscal first quarter when both revenue and earnings growth was sluggish. Cisco’s problems are related to a couple of ongoing factors. The first is emerging market softness due to increased awareness about national security concerns following the Snowden episode (India and EMEA were exceptions in the last quarter, growing 6% and 2%, respectively).

The other problem is with respect to a focus on reducing hardware costs all over the world and especially in developed markets. The advent of software defined networking (SDN.V) is commoditizing its premium market and also telling on sales volumes. Cisco’s answer to this problem is still under transition and in the meantime, things like carrier capex cuts are telling on its results.

Amazon, Hachette Call Truce

Amazon (AMZN) wanted to undercut the competition on prices and publishers have been crying foul because this also meant lower returns for them and authors. So just when it was looking like there was no middle path, the two agreed that Hachette would get to set prices, but would receive better terms only when pricing lower. Neither company provided further details.

Google Launches Music Key

Yahoo Acquires BrightRoll

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Other stories you might have missed-

Corporate

Cisco CFO to Retire: Kelly Kramer, Cisco’s SVP of business technology will take over from current CFO Frank Calderoni when he retires at the end of the year.

Separately, the company announced the opening of the seventh R&D innovation center in Tokyo for incubation and rapid prototyping of IoT solutions. The company will spend $20 million over 10 years on the Tokyo center and is also collaborating with Japanese companies like Toshiba. Earlier centers were in London (England), Barcelona (Spain), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Songdo (South Korea), Berlin (Germany) and Toronto (Canada).

Microsoft EVP Retiring by Year-end: Lisa Brummel, Microsoft’s (MSFT) EVP of Human Resources, will be succeeded by Kathleen Hogan. Hogan, who has been with the company for 11 years, joins the leadership team on Nov 28 reporting to CEO Satya Nadella. She is expected to oversee Microsoft’s “cultural transformation.”

Google Leases Moffet Airfield: Over the next 60 years, Google (GOOGL) will be spending $1.16 billion for the 1,000-acre property, which includes an airfield, golf course and other buildings. It will also spend another $200 million on improvements and refurbishing. Its stated goal is to use the property for R&D and assembly and testing operations related to space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.

Amazon Drone R&D Lab in Cambridge, Hiring Drone Pilots: Amazon Prime Air is getting ready to roll. The company has opened an R&D lab in Cambridge, which is a well-known for bioscience and technology talent. It is currently looking for flight operators and research and software developers to run the show. Back in the U.S., where drone delivery (private use) is not likely to get legal until next year, Amazon is hiring engineers with at least 5 years’ experience flying drones. A pilot’s certificate is a preferred qualification.

Twitter Gets Junk Credit Rating from S&P: Twitter’s (TWTR) analyst day couldn’t do much for the stock since the S&P announced its junk credit rating with a fair risk profile soon after. The S&P was positive about Twitter’s growth prospects and international expansion but expressed reservations about current investments that it felt were unlikely to generate sufficient cash flow until 2016.

Legal/Regulatory

Apple May Face Class Action Lawsuit: Apple (AAPL) iMessage had a peculiar flaw: it led to lost messages when a user switched to a competing platform. Until earlier this year, no one made an issue of it, but Adrienne Moore from California on behalf of herself and other former iPhone users took the matter to court in May.

They claimed that Apple wrongfully and knowingly failed to inform users about the iMessage shortcoming and Apple countered by saying that it had never claimed iMessage would be able to recognize changed phone numbers. Judge Lucy Koh concluded that Apple could be proceeded against through a class action lawsuit. Apple promptly put out a website where former users can enter their phone numbers and thereby prevent the loss of messages.

Oracle Settles with SAP

Google Sued for Contractor Manhandling: Last week, plaintiff Jacob McPherson claimed that he was employed at $35 an hour as a site merchandiser of magazines for Google Play, operating out of Google offices in New York. He was, however, paid by an outside agency for a maximum of 30 hours a week and wasn’t allowed customary overtime for work beyond 40 hours. His contract was terminated when he asked for an increase in the number of hours covered by the contract.

