technology MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016

Yahoo board hires investment banks to mull possible sale

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo’s board has on mobile apps and other services most and the company’s legal advisers, growing Internet company in China, and ize in snapping up troubled companies hired three investment banking firms to likely to revive the company’s revenue Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Yahoo Japan. The proposed spinoff with well-known brands such as Yahoo. evaluate potential bids for its Internet growth after years of decline. While the board mulls those alterna- might not be completed until next year, Virtually all of Yahoo’s current market operations in the clearest sign yet that Some Yahoo shareholders frustrated tives, Mayer will continue to pursue a if Yahoo’s Internet business isn’t sold value of $28 billion is tied to its stakes in CEO may not have much with a steep drop in the company’s turnaround plan that includes jettison- before then. Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. The holdings more time to turn around the struggling stock price have been pushing for a sale ing 15 percent of Yahoo’s workforce. “We Yahoo Inc. didn’t identify any of the in Alibaba alone are valued at $26 bil- company. of the Internet operations instead. believe that pursuing these comple- potential bidders that it might meet. lion. The move announced Friday comes 2 The board has now responded to mentary paths is in the best interests of Verizon Communications has publicly Analysts still believe Yahoo’s line-up 1/2 weeks after Yahoo disclosed it would that pressure by hiring investment our shareholders and will maximize val- said it might be interested in buying of still-popular services such as email, consider “strategic alternatives” while bankers Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and ue,” Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb said parts of the company after paying $4.4 sports and finance could fetch several Mayer cuts costs through mass layoffs, PJT Partners to set up a process for in a statement. billion last year to snap up another fad- billion dollars in a sale. office closures and a purge of unprof- meeting with companies interested in Mayer also is trying to spin off ing Internet company, AOL Inc. Yahoo’s stock gained 62 cents, or 2 itable products. buying all or parts of Yahoo’s business. A Yahoo’s Internet operations into a newly Analysts believe Yahoo’s other likely percent, to close Friday at $30.04. The Mayer believes the overhaul will special committee of Yahoo’s directors created company while leaving behind suitors may include AT&T, Comcast and shares have plunged by 40 percent since boost profits and sharpen Yahoo’s focus will discuss the options with the bankers prized stakes in , a rapidly various private equity firms that special- the end of 2014. —AP

Huawei unveils 5 initiatives for digital transformation in the telecom industry

DUBAI: Ahead of this year’s meet its customers’ diversified solutions and how they will help commercially on a large scale in Mobile World Congress, Huawei needs, it requires expanding its global telecom carriers and enter- 2016, and will help to accelerate has unveiled its five ‘Big Initiatives’ own vision, opening up pipes, prises achieve agile innovation, the global adoption of 4.5G. for the telecom industry to accel- data, and services to partners, accelerated transformation, and erate its digital transformation. embracing the Big Initiatives for business success in the digital era. NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES The Big Initiatives and the result- digital transformation, and shar- Meeting its latest industry out- Huawei’s IoT solutions will drive ing solutions represent the com- ing resources in complementary look, Huawei has developed open the digital transformation of carri- pany’s long-term commitment to partnerships. platform solutions for 2K/4K video ers’ home broadband services by building a better connected world For the digital transformation which aggregate content and making the smart home a reality. through extensive collaboration of vertical industries, Huawei is enable innovation in video servic- Huawei’s LTE-based Narrow across the industry. collaborating with consultants es. In cloud computing, Huawei’s Broadband IoT (NB-IoT) technology The initiatives represent new and software partners to build priority is working with telecom will enable telecom operators to opportunities for telecom opera- industry-specific ecosystems so as operators to provide cloud servic- deliver ubiquitous, cellular IoT. This tors in the Middle East and world- to provide integrated solutions to es. Huawei’s cloud strategy is to technology will spark new business wide, foreseeing a potential $100 billion