Barclays NEW CEO CHATTER, Samsung’s TOUGH Apple BREAK

Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) and Hutchison Whampoa are in talks for the purpose of integrating their cellular networks in Ireland, according to a Bloomberg report. Similar arrangements already exist between operators in Europe, including the one between Vodafone and Telefonica’s O2 division in the United Kingdom, while carriers seek to reduce costs and offer faster downloads.

KKR (NYSE:KKR) and TPG are said to be among a minimum of five bidders who remain in the competition for Getty Images, following the first round which attracted offers of $4 billion. KKR recently made a $150 million stake in the New-York based image database firm Fotolia.

Samsung’s (SSNLF) IP court struggle with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) over domestic sales of the Galaxy Nexus phone, are not going well for the Korean firm. District Judge Lucy Koh on Tuesday turned Samsung’s request that she lift her pre-trial ban on such sales down, after her rejection of lifting a similar ban on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on Monday.

Barclays’ (NYSE:BCS) new CEO might be Antony Jenkins, who heads Barclays’ retail and small-business operations, and is seen as “a safe pair of hands”, as a Wall Street Journal report has him as the leading internal candidate for the position. The new company leader will face a decision as to whether to keep the Bob Diamond strategy of continuing to expand the investment-banking division, against mounting pressure for a greater and more precise separation from the retail operations.