Webremix Articles

VIDEO: GE makes investment plans for Asia

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:10:03 GMT

General Electric, the world's biggest jet-engine maker, says it is open to investing more on plants overseas.

Twitter Extends Enhanced Pages to More Brands

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:20:00 GMT

It started in early December with Disney-Pixar, Coca-Cola, General Electric, and HP — 21 top brands in all, which any media outlet would salivate over. These are the Enhanced Profile Pages of the "New Twitter" looking to keep pace (and relevancy) with the changing social order of the web, as other services such as Google+ and Facebook enhance their efforts attract top brands to their sites. Now the company said it will begin a larger rollout to an extended number of brands that include NPR, NBC News,Volkswagon and more.

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Kenya: GE Upgrades Nairobi to Regional Hub

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:46:16 GMT

[Business Daily] General Electric Co, the largest US conglomerate, has upgraded its Nairobi office to a regional hub to serve its sub-Saharan Africa business.

Kenya: General Electric to Invest in the Country's Infrastructure Sector

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:37:23 GMT

[Nation] US infrastructure firm, General Electric, has signed an agreement with the government to modernise Kenya's transport, health and aviation industries.

General Electric Promises to Boost Country

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:21:10 GMT

KENYA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on development with the General Electric Company. This was agreed after the company's top executive led by its chairman and chief executive ...

General Electric Promises to Boost Country

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:34:49 GMT

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)-KENYA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on development with the General Electric Company.

General Electric to invest in Kenya’s infrastructure sector

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:29:46 GMT

US infrastructure firm, General Electric, has signed an agreement with the government to modernise Kenya's transport, health and aviation ...

Raila bullish on economy after elections

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:28:33 GMT

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Mr Jeff Immelt the CEO of General Electric during a reception at National Museum on January 29, 2012. Mr Immelt is also the chair of President Obama's Council on ...

Kenya: General Electric Launches 100 MW Wind Power Plant

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:26:23 GMT

Business Daily (Nairobi)-American multinational General Electric's power generating subsidiary GE Energy is planning to set up a 100 megawatt wind farm in Ngong showing growing international interest in Kenya's lucrative electricity sector.

General Electric paid $2.67 billion, not zero, in 2010 income taxes (Daily Caller)

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:05:49 GMT

Daily Caller - Contrary to multiple news reports in 2011 that fingered General Electric as an income tax dodger during 2010, a GE representative told The Daily Caller the company did in fact pay more than $1 billion in U.S. taxes that year. Additionally, a document GE provided to TheDC establishes that the company paid $2.671 billion globally in income tax in 2010.

General Electric Is Now a 'Dog of the Dow'

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:41:21 GMT

The Dogs of the Dow - those high-yielding stocks that are supposed to represent the bottom of the blue-chip barrel - have some unlikely company. General Electric once stood as the bellwether of ...

GE Courts Turbine Customers

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:42:26 GMT

General Electric Co. is trying to convince developers that have bought its wind turbines to double down on clean energy by purchasing its solar panels as well, said Vic Abate, who runs the company’s renewables unit.

GE Courts Turbine Customers

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:33:26 GMT

Stocks Fall From 5-Month High as Euro Weakens, Commodities Drop

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:01:03 GMT

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks dropped, pulling European and U.S. benchmark indexes down from five-month highs, after Google Inc. and General Electric Co. reported sales below analyst estimates while ...

Stocks Fall From 5-Month High as Euro Weakens, Commodities Drop

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:54:55 GMT

Stocks dropped, pulling European and U.S. benchmark indexes down from five-month highs, after Google Inc. and General Electric Co. reported sales below analyst estimates while the euro weakened as talks between Greek officials and private creditors entered a third day.

General Electric Profit Droops on European Slump

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:33:56 GMT

The European financial crisis has helped erode the bottom line for General Electric (GE), the company said Friday as it reported drooping sales and profits for the fourth quarter. Quarterly ...

S&P 500 Falls From 5-Month High as IBM Lifts Dow; Euro Weakens

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:56:59 GMT

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Most U.S. stocks dropped, pulling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index down from an almost six-month high, after Google Inc. and General Electric Co. reported sales below ...

Parker Hannifin results disappoints

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:17:05 GMT

Shares of those companies were all lower on Friday, hurt by both Parker's disappointing results and weaker-than-expected sales at industrial bellwether General Electric Co ...

Former GE Subprime Unit Said Target Of Federal Probe -Report

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:10:08 GMT

General Electric Co.'s (GE) defunct subprime mortgage unit is the subject of a probe by the federal government for possible fraud during the financial crisis, the Los Angeles Times reported ...

