Apple, Google and co to settle for $504 million; Samsung's $9bn bid for BlackBerry; Google Glass 'dead'?

Four Silicon Valley companies - Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe - have reportedly reached a settlement with plaintiffs in an antitrust class action lawsuit brought forward by technology workers. The settlement amount is reported to be US$415 million - about AU$504 million.

The original 2011 lawsuit alleged that the firms conspired to avoid poaching each other’s employees, in order to keep employee salaries lower.

Last year a judge reportedly rejected a proposed US$324.5 million settlement, saying that amount was too low.

Last week Reuters reported that the four companies had agreed to a new settlement.

Citing a person with knowledge of the negotiations, the New York Times reported the proposed new settlement will total US$415 million (about AU$504 million), and that this sum is acceptable to plaintiffs’ lawyers.

The settlement is subject to court approval. The NYT cited a San Diego employment law professor as predicting the judge will approve the settlement.

Samsung’s $9 billion bid for BlackBerry

BlackBerry shares surged 30% last week when Reuters reported that Samsung had offered to buy the phone company for US$7.5 billion (about AU$9 billion). But shares fell when BlackBerry denied the report.

Mid-last week Reuters reported that Samsung recently offered to buy BlackBerry for as much as US$7.5 billion, citing an anonymous person familiar with the matter, and related documents, as sources for the story.

According to the news service, representatives from the two companies met earlier this year to discuss a potential transaction.

BlackBerry shares surged almost 30% following the initial report, according to Reuters.

But following the publication of the report, BlackBerry released a statement denying the story, saying it “has not engaged in discussions with Samsung with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry”.

BlackBerry shares fell back about 15% in after-hours electronic trading after the company denied the report, Reuters said.

Samsung has also responded, saying it has no plans to acquire Blackberry and that “media reports of the acquisition are groundless”.

Google Glass 'dead' - or is it?

Google is halting sales of its augmented reality product, Google Glass, to individual customers, prompting many journalists and commentators to declare the product dead. But others are predicting that Glass may have a future in the enterprise.

Google last week broke the news that it will stop selling the device to individuals. According to Time, Glass will move out of the Google X lab and become its own independent unit, with Google exec Ivy Ross to continue leading the unit.

The Glass team will report to Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest Labs, the home automation company Google acquired last year, though Glass is not actually becoming a part of Nest.

According to TechCrunch, businesses, developers and schools will still be able to purchase the device.

After the news broke, many pundits declared that Glass is ‘dead’.

But the sentiment is not unanimous. One PC World writer argued that Glass may in future move to be less of a consumer item and more of a business tool.

“[M]ake no mistake: Glass isn’t going away - not without more of a fight. While it’s struggled to find support among consumers, some businesses have been highly receptive to the electronic eyewear, and the next iterations of Glass might suit them even better,” the PCW writer said.

Others still are predicting that a new version of Glass will emerge very soon. As one TechCrunch writer put it: “In its current form, Glass is undoubtedly dead, but there’s no reason to believe Google won’t relaunch it with a new version in the coming month - likely around its annual I/O developer conference.”

Image courtesy Rae Allen under CC.