Named 'Aquila' the drone is part of the company's ambitious internet.org projectto deliver high speed internet connectivity to hundreds-of-millions of people in far flung parts of the world. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said: "We've successfully tested a new laser that can transmit data at 10 gigabits per second. "That's ten times faster than any previous system, and it can accurately connect with a point the size of a dime from more than 10 miles away. "This effort is important because 10% of the world's population lives in areas without existing internet infrastructure. To affordably connect everyone, we need to build completely new technologies.” The company said they would work with UK engineers from a company with a historic legacy in long-distance solar-powered flight. A statement issued by Facebook said: "Our team has many of the world's leading experts in aerospace and communications technology, including from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and Ames Research Center. "Today we are also bringing on key members of the team from Ascenta, a small UK-based company whose founders created early versions of Zephyr, which became the world’s longest flying solar-powered unmanned aircraft."
It comes as Google pursues Project Loon, its own mission to bring Wi-Fi to remote countries using giant 'loon balloons' said to be able to stay aloft for 100 days at a time.
Airbus also recorded a €290m (£204m) net charge relating to its A400M programme, following the crash of the military craft on a test flight in May.
The company said it has worked with all its partners to resume flights and deliveries.
"However, the accident caused setbacks on qualifying enhanced military capability and the schedule of planned deliveries," the company said.
Airbus has said it is still committed to the A400M military plane.
The company said its profit forecast remained in place: "Revenues, profitability and cash generation all improved, and the overall financial performance means we are on track to deliver our 2015 guidance," said Tom Enders, chief executive officer of Airbus.
Japanese tech giant Sony saw its net profit more than triple in the April-to-June quarter, helped by strong sales of its PlayStation 4 games and camera sensors.
Its net profit rose to 82.4bn yen ($664m; £425m), while operating profit also rose 39% - well above expectations - to 96.8bn yen.
But sales were flat in the period from a year ago, down 0.1% to 1.8tn yen.
A weaker yen offset lower sales of its smartphones and televisions, it said.
Sales in Sony's game and network services division, however, jumped more than 12% on PS4 software sales.
The PS4 video game console is outselling competitor Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U.
The results also reflected 4.7bn yen of insurance recoveries "related to losses incurred from the cyber-attack on Sony's network services including the PlayStation Network" in the 2011-12 financial year, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Restructuring plans
The earnings results come after Sony announced its first capital raising in a quarter of a century last month.
The funds would be used to increase production of image sensors, which helped boost its earnings in the quarter, as it pulls back from smartphones and televisions on stiff competition from cheaper Asian rivals.
The company has also been undergoing significant restructuring plans that have resulted in asset sales and job cuts.
Facebook has enjoyed "another strong quarter" of growth - despite quarterly profits falling by 9%. The social network has been investing heavily in mobile advertising, and the development of two recent acquisitions: the photo-sharing app Instagram and the WhatsApp messaging service. Costs and expenses at the company reached $2.77bn (£1.8bn) in the three months to June - an 82% increase compared to the same period a year ago. Even though Facebook's revenues have exceeded analysts' expectations, jumping from $2.91bn (£1.86bn) to $4.04bn ($2.59bn), shares in the social network still fell in after-hours trading by 4.2%. The company had warned that profit margins could be dampened by its investment strategy, but analysts do believe this will help create significant revenue streams in the coming years. A push towards mobile platforms is already paying dividends for Facebook. Adverts on mobile devices now account for 76% of Facebook's advertising revenue, compared to 62% in the second quarter of 2014. And video adverts, dominated by Google, the owner of YouTube, have also been Facebook's fastest-growing category of internet advertising. According to Facebook, it had 1.49 billion monthly active users as of 30 June, an increase of 13% in the space of 12 months. Of these, 1.31 billion are using the service on mobile devices. When trading closed in New York on Wednesday, Facebook's share price stood at $96.99 (£62.15), which means the company is now valued at $276.4bn (£177bn). Facebook's financial results come a day after Twitter confirmed it was still struggling to add users, even though its revenue for the second quarter was also above analysts' expectations. Twitter has 316 million monthly active users, barely a fifth of its rival. The site's co-founder, Jack Dorsey, has admitted the company is "not satisfied with our growth in audience" and is plotting a massive overhaul of the servicewhich could see it looking a lot more like Facebook. Chief Financial Officer Anthony Noto has also conceded that many people simply find the social network too difficult to use.
