TikTok rival Triller weighs going public

NEW YORK, United States - Triller, an app similar to TikTok that allows users to share short video clips online, is in talks with several companies about a possible merger that would allow them to go public on Wall Street, a source close to the discussions said Monday. 

The group was looking to raise capital from private investors when it was approached by several special purpose acquisition companies, a kind of publicly listed shell company that aims to merge with promising start-ups, the source told AFP. 

The sudden interest coincided with a crackdown on TikTok by President Donald Trump, who has threatened to ban the Chinese-owned social media giant if it doesn't hand over control of its US business to an American company by Nov. 12, citing national security concerns.

TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance is in negotiations with Silicon Valley company Oracle and retail giant Walmart over its US operations, which include some 100 million users.

The talks are taking place against a backdrop of increasing friction after Trump accused the company, without providing proof, of spying on US users for Beijing. 

Triller, launched in 2015, says it currently has 65 million monthly users around the world.

Its subscribers, which include celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg, can easily pick music to go with a video clip.

The Los Angeles-based company is being advised by the merchant bank Farvahar Partners.

Its main shareholder is Proxima Media, which is currently valued at $1.25 billion, according to the same source.

The business is evaluating its various options, and there is no guarantee it will go public, the source said.

Neither Triller nor Farvahar Partners responded to an AFP request for comment.

Agence France-Presse

YouTube tests TikTok rival in India

SAN FRANCISCO - YouTube on Monday began testing a TikTok rival in India, saying it would refine its short video format and roll it out in more countries in coming months.

YouTube Shorts made its debut as TikTok pursues a partnership with Oracle that it hopes will spare it from being shut-down in the US by President Donald Trump.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday confirmed a bid from Oracle concerning TikTok's American operations after the video-sharing app's parent ByteDance rejected a proposal from Microsoft.

But it remained unclear whether the venture would pass muster with Washington regulators.

"Shorts is a new short-form video experience for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones," YouTube vice president of product management Chris Jaffe said in a blog.

"Over the next few days in India, we're launching an early beta of Shorts with a handful of new creation tools to test this out."

YouTube Shorts videos are limited to 15 seconds, according to the Google-owned platform used by some 2 billion people worldwide.

Jaffe noted that Shorts will be modified based on user feedback before being made more broadly available.

TikTok's brand of brief, quirky videos made on users' cellphones has grown hugely popular.

But Trump's claims that TikTok could be used by China to track US federal employees, build dossiers for blackmail and conduct corporate espionage has sparked a diplomatic storm between Washington and Beijing.

TikTok has rejected the charges and sued over the crackdown, contending that the US order was a misuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because the platform is not "an unusual and extraordinary threat."

Trump effectively ordered the sale of the Chinese company's US operations by September 20, after which the app would shut down.

Agence France-Presse

Heart launches Happy Mobile's smartphones

MANILA -- Happy Mobile on Sunday launched two of its newest models intended for the lower segment of the market who are looking for Android-based phones.

Led by endorser actress and host Heart Evangelista, Happy Mobile introduced its two models to the weekend crowd at the Cyberzone of SM North EDSA.

“We are the new kids on the block that possess the passion to stand out by providing you products that addresses your every need,” the company said in a press statement.

Prive is Happy Mobile’s premium phone that boasts of a fingerprint lock. By just swiping a fingertip, a user will be given access to all of Prive’s features.

It is powered by a 1.7 GHz octa core processor which is ideal for work and gaming.

The Prive is good for high-detail photo capturing with a 13 megapixel back camera and 8 megapixel front cameras to document photos and videos even under less than optimal conditions.

Through Miracast, the Prive delivers audio and video to or from the phone through Wi-Fi. For example, a user can display from the Prive to a television or a laptop/PC.

Miracast is a peer-to-peer wireless screencasting standard via Wi-Fi direct connections similar to Bluetooth. It means that whatever a user played on the phone can also be viewed on your TV as long as its Wi-Fi enabled.

The phone uses the Android 4.4 Kitkat, which has a more polished design, improved performance, and packs a lot of new features.

 

Meanwhile, the Oracle offers an impressive full high-definition display with 13 megapixels back camera and 8 MP front cameras that is perfect for selfies or groupfies, long videos or quick vines.

It has a one glass solution (OGS) that makes the Oracle very light to the touch for easier navigation. Measuring 6.6 millimeters, the Oracle is the slimmest octa core in the market. To reduce wear and tear, Oracle is made with 100 percent aluminium.

For people on the go, Oracle has a USB port to enable mobile workers to work.

