Weekly Highlights: Ford's iPhone Deal, Facebook Outage And More

Ford is expected to purchase a large number of iPhones from Apple.

The deal -- which includes 3,300 iPhones in 2014 and another 6,000 within the next two years -- came about after Ford decided to replace its employees' BlackBerry devices.

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First there was an outage that prevented British and other users across the world from logging in. Now Americans experienced the pain of Facebook downtime.

The outage didn't last long, but some people couldn't wait for it to return and called 911 for help.

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Apple quietly adjusted the price of its old MacBook Pro this week.

The standard (non-Retina) model now sells for $1,099. The specs haven't changed since 2012, and Apple has given no indication that it intends to upgrade this model or release another non-Retina laptop. Thus, this is likely the closeout price designed to get rid of old MacBook Pros that have yet to be sold.

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Could Nintendo dump its ailing Wii U console and replace it with a newer, more attractive machine?

History shows that console manufacturers tend to move away from failed devices. At the very least they don't extend the console's life beyond the old five-year cycle.

Unfortunately, Juniper Research does not believe that Nintendo will release a new console in 2017 -- five years after Wii U's arrival. Instead, consumers may have to wait until 2018 or 2019 to play the next Nintendo console.

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Not long ago, Thinknum was a two-man startup that was operated out of a home office. Now it is picking up steam and just raised $1 million.

"We're currently part of a 500 Startups accelerator here in Mountain View, but we're going back to New York in August to open our New York City office," Thinknum co-founder Justin Zhen told Benzinga.

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The world's largest 3D printing store just opened in New York.

Built by iMakr -- a startup that specializes in selling 3D printers, materials, 3D art and 3D scanners -- the new store gives consumers the chance to see and touch these expensive items before making a purchase.

"Most people are not willing to spend one to three thousand dollars for something they can only view online," Sylvain Preumont, CEO of iMakr, told Benzinga.

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How many features can one social network borrow from it competitors?

There may be no answer to that question if Facebook continues to draw inspiration from others within the industry.

Facebook's latest target is Snapchat. The company failed to successfully acquire Snapchat last fall, so it has decided to release another app to take its place.

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Electronic Arts announced a new online game service this week.

Currently exclusive to Xbox One, the service allows users to download and play a small number of EA games for $5 per month or $30 for the whole year.

"[It's] pretty much a non-event," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told Benzinga. "Very limited offering (only EA games, only on Xbox One, mostly one year old), albeit at an inexpensive price. I don't see EA offering this if it impacts sales of games. If it doesn't impact, then the value isn't that great for the consumer."

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The preceding slideshow was just the beginning. Check out these other hot stories right here on Benzinga.

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