Twitter shares slumped by 11% in after-hours trading after the service confirmed it was still struggling to add users. Its second quarter revenue was $502m (£321m), above forecasts of $470m to $485m. That figure is a 61% increase year on year, according tothe company’s results.However, the slowest user growth since Twitter went public in 2013 saw monthly active users creep up from 308 million to 316 million over the quarter. In comparison, Facebook has a massive 1.4 billion monthly users.Twitter has been struggling to expand its appeal to the mass market. "Our Q2 results show good progress in monetisation, but we are not satisfied with our growth in audience," said Jack Dorsey, the site’s co-founder.
A Dutch bank has started allowing mobile banking customers to log in and pay for items using their voice. Voice-activated payments have been launched on the ING Netherlands mobile banking app, offering a simple alternative to entering a pin or password. Users simply have to say a short phrase, and the app will match up the sound recording to a file stored on the phone. The shape of vocal cavities and the way someone moves their mouth means that speech can be more unique than a fingerprint, it is claimed. Fraudulent attempts to access the app can be recorded, stored and used to improve security. And while the technology is new for mobile banking, it is used widely on bank phone systems to reduce fraud. The Associated Press reported last year that US government departments even use it when people call to deal with tax and pension issues. A biometrics company called Nuance is providing the speech-recognition technology for ING Netherlands. The system launched on Tuesday, and is available on iOS and Android phones.Making digital payments easier is a big focus of banks and financial services providers. Apple recently launched fingerprint-activated Apple Pay in the UK, while others have experimented with wristbands which measure heartbeat.
Vodafone's latest trading update shows that the slowdown in European sales is easing, as it announces complete 4G coverage in London. Overall revenue grew 0.8% in the three months to 30 June, with European revenue falling 1.5%. This is a marked improvement from March when it announced that full-year European revenues had fallen nearly 5%. Its European 4G coverage reached 75%, which is better than the UK's 68% coverage. But there was positive news for its London-based customers who now have 100% coverage, the firm said. Vittorio Colao, Vodafone's boss, said: "More of our European businesses are returning to growth, as customer demand for 4G and data takes off." Data usage continues to increase significantly, led by the take up of 4G, with 18.9 million 4G customers across Europe, the company said. Across the group, the total amount of data traffic carried over its network has grown by 78% year-on-year, with the Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific region growing 97%, whilst in Europe traffic grew 64%. From a data perspective, it seems Vodafone - the world's second-largest mobile operator - has benefited from a decision made by Facebook to compete with Google's YouTube. In order for Facebook to encroach on the video-streaming market, it took the decision earlier this year to autoplay videos on mobile devices. Although autoplay can be disabled, the default is for it to be activated which leads to more videos being played and therefore more data being consumed, indirectly benefiting mobile providers such as Vodafone. Meanwhile, Greece saw very strong fixed broadband customer growth, with 15,000 people there signing up in the three months to the end of June, compared to just 4,000 in the UK. Interestingly, Greece is one of only two European countries, the other being Romania, which is seeing pay-as-you-go growth outstripping that of contract sales. Nearly three-quarters of new customers in Greece are prepay rather than contracted. By mid morning Vodafone shares were up 3.6%.
The search giant tries to take a byte out of a Bill Gates-backed vegetarian burger business called Impossible Foods.
Google has tried to buy a vegetarian burger business called Impossible Foods for up to $300m, it has been revealed. The search and advertising giant made the unexpected move for the food company, which says its burger tastes like ground beef with cheese despite being made entirely out of plants. The proposed deal was reported by technology site The Information, which cited an unnamed source as saying that the bid was rejected as too low. The homepage of Impossible Foods reads: "You love meat. You love cheese. For thousands of years we've relied on animals to make them. Impossible Foods has found a better way. We use plants to make the best meats and cheeses you'll ever eat." As well as its core search and ad business Google is constantly looking into so-called "moonshot" projects - goals that can only be realised over a decade or more. It is unclear exactly why Google wants to move into the food business, however meat alternatives are a topic of great interest in Silicon Valley. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is already understood to have backed the firm, along with Google executive Tony Fadell who helped it raise funding. Meanwhile, a firm called Beyond Meat, which sells chicken substitute, is also backed by Mr Gates, as well as Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone.