New Technology/Products

Apple’s Beats Headphone in Time for the Holidays

Samsung Announces Beacon Technology: As retailers gear up to use beacon promos this holiday season, Samsung announced its own solution. Called Proximity, the BLE-based solution comprises an end-user app to receive merchant promos, a web console for marketers to make and manage their campaigns and an on-site management tool to register and manage beacons.

Facebook intros Video Tool: Facebook (FB) wants you to make videos, in fact it’s so eager to get you started that it has just created a tool called Say Thanks that allows you to send video messages saying nice things (or not) to your friends. It’s a good time to launch such a tool since the holidays are just around the corner. And if video sharing catches on, imagine how advertisers would love the show.

Skype Swallows Lync: Lync aka Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft’s instant messaging and video conferencing software for Office is now being rebranded as Skype for Business. Functions and aesthetics of both Skype and Lync will be combined for the purpose with Office 365 users getting an automatic update.

Latest Lumia Phone Sans Nokia: Lumia 535 Windows smartphone is a cheaper handset targeted at select emerging markets, but its most significant aspect is the absence of the Nokia brand for the first time. There have been rumors that such a phone was in the making, but Microsoft has now announced the device. It also said that the phone will retail for 110 euros or $135 and include some high-end services such as Skype video conferencing, Office apps and Cortana.

Google Fiber Internet for Kansas City SMBs: Google’s Fiber plans went a step further when the company said that it would offer the service (data transfer at up to 1 gbps, wi-fi networking box, firewall protection and customer support through phone, email or chat) to small businesses in Kansas City for $100 a month. The fiber initiative was initially targeted at consumers and some even conjectured that it was a pressure on traditional ISPs to speed up their services.

But the decision to target businesses seems to indicate a more long-term plan. It is also likely more lucrative for Google, which charges consumers $70 a month. Businesses are required to pay an additional $20 for each static IP address and $30 for five such addresses.

Google’s Standalone Messaging App for Android: Messenger, available for download from the Google Play Store for devices running Android 4.1, Jelly Bean or above, has the new Material Design look. Google’s plans for the service remain unclear since it is not yet doing away with the not-so-popular Hangouts. Messenger allows you to send and receive SMS/MMS; send text, audio, video and images to groups, block any SMS sender, archive messages and use emojis.

Amazon Announces Aurora

Amazon Launches New Fire HDX Tablet: Amazon’s $379 Fire HDX 8.9 tablet is not a whole lot different from the earlier version. It remains a device primarily for browsing, reading, movie-watching and buying, i.e., everything a person would want to do with Amazon.

While the 240,000 apps in Amazon’s own app store are available and supported, others (the ones you’re more likely used to) and related to other Android devices aren’t. It includes Firefly for scanning bar codes, etc, but the roughly 9-inch device (although super-slim and light) is unlikely to be used for the purpose. The other important and very attractive feature is the long battery life (reportedly it can run for two days without charging even when you’re playing games, browsing and streaming Netflix).

M&A and Collaborations

Microsoft Buys Aorato

Some Numbers

Google Fit Touches Zenith in China: Google Fit, an app used for tracking activity and linking to other apps and devices is the most popular app in China according to App Annie’s Distimo analytics service. It started out at number 24 at launch and reached the top position in days. While Google didn’t venture any guesses on the reasons for its popularity in China, it’s likely related to Android’s dominance in the market.

Xbox One Outsells PS4, Finally: Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate VP of Devices and Studios is gloating over tripling of Xbox One sales in the first two weeks of this month, when he says Xbox One led gen-8 device sales. Microsoft has done all it can to get into the leadership position with price cuts, attractive deals on games and the launch of the new Halo franchise. This is an important time to get into the leadership position because this is the time when both device and game sales are supported by holiday-driven demand.

Microsoft Now Second Most Valuable Company: CEO Nadella’s determination to cut headcount and overall expenses and re-focus the company on new growth trends in cloud and mobile have had share prices soaring over the past few months. On Friday, the software maker’s market cap of $410 billion placed it ahead of Exxon, which had a market cap of $404 billion.

Walmart Matches Amazon Prices: Its now official policy for all of the 4,300 Wal-Mart stores to match deals/prices offered by Amazon and other online retailers. Competition has never been tougher for retailers.

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