video industry market, a $1 trillion enterprise cloud market, NEEMRANA: This photo taken on January 21, 2016 shows an Indian post and the number of IoT connec- office employee working inside a post office in a village in the Rajasthan dis- tions expected to grow 10-fold. trict of Neemrana. While in the United States online giant Amazon and its ilk Huawei describes the five initia- experiment with futuristic drones and one-hour deliveries, in rural India e- tives as Big Video - Everywhere, Big IT - Enabling, Big Operation - commerce retains a distinctly old-fashioned feel. —AFP Agile, Big Architecture - Elastic, and Big Pipe - Ubiquitous. India Post rides e-commerce During this year’s congress, Huawei is also planning to unveil wave as villagers buy online at least one new addition to its rapidly growing consumer device lineup. New agreements are fur- ALWAR: With his rickety bicycle and sack- bigger post offices. Postal workers use bicy- ther expected with leading tele- cloth mail bag, 62-year-old Indian postman cles and old cloth mail bags which make it com operators from across the Chet Ram does not look like a worker at the difficult to transport bigger or multiple Middle East focusing on the devel- vanguard of an e-commerce revolution parcels. Many rural Indians are still new to opment of smart cities, Internet of delivering everything from mobile phones the Internet-up to a billion people are not Things applications and support- to cow manure. yet online in the country-and are wary of e- ing governments’ digital transfor- He pedals miles each day in rural commerce sites, preferring to hand over mation agendas. Rajasthan state, ferrying packages to vil- money only after receiving the goods. Part “Digital transformation is a new lages and takes payments in cash because of the firms’ success has been driven by giv- engine for telecom industry most of his customers do not have bank ing customers the chance to pay cash on growth, and it will also empower accounts, let alone credit cards. delivery-although it takes up to two days to the innovation of other industries,” While in the United States online giant find out if a parcel was accepted by a distant said William Xu, Executive Director Amazon and its ilk experiment with futuris- recipient. of the Board and Chief Strategy tic drones and one-hour deliveries, in rural “It has given a sense of empowerment to Marketing Officer of Huawei. India e-commerce retains a distinctly old- customers who are not confident about e- “Huawei will continue to open up fashioned feel. commerce shopping,” said K.C Verma, an platform capabilities to help carri- Huawei headquarters Yet the dawn of online shopping is assistant superintendent at a post office in ers to build an open, collaborative, changing the lives of people in rural areas- Behror, a town close to Neemrana. One such and win-win industry ecosystem industries such as transportation, co-build an open cloud ecosystem opportunities in smart metering, and is breathing new life into India Post, the customer is Sudesh Yadav, a farmer’s wife in to accelerate digital transforma- energy, government, and finance. with its partners: Huawei will smart parking, logistics tracking, ailing state-run postal network, which has Daulat Singh Pura village in Neemrana who tion.” Huawei is also innovating with focus on building IaaS, enabling and smart cities. struggled with a huge deficit for years. In refused to accept her parcel of a car cleaning upstream and downstream part- PaaS and aggregating SaaS, to Huawei’s Safe City solutions are the past two years the 160-year-old postal kit. “The company has sent the order almost DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ners to help them adapt to new empower our partners in applica- powered by the latest IoT and giant has tied up with 400 e-commerce a week late,” she told the postman who had According to forecasts, by 2025 telecom trends such as 5G, tion oriented and data driven high mobile broadband (MBB) technolo- companies including Amazon and Indian cycled to her home on a cold January morn- there will be four billion new SDN/NFV, and digital operations. value creation. gies to deliver smart, video-based giant Flipkart to deliver a diverse range of ing to deliver the goods. “We have already broadband users, more than 100 4.5G will deliver mobile broad- security systems for cities. These goods. purchased it from a nearby town. Take it billion things will be digitally con- INITIATIVES OF THE FUTURE band data rates of up to 1,000 systems enable governments and It deploys its vast network of about back,” she said. nected, and every person’s con- In the build up to this year’s Mbit/s, enabling HD voice, 2K/4K municipal authorities to prevent 460,000 employees across 155,000 post sumption of data will increase congress, Huawei further HD video, and virtual