Japanese automobile major Toyota Motor Corp is planning to launch driverless cars in the market by 2020. Toyota will launch three models in semi-automatic range this year in Japan market. The semi-automatic cars equipped with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) are technology-driven vehicles that change lanes, merge with traffic or even overtake other vehicles. The fourth generation Prius hybrid car is one among the three semi-automatic models is scheduled for launch in Japan market in 2015.

With gross margins decreasing, Motorola Solutions Inc, a US provider of data communications and telecommunications equipment, has taken up cost-cutting measures to boost its profit growth. The cost optimizing and restructuring exercise have been helping the company significantly in cost control. The sluggish sales, cut-throat market competition and adverse sales tax are putting more pressure on Motorola. The gross margins fell from 51 percent in 2012 to 48 percent in 2014. In a similar way, operating margins also down from 14.8 percent to 16.4 percent during the period.

Apple Inc. is preparing the electric car code-named Titan to be shipped in 2019. In fact, the company had already hired 1800 experts to its development team. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Project Titan had been tripled its team to 1800 members by now. Apple is pushing the project as it targets 2019 for the shipment of the electric car. The report said the company has no plans to make the car fully autonomous on its initial launch, though the driverless car is still part of the plan.

With an objective of taking additive manufacturing (3-D printing) to further advance level, America Makes has drawn up plans to support research and development (R&D) with financial funding of up to $8 million.

Google's Life Sciences is now a standalone entity that will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet after being under Google X.

Foxconn, an electronic company in Taiwan with trade name Hon Hai Precision Co. Ltd., signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of India to invest $5B in manufacturing, research and development and a smart city.

Agrochemicals firm Syngenta on Friday rejected a $45 billion takeover offer from Monsanto, saying the offer undervalued the Swiss firm and did not fully take into account regulatory risks.

Finland's Nokia denied reports in Chinese media that it planned to return to manufacturing phones. "Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false," Nokia said in a statement posted on its website.

Foreigners are set to take over several French blue chip firms this year and will largely do what they want with their prizes - showing the limits of new laws passed in the name of "economic patriotism".

Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE) is in talks to buy smaller telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA), a deal that would combine the industry's two weakest players but could pose challenges in cutting costs and overcoming political opposition.