Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) acquired automatic speech recognition company Novauris Technologies last year, to improve its digital voice assistant Siri, according to TechCrunch. Although none of the two companies had originally disclosed the deal, TechCrunch confirmed it by calling Novauris’s UK office. Novauris CEO Melvyn Hunt said the company was no longer an active entity, and that he now worked for Apple. TechCrunch also contacted Apple but the company did not give a clear answer, saying: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and generally, does not discuss its purpose or plans.” The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed either. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares after opening at $539.81 moved to $540.00 on last trade day and at the end of the day closed at $531.82. Company price to sales ratio in past twelve months was calculated as 2.73 and price to cash ratio as 11.65. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) showed a negative weekly performance of -0.94%.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) made a settlement paying 1 million euro fine ordered by Italy’s data protection regulator pertaining to the complaints that the car used by the web giant for recording images on Italian streets, in 2010, were not clear and identifiable.Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares fell -4.67% in last trading session and ended the day on $543.14. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) yearly performance is 38.58%.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has done a lot of things right, but their new Surface device may have been badly handled from the start. Just taking things from a business standpoint, there really is something horribly wrong going on behind the scenes. The still relatively new tablet device took in $893 million in revenue last quarter for the Microsoft Corporation. That number sounds great, but the company spent $932 million advertising, building, and shipping out the handheld device to consumers. That adds up to a loss of $39 million. So, despite being Best Buy’s top-selling Black Friday item, the touch-screen device ended up as a revenue sinkhole. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares moved down -2.78% in last trading session and was closed at $39.87, while trading in range of $39.64-$41.39. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) year to date performance is 7.38%.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has filed a lawsuit against Visa Inc (NYSE:V), accusing Visa of charging excessive card swipe fees. Wal-Mart is asking for $5 billion, and their case is based on the strong precedent set by the $5.7 billion settlement Visa and MasterCard agreed to in a class-action regarding the same matter. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) weekly performance is -2.07%. On last trading day company shares ended up $207.70. Visa Inc (NYSE:V) distance from 50-day simple moving average is -6.15%. Analysts mean target price for the company is $258.22.
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