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By Aman Shah MUMBAI (Reuters) – Facebook Inc plans to scale up its service to offer free basic Internet on mobile phones, an executive said, after introducing the application in 17 developing countries over the past year. In a blog post released to mark the first year of the initiative, Facebook said it will open a portal allowing any mobile operator to offer the service under its Internet.org platform. Facebook currently partners with specific operators to launch the service in different countries.

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German carmaker Daimler is planning to test self-driving trucks as early as this year, executive board member Wolfgang Bernhard told a German newspaper. “We are positive that we will get approval for tests on German motorways within the next weeks,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung quoted him as saying. First tests of semi-autonomous trucks will take place in Daimler's home state Baden-Wuerttemberg while the start of production is 2-3 years away, Bernhard, who is in charge of Daimler's trucks business, told the paper.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday said Facebook Inc officials including Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg cannot be sued by shareholders who said the social media company concealed threats to its growth prospects before its May 2012 initial public offering.

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Qualcomm shares fell 1.8 percent to $63.05 in after-market trading on Wednesday. The move comes after hedge fund Jana Partners called for Qualcomm to spin off its chip business from its highly profitable patent-licensing income, among other changes the activist asked for. “We decided we were going to take a fresh look at the corporate structure of the company,” Qualcomm president Derek Aberle said in an interview, adding that the chipmaker has reviewed its options twice already in the past decade.

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By Anya George Tharakan and Julia Love BENGALURU/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc forecast fourth-quarter revenue below estimates and missed some targets for iPhone sales, sending its shares down more than 6 percent in after-hours trading. Apple said on Tuesday it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago. The company forecast revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $51.13 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The world's largest publicly traded company by market value said it sold 47.5 million iPhones in the third quarter, up 35 percent from a year ago, but down 22 percent from 61.2 million in the second quarter.

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Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], one of the world's largest telecom equipment makers, on Monday posted a 30 percent increase in first-half revenue to 175.9 billion yuan ($28.3 billion) and said it would achieve “effective growth” in 2015. The Shenzhen-based company, which competes with Sweden's Ericsson for the top spot in the global market for communications towers and other infrastructure, posted an operating margin of 18 percent in the first six months of 2015, compared with 18.3 percent in the previous half-year. The private company did not elaborate in its brief statement.

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Japan's financial watchdog plans to seek a financial penalty on Toshiba Corp , currently being investigated by an independent committee over accounting irregularities, the Nikkei reported on Saturday. The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) believes the company falsified financial statements and will recommend as early as September that the Financial Services Agency impose a fine, the business daily said, citing sources. An SESC spokesman declined to comment, while Toshiba officials were not immediately available for comment.

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By Joyce Lee and Sohee Kim SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Group's founding family on Friday scored a narrow win in a landmark proxy battle, fending off an activist investor opposed to an $8 billion deal that cements its grip as a new generation prepares to take the reins of South Korea's biggest conglomerate. At an often-heated shareholder meeting, investors in builder Samsung C&T Corp approved an all-share takeover offer from sister firm Cheil Industries Inc, Samsung's de facto holding company – but only just. U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates, with a 7.1 percent Samsung C&T stake, had led the charge against the deal, saying it undervalued the target.

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(Reuters) – Apple Inc on Wednesday launched its latest iPod touch gadget at a time when the company is looking to popularize its new music service. The new iPod features an 8 megapixel iSight camera, FaceTime high-definition camera and also houses Apple-designed A8 chip, which is used in iPhone 6. The iPod, which will give access to Apple Music, also features fitness tracking M8 motion co-processor.

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Finnish telecoms network maker Nokia confirmed late on Monday that it may start designing and licensing mobile phone handsets under its brand name in 2016. Nokia said it was looking for a partner who would take on the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for the products. The company said a Nokia mobile phone would not reach the market before the fourth quarter of 2016 when Nokia's agreement with partner Microsoft allows it to use the brand name again.