5 things to know today …
1. Sprint parent Softbank is ready to invest billions in India, according to Chairman Masayoshi Son. Softbank’s investment has been a critical support for Sprint over the past 12 months, but the Japanese giant appears to have other priorities for the months ahead. Sprint is reportedly at work on a radical network overhaul that would cut costs by moving cell sites to less expensive locations.
2. Qualcomm is investing more than $100 million in a Chinese joint venture designed to develop chipsets for servers. Qualcomm will own 45% of Guizhou Huaxintong Semi-Conductor Technology through a subsidiary, with the other 55% owned by the Guizhou provincial government’s investment arm. This is the second time in a year Qualcomm has invested in a Chinese joint venture. Last summer the company announced a venture with China’s largest chipmaker to develop solutions for smartphones and servers.
3. Apple said the battery displays on the iPhone 6 and 6s are not working properly for some users. The problem occurs when users update the time manually or travel to a different time zone. In some instances, the battery display stops updating, leading to inaccurate battery life readings. Apple said it is investigating the problem.
4. Verizon Communications’ AOL division may be ready for a name change. AOL’s chief marketing officer said the Verizon subsidiary is not capitalizing on some of its best brands, including TechCrunch and Engadget because most people don’t know AOL owns those companies. AOL also owns the Verizon Digital Media Services ad platform.
5. Telecom analysts at Deloitte predict 100 carriers will offer voice over Wi-Fi and/or voice over LTE this year. The firm predicts 300 million wireless customers are expected to have access to these IP-based voice services by the end of the year. Deloitte expects carriers to initially launch the services to increase coverage and capacity, and to later add rich communication features like video calling.
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