AirTouch (OTCBB: ATCH) Ships Wireless Connectivity Device to UniCell in Africa

Atlanta, GA 6/12/12 (StreetBeat) -- AirTouch Communications, Inc. (OTCBB:ATCH) today announced the sale of its X1500 wireless device that allows home and office users to receive voice, text (SMS), and data with no landlines and no computers to UniCell Ghana Ltd. The initial order is for 1,000 units and the first into the African market.

"We expect Ghana to be the gateway to the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS). Under the terms of our agreement with our distribution partner UniCell, we collectively expect to sell our product to several mobile operators, including Airtel, Tigo, Glo and Vodafone. They will be responsible for installation of the product in both the homes and offices of their customers in several ECOWAS countries," said Hide Kanakubo, President and CEO of AirTouch. "The agreement with UniCell and the recent order from Telmex are two key milestones we have worked hard to achieve."

AirTouch, a designer and marketer of wireless telecommunications devices, provides a unique telecom solution, particularly in countries where cost and geography have limited the deployment of landlines. AirTouch devices combine cordless phone technology with up to 10 times more wireless signal amplification, while safeguarding against possible hazards of microwave radiation from cellular phones to sensitive human tissues. Home and office users will be able to enjoy services, including voice, text (SMS) and data with no landlines and no computers by using AirTouch Communications' patent protected line of products.

The HomeConneX® X1500 feeds a wireless (cellular) signal throughout the home or office for voice, data (Internet and entertainment) capabilities and can interface with home security systems. The X1500 provides a better option than poor signal quality and call dropping on mobile phones and broadband solutions requiring a high-speed Internet connection and cumbersome installations in markets that have inadequate landline and broadband infrastructure. This product is similar to the product previously certified on the Verizon network (NYSE: VZ) and certified for use in Africa.

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LargeCap Stocks to Watch Today

Tomahawk, WI 4/19/2012 (StreetBeat) -- Microsoft (MSFT), the giant software maker, is seen by analysts Thursday posting fiscal third-quarter earnings of 57 cents a share on revenue of $17.18 billion.

The stock has risen nearly 20% this year. It releases Windows 8 later in 2012.

Bank of America (BAC) is expected by analysts Thursday to post first-quarter earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $22.51 billion.

The stock has risen 60% in 2012, making it the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Analysts are calling for Morgan Stanley (MS) to post-quarterly earnings of 45 cents a share, down from profit of 46 cents a year earlier.

Analysts see revenue of $7.31 billion, down from $9.49 billion last year.

DuPont (DD), the chemicals maker, is seen posting quarterly profit of $1.55 a share on revenue of $11.21 billion.

Other Dow components reporting Thursday are Travelers (TRV) and Verizon (VZ).

American Express (AXP), the credit card company, reported quarterly earnings Wednesday of $1.26 billion, or $1.07 a share, in the March-ended period, on revenue net of interest expense of $7.61 billion. Analysts were expecting profit of $1 a share on revenue of $7.57 billion.

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Verizon (NYSE: VZ) posts $2B 4Q loss on pension adjustment

Tallahassee, FL 1/24/12 (StreetBeat) – Verizon (NYSE: VZ) paid dearly to put iPhones in the hands of subscribers in the latest quarter, holding back its profits in the hope that its customers will rack up higher monthly bills and stay loyal.

The quarter saw the launch of the iPhone 4S, the second model to be sold by Verizon, and it was clear that many had been waiting for it. Verizon sold 4.3 million of them, and 7.7 million smartphones total.

But by the upside-down logic of the wireless industry, higher sales mean lower profits for the quarter. Verizon Wireless subsidizes each smartphone by hundreds of dollars, figuring that it will make the money back in service fees over a two-year contract. That means the wireless division, though still highly profitable, posted a rare drop in operating income for the fourth quarter.

In the results of Verizon Communications Inc., the phone company that own 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, this was masked by large charge for adjusting the value of its pension plans.

The New York-based company on Tuesday said it lost $2.02 billion, or 71 cents per share, in the last three months of 2011. That compares with net income of $2.64 billion, or 93 cents per share, a year ago.

Verizon had warned that the big pension charge was coming.

Excluding the pension effect and another one-time item, Verizon earned 52 cents per share. That was a penny shy of the average forecast of analysts polled by FactSet. Comparable earnings last year were 54 cents per share.

Revenue rose 7.7 percent to $28.4 billion from $26.4 billion a year ago. The latest figure was in line with analysts' expectations.

Verizon shares fell 78 cents, or 2 percent, to $37.62 in premarket trading.

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Google+ Pages Officially a Failure

Shawshank, VA 11/22/2011 (StreetBeat) – It's been just more than a week since Google+(Nasdaq:GOOG) launched pages for businesses and already most major brands have signed up. There's just one little problem: No one seems to know or care that these pages exist.

Some 61% of the top 100 biggest brands have created Google+ pages, all but one of which have fewer than 50,000 fans on the site so far, according to data released Wednesday by BrightEdge, a search engine optimization business. In fact, two dozen companies had no fans whatsoever and others such as McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) were stuck in the dozens, despite the fact that many have hundreds of thousands if not millions of fans on Facebook.

Google+ Pages for businesses have had a weaj showing so far. So what's the one business that's actually managed to break the 50,000 mark? Google, and even it hasn't done that well. The Internet giant had roughly 65,000 fans at the time the report came out.

That said, Google+ pages are quite new and it may not be fair to compare their numbers with Facebook, but BrightEdge's report suggests a deeper problem. Only 12% of the top brands on Google+ mentioned those pages on the company Web site, hinting that businesses may have created a page just to do it but have little interest in promoting it.

