VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Microsoft is writing off the $7.6 billion that it paid to buy Nokia's handset unit in 2014 and dropping some 7,800 jobs in its roll, most of them from the phone business. The reductions will take place over the next few months.

The family businesses that make up the global diamond trade have seen their profits wiped out over the past five years, hit by shaky financing, increased costs and uncertain demand from customers who prefer hi-tech gadgets to bling.

Google Inc launched a free version of its music streaming service on Tuesday, as it sought to upstage the debut of Apple Inc's rival service next week.

Nearly 20 percent of Apple Watch buyers are not only shelling out hundreds of dollars for the timepiece but are springing for a spare band too, giving the tech giant a profitable second dip into customers' wallets, according to data provided exclusively to Reuters.

Last week, Asustek Computer Inc (Asus) chairman Johnny Shih in an internal company meeting had suggested that it may be a possibility to buy Taiwan-based smartphones and tablets manufacturer, HTC. However, HTC came out with its own statement on Monday, saying it will not consider a merger with Asus and also pointed out that no formal or informal talks had ever taken place in connection with the said acquisition.

In the near future, iPhones as well as iPods and iPads may be manufactured in India. The main manufacturing partner of Apple Inc, Foxconn Technology is said to be in talks with the Indian government in order to build its manufacturing units in western Indian state of Maharashtra, according to a Reuters report.

To counter the threat possessed by Apple Inc's new Apple Music subscription service, Spotify, the current leader in the music-streaming business organized a new round of funding from investors on Tuesday.

BlackBerry (BB.TO) is considering equipping an upcoming smartphone with Google Inc.'s (GOOGL.O) Android software for the first time, an acknowledgement that its revamped line of devices has failed to win mass appeal, according to four sources familiar with the matter.

Making iPad a more functional device for business productivity, Apple on Tuesday launched a split- screen real multitasking app that allows users to run two app side-by-side.

The technology giant Apple is set to introduce its sophisticated mobile payment system- Apple Pay in Britain this summer, according to a report by Telegraph, citing industry sources.

Apple is expected to unveil a new music service and better tools to build apps for its smartwatch at its annual gathering of developers in San Francisco on Monday.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has acquired Metaio, a German company whose technology melds real-world imagery and computer-generated elements into moving video presentations, according to a corporate filing.

CBS Corp (CBS.N) CEO Leslie Moonves met with Apple Inc (AAPL.O) last week to discuss a TV deal, he said at a technology conference Wednesday, and that discussions and negotiations for such a deal are ongoing.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said Thursday that mutual funds will increasingly realize that being underweight shares of Apple will hurt their performance as the technology giant continues to innovate.

Microsoft's plan to make its new version of Windows a mobile hit by letting it accept tweaked Apple and Android apps has met an obstacle: some of the software developers the company needs to woo just aren't interested.