Corporate and legal

Do I really need insurance for my smartphone?

You may have paid only $200 for your latest smartphone, but if you had to replace that device before you became eligible for a subsidy from your carrier, it could cost you more than $600. Is it worth it to get device insurance?

That's the question I answer this time in Ask Maggie. I also offer some advice to an Apple iPhone fan who wants to know if he should wait for the next iPhone, rumored to be out in June or July.

To buy insurance or live dangerously without?

Dear Maggie,

I am getting my son an iPhone … Read more

Group says it found child workers at Samsung supplier factory

Update, December 15 at 9:10 a.m.: Samsung posted an announcement Saturday, saying the workers in question were of legal age. See the note at the bottom of this story.

A labor rights group said it has uncovered evidence that a Samsung supplier employs underage workers, among other abuses.

China Labor Watch today said that an HTNS Shenzhen Co. factory that assembles Samsung cell phones employed at least three girls under the age of 16. The group noted that the discovery came just two weeks after Samsung said it didn't find any child workers while auditing this factory … Read more

HP 'pretexting' scandal ends with former P.I.'s sentencing

Bryan Wagner, a former private investigator, has been sentenced to serve three months for his role in the Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandal.

Wagner yesterday stood before U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen, who sentenced him for his role in the pretexting scheme. After that period is up, Wagner will be monitored for two years under supervisory release.

Wagner, who pleaded guilty to identity theft and conspiracy in 2007, could have faced up to two years in prison, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Kane asked the judge to reduce the sentence. Wagner is believed to have cooperated with prosecutors … Read more

Softbank puts cap on how much it'll pay for Clearwire, report says

Japan-based Softbank is limiting how much Sprint can pay to acquire Clearwire, a new report claims.

Sprint Nextel yesterday confirmed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it's willing to pay $2.90 a share to buyout the remaining shares in Clearwire. The total cost would be $2.1 billion. Some Clearwire shareholders, however, are saying that Sprint should up its bid to $5 per share.

But there's just one problem: according to Reuters, citing sources who claim to have knowledge of the dealings, Softbank has banned Sprint from paying any more than $2.97 per share … Read more

Andreessen explains how Steve Jobs, Tim Cook are different

Famed Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen believes there is one major difference between Tim Cook and Steve Jobs: a desire for market share.

Speaking last night at an event in New York City, Andreessen said that Jobs' "single playbook" was to "invent a new product category, start with 100 percent market share, and then every day that goes by, lose market share until some terminal outcome."

Andreessen pointed to the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad as examples of that strategy. He noted -- correctly so -- that while Apple might own … Read more

Levchin: I joined Yahoo board after Mayer's 'very ballsy move'

After Yahoo announced that Max Levchin was appointed to its board, the PayPal co-founder and Silicon Valley all-star took to his blog to explain his reasoning for accepting the position.

According to Levchin, his decision centered on three areas -- personal, business, and sentimental. On the personal side, he said that he has for a long time "respected Marissa [Mayer's] talent and tenacity," adding that her decision to take over Yahoo "was a very ballsy move, and when she asked for my help, I was excited about working with her."

On the business side, Levchin … Read more

Square COO predicts monster 2013, says Starbucks is just the beginning

After a monster 2012 in which Square, a leader in the mobile payments space, tripled its user base, added Starbucks as a major partner, and hit more than $10 billion in annualized transactions, its COO is predicting that 2013 looks even better.

A year ago, the San Francisco-based startup, which was founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, announced that it had reached a million users and that 75,000 merchants were accepting payments through Square. Now, COO Keith Rabois told CNET in an interview, the company has passed 3 million users and 250,000 merchants taking Square Wallet.

Without question, … Read more

Apple pursues iPad Mini with better display, say 'sources'

The iPad Mini has been an exception to Apple's Retina obsession. But fresh gossip from Asia-based industry sources indicates Apple wants to rectify this.

An upcoming version of the iPad Mini will "focus on enhancing the...display resolution," according to a report at Taipei-based Digitimes. The report cited "backlighting industry" sources.

That's as far as the gossip goes, however. No leaked specs or rumors about display makers ramping up production of new displays.

That said, it jibes with what display analysts have been saying over the last few weeks and previous rumors that claimed … Read more

Chinese arbitrators rule against brain-damaged Foxconn worker

Chinese labor arbitrators have ruled against the father of a Foxconn worker severely injured in a factory accident last year, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Zhang Guangde -- the father of Zhang Tingzhen -- took Foxconn to court in October, a year after his son was hit with a massive electrical shock while repairing a spotlight in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory. Zhang suffered major brain damage after falling 12 feet to the ground, an injury that required doctors to remove half of his brain to keep him alive.

Since the accident, Foxconn had been paying Zhang's medical bills. … Read more