18
January
2008
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08:02 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Newswatch 1.18.07: CA task force calls for more broadband

Wii has the strongest of Decembers

[WSJ] The videogame sector had a blowout month in December thanks to a strong slate of popular titles and the continued strength of the Nintendo Co. Wii, which remained in short supply through the holidays.

Bionic contact lenses coming to your eyes

[Wired] Sporting circuits a few nanometers thick and grain-of-sand-sized light-emitting diodes, the lenses have full Count Zero potential. They're also the product of some ingenious hackery: since contact lenses are delicate and circuit manufacture is hot and toxic, the researchers designed each component to attach itself only to certain other components. Their powder of circuits and diodes literally self-assembled into gadgetry when sprinkled onto the lens plastic.

Dvorak: Sun-MySQL deal a disaster

[Marketwatch] Sun Microsystems Inc. gobbling up MySQL is perhaps the worst single event I have ever witnessed in the history of tech mergers and acquisitions. ... I'm close to being convinced that Oracle wanted to buy MySQL to kill the product, but knew that it couldn't pull off the stunt itself. It would be too obvious, especially to European Union regulators. So it sent in a stooge to do the job.
Sun cannot actually afford to spend a $1 billion on a company producing a mere $60 million in revenue and working outside its core competencies. So who can afford it? Oracle, that's who. This deal stinks from top to bottom.

CA task force: Make broadband ubiquitous

[Reuters] California should consider issuing debt to augment private investment in enhancing and expanding high-speed communications services, a state task force said on Thursday. It said that better, faster and more available broadband capabilities would propel economic growth for the most populous U.S. state,

Desparate TV viewers might turn to Digg

[BizWeek] With the television writers still striking, Kevin Rose and Co. are banking audiences will watch what’s playing on Digg. Today, Rose’s Internet TV network Revision3 is launching “The Digg Reel,” a short online show featuring the top videos submitted to Digg. The shows’ creators hope to get a boost from frustrated television viewers starved for something—anything—new aside from NBC’s American Gladiators

Sprint is crashing

[USAToday] Sprint Nextel, struggling to keep afloat amid a crush of customer defections, on Friday announced it was cutting 4,000 jobs. The reduction is the first of what is expected to be a series of moves by the new CEO, Dan Hesse, as he tries to save the troubled wireless carrier. Last January Sprint announced it was cutting 5,000 jobs. The company currently has 60,000 employees.