Webwire: Loop latest India 2G victim; Sony forecasts $6.4b loss

Loop Telecom has become the latest company to declare plans to close its Indian operations by June 1, in response to losing its 2G licenses following a February court verdict. But sister company Loop Mobile operates in Mumbai under a different license, and will remain operational.

India Today 

Sony has more than doubled its projected loss for the financial year to march to 520 billion yen ($6.43 billion), which would be a record loss for the company.

In a memo to employees, Yahoo's new CEO Scott Thompson has revealed he plans to restructure the company into three groups - consumer, regions and technology – as part of his turnaround plan.

New York Times 

The USA's four largest mobile operators – AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile USA – have agreed to set up a common database of stolen mobile phones, and block devices on the list from being reactivated.

Boy Genius Report 

RIM has clarified that it does not intend to disable sideloading of Android apps onto the BlackBerry PlayBook, but will restrict the function somewhat, and will take steps to convince developers to convert their apps into a compatible format and list them on its app store.

TG Daily 

Chinese internet companies Baidu, Sina and Tencent have all agreed to take steps to curb the proliferation of “online rumors”, state media agency Xinhua announced, at the behest of the government.

Reuters 

Research firm Gartner expects Microsoft to win only 4% of the tablet market in 2012 with the upcoming Windows 8 OS, and just 11.8% by 2016.

Reuters 

UK mobile subs wasting £5b on wrong plans
UK mobile users are wasting a combined £5 billion ($7.93 billion) by being on mobile phone plans that are not suitable for their consumption, according to a study from Carphone Warehouse. Many consumers are unaware of the consumption caused by Facebook and Twitter apps.

Media Bistro