capitalism

Samsung yesterday announced the launch of a new Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley with an aim of connecting the conglomerate with the latest and greatest software ideas.

David Eun, Samsung Electronics executive vice president and leader of the Open Innovation Center, announced its opening yesterday at the D: Dive Into Media event. He told All Things Digital's Kara Swisher that while the company's hardware efforts are going well, the Open Innovation Center is designed to deliver a "thoughtful integration" of hardware with software.

According to Eun, the Open Innovation Center is based on four ideas:… Read more

Apple will soon respond to the lawsuit filed against it last week by David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple plans to file its response to Greenlight by tomorrow. Greenlight will then file its reply on Friday. The first hearing could take place as early as next week.

The Greenlight hedge fund filed a lawsuit against Apple last week, saying that the company should distribute high-yield preferred stock to shareholders. According to Greenlight, this would allow Apple to hold a large amount of its cash while giving shareholders more of the value of Apple's … Read more

A federal judge has approved Apple's request to fast-track a lawsuit filed last week by hedge fund manager David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital in an effort to get the electronics giant to share more of its massive cash reserves with investors.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Sullivan for the Southern District of New York granted Apple's request, moving forward the schedule for a hearing on a preliminary injunction sought by Greenlight Capital. Apple had argued that the proposed meeting would have an effect on its shareholder meeting later this month.

The modification request suggested that document filing … Read more

After a complaint from a notable Apple investor that the company needs to share more of its cash pile with investors, the iPhone and Mac maker says it's "evaluating" its possibilities.

In a statement today, Apple said it's aware its cash has grown beyond what is needed to run day-to-day business -- hence its dividend and stock buyback plan -- but that it is still talking about other possibilities.

"Apple's management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders," the company said this afternoon, just … Read more

"Show me the money" might have been the most famous line from the old Tom Cruise movie "Jerry Maguire," but that's exactly what a big Apple shareholder wants.

Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund run by David Einhorn, today filed a lawsuit and issued a letter to Apple shareholders (PDF), urging them to support his push to get Apple to share more of its cash with investors.

"Apple is a phenomenal company ... but Apple has a problem," Einhorn said during an interview on CNBC. "It has sort of a mentality of a depression. … Read more

Nest, the next-generation thermostat company focused on saving energy, has closed a major round of funding, according to a new report.

Nest has raised $80 million on a valuation of $800 million, GigaOm is reporting today, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the deal. Google Ventures led the funding round. Venrock, another venture-capital firm, also participated in the round, according to GigaOm.

The Nest Learning Thermostat has proven to be a huge hit. In October, CNET Reviews Editor-in-Chief Lindsey Turrentine reviewed the Nest and gave it a full five stars out of five, or "spectacular," rating. … Read more

Nokia has committed another $250 million to its venture funding arm, Nokia Growth Partners, the company announced today.

With that sum, Nokia Growth Partners members will be able to invest in "high potential businesses within the mobile ecosystem." The venture capitalists will focus their efforts in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

China could be an important opportunity for Nokia, so the company has expanded its presence there by appointing former AMD China president David Tang as managing director. Lu Guo, former Keystone Ventures vice president, will act as principal in China.

Nokia's latest fund is its … Read more

Pinterest and one of its early investors have been sued by a man who alleges that the investor nicked his ideas -- including the concept of boards -- and handed them to the now hugely popular Web site.

The suit alleges that the plaintiff, Theodore F. Schroeder, of Ocean City, N.J., developed a site called RendezVoo, which started as a place where users could share their locations but evolved into a site where people "meet to share opinions, views, items, and tastes on a variety of subjects -- product, services, events, politics, economics -- nearly anything of human … Read more

Chipmakers are preparing for the second-generation iPad Mini and Samsung is on track for a phone with a bendable display and possibly an early intro of the Galaxy S4, according to a research note from RBC Capital Markets.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Doug Freedman -- who is in China visiting chip companies this week -- offered this ambiguous Apple note: "iPad Mini Gen-2: Apple's gen-2 iPad mini is getting pulled-in, and is likely to have several new suppliers, with TXN gaining content."

"Pulled in" would seem to imply that Apple is moving up introduction of … Read more