News highlights for July 27
A woman walks past a figure of “Mario”, a character in Nintendo’s “Mario Bros.” video games. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
Nintendo’s Mario eyes a Mickey Mouse merchandising makeover
Flush with the stunning popularity of the Pokemon GO mobile game, Nintendo aims to make more from marketing popular characters such as Super Mario, taking a leaf from the Walt Disney playbook where Mickey Mouse and friends bring in billions of merchandising dollars each year. It could be sitting on a goldmine.
IBM steps up efforts in fight against Zika
International Business Machines Corp said on Wednesday it would provide its technology and resources to help track the spread of the Zika virus. Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus, which has caused a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas.
Alibaba, eBay, CVC bid for Polish auction site Allegro – sources
Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, U.S. online retailer eBay Inc, and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners are among the bidders for Eastern Europe’s No.1 auction website Allegro from South Africa’s Naspers, sources said. A deal worth between 2 and 3 billion euros ($2.2-3.3 billion), is expected by the end of the year, market sources said. Polish online groups Wp.pl, owned by Innova Capital, and Onet.pl, controlled by Ringier Axel Springer could also be interested, some of the sources said.
Samsung Electronics tips ‘solid’ second-half profits on components pickup
South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> said on Thursday it expects solid earnings to continue in the second half of 2016, with stronger components demand likely offsetting heightened margin pressures for smartphones.
Bytes and barrels: the origins of oil traders’ love of Yahoo
For the oil industry, Yahoo Inc’s decision this week to sell its core business to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.8 billion does not matter all that much. Their world already changed a few months ago, when the company said it would jettison its messaging system that has been the norm for oil traders since the late 1990s. Back then, Yahoo’s technology revolutionized the industry, helping usher in a new era of high-speed communication that changed the way millions of barrels of oil traded daily.
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