Tatas to sell South Africa’s Neotel to Vodafone arm

MUMBAI: India's largest private sector conglomerate Tata Group is selling South Africa'sNeotel seven years after it acquired a controlling stake in that country's second largest fixed line telecom operator to Vodafone's SA unit Vodacom. The deal is expected to value Neotel, in which Tata Communications holds 68.5%, at about $550 million.

Meet BlackBerry buyer, India-born Prem Watsa

TORONTO: As soon as Prem Watsa stepped down from Blackberry's board in August, speculation that he would launch a bid for the troubled smartphone maker started to swirl. Six weeks later, the man some call Canada's Warren Buffett has delivered, beginning a rescue project he once said could take four or five years. 

Google buys file transfer app Bump

NEW YORK: Google has acquired Bump, the maker of a smartphone app that allows users to share files by bumping devices together. 

The two companies did not release financial terms of the deal. 

In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Bump CEO David Lieb said the company's apps, which also include a photo sharing service, Flock, will keep working for now. 

In a blog post from late March, Bump said that its namesake app was downloaded 125 million times. The Bump app was launched more than four years ago. 

"The Bump team has demonstrated a strong ability to quickly build and develop products that users love, and we think they'll be a great fit at Google," Mountain View, California-based Google said in an emailed statement. Bump is also based in Mountain View.

Chinese website begins selling aircraft

BEIJING: China's online-shopping websiteTaobao began selling aircraft and helicopters over the internet on Thursday. It put up three helicopters and two light sports aircraft on auction for four days until 10 am Monday.

'Cheaper' iPhone 5C may cost Rs 40,000 in India

NEW DELHI: A few months ago when phone analysts started talking about a 'cheap iPhone', there was an indication that Apple would finally launch an affordable iPhone for price-sensitive markets in countries like China and India. Apple did launch a 'cheaper' phone on Tuesday night. But this cheaper phone, called iPhone 5C, is hardly affordable.

The basic model of iPhone 5C, which has hardware similar to iPhone 5 but in a plastic body, will be available for $99 (on contract) in the US. But don't get mistaken by the low price. In India, the device is expected to cost around Rs 40,000.