Obama signs bill to boost business startups
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama signed into law on Thursday a bipartisan bill to kickstart small business growth and he promised rigorous oversight to make sure the measure does not harm investors, as critics have warned.
The bill to make it easier for small firms to raise capital and go public marked a rare accomplishment in an gridlocked Congress. Obama, his fellow Democrats and his Republican foes were all eager to show voters in an election year that they could agree on something to boost the fragile economic recovery and fight high unemployment.
"For startups and small businesses, this bill is a potential game changer," Obama said at a White House signing ceremony flanked by lawmakers from both parties. "Startups and small business will now have access to a big new pool of potential investors, namely the American people."
The bipartisanship on display on Thursday is unlikely to last.
Both parties are busy sharpening their election year messages and there is little left on the congressional agenda that has the support of both Read more...
Apple’s purchase of Anobit would give it a leg up on rivals
Apple's buyout of Israel-based solid-state drive (SSD) manufacturer Anobit Technologies will give the company a significant technological boost in the mobile market, and the deal could yield huge cost savings.
Apple is the industry's largest NAND flash consumer, so acquiring Anobit gives it a means of addressing the reliability problems that arise as solid-state memory shrinks in size.
According to published reports, Apple will pay around $500 million for Anobit. It sees the purchase of a NAND flash technology developer as key to its product strategy going forward. The acquisition of Anobit would be Apple's largest purchase since it bought NeXT in 1996. NeXT, which produced high-end workstations, was founded by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs after he was fired from Apple in 1985. Read more...
Over 36,000 businesses may have already signed up for Google+
Google’s open invitation for businesses, brands, organisations and education establishments to apply for a dedicated Google+ business profile, may have already attracted over 36,000 signups in one week, The Next Web can reveal.
Last week, Google said it was planning to introduce Google+ for businesses before the year is out, allowing brands to create profiles on the site without using workarounds. Businesses were told to hold off on creating consumer profiles as the search giant would begin testing “non-user entities” soon. Read more...