Reduced NBCUniversal Stake Affects General Electric's Fourth-Quarter Financials

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:09:16 GMT

NEW YORK - General Electric said on Friday that its fourth-quarter revenue was down 8 percent compared to the same period a year ago at $38 ...

GE shares fall on lower revenues

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:44:01 GMT

US industrial conglomerate General Electric sees its profits rise, but its shares fall after revenues were lower than expected.

Google's Miss, GE Results Could Dictate Market Direction

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:01:07 GMT

] , part owner of CNBC parent, NBC Universal. GE is expected to earn $0.38 per share on revenues of $40.2 billion. General Electric, because of its diverse business mix and international ...

IPad, IPhone Gain Momentum with Businesses

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:51:41 GMT

Apple's devices are appearing more frequently in business, pointing to early success for the company's push into the corporate sector.

In a study released Monday, IDG revealed more than 90 percent of iPad owners worldwide use the tablet primarily for work, and one in four iPad users surveyed got the device from their employer, highlighting increasing use of Apple's tablet as a business tool.

The research also shows 12 percent of workers have entirely replaced their laptop with an iPad, and three out of four IDG survey respondents reported they "carry their laptop around less," choosing the iPad as their go-to business device on most occasions.

Apple's other products are gaining a corporate foothold as well. General Electric is conducting a pilot project that allows employees to choose Mac notebooks or desktops instead of Windows PCs. The company has about 1,000 Mac users and expects more employees to make the switch once the program gets wider promotion this year.

An Apple spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal the company is "excited" about programs like the one at GE. Getting more Macs on people's desks provides an opening in businesses for Apple's mobile devices, such as iPhones and iPads, because enterprises will be more likely to choose companion products that fit with the hardware and operating system they already use.

Apple's high consumer appeal is also driving its business acceptance, as more people who use iPads and iPhones at home ask their employers to support the devices in the workplace, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Research firm Forrester estimates Apple will sell $9 billion worth of Macs and $10 billion in iPads to businesses this year, a 50 percent increase over last year. In comparison, corporate spending on PCs and tablets by other manufacturers is declining.

Apple has been carving an enterprise presence for the past year, hiring former NSA analyst David Rice as director of global security last January in an effort to improve encryption on the iPhone and iPad to increase their business appeal.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company also began offering technical service contracts for small businesses to support up to five systems of devices, unveiled a B2B App Store that lets employers buy bulk and custom apps for their employees, and released an unlocked version of the iPhone 4S to appeal to global business.

Apple's growing presence in the corporate sector puts pressure on competing manufacturers. For decades, Windows-based PCs were standard in business settings, giving the advantage to manufacturers such as Dell and Lenovo. However, Windows tablets and phones have yet to take off, leaving an opening for Apple to gain business users for the iPhone and iPad.

The decline of RIM's BlackBerry also leaves an open spot for Apple to step into this year. Last year's upheavals and outages at RIM are causing many enterprises to turn away from the company that made its name providing enterprise-secure devices. RIM is pinning recovery hopes on new smartphones using the updated BlackBerry 10 operating system, but OS delays and device cancellation rumors cast doubt on the company's continued business appeal.

Apple's corporate push shows it stands ready to take BlackBerry's place in business, as well as challenge the business domination of PCs. As more people work remotely and on the go, they will increasingly turn to tablets and smartphones to meet their business needs, and Apple plans to have the secure, reliable devices these enterprises require.

IPad, IPhone Gain Momentum with Businesses originally appeared at Mobiledia on Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:18 am.

8x8 tops earnings estimates, sees revenue grow 31%

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:44:15 GMT

8x8 (Nasdaq: EGHT) Wednesday reported revenue of $23.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, a 31 percent increase from a year ago. It also topped analyst earnings estimates with a 73 percent Y-o-Y increase to $2.6 million, or 4 cents per share. Wall Street had expected the company to deliver earnings of 3 cents per share.

Chief executive and board chairman Bryan Martin, during the company's earnings call, pointed to escalating demand for 8x8's cloud-based business communications and computing services. He said revenue from business customers grew 42 percent from a year ago and now represents 93 percent of total revenue.

Martin said 8x8 increasingly was attracting interest from larger customers, a byproduct of its acquisition of call center specialist Contactual, a deal that closed in September, and brought 8x8 some 250 new, mostly big business clients, including Jamba, HomeAway and General Electric.

