Google

After Google announced its stock split last week, there may be a bit more pressure on Apple to consider a split of its own pricey shares. We break down what that would mean for investors, and whether it makes sense for the tech giant.

Google's novel stock split will create a new class of shares with no voting rights. Confused? Google CEO Larry Page thought you might be, so he offered an explanatory note. Here's our read-between-the-lines translation of what he was really saying.

Google has faced heavy criticism since it announced its first-ever stock split, which creates a new class of nonvoting shares. Don't believe the hype. If you were happy owning Google stock before, you should be just as pleased now. Here's why:

Google CEO Larry Page, Chairman Eric Schmidt and co-founder Sergey Brin will gain greater influence over the company thanks to an unusual stock-split maneuver that will create a whole new class of Google shares with no voting rights.

In his youth, Steve Jobs, Apple's iconic leader, drew inspiration from Sony, a company that dominated the consumer electronics game for years. But now that Apple is the new Sony, where does that leave Sony?

Google built its empire on innovations that served consumers well, but it's building its future on serving those consumers, and their personal data, up to advertisers. Not only that, but Google's new focus has the company pursuing projects that may actually be harmful to users.

No crowds lined up for Sunday's debut of the Lumia 900 -- Nokia's new smartphone running Windows Phone. But Microsoft is betting billions on the $100 device -- and it has good reason to be optimistic.