iPad crashes, union demands and another Cisco acquisition
5 things to know today …
1. Cisco is buying a video conferencing software company. Acano is a London-based company with a video conferencing platform deeply integrated with Microsoft’s Skype for Business. Cisco, of course, has its own WebEx video conferencing platform, and said today its “collaboration” business grew 17% year-on-year in the most recent quarter. Cisco said Acano’s technology will help it accelerate this business by providing video to every user on every device.
2. It’s go time for Alcatel-Lucent shareholders. Nokia activated its exchange offer, which will remain open for five weeks. Nokia is paying roughly $16.6 billion for Alcatel-Lucent in a deal that adds wireline and optical expertise to Nokia’s wireless portfolio.
3. Union leaders are trying to stop Alcatel-Lucent from moving pension funds, saying the move will be harmful to retirees and their families. The Communications Workers of America said it is seeking a temporary restraining order against Alcatel-Lucent even as union leaders are working to forge a new relationship with Nokia. CWA said Alcatel-Lucent has three pension funds and the company is trying to illegally move assets out of a fund that subsidizes promised post-retirement health benefits. Alcatal-Lucent wants to move $1.2 billion into another pension fund that covers current workers, and reassign thousands of retirees to that fund.
4. Apple’s iPad Pro crashes when connected to a charger, according to some users who are calling Apple with complaints. The company has advised users to force their iPads to restart by pressing and holding both the sleep/wake and home buttons until the Apple logo appears. Apple says it is investigating the problem. The iPad Pro is Apple’s largest-screen tablet to date and is meant to appeal to business users. Overall, tablet sales have been declining in recent months, with Apple’s year-on-year tablet sales down 19% as of the most recent quarter.
5. The watch has stopped for LG. The company said its Urbane 2 smartwatch will not launch at this time due to an unspecified hardware issue. The Android device had promised LTE data plus voice call capability. LG did not say why the launch was cancelled or whether it will be rescheduled.
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