Facebook AXES Ad Product and 4 Tech Titans on the Move

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB): Last week, the company axed its ad product, named “Reach Generator.” Facebook has released numerous ad products at a fast pace since its IPO. The official reason for the axe of the product has been stated by a Facebook spokesperson on the Inside Facebook blog: “We are simplifying our offerings for advertisers, who can now achieve reach goals through Promoted Posts, a recently launched product which gives businesses the increased flexibility to hand-select and boost posts in the News Feed.” The shares traded down $0.40 (1.80%) recently at $21.60.

Don’t Miss: Is the iPhone 5 a BURDEN on Apple?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL): Wi-LAN has given a litigation update about the consolidation of two cases it has before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler and Marshall Divisions. Both cases of the cases are about the infringement of WiLAN’s Patent No. RE37,802 related to CDMA and HSPA and U.S. Patent No. 5,282,222 related to Wi-Fi and LTE. On September 14, the Court granted WiLAN’s motion to transfer the Apple case from the Tyler Division to the Marshall Division, which resulted in the advancement of the Apple case trial date by eight months, and the trial date for the consolidated Apple and HTC cases should be August 5, 2013. The shares traded up $4.47 (0.65%) recently at $695.75.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been replaced by Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) as Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) mapping service partner for iOS6 in Russia, reports TechCrunch. Sources add that Yandex and Apple are also considering an even bigger deal including search. The shares traded up $1.70 (0.24%) recently at $707.98.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Microsoft is in the process of becoming a hardware company along with its role as a software company. Ballmer informed the Seattle Times that within five to ten years Microsoft will be know as a “devices-and-services” enterprise.  This indicates that much more should be expected by Microsoft-branded hardware like the Windows 8 Surface tablets and the Windows 8 smartphones after the purchase of Nokia. Further into the interview, Ballmer refers to 2012 as the “most epic year” in Microsoft history due to the Windows 8 launch. The shares traded down $0.11 (0.35%) recently at $31.10.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has detailed Atom’s successor at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, as it reveals Clover Trail’s power efficiency tweaks along with proving that the next generation of portable devices that run Intel’s new processor will not be compatible with Linux. The shares traded down $0.19 (0.81%) recently at $23.181.

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