Technology

FTC Said to Ask Google Rivals for Statement on AdMob, May Signal Challenge U.S. regulators are seeking sworn declarations from Google Inc. competitors and advertisers as part of their probe of the Internet company’s bid to buy AdMob Inc., indicating the government may challenge the deal, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Global Box-Office Sales Rose to a Record $29.9 Billion in 2009, MPAA Says Global box-office sales increased 7.6 percent to a record $29.9 billion last year, helped by 3-D movies and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”

AOL Chief Armstrong Targets Web Ad Billions With Sales, Content Hirings AOL Inc. said it’s “laser focused” on getting a share of an estimated $20 billion gap in online advertising, as marketers race to catch up with consumers on the Internet.

Google Chief Says Talks With China's Government Will Yield Results `Soon' Google Inc., in talks with China after threatening to stop censoring Internet search results there, said the discussions will yield results soon.

Telmex Begins Offering Customers Unlimited U.S. Calls to Fend Off Televisa Telefonos de Mexico SAB, the phone company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, began offering unlimited phone calls to the U.S. to keep users from switching to Grupo Televisa SA carriers.

Console Challenger OnLive to Start $15-a-Month Web Gaming Service in June OnLive Inc., the Silicon Valley company creating a Web-based video-game system, said it will offer a $14.95-a-month subscription, challenging console makers Microsoft Corp., Nintendo Co. and Sony Corp.

CA Agrees to Buy Nimsoft for $350 Million to Expand in Cloud Computing CA Inc., the second-largest maker of software for mainframe computers, agreed to buy closely held Nimsoft Inc. for about $350 million to expand in cloud computing.

EMI Music Says Chief Executive Leoni-Sceti to Step Down From Record Label EMI Music, the U.K. recording company controlled by Guy Hands’s Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd., said Chief Executive Officer Elio Leoni-Sceti will leave the company on March 31.

CNN U.S. Chief Klein Says He Fears Social-Networking Competition, Not TV CNN’s U.S. president, Jonathan Klein, said he worries more about competition from social- networking sites such as Facebook Inc. than from other cable news networks.

Canon Says China to Be Top Camera Market in 2015, Will Double Stores There Canon Inc. expects China’s camera market to become the world’s largest as early as 2015, overtaking the U.S., its head of the business said.

Solar Prospectors Chase `Gold Mine' Deals in Chinese, Israeli Subsidies Olivier de Vergnies quit managing family fortunes at Dexia Private Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. in 2008 to run a New York start-up at 100 Wall St. that’s trying to tap riches in solar energy.