Facebook's stock hit another all-time high Tuesday -- just shy of $100.
The social media giant's shares are up 25% this year ... and more than 160% from their 2012 initial public offering price. Facebook is now worth an astonishing $275 billion.
So there are a lot of happy Facebook investors out there.
But of course, nobody has gotten richer from Facebook(FB, Tech30)than CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The stock's latest surge has helped make him the ninth wealthiest person in the world, according toBloomberg.
With a net worth of nearly $43 billion, Zuckerberg surpassed Ikea founder and Sweden's richest man Ingvar Kamprad earlier this week.
It's possible he could soon move up to the seventh spot as well.
Zuckerberg now slightly trails Amazon(AMZN, Tech30) CEO Jeff Bezos and Oracle(ORCL, Tech30)chairman Larry Ellison, who are both worth about $44 billion.
Microsoft has reported a $3.2bn net loss for the three months to 30 June after posting $8.4bn of writedowns.
Earlier this month the company announced a $7.5bn charge to write down the value of its Nokia mobile phone business.
Revenue fell 5% to $22.18bn amid weak demand for its Windows operating system.
Microsoft posted a net profit of $4.6bn for the same period in 2014.
Amy Hood, chief financial officer, said the company ended its financial year with "solid progress against our strategic priorities".
Satya Nadella, chief executive, said: "Our approach to investing in areas where we have differentiation and opportunity is paying off with Surface, Xbox, Bing, Office 365, Azure and Dynamics CRM Online all growing by at least double-digits. The upcoming release of Windows 10 will create new opportunities for Microsoft and our ecosystem."
Net profit for the full year more than halved to $12.2bn, but revenue rose $6.7bn to $93.5bn.
Chinese tech giant Huawei on Wednesday said its global smartphone sales jumped by 39% in the first half of the year.
It comes after the world's fourth-biggest smartphone maker posted a 30% growth in overall revenue on Monday.
Huawei said it shipped 48.2 million devices globally in the first half of 2015, giving them a 87% surge in handset sales revenues
The company is competing with Apple and Xiaomi for the top spot in China, the world's biggest handset market.
The boost in sales figures comes after the firm said it would shed its low-cost appeal and include high-margin premium models to challenge Samsung and Apple at the top-end of the market.
Huawei said that shipments for the mid-to-high-end category recorded a year-on-year increase of 70%.
Defying the slowdown
Regarding sales in China, the firm managed to defy a slowdown hitting its rivals Samsung and Xiaomi.
Overall smartphone shipments in China in the first quarter of 2015 shrank for the first time in six years, with one-time leader Xiaomi saying the domestic market was nearing saturation.
On Monday, Huawei released its earnings results for the first six months of the year, posting a 30% increase in revenue to 175.9bn yuan ($28.3bn; £18.2bn) and giving a positive outlook for further growth in 2015.
Aside from smartphones, the Shenzhen-based firm is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, competing with the likes of Sweden's Ericsson on infrastructure such as mobile phone masts.
Apple has reported another jump in profits as demand for iPhones soared, but its shares fell in after-hours trading after revenue forecasts disappointed analysts.
The technology giant sold 47.5 million iPhones in the quarter to 27 June, up 35% on a year ago, with Mac computer sales up 9% to 4.8 million.
Chief executive Tim Cook called it "an amazing quarter".
Profits rose 38% to $10.7bn (£6.87bn), while revenue was up 33% to $49.6bn.
The third quarter is typically the slowest for iPhone sales because many customers put off buying new phones, on the expectation of a new model.
Despite the strong results, shares fell 6.7%, or $8.85, to $121.89 in after-market trading in New York.
Analysts blamed the fall on disappointment about the company's revenue forecasts for the fourth quarter, which were slightly lower than expected, as well as the firm's profits being too heavily dependent on the iPhone.
