BOISE, Idaho/SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 – Micron Technology Inc Chief Executive and Chairman Steve Appleton died in a small plane crash on Friday, a major loss for a U.S. memory chipmaker already struggling with sluggish computer sales and declining prices.

The 51-year-old Appleton, a three-decade industry veteran who performed stunts at airshows, died after the small plane he was piloting crashed at an airport in Boise, Idaho, where the chipmaker is headquartered.

His death stunned the tight-knit semiconductor industry. Appleton was a prominent figure in Boise, a city of 200,000 in the western United States, and a member of the Idaho Business Council.

President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Durcan, who was due to retire in August, will take up the CEO's responsibilities until the company's board can appoint a permanent successor. Directors will meet over the weekend, Micron said in a statement.

Shares in Micron, halted prior to the announcement, resumed trade after the regular market close and promptly slid 6 percent.

"Steve was a high-energy, never-give-up type of inspirational leader of the company. The entire industry will miss Steve's energy," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Kevin Cassidy. "That said, Micron has a deep bench of managers that shared Steve's vision."

The accident happened while Appleton flew an experimental Lancair single-engine airplane, Boise Airport spokeswoman Patti Miller told Reuters. Lancair sells kits to build high-end planes.

After taking off and reaching an altitude of about 200 feet, Appleton radioed that he had a problem and needed to turn around, Boise police spokeswoman Lynn Hightower told reporters.

The aircraft rolled left, then plummeted to the ground, where it crashed, causing a large fire and leaving a twisted, black wreckage.

Appleton, a California native, joined Micron to work a night shift right after graduating from Boise State University in 1983. His subsequent meteoric ascent led to his becoming the youngest CEO on the Fortune 500 at the age of 34, in 1994.

He resigned in 1996, amid speculation about a boardroom power struggle, only to return nine days later after the board asked him to reconsider.

Appleton, a noted sports enthusiast who also scuba-dived, surfed and raced offroad cars and motorcycles, received the prestigious Robert Noyce award – the industry's highest honor – from the Semiconductor Industry Association in 2011.

The award, named after Intel Corp cofounder Robert Noyce, is conferred on those who have made major contributions to the chip industry.

Employees at Micron's sprawling headquarters and plant, where several flags flew at half mast, were visibly upset while others stuck to routine.

"I was in a meeting, which proceeded normally, but at the end when it broke up it was nothing but sad talk about Steve." said employee Mike Peterson. "I know he liked airplanes so if he was going to go I guess this was fitting."

Co-worker Melanie Wood said: "Someone told me over my cubicle and then I read the email and we all didn't believe it at first. He's so young, you don't expect something like this."

A BIG LOSS

"Steve was a visionary and a true leader in our industry. He will be deeply missed by the entire semiconductor community and our prayers and thoughts are with his family," Brian Toohey, President of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said in a statement.

Micron makes memory chips used in personal computers, smartphones and tablets and competes against Asian rivals Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Toshiba Corp.

Memory chip makers are struggling as falling prices and huge investments to stay competitive saddle them with massive losses. Micron is the last remaining U.S. producer of memory chips.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said Appleton was sensitive to how job cuts by Micron in recent years affected the community.

"He called me and told me about the layoffs coming up and explained how the business-end of chip technology would develop and that Micron would come out strong on the other end. And it happened exactly the way he said it would," Bieter told reporters.

The company announced just last week that Durcan would retire in August, but Appleton's death raised questions about whether he might stay on.

Seen as Micron's even-keeled top technologist, Durcan has taken on a greater role running the chipmaker day-to-day in the past few years, while larger-than-life Appleton has focused more on strategy.

The loss of Micron's dealmaker could waylay a possible acquisition of troubled Japanese rival Elpida Memory. Saddled with millions of dollars in operating losses and major upcoming debt payments, Elpida may be in talks to be bought by Micron or reach some kind of partnership, media recently speculated.

RISKY LIFESTYLES

Appleton's death raises questions about whether some CEOs' daredevil lifestyles are too risky for shareholders.

