TECHNOLOGY
More reports of Apple watch
Apple is expected to release a computerized wristwatch this fall that includes more than 10 sensors to take health measurements and other data, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The newspaper said Friday that Apple Inc. is planning multiple screen sizes for the device, which some people have dubbed the iWatch.
Samsung, Sony, Qualcomm and others have already released smart watches, but the gadgets have mostly functioned as companions to smartphones, offering things like e-mail notifications. Samsung's Gear 2 line, released this year, added fitness-related apps and has a heart rate sensor.
Speculation that Apple has been working on a smart watch intensified this month when the Cupertino company said the new version of its mobile operating system will include tools for managing health data. The software is expected in September, along with new iPhones.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the Journal said production of the smart watch is expected to begin in two or three months at a Taiwanese company that has worked on Apple's Mac computers.
Apple declined to comment.
CYBERSECURITY
Yo co-founder says app hacked
The co-founder of an app that delivers messages featuring only the word "Yo" got more than that in a message sent to him Friday morning.
"Yo been hacked," read the message on Or Arbel's phone at 1 a.m. Arbel said later that he is working to address the security breach, and expected to have it repaired later Friday.
"I can only say we are taking this very seriously and we are working on some of these issues," Arbel said.
The hacker exposed phone numbers of some users of the app, which allows people to send the word "Yo" to friends, Arbel said, but the phone numbers were not connected to users' full names.
Arbel said he knows the identity of the hacker, and said he was "very helpful" because the two discussed how they could mitigate the issue. Arbel said it's possible he could hire the hacker.
TechCrunch reported that college students have claimed to have hacked the app.
Arbel has raised $1 million and plans to open a San Francisco office. It took Arbel just eight hours to build Yo.
The hack hasn't stopped people from wanting to download the app, Arbel said.
"We have gotten over 400,000 users in the last 48 hours," he said.
MEDICINE
23andMe moves for FDA review
23andMe said Friday it has taken a step toward gaining Food and Drug Administration approval to sell home genetic testing kits that give health information.
The Mountain View company said on its blog that the FDA had recently agreed to review its request to sell a medical device, known formally as a 510(k) submission.
23andMe said the application concerns a test for just one disease: Bloom syndrome, a rare, inherited disorder that affects about 1 in 50,000 people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish background. It's characterized by short stature, sensitivity to sun exposure, an increased risk of cancer and other health problems.
Kathy Hibbs, chief legal and regulatory officer at 23andMe, wrote that the company's submission to the FDA "includes robust validation data covering major components of our product such as the genotyping chip, software and saliva kit."
"Once cleared," she added, "it will help 23andMe, and the FDA, establish the parameters for future submissions. More importantly, for our customers, it marks a baseline on the accuracy and validity of the information we report back to them."
23andMe had to stop selling its health-related genetic tests in November under order of the FDA, which questioned the accuracy of the results. At the time, the $99 kits tested for a number of inherited risks, including 120 common diseases.
Since then, 23andMe has continued to sell kits that provide information about ancestry, as well as raw genetic data, but it hasn't given up on its mission to give health information to consumers without a doctor running interference. As CEO Anne Wojcicki told The Chronicle last month, "We started this company with a very clear mission: We wanted to democratize genetic information, we wanted to make it accessible to anybody ... I think there's a real path for direct-to-consumer testing."
The FDA review process is expected to take several months.
RETAIL
Radio Shack slips below $1
RadioShack's stock closed below $1 per share Friday for the first time in its history, reflecting investors' concern over what lies in store for the struggling consumer electronics chain.
Shares of RadioShack Corp. fell 11 cents, or 10 percent, to close at 92 cents. The New York Stock Exchange could delist the stock if it closes below $1 per share for 30 consecutive trading days.
The stock is well below its all-time high of $79.50, set in December 1999. The shares' sharp dive since then comes as RadioShack struggles to find its place in the evolving retail and technology landscape.
If shares remain below $1 and are delisted, RadioShack could be traded in the over-the-counter market.
But analysts say that a bankruptcy proceeding is more likely.
WALL STREET
Record levels for Dow, S&P
Stocks inched past more milestones Friday, delivering the third consecutive record-high close for the Standard & Poor's 500 index and a new high for the Dow Jones industrial average.
On a light day for economic data, investors kept an eye on the developing conflict in Iraq, which pushed oil prices near a nine-month high.
The S&P 500 index rose 3.39 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,962.87. The Dow added 25.62 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,947.08. The Nasdaq composite gained 8.71 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,368.04 well below its peak of just over 5,000.
EARNINGS
Oracle slides after profit miss
Oracle Corp. dropped the most in a year after quarterly profit and sales missed analysts' estimates amid efforts to catch up to rivals in cloud computing.
Oracle's shares slipped 4 percent to close at $40.82 after the software company reported results Thursday.
Net income in the fourth quarter fell 4.2 percent to $3.65 billion (80 cents per share). Revenue was $11.3 billion.
The database and business-software maker, which has relied on acquisitions to fuel growth, Oracle made another acquisition in cloud computing Friday. It reached agreement to buy LiveLook, a real-time technology for co-browsing and screen-sharing.
Source : http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Apple-smart-watch-might-be-released-in-fall-5568668.php
