Technology
Samsung ditches plastic phone case, gets ready for mobile payments
NEW YORK — Samsung Electronics Co. unveiled a new phone that ditches the signature plastic case for more metal and glass. The South Korean smartphone maker also unveiled a premium model with a display that curves around the left and right edges, so information can be quickly glanced at on the side. The Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge both include technology for mobile payments, though Samsung is not unveiling a service to rival the iPhone’s Apple Pay until summer. Resolution on the phones’ rear camera remains at 16 megapixels, but cameras on both sides will have wider openings to let in more light. The new models use glass on both sides. Software will also be simplified. Text will replace many icons, for instance. Previous phones had removable backs, so the battery could be swapped with a spare. Samsung joins Apple and others in favoring better design over that replacement capability. The screen remains 5.1 inches, but display resolution increases to 577 pixels per inch, up from 432. Apple’s 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has 326. Samsung phones will use technology from LoopPay, a Burlington, Mass., startup that Samsung is buying. Its technology reproduces signals from a credit card’s magnetic swipe, so it can work with existing retail equipment. Most rivals, including Apple Pay, require newer equipment. Prices and a US launch date were not given. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
technology
BlackBerry Plans Software for iOS, Android users
TORONTO — BlackBerry Ltd. is planning to expand its software offerings and make more applications for business customers, regardless of what kind of smartphone they’re using. CEO John Chen is pushing the ailing company to repurpose its smartphone software for iPhones and iPads and for Android and Windows devices. Chen, who took over BlackBerry in 2013, is working to diversify the company, whose share of the global smartphone market fell to less than 1 percent. Chen said new products, available this year, will focus on productivity, communication, and security. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
corporate governance
Speculation abounds on Warren Buffett’s successor
SEATTLE — Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders are still guessing who will succeed 84-year-old billionaire CEO Warren Buffett. In his annual report, he said only that the board has the “right person.” But vice chairman Charles Munger, 91, provided fodder for speculation, highlighting Ajit Jain and Greg Abel as “world-leading” executives. Jain, 63, runs Berkshire’s reinsurance operation. Abel, 52, oversees the energy-utility business. Jain joined Berkshire in 1986 and has orchestrated deals tied to everything from hurricanes to asbestos liability. Abel’s rise is more recent and reflects a shift toward regulated, capital-intensive businesses like power companies. An accountant, Abel joined Berkshire when Buffett purchased the majority of an Iowa utility-holding company in 2000. Buffett said his successor will need the ability to “fight off the ABCs of business decay, which are arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency.” He reiterated that when he steps down, his son Howard should become nonexecutive chairman. He’ll be a “safety-valve” if the next CEO isn’t up to the job, the billionaire wrote. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
investing
With coffee supplies on rise, hedge funds turn bearish
NEW YORK — It’s raining in Brazil, and the coffee bulls are running for cover. Downpours in the past month are replenishing soil left parched by a 2014 drought. The rains in Brazil, the world’s top coffee producer and exporter, have spurred hedge funds to cut their bullish wagers. Coffee swung from a bear market to a bull market and back again over the past year, making it the most volatile component of the Bloomberg Commodity Index; 2014’s dry spell caused prices to double, but global stockpiles at the end of September will be 14 percent higher than previously estimated, the US government forecasts. Brazil’s output will rise to 49.5 million bags this year from 47 million in 2014, according to Volcafe, the coffee unit of commodity trader ED&F Man. Production in Colombia, the second-largest grower of arabica beans, is poised to reach the highest since 2008. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
energy
British Objections Fail to Curb German-Russian Energy Deal
LONDON — The German utility RWE and a Russian-controlled investment company aim to complete a deal for the oil and gas subsidiary RWE Dea on Monday, despite objections from the British government. L1 Energy, based in London and owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, agreed last year to buy RWE Dea for about $5.6 billion. Among RWE Dea’s holdings are a large North Sea natural gas field. Britain worries Fridman or his company might become the target of expanded sanctions on the Russian energy industry stemming from the Ukraine conflict. But RWE indicated that’s not enough to stop a deal. L1 said the British assets would be kept separate and monitored by a Dutch foundation to ensure the business “is being operated fully in line with the license agreements.” In the event of added sanctions, L1 said, the foundation “will assume full control over” the British assets, presumably shielding them from sanctions. — NEW YORK TIMES