Reuters Technology Report: October 31, 2016

Click to View in Browser Monday, October 31, 2016 New York's bitcoin hub dreams fade with licensing backlog NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's financial regulator had sights set on becoming a global hub for innovations like bitcoin when it adopted trailblazing virtual currency rules last year. But the state lost that momentum when the agency's chief left, putting a licensing process in limbo and allowing rivals to catch up. Sony surprises with profit warning on sale of battery business TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp cut its annual profit outlook due to losses related to the sale of its battery business - disappointing a market that had been hoping for an upward revision on buoyant sales momentum for PlayStation 4 and the launch of its virtual reality headset. Warming to lithium-ion, Toyota charges up its battery options TOYOTA CITY, Japan (Reuters) - Engineers at Toyota Motor Corp say they have tamed volatile lithium-ion battery technology, and can now safely pack more power at no significant extra cost, giving the Japanese automaker the option to enter the growing all-electric car market. Tesla's Musk adds solar roofs to his clean energy vision (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday unveiled new energy products aimed at illustrating the benefits of combining his electric car and battery maker with solar installer SolarCity Corp. Google tries new approach with voice on Pixel phone (Reuters) - About six months ago, people working on hardware and the voice-activated Google Assistant for the Pixel phone started sitting next to each other at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters, hammering out minute details of its first phone. German minister ups rhetoric against takeovers ahead of China trip BERLIN (Reuters) - China is strategically buying up key technologies in Germany while protecting its own companies against foreign takeovers with "discriminatory requirements", German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Saturday. T.Rowe asks Oracle to raise offer to buy NetSuite (Reuters) - Oracle Corp should raise its offer to buy NetSuite Inc to $133 per share from the $109-per-share it had proposed in July, NetSuite shareholder T. Rowe Price Group Inc said. Italy antitrust agency probes WhatsApp messaging service ROME (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust watchdog said on Friday it had opened a probe into whether messaging service WhatsApp obliged users to agree to sharing personal data with its parent company Facebook and imposed "unfair" conditions on users. Spending vs. profits: Amazon, short-term investors at odds again (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc may be a "buy" for the vast majority of analysts, but it was a "sell" for a lot of investors on Friday. EU data protection watchdogs warn WhatsApp, Yahoo on privacy BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European privacy watchdogs warned WhatsApp on Friday over sharing user information with parent company Facebook, and cautioned Yahoo over a 2014 data breach and scanning of customer emails for U.S. intelligence purposes. Related Video Smart glass taps into beer drinker's data Dinosaur brain tissue identified for first time 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 2016 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