Weekend Wrap-Up: Alibaba IPO Coming; Samsung to Pay Up in Patent Case with Apple
Glorious Sunday, comrades! It’s time once again for the Weekend Wrap-Up, where we break down the biggest tech stories from the past week and help you get caught up quickly. As always, the Wrap-Up comes in two forms: video (directly below) and text (keep scrolling down, you’ll hit it eventually).
Ready? Let’s go.
Alibaba Will IPO in the United States
When you think Chinese e-commerce, you think Alibaba. The company has a substantial grip on the market in its home country — 80% of the market, it’s reported — and news that the company plans to have an IPO in the United States was quite welcome to investors. Fun story: the value of Alibaba could be helping Yahoo share prices, thanks to an investment Yahoo made in the company several years ago. When Alibaba finally has its IPO in the United States, look for investors to come running (and perhaps, start running away from Yahoo?).
Samsung Found Guilty; Forced to Pay $119.6 Million to Apple
Remember that Samsung / Apple patent trial that feels like its been going on forever? After all that time, and after countless attempts to ban devices and reach settlements, we finally have a verdict in the case. And Apple may be slightly disappointed; the $119.6 million that Samsung is being ordered to pay is far short of the $2 billion Apple wanted. Still, it’ll be nice to put this case behind us. I’d much rather see these two companies battling it out in the market than in the courtroom. It’s better for all of us that way.
Microsoft’s “Small Gathering” Could Mean Surface Mini
Has Microsoft taken to using Apple-like hints in its event invitations? The company recently sent out invites for a May 20 event, which is being called a “small gathering,” and many believe the company will use the event to show off a Surface Mini. It’s not unlike what Apple did for the iPad mini by saying it had a “little something” to show everyone. Perhaps that was done on purpose, to let us know that Microsoft has a potential iPad mini competitor? We’ll see — the event is just nine days away.
Amazon and Twitter Tag Team for Hashtag Sales
I’m not going to lie to you — this is one of the more bizarre e-commerce integrations I’ve ever seen. Amazon and Twitter have partnered to create #AmazonCart, which enables you to tie your Amazon account to your Twitter account. When you see a product tweet on Twitter, you can reply with #AmazonCart to instantly add the item to your cart on Amazon.com. Personally, I don’t blindly add items to my online shopping cart without first researching them, and I can’t imagine other people don’t do the same. Is it an innovative way to use Twitter for e-commerce? Sure. But is it practical? That’s another question.