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PlatinumPearl · 08-04-2020, 08:12 PM

Ex-Google, Uber engineer Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets.

Judge says lesser sentence would give ‘a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets.’

One of Silicon Valley’s most prominent trade-secret cases in recent years came to a close Tuesday, as former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Levandowski, who worked on autonomous-vehicle technology at Google’s Waymo, agreed to a deal in March, pleading guilty to taking thousands of files from his former employer when he left in 2016 to start the self-driving truck company Otto, which months later was bought by Uber Technologies Inc., where he became the head of its self-driving unit.

That spurred a bitter legal battle between Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL, -0.63% GOOG, -0.64% Google and Uber UBER, +4.77% that was finally settled in 2018.

Levandowski was a pioneer in robotic vehicles, and was accused of stealing top-secret technology from Waymo including lidar, a key sensor for self-driving vehicles. Uber denied it knew about or benefited from the stolen documents, and eventually fired him.

Levandowski had sought a sentence consisting of home confinement, a fine and community service, but U.S District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said Tuesday that home confinement would give “a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets. Prison time is the answer to that.” Prosecutors had sought 27 months in prison.

His prison sentence will be delayed until after the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was also fined $95,000, and must pay $757,000 in restitution to Google. Levandowski was also ordered in March to pay Google $179 million over a contract dispute. He filed for bankruptcy soon after that ruling.

“The last three and a half years have forced me to come to terms with what I did,” Levandowski said in a statement Tuesday. “I want to take this time to apologize to my colleagues at Google for betraying their trust, and to my entire family for the price they have paid and will continue to pay for my actions.”

TechCrunch reported Tuesday that the saga may not yet be entirely over, as Levandowski has recently filed a lawsuit against Uber claiming he’s owed around $4 billion that Uber never paid him as part of the Otto acquisition.

Source: marketwatch.com
Website: https://on.mktw.net/2EL6wbW
Date: August 04, 2020

homoe · 08-04-2020, 09:16 PM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grocery shelves won't be fully stocked with Clorox's disinfecting wipes until next year, CEO Benno Dorer told Reuters, as the world's biggest cleaning products maker struggles with overwhelming pandemic-led demand for its top product.

Since the start of global lockdowns, makers of hygiene goods have seen a sustained boom in sales. While California-based Clorox typically holds aside excess supply for flu seasons, it says it has been unable to keep up with a six-fold increase in demand for many of its disinfectants.

The company is currently understocked across much of its portfolio, which includes Glad trash bags and Burt's Bees lip balm. Supply for most products, like liquid bleach, will improve dramatically over the next four to six months - but not wipes, Dorer said on Monday.

Clorox products are used in Uber vehicles and United Airlines planes, and are sold by major retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Kroger.

"Disinfecting wipes, which are the hottest commodity in the business right now, will probably take longer because it's a very complex supply chain to make them," Dorer said.

Many companies in the industry make wipes with polyester spunlace, a material currently in short supply as it is also used to make personal protective equipment like masks, medical gowns and medical wipes.

"That entire supply chain is stressed. ... We feel like it's probably going to take until 2021 before we're able to meet all the demand that we have," Dorer said.

Dorer had said in May that Clorox expected to see shelves stocked with wipes by this summer.

Since then, Clorox has made "major" capital investments so it can ramp up output each quarter, including simplifying its disinfectant product line-up at factories that run 24/7 every day of the year. Clorox began outsourcing some manufacturing this year to 10 third-party supplies, and plans to keep looking for more.

On Monday, Clorox reported fourth-quarter sales and earnings that widely topped analysts' expectations, driven by a 33% increase in revenue from its health and wellness business, which makes cleaning products and accounts for more than 40% of total sales.

Clorox shares were up 2.5% on Tuesday.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/clorox-wo...110214518.html

PlatinumPearl · 08-05-2020, 06:59 AM

Apple Buys Mobile Startup Mobeewave For $100M To Enable Contactless Payments: Report

Apple Inc. AAPL has purchased contactless mobile payment startup Mobeewave Inc. for $100 milllion, according to a Bloomberg report late Friday.

