Senate panel hammers Apple over offshore tax strategies

By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc came under fire on Tuesday at a Senate hearing over an investigation that alleged the U.S. high technology icon has kept billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries and paid little or no taxes to any government. "Apple effectively shifts billions of dollars in profits offshore, profits that under one section of the tax code should nonetheless be subject to U.S. taxes, but through a complex process avoids those taxes," said Senator Carl Levin. ...

Dish's Ergen eyes LightSquared spectrum

(Reuters) - Charlie Ergen, the chairman of U.S. satellite company Dish Network Corp , has offered to buy bankrupt broadband company LightSquared Inc's wireless airwaves, a source close to Ergen told Reuters. Ergen's offer for LightSquared spectrum is valued at $2 billion, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the bid. LightSquared, which declared bankruptcy in May 2012, was bankrolled by one of the hedge fund industry's most powerful figures, Philip Falcone. Falcone's plans to introduce a new wireless network in the United States fell apart when the U.S. ...

Google Not Done Fighting Social Giants
With new photo editing and enhancement features, Google hopes its Google Plus social network will attract more users.

Ericsson closes telecom cable manufacturing facility

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ericsson announced on Tuesday plans to shut its telecom cable manufacturing facility in Sweden and would take a 500 million Swedish crown ($75 million) charge as a result. The company said it had given notice of a reduction of 354 positions. It said the market for copper cable had declined while fiber cable demand had grown over the last years, with production shifting towards Asia. "There is overproduction on the cable market in Europe," Tomas Qvist, head of Special Products in business unit Networks, said in a statement. ...

'Smart Rifle' Begins Shipping to Owners
"Even a novice shooter can become an elite long-range marksman in minutes."

The horrifying Wii U sales collapse
There are rumors about Wii U sales in North America slipping below 40,000 units in April. But it’s a fact that Wii U sales in its home market of Japan spiraled below 7,000 units during the week ending May 12. This is an atrocious level. The ancient PS3 sold 12,000 units and the portable console champ 3DS sold 46,000 units during the same week. The PS Vita sold 12,000 units and even its predecessor the PSP managed to top 6,000 units. This means that the closest sales comparison to the Wii U is a Sony portable console that was replaced by a newer model more than a year ago. What makes the Wii U performance such a horror show is