It also has an Android 4.4 Kitkat operating

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Oracle to Pay Next Three Quarterly Dividends Early

Oracle Corp.'s (ORCL) board will pay dividends for the next three quarters early, joining a list of companies that are giving payouts ahead of a possible dividend-tax increase in the new year.

The software company will shell out a total of 18 cents a share Dec. 21.

Oracle typically pays a quarterly dividend of six cents a share and was scheduled to pay its next one in February.

The accelerated payment, for the second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2013, will cost the company about $867.4 million. As of Sept. 17, the company had over 4.82 billion shares outstanding.

Oracle's chief executive and largest stockholder, Lawrence J. Ellison, didn't participate in the deliberation or the vote on this matter, the company said.

Mr. Ellison holds 1.1 billion Oracle shares and would be in line for a dividend of $198.9 million.

A slew of companies have chosen to give one-time dividends or pull their regular payouts into the current year to avert a dividend tax increase that either the so-called fiscal cliff or a deal among policy makers could bring.

A representative for Oracle couldn't be reached for comment on whether the acceleration was due to the impending tax changes.

In September, the company said its quarterly profit increased 11%, but weaker sales fed concerns of a broader slowdown in technology spending and of Oracle not keeping pace with industry shifts.

Shares were down 0.8% at $32.04 in after-hours trading. The stock was up 26% since the beginning of the year as of Monday's close.

source: foxbusiness.com

US Judge hands Google victory in Oracle copyright fight

SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2012 (AFP) – A federal judge on Thursday put a stake in the heart of Oracle’s big-money lawsuit against Google by ruling that the application programming interfaces (APIs) at issue can’t be copyrighted.

The decision by US District Court Judge William Alsup came a week after a trial ended with jurors clearing Google of patent and copyright abuse charges leveled by the California business software titan.

Jurors ruled that Google violated copyrights owned by Oracle Corp. for the Android mobile platform but were unable to decide on a key point of whether Google’s use of the Java software was “fair use” that made it acceptable.

Alsup had told the jurors to assume, for the sake of deliberations, that APIs could be copyrighted but reserved for himself the right to make the legal decision in that regard.

Oracle’s challenge of Google in court over copyrights was an unusual tactic being watched intently in Silicon Valley.

In the fast-paced land of Internet innovation, it has been common for software writers to put their own spins on APIs that mini-programs use to “talk” to one another.

Oracle argued, to a degree, that it held copyrights to how the APIs worked even if different strings of code were used to orchestrate the tasks.

“When there is only one way to express an idea or function, then everyone is free to do so and no one can monopolize that expression,” Alsup said in his ruling.

“So long as the specific code used to implement a method is different, anyone is free under the Copyright Act to write his or her own code to carry out exactly the same function or specification of any methods used in the Java API.”

Oracle accused Google of infringing on Java computer programming language patents and copyrights Oracle obtained when it bought Java inventor Sun Microsystems in a $7.4 billion deal in 2009.

Google denied the claims and said it believes mobile phone makers and other users of its open-source Android operating system are entitled to use the Java technology in dispute.

Google unveiled the free Android operating system two years before Oracle bought Sun.

Jurors, and now the judge, have sided with Google in the case.

“The court’s decision upholds the principle that open and interoperable computer languages form an essential basis for software development,” Google said in an email response to an AFP inquiry.

“It’s a good day for collaboration and innovation.”

Oracle criticized Alsup’s ruling and vowed to appeal.

“Oracle is committed to the protection of Java as both a valuable development platform and a valuable intellectual property asset,” spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said in an email statement.

“It will vigorously pursue an appeal of this decision in order to maintain that protection.”

Hellinger contended that Alsup’s ruling undermines “protection for innovation and invention” in the United States.

Alsup was careful to narrow his ruling to the 37 APIs at issue in Oracle’s lawsuit against Google.

“This order does not hold that Java API packages are free for all to use without license,” Alsup said in a written conclusion to his 41-page decision.

“It does not hold that the structure, sequence and organization of all computer programs may be stolen,” he continued.

“Rather, it holds on the specific facts of this case, the particular elements replicated by Google were free for all to use under the Copyright Act.”

In a unanimous decision last week, 10 jurors agreed that Oracle had failed to prove its claims that Google infringed on Java software patents in Android operating software for smartphones and tablet computers.

Oracle had been seeking billions of dollars in damages from Google based on the copyright and patent claims.

The outcome of the trial leaves California-based Oracle eligible for a relative pittance in damages based jurors finding that it misused nine lines of Java code in Android in an inconsequential win for Oracle.

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