As we said when Google+ Pages launched, there is great potential for these branded pages if Google can find ways to incorporate them when users search for news and updates about products and businesses online. But at the moment, it's hard enough to find a company's page when searching on Google+, let alone to stumble onto a page while browsing elsewhere online. If that doesn't change, Google+ Pages will stay dead.

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Vringo (Amex:VRNG) and Verizon Come to Terms on Deal

Tomahawk, WI 10/6/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Verizon Wireless and Vringo, Inc. (Amex:VRNG), a provider of software platforms for mobile, social and video applications, today announced, in a press release, that Vringo's innovative new Facetones application is now available in V CAST Apps on select Verizon Wireless devices.

Vringo's Facetones service integrates with Facebook and provides a new way to get visually exciting social content each time a user makes or receives a phone call. For Verizon customers who download the app, Vringo's Facetones product creates an automated video slideshow using friends' photos from social media websites and photo sites and then plays this video slideshow as the phone rings. Initially, Facetones will connect with Facebook, one of the world's leading social media sites, providing a significantly enhanced mobile experience for consumers of social media.

"We are pleased to announce the launch of Facetones in the United States in V CAST Apps from Verizon Wireless," said Andrew Perlman, president of Vringo. "Facetones brings an exciting new range of social interaction for mobile users by allowing them to experience a visually exciting video slideshow every time they call a friend."

V CAST Apps, Verizon Wireless' mobile storefront, is available on more than 20 Android™ and BlackBerry devices and delivers thousands of apps, games and more to Verizon Wireless customers. Powered by the Verizon Developer Community (VDC), V CAST Apps enables customers to discover and purchase apps with a simple one-click process and offers the ease and convenience of direct billing – apps purchased are invoiced on customers' monthly bills.

Verizon Wireless customers can purchase and download Facetones from V CAST Apps in the Social Networking & IM channel. Facetones is available for a $0.99 monthly subscription or a one-time purchase fee of $2.99, plus tax, for unlimited use on all Android smartphones from Verizon Wireless featuring V CAST Apps, including the DROID X by Motorola, ThunderBolt by HTC, Samsung Continuum and the Revolution by LG. Data charges may apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications.

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LargeCap Stocks to Keep an Eye on Today

Tomahawk, WI 8/8/2011 (PennyPayDay) – Reinsurer Transatlantic Holdings announced Sunday it has received a $3.25 billion buyout offer from National Indemnity Co., a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

In a news release, Transatlantic says National Indemnity is offering $52 for each of its outstanding shares, a 15% premium to Transatlantic's Friday closing price of $45.24.

In June, Transatlantic agreed to merge with Allied World Assurance. Under the terms of that deal, Transatlantic shareholders would receive 0.88 Allied World shares for each Transatlantic share. Based on Allied World's Friday closing share price of $50.25, that deal values Transatlantic at $44.22 a share, or $2.76 billion.

Forty-five thousand Verizon Communications Inc. workers from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., went on strike Sunday after negotiations fizzled over a new labor contract for more than one-fifth of the company's work force.

Verizon shares were tumbling 5% to $33.31 in premarket trading Monday.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive, which has received takeover bids from both Avis and Hertz, said second-quarter earnings rose 0.6%.

Dollar Thrifty, the car rental company, said adjusted earnings in the second quarter were $1.35 a share, below analysts' estimates of $1.37 a share. A year earlier, adjusted earnings were $1.26 a share.

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Update on Japan, Middle East and Stocks

U.S. stocks advanced on Monday, boosted by strength in telecommunications and an eighth straight monthly rise in consumer spending, but jitters about overseas concerns limited gains.

Japan's nuclear disaster and civil unrest in the Middle East and North Africa have increased market volatility in recent weeks, making investors cautious as they watch headlines closely for trading cues.

"It puts a cap on things for right now, at least until we start to see some earnings come out early in April. That might finally give us a little more upside, assuming that we have good earnings," said Janna Sampson, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

"At some point people have got to price in Japan's problems and the problems in the Middle East that we know about."

U.S. consumer spending rose slightly more than forecast in February, while inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since June 2009.

The S&P telecom sector rose 1.5 percent after Robert W. Baird upgraded a number of companies, including Dow components AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), saying after AT&T's deal to buy T-Mobile USA was completed, both AT&T and Verizon should benefit from one less competitor.

AT&T rose 2 percent to $29.44 while Verizon was up 1.4 percent to $37.80.

Pending U.S. home sales unexpectedly rose last month, gaining 2.1 percent and breaking a recent trend of negative data on the sector. Stocks showed little impact from the data.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 20.58 points, or 0.17 percent, to 12,241.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.86 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,315.66. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.09 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,745.15.

Eastman Kodak Co (NYSE:EK), up 11.5 percent to $3.79, was the second-most active stock on the New York Stock Exchange after a U.S. trade panel in the United States last week agreed to review a case that could bring the struggling photography company hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties.

The case stems from a patent claim against Apple Inc (Nasdaq:AAPL) and Research in Motion Ltd (Nasdaq:RIMM) . Apple shares edged up 0.3 percent to $352.50 and U.S.-listed shares of Research in Motion shed 1.2 percent to $56.20.

Highly radioactive water leaked from a crippled nuclear complex in Japan, renewing worries over the country's reactors after an earthquake and tsunami.

Violence spread in Libya as rebels pushed west over the weekend to retake a series of towns from the forces of Muammar Gaddafi. In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad deployed the army in the country's main port of Latakia for the first time after nearly two weeks of protests spread across the country.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

The above article came from Reuters.

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