Tech Five: T-Mobile under fire for data breach
T-Mobile found itself on the defensive last night after a data breach at a partner used to handle credit applicants. Let's take a look at the tech companies to watch Friday.
• T-Mobile. More than 15 million T-Mobile customers and consumers applying for credit may have been put at risk by the Experian data breach. In a letter posted to consumers on Thursday, T-Mobile CEO John Legere, said the hacked records included information on customer names, addresses and birthdates as well as encrypted fields with Social Security numbers and ID numbers (such as driver's license or passport number). The data at risk covers the period between Sept. 1, 2013 and Sept. 16, 2015. An "angry" Legere says the investigation is continuing. T-Mobile US stock was down 2.02% in early trading on Friday.
• Samsung. Samsung Electronics America announced a seven city tour on Thursday to celebrate the launch of Samsung Pay in the U.S. Samsung's mobile wallet service service is the company's answer to Apple Pay and Google's Android Pay. The tour takes place in Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where Samsung and local retails will offer discounts and give consumes a chance to check out how Samsung Pay works. Samsung Pay works on the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, Note5 or S6 edge + as well as the company's new Gear S2 smartwatch that hits retail shelves today.
• Amazon. Amazon Inc. announced on Thursday that they would stop selling Google's Chromecast and Apple's Apple TV streaming devices in its online store beginning on October 29. Amazon says the move is to prevent confusion with devices that work well with the company's Prime Video offerings, something that Apple and Google's devices don't currently do. The retailer will continue selling Roku, Xbox and PlayStation devices in addition to its own Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, all of which have Prime Video apps.
• General Motors. General Motors announced a new car sharing program in New York that lets New Yorkers rent cars straight from the automaker. Called Let's Drive NYC the program began yesterday but is currently limited to the 479-unit Ritz Plaza apartment building. According to Bloomberg GM will charge $10 an hour and $75 for the day and residents can reserve a car through a GM mobile app similar to how they would hail a ride using Uber. As residents make lease payments, they'll get credits for three hours of rental a month. Current cars include the Chevrolet Trax compact sport utility vehicle or Chevy Equinox small SUV.
• Microsoft. Microsoft announced that they have reached a patent sharing agreement with ASUS that also allows the software giant to pre-load Office and other Microsoft apps on ASUS's Android phones and tablets. The move furthers Microsoft's efforts to get its software on more Android devices to better compete with Google's applications. Microsoft already has similar arrangements to pre-load apps on Samsung, LG and Dell's Android devices.
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