NEW YORK (
) --
(GOOG) - Get Report
is planning on hiring engineers to develop in-house smartphone applications in an attempt to keep up with
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
, according to a report in the
Wall Street Journal
. Android users can access an app marketplace of 100,000 applications, while Apple's app store has more than 350,000 apps.
Shares of Google rose 0.42% in pre-market trading Monday to $603.50.
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Report
will begin
taking pre-orders for the Apple iPhone
from existing customers beginning at 3 a.m. ET on Feb. 3, according to the company's Web site. Verizon is calling it an exclusive opportunity for current customers to get a jump on the iPhone supply before it's opened up to everyone else.
The Verizon iPhone officially goes on sale Feb. 10.
Intel
(INTEL)
Capital and
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
both announced they had committed funds to President Obama's Startup America campaign, designed to increase the success of American entrepreneurs. Intel Capital will put $200 million towards the project, while IBM will invest $150 million.
Shares of Intel rose 0.7% to $21.61, while shares of IBM were up 0.04%.
KIT Digital
(KITD)
, an online video technology company, has acquired video start-ups
KickApps
,
Kyte
and
Kewego
for a combined $77.2 million. As part of the acquisitions, KickApps CEO Alex Blum will be the company's new chief operating officer.
Shares of KIT Digital rose 4.4% in pre-market trading to $14.14.
ShopKick
, a mobile shopping application, has more than 750,000 users since launching in August, the company announced Monday. The app,
which gives shoppers rewards for entering stores
, has signed retailers like
Sports Authority
,
Best Buy
(BBY) - Get Report
and
Target
(TGT) - Get Report
for its service.
Digital reading technology company
LibreDigital
has raised $4 million in venture funding, it announced Monday. The company aggregates reading material for Apple's iBookstore.
--Written by Olivia Oran in New York.
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