What Happened

The Tim Cook-led company is reportedly retaining Mobeewave’s team, which will continue to operate out of its home base in Montreal, Canada.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” a spokesperson for the Cupertino-based company said in a statement — a message it typically reiterates when it intends to confirm an acquistion.

The smartphone maker already has an Apple Pay service on its iPhones since 2014 and could potentially use Mobeewave’s technology to enable those devices to accept payments without involving additional hardware, Bloomberg noted.

The Montreal-based startup’s technology enables smartphones and credit cards to make payments using a second smartphone with near field communications (NFC) without any extra hardware.

Why It Matters

Jack Dorsey-led Square Inc SQ 0.01% competes in the mobile payments space but its payment system uses hardware.

Last year, Mobeewave allowed Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s OTC:SSNLF phones to use the technology. The Korean technology titan is also an investor in the payments company, which has raised $20 million so far, Pitchbook data revealed.

Apple acquired the hyperlocal weather app Dark Sky in March and the virtual reality startup NextVR in May.

Last week, Cook along with CEOs of Facebook Inc FB Amazon.com, Inc AMZN and Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG appeared before the House Antitrust committee. The questions in that hearing broached on the matter of antitrust concerns related to the technology giant's acquisitions.

Price Action

Apple shares traded 0.56% higher at $427.40 in pre-market session Monday.

Source: benzinga.com
Website: https://bit.ly/3fx32GT
Date: August 03, 2020

08-04-2020, 08:12 PM	#1
PlatinumPearl Member How Do You Identify?: Femme, Human Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Canada Posts: 1,150 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 966 Thanked 2,418 Times in 890 Posts Rep Power: 21474846	Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski Ex-Google, Uber engineer Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets. Judge says lesser sentence would give ‘a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets.’ One of Silicon Valley’s most prominent trade-secret cases in recent years came to a close Tuesday, as former Google and Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Levandowski, who worked on autonomous-vehicle technology at Google’s Waymo, agreed to a deal in March, pleading guilty to taking thousands of files from his former employer when he left in 2016 to start the self-driving truck company Otto, which months later was bought by Uber Technologies Inc., where he became the head of its self-driving unit. That spurred a bitter legal battle between Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL, -0.63% GOOG, -0.64% Google and Uber UBER, +4.77% that was finally settled in 2018. Levandowski was a pioneer in robotic vehicles, and was accused of stealing top-secret technology from Waymo including lidar, a key sensor for self-driving vehicles. Uber denied it knew about or benefited from the stolen documents, and eventually fired him. Levandowski had sought a sentence consisting of home confinement, a fine and community service, but U.S District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said Tuesday that home confinement would give “a green light to every future brilliant engineer to steal trade secrets. Prison time is the answer to that.” Prosecutors had sought 27 months in prison. His prison sentence will be delayed until after the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also fined $95,000, and must pay $757,000 in restitution to Google. Levandowski was also ordered in March to pay Google $179 million over a contract dispute. He filed for bankruptcy soon after that ruling. “The last three and a half years have forced me to come to terms with what I did,” Levandowski said in a statement Tuesday. “I want to take this time to apologize to my colleagues at Google for betraying their trust, and to my entire family for the price they have paid and will continue to pay for my actions.” TechCrunch reported Tuesday that the saga may not yet be entirely over, as Levandowski has recently filed a lawsuit against Uber claiming he’s owed around $4 billion that Uber never paid him as part of the Otto acquisition. Source: marketwatch.com Website: https://on.mktw.net/2EL6wbW Date: August 04, 2020