reality expe- crises and improve their response offices to take goods to customers in remote FINANCIAL WOES more than 500-fold. The digital announced a new wave of solu- riences to be available anywhere. to emergencies. To date, Huawei’s areas, often hundreds of kilometres (miles) India Post, which was founded under and physical worlds are rapidly tions for 4.5G mobile broadband, 4.5G will also make possible the Safe City solutions have been from the nearest town. colonial rule in 1854, hopes the huge converging and consumers are Internet of Things (IoT), 2K/4K IoT, which will make our lives deployed in over 100 cities across Government clerk Surinder Singh Yadav growth of e-commerce will enable it to demanding the ROADS experi- video, and Safe Cities-endorsing smarter, and help telecom opera- more than 30 countries. from rural Ula Hedi village in Neemrana dis- reverse its ailing financial situation. The val- ence (i.e., Real-time, On-demand, open platforms to enable collabo- tors expand into industry markets. MWC 2016 will be held in trict says the dawn of e-commerce has ue of cash-on-delivery parcels handled by All-online, DIY, and Social) as the ration so that shared success can GigaRadio, one of Huawei’s key Barcelona, Spain, between transformed shopping for his family, who the postal department is expected to regis- new norm. be achieved in telecom industry. products launched at this year’s February 22 and 25. Huawei’s exhi- now nudge him to order products they see ter a 300 percent increase by the end of For the telecom industry to During the upcoming congress MWC, is a crucial technology for bition booths are in Fira Gran Via advertised on television. “These companies financial 2015 compared with last year, India deliver the ROADS experience and Huawei will showcase its latest 4.5G. GigaRadio will be deployed Hall 1 and Hall 3. give us a variety we don’t get in our local Post said. markets, quality at competitive rates and a It hopes to slash its $800 million average doorstep delivery,” said Yadav, as he accept- annual deficit and improve profitability at its ed a delivery of a spray paint machine. 140,000 rural post offices. Communication and Information US would be willing to let Apple keep ONLINE COMMERCE Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad The absence of reliable private delivery told reporters last month that the Indian companies outside the big cities led India postal department had the potential to software to help FBI hack iPhone Post to step in to fill the gap. become the “world’s leading e-commerce “Until recently, people in these rural areas delivery platform”. The department has WASHINGTON: The Obama administration told a to control access to data which has been found by attacks were partly inspired by the Islamic State ter- had aspirations but no means to access the upgraded or added around 70 modern par- US magistrate judge it would be willing to allow this court to be warranted for an important investi- ror group. market,” Kavery Banerjee, secretary of India cel handling centres with existing post Apple Inc. to retain possession of and later destroy gation,” the filing states. Although the judge instructed Apple to create Post, told AFP. “Now we are delivering offices in the last two years and plans to add specialized software it has been ordered to design the software for the FBI, she said it could be loaded women’s clothes and latest electronic gadg- to its standing fleet of around 900 mail vans to help the FBI hack into an encrypted iPhone used ‘MASTER KEY’ onto the phone at an Apple facility. But the Justice ets even in the remote regions of country across India. It also plans to address the by the gunman in December’s mass shootings in The Justice Department’s motion, which seeks to Department made explicit Friday that Apple could like Leh and Ladakh,” she added. It has been issue of tracking deliveries, including by giv- California. The government made clear that it was force Apple to comply with Pym’s order, appears retain custody of the software at all times. a huge success, with parcel deliveries ing handheld devices to postal workers. open to less intrusive options in a new legal filing aimed at rebutting some of the key objections of The specialized software would bypass a security increasing 15-fold to 75,000 daily deliveries For rural India’s postmen, the flood of intended to blunt public criticism by Apple’s chief Apple and its supporters. It says that the software time delay and self-destruct feature that erases all in the past two years. parcel deliveries recalls the days of the executive, Tim Cook, who said the software would the government seeks, contrary to Apple’s asser- data after 10 consecutive, unsuccessful attempts to But India’s vast areas of rural terrain, 1980s or 1990s when sending letters and be “too dangerous to