Reuters Technology Report: June 18, 2015

Click to View in Browser Thursday, June 18, 2015 Traders bet on Twitter near-term gains as takeover chatter persists NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dick Costolo's decision to step down as Twitter Inc's chief executive last week failed to stem the weeks-long slide in the company's shares, but options traders appear to be betting on a near-term rebound. Exclusive: Apple mines big profits from Watch band San Francisco (Reuters) - Nearly 20 percent of Apple Watch buyers are not only shelling out hundreds of dollars for the timepiece but are springing for a spare band too, giving the tech giant a profitable second dip into customers' wallets, according to data provided exclusively to Reuters. Google critics given month to comment on EU antitrust charges LONDON (Reuters) - European antitrust regulators have sent copies of their charges against Google to critics of the U.S. tech giant and given them a month to comment, one of the complainants said on Thursday. Twitter to let users follow live events, not just people SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter Inc will start curating tweets on live events, the microblogging service said, as it plans major changes to make its real-time news feed more user friendly. Disney exploring virtual reality for video games LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's interactive unit is considering bringing Disney Infinity or other video games into the world of virtual reality. In California, Uber driver is employee, not contractor: agency (Reuters) - A driver for Uber is an employee, not a contractor, according to a California ruling that eventually could push up costs for the smartphone-based ride hailing service and hurt the closely watched start-up's valuation. Front runner: IPO gives Fitbit firepower in crowded market (Reuters) - Just as Kleenex has become a generic term for face tissue and Google for online search, Fitbit is fast becoming a byword for wearable fitness gear. Alibaba's Ant Financial valued at $45 billion after new funding: source BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Ant Financial Services Group, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's internet finance affiliate, closed a private placement valuing the unit at about $45 billion, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. Nokia CEO says to get back into phones: Manager Magazin FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Nokia, once the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, plans to start designing and licensing handsets again once an agreement with partner Microsoft allows it to in 2016, its chief executive told Germany's Manager Magazin. David Donatelli joins Oracle from HP (Reuters) - Oracle Corp named David Donatelli as executive vice president of its converged infrastructure business, which includes engineered systems, servers, storage and networking products. Related Video Apple mints money off Watch bands Connectivity for pilots, passengers on display at Paris Airshow Mediafile How about Hightail-ing it? On Twitter, dubious health claims from e-cigarette bots A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today A quick-fix on the day's news delivered when you want it. Register Today » » MORE NEWSLETTERS - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2015 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add newsletters@email.reuters.com to your address book. Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook