The console market is apparently facing a substantial decline based on North American console sales from January 2007 and that of January 2014, TechCrunch reported.
Consumer Electronics
Ontario, Canada-based smartphone pioneer BlackBerry sold its Riverside Commons office campus in Las Colinas, Texas to Canadian investor Brookfield Property Group for an undisclosed amount.
Instagram, the mobile photo sharing service of Facebook Inc, has signed a $50 million advertising deal with Omnicom Group, according to sources interviewed by Bloomberg.
San Francisco, US-based startup SeeSpace launched a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter for InAIR, its new product that combines Internet and second screen functions.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) honcho Jack Tretton is stepping down as the head of the US PlayStation division as part of an agreement with SCEA not to renew his contract.
Former Apple chief John Sculley is teaming up with former HTC India head Ajay Sharma and Singaporean investment firm Inflexionpoint to launch a yet-unnamed smartphone brand in India, which will release its first units in April.
From a rosier outlook for the PC industry in December, IDC changed gears and predicted a continuing decline for PC sales this year until 2018, TechCrunch reported.
California, US-based Internet provider FreedomPop introduced Privacy Phone, a smartphone that promises fully encrypted voice and text communications that costs $10 a month and can be purchased using Bitcoin.
London, UK-based keyring smartphone charger Popcord surpassed its £20,000 goal on Kickstarter and went past the £33,000 mark with five days left for its crowdfunding campaign.
Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's long-time Chief Financial Officer, will be retiring in September. He will be succeeded by VP of Finance and Corporate Controller Luca Maestri, TechCrunch reported.
Texas, US-based electronics retail franchise chain RadioShack announced the closure of 1,100 out of its 4,000 stores across the US in a bid to save the company after a massive revenue loss over the holidays.
Lausanne, Switzerland-based tech accessory maker Logitech debuted a wireless keyboard called Harmony Smart Keyboard that can be connected to different living room devices including the Apple TV, Xbox One, and PS3.
In what seemed like an indication of the dominance of Sony's PlayStation 4 over Microsoft's XBox One, the video game console of the Japanese company sold 6 million units globally in less than four months, VentureBeat reported.
In its quest to develop products faster and introduce more devices to the market faster, Apple Inc has hired new engineers from rival firms like HTC to beef up its team in Asia, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Sources told tech news website TechCrunch that Basis Health Tracker Watch maker Basis Science has been bought by Intel for anywhere from $100 million to $150 million.