While Martin declined to break out revenue numbers specific to Contactual, he told FierceEnterpriseCommunications that the deal had already exceeded the company's expectation from the standpoint of revenue and customer growth. "The integration was extremely quick," he said, adding that the sales and support groups were "working very well together."

8x8 also reported a record low 2 percent churn in the quarter and said business customers were spending an average of $239 a month for its services, up from $207 in the prior quarter. The number of services businesses are requesting also increased, to 14.1 from 12.4 in the second quarter. Also improved in the quarter were product margins, said Martin, the result of a continued focus on selling higher quality endpoints at higher price points to larger customers.

8x8's focus on expanding its base of channel partner is generating solid results; it ended the quarter with 54 partners, up from 40 at the start of the quarter. Included in that number are three service providers--SaskTel, Bell Canada, and Centurylink--that previously partnered with Contactual and are now distributing the product under 8x8's brand. The company also added AT&T Mobility and 83 additional new customer deals through channel partners in the quarter.

"Our absolute channel numbers are still a small percentage of new sales, but the increase in revenue from these partners is encouraging and our recruitment efforts continue to gain momentum and traction with new partner prospects," Martin said.

Looking forward, Martin said 8x8 expected 2012 to "be a banner year."

"What were seeing is across the board adoption of these services," he said, adding that while "I don't think we've declared victory," momentum for cloud services is increasing. The industry, he said, is "starting to see white papers that encourage IT professionals to look to the cloud."

Martin pointed to 8x8's customer win with the city of Garden Grove, Calif., as an example. The city government has selected 8x8 to host its disaster recovery IT operations, a new business for 8x8 and an easy fit for its technology.

Government and education are two verticals in which 8x8 sees huge growth potential. It recently added Yale University and Ball State University to its customer roster.

"We're beginning to penetrate into businesses that historically would have adopted an on premise hardware approach," he said. Martin added that 8x8 was getting "a lot of K-12 requests because there are a lot of school systems looking to upgrade their aging phone systems."

Commenting on its recent Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) certification, Martin said the distinction was important because "Cisco can open up a lot of different doors in different ways."

8x8 stock was up nearly 6 percent in after hours trading.

For more:
- see this release

Siemens Invests in Turbines to Fend Off GE

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:24:25 GMT

Siemens AG has earmarked more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to expand production of gas- turbines and fend off General Electric Co. as they jostle for share of the expanding market.

GE’s profit seen jumping more than 20%

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:01:56 GMT

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- General Electric Co.'s fourth-quarter profit is seen growing by about 22% when the industrial conglomerate updates investors on Friday, but whether the company ...

GE ordered to defend lawsuit tied to 2008 crisis

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:16:31 GMT

(Reuters) - A federal judge refused on Thursday to throw out a lawsuit accusing General Electric Co and its chief executive of misleading investors about the conglomerate's financial health and ...

South Africa: Transnet to Get 43 Locos From GE

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:58:42 GMT

Biz-Community (Cape Town)-Public Enterprises Minister, Malusi Gigaba, has approved Transnet's purchase of an additional 43 C30ACi diesel-electric locomotives from GE's local arm, General Electric South Africa Technologies (GESAT).

Discovery Names Andrew Warren CFO, Shuffles Executives

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:28:00 GMT

Discovery Communications has appointed Liz Claiborne and former General Electric/NBC Universal executive Andrew Warren as its senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, replacing Brad Singer, who previously announced he would leave the company at the end of March.

The company also announced it is reshuffling several executives.

More to come. Here's the release:

GE Healthcare settles with $30 million in overpaying case

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:40:07 GMT

GE Healthcare, a branch of General Electric, has paid the government a settlement of $30 million plus interest for improper billing by a company it bought in 2004, officials said Thursday.

Working For Less: U.S. Manufacturing Gains Jobs as Wages Retreat

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 08:19:04 GMT

General Electric is adding jobs at its appliance factories in Louisville — even bringing some work back from overseas — but the newcomers are earning less than longtime workers.

New factory jobs -- for a price

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 04:23:05 GMT

General Electric's assembly area was being prepared for new production at GE's Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky. Manufacturers such as GE are hiring again, but for a new generation of ...

BP, Shea Ventures, Google Ventures And Others Invest in Cool Planet’s C Round

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:39:35 GMT

Today, Cool Planet BioFuels, Inc . announced that BP Technology Ventures has made an investment in the company’s C round led by Shea Ventures. Current Cool Planet investors, General Electric, Google Ventures, ConocoPhillips, NRG and North Bridge Venture Partners also participated. The amount of funding was not disclosed.