Apple is forecasting revenue to be between $49bn and $51bn in the fourth quarter.
'Great start' for Watch
Demand for its iPad tablets remained weak, with Apple selling 10.9 million, down 18% from a year earlier.
But Mr Cook also said the Apple Watch had had a "great start", in the first indication of how well the company's first piece of wearable technology was selling.
The Apple boss said last autumn that he did not want to reveal detailed figures for the watch, which went on sale on 24 April, to avoid giving competitors inside information.
The Apple watch had a "great start", the firm has said
But Apple said that revenue from "other products", which includes the watch as well as products such as the iPod and its Beats headphones, came to $2.6bn - about $952m higher than the previous quarter.
Chief financial officer Luca Maestri said that revenue from the watch amounted to "well over'" that $952m increase.
Sales of the watch in the first nine weeks had exceeded those of both the iPhone and iPad after they were first launched, he added.
And Apple said its gross margin - the difference between the amount it spends on making the products versus how much consumers pay - was 39.7%, up slightly on a year ago.
Apple also continued to do well in the China market - defined by Apple as China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Sales doubled year-on-year and accounted for more than a quarter of the company's total third-quarter sales.
iPhone 'dependence'
The jump should help to reassure investors that demand in China remains robust despite fears the market is close to saturation point.
But Colin Gillis, an analyst for BGC Partners, told the BBC that the firm's "complete dependence" on iPhone sales and growth in China was still a concern.
"Look at the PC market. People ask if that could ever happen to smartphones. Of course it could. And there are risks associated with its dependence on China," he said.
However, Mr Gillis said that investors should put the results into perspective.
"Overall the results are stunning - it's made $10bn in profit. But Apple is an outlier in many metrics, so you need to look at the performance relative to expectations," he said.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which smashed iPhone sales records when they were launched last year, are now 10 months old.
The strong US dollar and IBM's decision to move away from its hardware business to focus on higher-margin operations both hit its performance.
Chief executive Ginni Rometty said that the second-quarter results reflected the company's ongoing transformation.
"We continue to transform our business to higher value and return value to shareholders," she said.
US sales fell 8%, while European, Middle East and African sales dropped 17%.
However, its worst performance was in Brazil, Russia, India and China where sales fell 35%.
IBM said much of the fall was due to the impact of the strong US dollar and the sale of its System x business. Excluding that unit, sales were down by just 18%.
In contrast, it said revenues from its new areas of focus - cloud computing, analytics and engagement - had risen by more than 20% this year.
IBM shares fell 4.9% in after-hours trading in New York.
They closed at $173.25, valuing the company at almost $170bn (£109bn).
Toshiba's chief executive and president Hisao Tanaka resigned Tuesday over an accounting scandal that has rocked the company.
Eight board members, including vice chairman Norio Sasaki, have also resigned their posts as part of a major management reshuffle. Toshiba's current chairman, Masashi Muromachi, was named interim president.
Japanese conglomerate Toshiba(TOSBF), which makes everything from consumer electronics to nuclear energy technology, has been under fire for months over accounting irregularities. The company overstated profits by 151.8 billion yen ($1.2 billion) over a seven year period, according to an independent committee.
"We are taking what has happened very seriously and we would like to apologize from our hearts to, starting with the shareholders, and to all the stakeholders," Tanaka said at a news conference, announcing his resignation.
The company said in a letter to investors Monday that it would "take procedures to correct past financial results as necessary."
The headache started in April, when Toshiba itself began investigating accounting practices in its energy division.
Things got worse in May, after the company said an independent committee would be taking over the review. Toshiba even canceled its year-end dividend and postponed earnings, prompting analysts to downgrade investment recommendations and earnings forecasts.
Apple appears to be gearing up for a record breaking year.
In the last three months of 2014, Apple posted the biggest quarterly profit -- $18 billion -- in corporate history. For Apple's fiscal year, which ends in September, the company is set to rake in $52.5 billion in earnings, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
If Apple(AAPL, Tech30) hits that mark, it would be the largest annual profit ever generated from a company's operations. (Fannie Mae got a giant one-time accounting benefit in 2013 that gave the company a net income of $84 billion). Apple is already in striking distance of besting ExxonMobil's(XOM) record-setting $45 billion profit recorded in 2008.
