Reuters Technology Report: December 18, 2015

Click to View in Browser Friday, December 18, 2015 Exclusive: U.S. Justice Department probes data breach at Uber - sources SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing a criminal investigation of a May 2014 data breach at ride service Uber, including an examination of whether any employees at competitor Lyft were involved in the episode, sources familiar with the situation said. Apple to launch Apple Pay in China, take on Alibaba, Tencent SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Apple Inc said it will launch its payment service in China as soon as 2016, pitting it against entrenched Chinese rivals Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings. Tim Cook calls notion of Apple avoiding U.S. taxes 'political crap' (Reuters) - Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook dismissed as "total political crap" the notion that the tech giant was avoiding taxes. Amazon in talks to lease Boeing jets to launch air-cargo business: report (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is negotiating to lease 20 Boeing Co 767 jets to start its own air-delivery service next month, seeking to avoid delays from third-party carriers, the Seattle Times reported, citing cargo-industry executives. BlackBerry results trounce expectations on software; shares rally TORONTO (Reuters) - BlackBerry's pivot to software began to show traction on Friday, after the company reported a smaller quarterly loss and its first quarter-to-quarter revenue increase in over two years, sending its stock soaring 13 percent. Exclusive: Target in initial development of own mobile wallet - sources (Reuters) - Target Corp is in the early stages of developing its own mobile wallet, three people familiar with the matter said, joining Wal-Mart Stores Inc in posing a threat to recent entrants like Apple Pay. Alibaba avoids being named on U.S. blacklist for fakes WASHINGTON/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has avoided being named on a U.S. blacklist for sites hosting the sale of fake goods, a victory for the firm after lobbying hard to avoid inclusion on the list. Hack attacks and data law boost European cyber insurance demand (Reuters) - New European legislation on data privacy is helping push up regional demand for cyber insurance, industry specialists say, after companies such as TalkTalk and Experian were affected by hackers earlier this year. Chinese lending platform Yirendai makes tepid U.S. market debut (Reuters) - Yirendai Ltd, the consumer finance arm of Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) lender CreditEase, made a tepid U.S. market debut on Friday, with its shares trading as much as 16.5 percent below the offer price. Japan state-backed fund in advanced talks to invest in Sharp: sources TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese state-backed fund is in advanced talks to invest in Sharp Corp with plans to overhaul the manufacturer's consumer electronics business including a possible deal with Toshiba Corp, people familiar with the matter said. Related Video Analysis of crickets' jumps could lead to new, tiny robots Scientists developing device to clean mining water in hours 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