British tycoon Richard Branson has tried to circle the world in hot air balloon and in 1985 had to be rescued after capsizing a sailboat. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison races sailboats and also flies planes.

Micron's recent regulatory filings make no mention of a "key man" life insurance policy on Appleton, nor do they specifically mention directors' and officers' insurance that would cover him.

A senior executive at a national insurance brokerage said it is entirely possible to get directors' and officers' insurance on someone like a CEO who flies his own planes, but added that Appleton's death could still cause legal headaches for the board.

"D&O really is about, at its core, for a public company, whether or not the company is susceptible to litigation by shareholders," said the broker, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The broker said Micron's board would have an obligation to have a contingency plan in place, particularly given Appleton's risky lifestyle, and that the degree to which the company might face legal questions depends a great deal on what Micron's stock does on Monday.

"If trading opens substantially lower it could be the case that a plaintiffs' attorney or two or three will start to conduct an investigation," the broker said.

Trading in Micron shares was halted on Friday morning pending the company's announcement. The shares were down at $7.48 in extended trading, from a last quote of $7.95 on the Nasdaq, before the halt.

(Additional reporting by Himank Sharma in Bangalore, Ben Berkowitz in New York, Writing by Edwin Chan, Editing by Andre Grenon, Gary Hill and Tim Dobbyn)

TAIPEI (Reuters) – He may have derided Android devices in real life but in the afterlife Apple Inc founder Steve Jobs is glad he can use one — or at least that's the story a Jobs look-alike tells in a recent TV commercial for a Taiwanese electronics company's new product.

In the ad, Taiwanese comedian and impersonator Ah-Ken, dressed in Jobs' trademark black turtle neck sweater and blue jeans and sporting white angel's wings and a halo, extols the virtues of Action Electronics Co.'s combined tablet PC and multi-language dictionary, which runs on Google Inc's Android.

"Introducing the new generation of the pad," says the "Jobs" character, whipping the Action Pad out of his back jeans pocket, wings flapping as he shows off the dictionary functions on a giant screen behind a darkened stage furnished with a sofa and small table.

"Thank God I finally get to play other tablets," the character adds in the 20-second commercial's final scene, a broad grin on his face as he taps away on the device on the sofa. The ad is subtitled in English throughout, a nod to the device's dictionary function.

Jobs, who died in October 2011, famously referred to Android as "shit," according to his biography, and was quoted in the book as saying he was going to "destroy" Android and was prepared to go to "thermonuclear war" over the product.

"Steve Jobs always promoted things that were good for people, Apple products, so his image can also promote other things that are good," said Chelsea Chen, a spokeswoman for Action Electronics, a maker of electronic gadgets including portable DVD players and Internet devices.

The commercial does not use Jobs' name or refer to him or Apple in any way, but has drawn some sharp reactions on YouTube,

with some branding it distasteful and disgusting and one even calling for a boycott of the company. The video is at: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeXXwQrQiPE&feature=youtu.be)

Chen didn't see any adverse reaction from Apple.

"It's just an impersonator, not Jobs," she said.

"We have no choice but to use Android, we can't use iOS," she added, referring to Apple's mobile device operating system.

It's not the first time Jobs' image has been used in Taiwan to promote products, a measure of his fame in the wired, tech-exporting island whose companies make most of Apple's products. Last year a drinks company had a Jobs look-alike promoting a green tea drink.

Jobs has also been featured by Taiwanese satirical news video maker Next Media Animation, which once portrayed him knocking the helmet off "Darth Vader" Bill Gates of Microsoft with a light saber and then wearing it himself and ruling the tech universe from an office in a Death Star.