08-04-2020, 09:16 PM	#2
homoe Practically Lives Here How Do You Identify?: Butch Relationship Status: ..... Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: 30 minute ferry ride from Seattle Posts: 38,565 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 20,811 Thanked 33,548 Times in 14,914 Posts Rep Power: 21474890	Clorox won't have enough disinfecting wipes until 2021, its CEO says... CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grocery shelves won't be fully stocked with Clorox's disinfecting wipes until next year, CEO Benno Dorer told Reuters, as the world's biggest cleaning products maker struggles with overwhelming pandemic-led demand for its top product. Since the start of global lockdowns, makers of hygiene goods have seen a sustained boom in sales. While California-based Clorox typically holds aside excess supply for flu seasons, it says it has been unable to keep up with a six-fold increase in demand for many of its disinfectants. The company is currently understocked across much of its portfolio, which includes Glad trash bags and Burt's Bees lip balm. Supply for most products, like liquid bleach, will improve dramatically over the next four to six months - but not wipes, Dorer said on Monday. Clorox products are used in Uber vehicles and United Airlines planes, and are sold by major retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Kroger. "Disinfecting wipes, which are the hottest commodity in the business right now, will probably take longer because it's a very complex supply chain to make them," Dorer said. Many companies in the industry make wipes with polyester spunlace, a material currently in short supply as it is also used to make personal protective equipment like masks, medical gowns and medical wipes. "That entire supply chain is stressed. ... We feel like it's probably going to take until 2021 before we're able to meet all the demand that we have," Dorer said. Dorer had said in May that Clorox expected to see shelves stocked with wipes by this summer. Since then, Clorox has made "major" capital investments so it can ramp up output each quarter, including simplifying its disinfectant product line-up at factories that run 24/7 every day of the year. Clorox began outsourcing some manufacturing this year to 10 third-party supplies, and plans to keep looking for more. On Monday, Clorox reported fourth-quarter sales and earnings that widely topped analysts' expectations, driven by a 33% increase in revenue from its health and wellness business, which makes cleaning products and accounts for more than 40% of total sales. Clorox shares were up 2.5% on Tuesday. https://www.yahoo.com/news/clorox-wo...110214518.html

08-05-2020, 06:59 AM	#3
PlatinumPearl Member How Do You Identify?: Femme, Human Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Canada Posts: 1,150 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 966 Thanked 2,418 Times in 890 Posts Rep Power: 21474846	Apple Buys Canadian 🇨🇦 Mobile Startup Mobeewave For $100M Apple Buys Mobile Startup Mobeewave For $100M To Enable Contactless Payments: Report Apple Inc. AAPL has purchased contactless mobile payment startup Mobeewave Inc. for $100 milllion, according to a Bloomberg report late Friday. What Happened The Tim Cook-led company is reportedly retaining Mobeewave’s team, which will continue to operate out of its home base in Montreal, Canada. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” a spokesperson for the Cupertino-based company said in a statement — a message it typically reiterates when it intends to confirm an acquistion. The smartphone maker already has an Apple Pay service on its iPhones since 2014 and could potentially use Mobeewave’s technology to enable those devices to accept payments without involving additional hardware, Bloomberg noted. The Montreal-based startup’s technology enables smartphones and credit cards to make payments using a second smartphone with near field communications (NFC) without any extra hardware. Why It Matters Jack Dorsey-led Square Inc SQ 0.01% competes in the mobile payments space but its payment system uses hardware. Last year, Mobeewave allowed Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s OTC:SSNLF phones to use the technology. The Korean technology titan is also an investor in the payments company, which has raised $20 million so far, Pitchbook data revealed. Apple acquired the hyperlocal weather app Dark Sky in March and the virtual reality startup NextVR in May. Last week, Cook along with CEOs of Facebook Inc FB Amazon.com, Inc AMZN and Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG appeared before the House Antitrust committee. The questions in that hearing broached on the matter of antitrust concerns related to the technology giant's acquisitions. Price Action Apple shares traded 0.56% higher at $427.40 in pre-market session Monday. Source: benzinga.com Website: https://bit.ly/3fx32GT Date: August 03, 2020

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