GE Settles Muni-Bond Bid Rigging Probe

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 23:39:42 GMT

General Electric will pay $70.4 million to settle a U.S. criminal probe and civil claims for having conspired to rig bids on U.S. municipal bond deals

GE Settles Muni-Bond Bid Rigging Probe

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 01:50:52 GMT

General Electric will pay $70.4 million to settle a U.S. criminal probe and civil claims for having conspired to rig bids on U.S. municipal bond deals

GE Settles Muni-Bond Bid Rigging Probe

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:19:36 GMT

General Electric will pay $70.4 million to settle a U.S. criminal probe and civil claims for having conspired to rig bids on U.S. municipal bond deals

GE Settles U.S. Investigation Into Muni-Bond Bid Rigging

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:46:19 GMT

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. agreed to pay $70.4 million to settle a criminal probe and civil claims for conspiring to rig bids on U.S. municipal-bond deals, overcharging state and ...

GE Settles Muni-Bond Bid Rigging Probe

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:18:53 GMT

General Electric will pay $70.4 million to settle a U.S. criminal probe and civil claims for having conspired to rig bids on U.S. municipal bond deals

General Electric About To Put More Money In Your Pocket

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:41:12 GMT

NYSE: GE ) will trade ex-dividend, for its quarterly dividend of $0.17, payable on 1/25/12. As a percentage of GE’s recent stock price of $17.25, this dividend works out to approximately ...

Nigeria: General Electric Upgrades Port Harcourt Facility With U.S.$1 Million

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:33:10 GMT

General Electric Energy Nigeria Limited says it has spent over $1 million for the expansion and upgrading of its Port Harcourt facility since it was opened in 2009.

The Internet gets physical

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:07:32 GMT

The Internet of Things or the Industrial Internet is here. Across many industries, products and practices are being transformed by communicating sensors and computing intelligence. Examples: Nest Labs (a digital thermostat), General Electric (smart hospital room), IBM (2,000 projects worldwide that fit in the Smarter Planet category). “We’re going to put the digital ‘smarts’ into everything,” [...]

Layer by Layer

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

With 3-D printing, manufacturers can make existing products more efficiently—and create ones that weren't possible before.

The parts in jet engines have to withstand staggering forces and temperatures, and they have to be as light as possible to save on fuel. That means it's complex and costly to make them: technicians at General Electric weld together as many as 20 separate pieces of metal to achieve a shape that efficiently mixes fuel and air in a fuel injector. But for a new engine coming out next year, GE thinks it has a better way to make fuel injectors: by printing them.

Can We Build Tomorrow's Breakthroughs?

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.

In a hangarlike building where General Electric once assembled steam turbines, a $100 million battery manufacturing facility is being constructed to make products using a chemistry never before commercialized on such a large scale. The sodium–metal halide batteries it will produce have been tested and optimized over the last few years by a team of materials scientists and engineers at GE's sprawling research center just a few miles away. Now some of the same researchers are responsible for reproducing those results in a production facility large enough to hold three and a half football fields.

GE Braces for European Chill

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:05:58 GMT

General Electric is gearing up for a tougher 2012 in Europe but overall is expecting double-digit profit growth on the strength of sales to emerging markets.

Microsoft, GE Tackle Healthcare Analytics, Data Aggregation

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:58:51 GMT

(click image for larger view and for slideshow) For the second time in a year, General Electric's GE Healthcare subsidiary is establishing a joint venture with a major technology partner, this ...

General Electric first application of...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:03:03 GMT

VoiceTrust and Commercial Bank of VoiceTrust a global leader and provider of Digital Payments and Voice Biometric solutions announced their strategic partnership with Commercial Bank ...

General Electric Regional General...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:11:31 GMT

Sami Kamel, General Manager, Regional Marketing, Middle East and Africa, General Electric (GE) recently participated in an interview with the Energy Exchange to discuss Gas Flaring in the Middle ...

Health venture unites GE, Microsoft

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:53:24 GMT

The ambitious joint venture planned by Microsoft and General Electric would combine the software giant's strengths in developing large-scale data platforms with GE Healthcare's expertise ...

GE, Microsoft form healthcare software joint venture

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:56:29 GMT

General Electric Co and Microsoft Corp are forming a joint venture to develop and sell software systems to make it easier for healthcare providers to store, access and share patient information.The ...

Microsoft, GE Team To Change Healthcare Systems

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:06:31 GMT

Microsoft announced yesterday that it will partner with General Electric to form a new company aimed at improving the accessibility of healthcare information. The two hope to optimize the treatment ...