Apple is set to report its past-quarter earnings on Tuesday, and analysts are expecting a relatively lean (for Apple) $10.4 billion in net income.
1. iPhone sales lead...again
The record 74.5 million iPhones that Apple sold during the holiday shopping season helped Apple's profit soar more than 37% that quarter.
The iPhone remains popular despite the fact that Apple is likely to announce a new version in the coming months. Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the first three months of 2015, and analysts polled by FactSet estimate that Apple sold another 47 million iPhones last quarter.
The big screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus proved popular competitors to large-screen Android phones.
IPhone unit sales are expected to be relatively stable in 2015 and 2016 but as more people own iPhones, analyst Andy Hargreaves of Pacific Crest Securities worries that this growth "creates risk if we reach the point of complete saturation or if a competitor slows Apple's share gains."
2. MacBooks are hot!
The PC industry slumped 11.8% worldwide in the second quarter compared to last year, according to IDC, a market research firm -- but Apple bucked the trend.
While all major PC brands like HP(HPQ, Tech30), Dell and Lenovo(LNVGF) reported a decline in computer sales, Apple's MacBook sales grew by 16.1%.
3. Is China's downfall Apple's downfall?
Despite the roaring success of Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Apple has held its own in China -- Apple's biggest growth market.
But a slowing Chinese economy could pose a risk for Apple. This year, analysts have their eyes glued to changes in consumer habits in China in response to the recent stock market crash. However, UBS believes the country's market turmoil will have a limited impact on the economy.
"Apple is penetrating China at multiple income bands, consumers are upgrading to more expensive phones, and Apple has the highest brand commitment level," UBS's Steve Milunovich wrote in a recent report.
4. Apple Watch remains a mystery
The X-factor in Apple's earnings could be the Apple Watch. The company has been tight-lipped on the Watch's sales performance, and that likely won't change when Apple announces its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.
In a note to clients Pacific Crest's Hargreaves wrote: 'Anecdotal evidence suggests Apple Watch demand is slowing quickly' and predicted sales for 2015 will reach 10.5 million - 500,000 less than his initial estimates.
On the other hand, Trip Chowdhry, Managing Director of Global Equities Research, believes more than 40 million Apple Watch sales could sell this year.
Basically, estimates are all over the place.
Until Apple releases its official figures, there is no way of really knowing. But don't expect to see Apple Watch figures yet. Before the Watch released, the tech mammoth announced that it will be lumped with the likes of Apple TV, Apple music -- and recently, the iPod -- in the "other" category.
With or without the Watch, Apple is posited to report strong numbers this year.
Facebook is testing a way to become a virtual shopping mall.
To do this, the social network will help businesses transform their Facebook pages into e-commerce sites.
A retailer, for example, could list and sell products directly through itsFacebook(FB, Tech30) page. People who visit the page would be able to browse, shop and pay without ever leaving Facebook's mobile app, or Facebook.com. (This story was first reported by BuzzFeed.)
This idea is appealing for companies who want as many ways to sell their products as possible. On the other hand, if more businesses start selling on Facebook, they'll be at the mercy of Facebook's algorithms and probably have to start buying ads to make sure people see their products. Facebook could also start taking a cut of sales in the future, resulting in possibly higher prices for customers.
At the end of the day, this experiment will likely become a reality. It fits well with what Facebook has already become very good at doing -- online communication and advertising.
During its F8 conference earlier this year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that users will be able to chat with businesses and track packages within Messenger, and transfer money between friends.
Giving companies a way to sell their products would tie these strings together. More importantly, the plan would reinforce Facebook's message that the data it has on its users are better than anyone else's. This is especially important for ad targeting. After all, if you're an advertiser paying to show people a post that people can click on to buy something, you'll see an immediate and direct pay off for your investment.
Google(GOOGL, Tech30) -- Facebook's biggest competitor -- has been working on its own version of a "buy now through us" strategy. Just this week, Google launched the ability for businesses to sell products through its site, so that when people click on a Google shopping ad, they're taken to the page where they can check out using saved payment information from their Google accounts.
