Communications Division

LGPradaWatch: final thoughts on a most unusual press conference — We got to spend some time with LG and Prada, on the arrival of their new handset the LG Prada. The press conference was an unusual one for us which threw us a bit, as there were no presentations, no speeches, no agenda, all very very unusual. It came off much like a round table debate than anything else, as for one we were all just sitting around on chairs in a hotel suite. The two key people were introduced, Chang Ma the vice president of marketing strategy at LG’s mobile communications division and Matteo Sessa Vitali, the licensing director... [Tags: amp, closed session, communications division, exclusivity, face time]

Earnings: EBay Swings To Black For Q3 But Growth Is Oh So Slow — EBay moved into the black for Q3 but will it be there this time next year? The e-commerce company reported third-quarter net income of $492 million after charges, or $0.38 per share, up from a loss of $.69 in the same quarter last year. (Q307 included the massive $1.43 billion writedown for Skype.) Revenue rose $228 million to $2.12 billion, up 12 percent over $1.9 billion in Q307. But the economic downturn combined with eBay's (NSDQ: EBAY) slowing growth—almost stagnant—doesn't bode well; that year-over-year revenue increase is actually down $769 million from last quarter and eBay's increases for the last... [Tags: amazon, business media, commerce company, communications division, core business]

Gores Group to buy 51% of Siemens communications division — Siemens Enterprise Communications will be majority-owned by a Los Angeles-based private equity group, under terms of a joint venture announced by the two companies.... [Tags: communications division, enterprise communications, joint venture, private equity group, siemens]

UTStarcom sells North American phone distribution biz — Filed under: UTStarcomApparently looking to concentrate its efforts on its network infrastructure businesses, UTStarcom has sold off its Personal Communications Division -- the guys pushing the corporate wares to Virgin Mobile, Verizon, and others in North America -- for $240-plus million to a group of private investors. The new company, creatively named Personal Communications Devices, LLC, will keep on doing the same thing with the very same team in place as before, so this looks to be little more than an exchange of some cash and it's back to business as usual. Phones will still be sourced from the UTStarcom... [Tags: communications division, mothership, network infrastructure, north america, personal communications devices]

Industry Moves: Verisign CEO Roper Resigns; Bidzos Is Interim Head — Verisign, which has pared down the company over the last year, has seen another CEO change: William Roper, who had been president and CEO for a bit more than a year, has resigned and the company board has named Jim Bidzos as interim CEO, president and executive chairman. Bidzos was the company's founder and first CEO in 1995, and he tried to reassure analysts Thursday that he had the background to step into the role and quickly move forward, WSJ reports. No specific reasons were given for Roper's departure. He was appointed CEO in May 2007 after previous CEO Stratton... [Tags: business check, ceo president, communications division, content business, core businesses]