(This version corrects year of Jobs' death in fifth paragraph)

(Editing by Elaine Lies and Ed Davies)

Detailed by reports from both the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, Square’s mobile payments hardware is being rolled out to collect campaign donations. Fundraisers are being outfitted with the small, plastic credit card reader which can be used with the iPhone, 3G iPad or Android smartphone to collect money while campaigning within neighborhoods or other commercial locations. Assuming that this program is successful when collecting money for presidential candidates, more politicians in lower levels of office could also adopt the strategy of collecting thousands of micro-payments with mobile smartphones or tablets. During the 2010 campaign season, the Square application was used by New York politician Reshma Saujani as well as Silicon Valley’s Josh Becker for political campaigns.

According to Obama re-election campaign spokeswoman Katie Hogan, she stated “Eventually we want to make a version of the Obama Square application available to everyone from within the App Store. Someone who is a supporter of the campaign can then download the app, get a Square attachment and can go around collecting donations.” All money collected by the application would go directly to the Obama campaign and supporters wouldn’t need to get the approval of the local campaign office to become a fundraiser. The Square application that’s being used by campaign officials across the country does comply with Federal Election Commission’s rules on mobile payment donations. 

Last year, Square partnered with the Salvation Army in a similar manner to help the organization collect donations through credit cards rather than limiting collections to loose change, bills and checks. This program was rolled out in large cities such as New York City and San Francisco. It helped cut down on theft of typical collections, but Square also continued to collect its standard 2.75 percent fee on all transactions.  

The same processing fee will apply to political campaign donations, but does offer the public a digital paper trail to keep track of the donation. Identical to the standard Square application, the payee will receive a receipt through SMS or email. Outlined within the Federal Election Commission’s rules, the Square application has to collect specific information from the donor such as employer name, occupation, name, street address, city and zip code.

As stated by Square’s brand marketing representative, ”It’s now easier than ever to give to campaigns of any political stripe. At a campaign, or any political event, donors will be able to give on the spot. They won’t have to run home and get a check or fill out long paper forms.”

Romney’s campaign is also rolled out a “beta test” of the technology in Florida during today’s primary with merchandise sales and fundraising. Since Romney won the Florida primary with approximately 46 percent of the vote, it’s likely that Romney fundraisers are using the Square hardware to collect donations tonight from registered Republican voters.

According to Romney campaign digital director Zac Moffatt, he stated “Anything that reduces the barrier to donate is going to help us with our supporters. The challenge on this sort of thing is never with the technology, it’s with the compliance. We’re making sure everything we’re doing follows fundraising rules and is compliant with the FEC,” in regards to Square’s mobile payment technology. 

The Romney campaign is also looking into creating a custom mobile application, similar to Obama’s campaign, that would allow anyone to collect money for the Republican candidate using the Square hardware. According to campaign officials, they are also looking into developing an iPhone specific application to collect donations through an app interface. However, Romney campaign officials are concerned about the 30 percent revenue cut that goes to Apple when a micro-transaction is conducted through an application downloaded from the iTunes App Store.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics lost a bid to overturn a ruling barring its local unit from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablets in Germany, handing a symbolic legal victory to Apple Inc in efforts to keep its lead spot in the tablet computer market.

A higher regional court in Duesseldorf, Germany, said on Tuesday that Samsung may not sell the older version of its Galaxy tablet in Europe's biggest economy.

Apple is fighting several rival makers of smartphones and tablet PCs in courts worldwide over intellectual property.

Its battle with Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google Inc's Android software, has been especially bitter, with the Galaxy range of devices seen as among the biggest challengers to Apple's mobile products.

Apple has claimed the Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad and has sued the Korean company in the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea as well as in Europe.

In September, Apple won a temporary injunction barring Samsung Germany from selling the Galaxy 10.1 tablet in most of Europe, as the court found the overall design of the tablet was too similar to Apple's iPad.

Since then, several countries including the Netherlands, the United States and Australia have decided to allow Samsung to sell the Galaxy tablet.

Samsung, which is Apple's supplier as well as a competitor, has been trying to have the German decision overturned while also seeking other means to fight Apple.

It redesigned the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for the German market only and named it Galaxy Tab 10.1N to get around the sales ban.

Apple challenged the reworked version but a German court last month rejected Apple's claims in a preliminary judgment. A final ruling in that cases is expected on February 9.

