Samsung apologises to Chinese consumers
A China’s state TV claimed that some of Samsung’s phones were malfunctioning, leading Samsung Electronics to apologise to its Chinese consumers.
The report claimed that phones were crashing due to faulty memory chips and criticized its repair polices.
The models mentioned in the China Central Television report include the Galaxy S3 and the Note2 phones.
Samsung, which generates nearly 14% of its overall revenue from China. said it would provide free repairs for the seven models mentioned in the report.
Lenovo hints at Kutcher collaboration
Lenovo, the Chinese computer hardware company, has hinted at a new business collaboration in a recent post on Instagram.
The picture features Ashton Kutcher sitting at a table in front of a Lenovo sign with the caption ‘Who’s the new guy?’, hinting that the celebrity may be joining forces with the company.
As well as being famed for his acting talents, Kutcher has heavily invested in tech start-ups and has a proven interest in computing and social media.
Kutcher, who is playing Apple mogul Steve Jobs in a biopic film, will join Lenovo at on event on 29 October.
Google leads consumer tech companies lobbying US Congress
Google has spent more than $10m on federal lobbying in the first three quarters of 2013, making it the leading contributor of consumer tech companies in Washington DC.
A new report analyzing the lobbying activity of technology firms uses data from disclosure formed filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, highlighting the tech-company representatives that get in front of lawmakers to state their employers case.
Google’s team of dozens of in-house and hired lobbyists cover issues ranging from immigration reform to cybersecurity to patent protection and copyright laws.
Facebook’s spending on lobbying rose 47% between 2012 and 2013. Microsoft also boosted its spending by 20% $2.2 million during the third quarter of this year. Google cut its spending on lobbyists, but still spent $3.4 million during the third quarter. Apple’s lobbying efforts shot up 111% between the third quarter of 2012 and 2013, but still amounted to only $970,000 this year.
