<div>International Business Machines (IBM) unveiled a ‘brain-like’ computer chip that is the size of a postage stamp and capable of processing massive amounts of data while handling inputs from different sources. Unlike normal chips that work on pre-written paths, it is capable of processing data in real time, helping it perform human-like functions such as assisting people during natural disasters via a robot. Built on Samsung Electro-Mechanics’s 28nm process technology, the chip consumes 70 milliwatts of energy. The chip aims to bridge the divide between computers and the brain’s high cognitive power and low energy use.<br /><br /><strong><img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=e81ed0fb-4793-4334-a798-66cb78d3ab93&groupId=222861&t=1408454685988" alt="" />Hitting A Bump</strong><br />General Motors (GM) failed to convince a Georgia judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the death of a 29-year-old woman that helped trigger the recall of 2.59 million cars over faulty ignition switches. Cobb County state court judge Kathryn J. Tanksley rejected GM’smotion to dismiss the revived suit at a hearing, and set a trial date for April 2016. The suit, brought by the parents of Brooke Melton, who died in a 2010 crash of a Chevy Cobalt, was settled in September 2013. But the Meltons filed a fresh complaint in May, claiming defects had been concealed.<br /><br /><strong>Big Snub</strong><br />Four Silicon Valley companies — Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe — have failed to persuade a US judge to sign off on a $324.5 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit by tech workers, who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other’s employees. In a ruling, US district judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, said the class action settlement was too low, given the strength of the case against the companies. There is “substantial and compelling evidence” that late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs “was a central figure in the alleged conspiracy”, Koh said. The judge provided details, including anecdotes involving Jobs and other Valley executives, to show why she thought the workers deserved more.<br /><br /><strong>Takeover Battle</strong><br />Private equity giant TPG Capital Management made a $3.1 billion approach for Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates, a source said, setting the scene for a possible bidding war for the world’s No. 2 winemaker with rival KKR. A week after KKR and Rhone Capital proposed an A$5.20-a-share offer for Treasury, the owner of the Penfolds, Lindemans and Wolf Blass brands said it received a second identical unsolicited approach from a global private equity firm, which requested anonymity.<br /><br /><strong><img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=936ded77-10e7-4d6b-9eae-cfa130296e42&groupId=222861&t=1408454721694" alt="" />Joint Effort</strong><br />French drugmaker Sanofi and MannKind have agreed to a worldwide licensing deal to develop and market inhaled insulin drug Afrezza for adults with diabetes. The companies plan to launch Afrezza in the US in the first quarter of 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, MannKind will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and potential milestone payments of up to $775 million. Sanofi and MannKind will share profits and losses on a global basis, with Sanofi retaining 65 per cent and MannKind the rest.<br /><br /><strong>Speed Braker</strong><br />Volkswagen’s $6.68 billion cost-savings plan hit a major setback after labour leaders forced the management <img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=a12f7d12-427a-481d-9e10-db460419470b&groupId=222861&t=1408454744482" alt="" />to axe detailed proposals drawn up by consultants at McKinsey, sources with knowledge of the matter said. The move underlines the extent to which relations between the management and workers have soured at Europe’s biggest carmaker, which is struggling to raise profits amid stagnating emerging markets and low growth at home. However, the cost-cutting target still stands, the sources said.<br /><br /><strong>New Flight Path</strong><br />Saddled with twin crash investigations, growing competion from Middle East carriers, losses and debt, Malaysia Airlines will delist from the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange as part of a government bid to rescue the embattled flag carrier. State investment firm Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which owns 70 per <img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=ae08c784-b684-4481-9f6b-c1ed690738d6&groupId=222861&t=1408454679753" alt="" />cent of the airline, is planning to buy out small shareholders as a first step to overhauling the airline. “The proposed restructuring will require all parties to work closely to undertake what will be a complete overhaul,” it said in a statement. Shareholders will vote on the plan at an extraordinary general meeting. Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines will continue to operate all current flights.<br /><br /><strong>Fresh Trouble</strong><br />GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) faces new allegations that it bribed Syrian doctors and officials to boost sales of its medicines. GSK said it would investigate the new claims involving its staff and local distributors. This, at a time when a court in Shanghai sentenced a British corporate investigator, Peter Humphrey and his American wife and business partner Yu Yingzeng, to two and a half years in prison for <img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=3cad1730-9e97-40a3-8871-f4a2f400cd71&groupId=222861&t=1408454792255" alt="" />illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information to clients, including GSK.<br /><br /><strong>Report Card</strong><br />China’s buoyant exports pushed its trade surplus to a record in July, fuelling optimism that global demand will help counter pressure on the domestic economy from a weakening property sector. While manufacturing appears to have picked up in the world’s second-largest economy, unexpected weakness in the services sector has renewed concerns about the growth outlook. The weak housing market remains China’s biggest risk, posing a drag on the broader economy and investor confidence.<br /><br /><strong>Call Disconnected</strong><br /><img width="120" height="120" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=c6f9b020-9895-4a95-9686-f1751f0bbc21&groupId=222861&t=1408454815709" alt="" />China has excluded Apple from a list of products that can be bought with public money because of security concerns, a report said. Apple products like iPad and MacBook were omitted from the government procurement list distributed in July. The Apple exclusion makes it the fourth major foreign company to face hurdles in the Chinese market. China has recently told government departments to stop buying antivirus software from US firm Symantec and Russian firm Kaspersky Lab. Microsoft Windows 8 was also excluded from government purchases in May this year.<br /><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 08-09-2014)</div>