Samsung also counter-sued Apple in Germany, claiming infringements of mobile technology patents. A court in Mannheim has ruled against Samsung in cases concerning two of the patents and is due to decide on a third on March 2.

(Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan and Ludwig Burger)

A quick-thinking cop used his knowledge of Apple products to lead him to an iPhone thief within 30 minutes of the device being stolen.

The New York cop, Officer Robert Garland, spoke to the New York Times about the incident, which took place in Manhattan on Thursday.

Garland said the episode began when a woman working at a Tuci Italia store on the Avenue of the Americas was robbed of her iPhone at gunpoint as she was using the device to watch YouTube videos during a break.

Officer Garland arrived at the scene of the crime with his colleague, Sgt. Richard Coan, to find an upset and shaken victim.

Once Garland understood it was an iPhone that had been stolen, he realized that there was a fair chance he could locate it. You see, being a fan of Apple products and himself owning an iPhone, iPad and various Mac computers, Officer Garland knew a thing or two about all things i and was therefore familiar with the popular Find My iPhone app, a piece of software that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Without missing a beat, he entered the victim’s Apple ID into his own iPhone and using the app, pinpointed the location of her phone on a map.

Wasting no time, Garland and his colleague followed the information on their map in the hope that they’d be able to make a quick arrest.

After a short time they were confident they could see the robber, outside a Food Emporium store on Eighth Avenue and 49th Street. To confirm it was the right man, Garland pressed the ‘Play Sound’ button on the app, which immediately caused a pinging sound to emanate from the stolen phone.

The cops moved in and sure enough they found the victim’s phone stuffed down one of the man’s socks. And the woman’s reaction to Garland’s recovery? “She was ecstatic,” he told the New York Times.

Of course, the free Find My iPhone app will also come in useful when you misplace your phone, so be sure to download and enable the app on your iOS device. Then if you lose your phone, all you need to do is sign in to icloud.com through any Internet-enabled computer or simply use the Find My iPhone app on another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to see its location on a map. You also have the ability to display a message on the phone in case someone finds it, or clear the device of all its data if you’re worried about security.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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SEOUL, South Korea – Samsung Electronics Co. reported a 17 percent jump in fourth quarter profit on the strength of smartphone sales even as the company battled claims it had copied Apple’s iPhone.

Samsung said Friday in a regulatory filing that its net profit reached 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in the three months that ended in December. The company earned 3.4 trillion won in the same quarter a year earlier.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company said its operating profit jumped 75.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won in the fourth quarter. The figure was closely in line with the company’s estimate earlier this month of a 73 percent rise.

The company, however, posted an operating loss of 220 billion won in its display division in the fourth quarter despite a sales increase of 19 percent from the previous year.

“If profit in handsets continues to stream in, this year will also likely be a solid one for Samsung,” said Jae Lee, an analyst at Daiwa Securities in Seoul. “The biggest threat would be if the global economy worsens.”

Samsung, the world’s biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, said demand for semiconductors in mobile products and servers remained solid despite weakness in personal computers, which face stiff competition from the rising popularity of tablets.

Samsung has over the decades grown into a key global manufacturer of components that let PCs, digital music players and handsets store data and display it on flat, high-resolution screens. The company has recently been stepping up its challenge against Apple Inc. in the global smartphone business, releasing models such as the Galaxy S II.

Cupertino, California-based Apple, which spurred the smartphone boom with the launch of its iPhone in 2007, has accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying its smartphone and iPad in design, user interface and packaging. Apple sued Samsung in April last year in the United States.

The legal battle has now spilled into 10 countries, according to Samsung officials. Court rulings so far have tended to side with Apple.

Lee said legal battles with Apple would start weighing less on Samsung this year as the South Korean company is expected to release models with new designs.

The quarterly profit brought 2011 net profit to 13.7 trillion won, down 15 percent from the previous year.

Samsung shares rose 0.4 percent to 116,000 won in Seoul.