create” because it would tions, is not akin to a “master key, capable of open- guess the unlocking passcode. This would allow the where roads can be poor and infrastructure postcards was much more common. threaten the digital privacy of millions of iPhone ing hundreds of millions of locks.” And it also rejects FBI to use technology to rapidly and repeatedly test patchy, pose challenges to the digital revo- “These parcel deliveries in the last couple customers worldwide. the idea that the court order placed an unreason- numbers in what’s known as a brute force attack. In lution. Most small post offices, like the one of years are once again making us busier,” “Apple may maintain custody of the software, able burden on the company, saying Apple already their filing Friday, prosecutors explained that investi- in Neemrana, depend on unreliable public Ratan Lal, a postman with Neemrana post destroy it after its purpose under the order has been has the technical wherewithal to satisfy it. gators would be willing to work remotely to test transport to collect parcels from region’s office SAID. —AFP served, refuse to disseminate it outside of Apple and “To the extent that Apple claims that the order is passcodes, while Apple retained both possession of make clear to the world that it does not apply to unreasonably burdensome because it undermines the phone and the technology itself. other devices or users without lawful court orders,” Apple’s marketing strategies or because it fears criti- That’s a good “compromise position” because the Justice Department told Judge Sheri Pym. “No cism for providing lawful access to the government, “they’re giving all the power to Apple,” said Jason one outside Apple would have access to the soft- these concerns do not establish an undue burden,” Healey, a former director on cyber policy at the ware required by the order unless Apple itself chose the government wrote. White House. to share it.” Apple’s written objection, already signaled by “They’re telling Apple, ‘You hold the software, Meanwhile, the legal fight continued to rever- Cook in a message to Apple customers, is due next we’re not asking you to put a backdoor in the berate on the presidential campaign trail as Friday. encryption, we just want to be able to brute force Republican candidate Donald Trump called on Apple executives said during a call with this thing,’” Healey said. “If the precedent is this, that Americans to boycott Apple until it complies with reporters Friday that the company had worked with they deliver the phone to Apple and Apple does it, I the court order. federal officials and investigators to try to gain think that’s a pretty good precedent that can’t be Trump made the comment during a question- access to Syed Farook’s iPhone. The executives, who done en masse on the next thousand iPhones.” and-answer session in Pawleys Island, South insisted on anonymity to speak freely amid ongoing The government said the county-owned phone Carolina, where he’s campaigning ahead of legal proceedings, said they went to the FBI in early could be valuable as evidence because Farook Saturday’s first-in-the-South Republican presidential January with four suggestions, including a appeared to use the device to communicate with primary. Trump says Cook wants to prove “how lib- workaround using iCloud. Prosecutors noted the his wife in the months before the shootings as well eral he is” and told the crowd to “boycott Apple until four methods and their “deficiencies” in a footnote in as with some of his co-workers who were killed in such time as they give up that security.” their Friday court filing. the attacks. Two other personal phones were found In the latest volley between the federal govern- crushed beyond investigative value in the trash ment and one of the world’s most respected com- APPLE TO CREATE SOFTWARE FOR FBI behind the couple’s home. panies, the Justice Department argued that Apple The magistrate on Tuesday ordered Apple to The House Energy and Commerce Committee has the technical ability to comply with a court provide the FBI with highly specialized software that on Friday invited Cook and FBI Director James order issued this week - but won’t do so because of could be loaded onto the work-issued iPhone 5C Comey to appear before it to discuss encryption its marketing strategy. used by Farook, who died with his wife in a gun bat- technologies and issues of privacy and national NEEMRANA: Indian postman Ratan Lal riding a bicycle as he delivers a par- “Apple has attempted to design and market its tle with police after killing 14 people in December in security, asking both to tell Americans how they cel to a customer in a village in the Rajasthan district of Neemrana. —AFP products to allow technology, rather than the law, San Bernardino, California. The US has said the plan to move forward. —AP