International Business Machines Corp. chief executive officer Ginni Rometty said she remains confident in the company’s 2015 profit forecast despite tumbling sales in hardware and in emerging markets like China. At a meeting with analysts and investors in New York Wednesday, Rometty compared the company’s current five-year financial goal to the prior four-year projection, when IBM still reached its earnings forecasts amid a global financial crisis. “I view both periods somewhat similar with unfo

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Google is once again selling its Internet-connected eyewear to anyone in the U.S. as the company fine-tunes a device that has sparked intrigue and disdain for its potential to change the way people interact with technology.The latest release of Google Glass comes a month after a one-day sale gave U.S. residents their first chance to buy the hottest accessory in geek fashion. Google Inc. isn’t setting a time limit for people to buy Glass this time, although the company is emp

Xiaomi Corp. logos are seen on the smartphones in Hong Kong. (Bloomberg)Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone maker valued at $10 billion, will sell a tablet computer as the Chinese company escalates its competition with Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.The device will have a 7.9-inch screen ― same as the iPad Mini ― and use a Nvidia Corp. processor, Lei Jun, founder and chief executive officer, said at a press conference in Beijing Thursday. The tablet will be made by Foxconn Technology Gro

Thomas Curry, comptroller of the U.S. currency. (Bloomberg)As U.S. regulators beef up standards for banks, the next crisis could emerge from the shadow banking system that is benefiting from a migration of assets, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said Wednesday in Chicago. “The shift of financial assets into the shadow banking system could carry with it the seeds for the next financial crisis if we do not act quickly and effectively,” Curry said in remarks prepared for a Conference of St

Deleting personal information online is costly and time-consuming for Web companies. Those difficulties are now set to be magnified in Europe for Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others. The European Union’s top court Tuesday ruled citizens have a “right to be forgotten” online, meaning people may ask search-engine owners to remove personal information and request that a court or data-protection authority step in if a company doesn’t comply. The EU decision doesn’t spell out what types of inform

China’s central bank called on the nation’s biggest lenders to accelerate the granting of mortgages, a sign that developers’ prices cuts and incentives alone won’t boost a slumping housing market and economy. The People’s Bank of China told 15 banks Tuesday to “improve efficiency of service, give timely approval and distribution of mortgages to qualified buyers,” according to a statement posted on its website. It also urged lenders to give priority to families buying their first homes and streng

With pending Beats buy, Apple CEO makes break from managerial style of founder

Treasury secretary also urges Beijing to give foreign investors more access

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank. (Bloomberg)The euro-area’s fastest economic growth in three years probably won’t be enough to stop Mario Draghi from easing monetary policy. Even with data this week predicted to show the expansion accelerated in the first quarter, the European Central Bank president looks set to push ahead with measures that could range from rate cuts to liquidity injections. Inflation stuck at less than half the ECB’s goal points to a revival that is still