TheState.com: Technology

GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:18 EST

A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.

Comcast, the largest cable TV operator in the United States, wants NBC Universal largely for its lucrative cable channels, but it isn't likely to raise its offer to General Electric Co., which first needs Vivendi SA to sell its minority stake.

If GE had to pay Vivendi more for that stake, it would have to absorb the additional cost because Comcast's agreement with GE is "set" and separate from the Vivendi talks, according to a person familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person is not authorized to disclose private negotiations.

Plans currently call for GE, which owns 80 percent of NBC Universal, to buy Vivendi's 20 percent stake and sell 51 percent ownership in the entire unit to Comcast for about $5 billion to $7 billion in cash. Comcast would contribute cable networks such as E! and Style to a new NBC Universal joint venture with GE, raising Comcast's bid to about $15 billion.

The new NBC Universal would carry $8 billion to $10 billion of debt and operate under Comcast as its majority owner.

Suit over search-engine keywords tries new angle

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:33 EST

A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.

The practice has occasionally prompted a rival to file legal challenges alleging trademark infringement. Now a Wisconsin law firm is trying a new angle - accusing its competitor of violating privacy laws.

Habush Habush & Rottier is one of Wisconsin's largest law firms, specializing in personal-injury cases. But search for iterations of "Habush" and "Rottier" and a sponsored link for Cannon & Dunphy attorneys often shows up, just above the link for the Habush site.

Habush alleges that Cannon paid for the keywords "Habush" and "Rottier," in effect hijacking the names and reputation of Habush attorneys.

Cannon acknowledged paying for the keywords but denied wrongdoing, saying it was following a clearly legal business strategy.

Sony hopes online service will build brand loyalty

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:52 EST

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said the service, set for launch next year, highlights an advantage that Sony has over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. and other manufacturers that don't produce their own content. Sony's business empire spans gaming, electronics, movies and music.

"That's the kind of combination that I think is not seen anywhere else," Hirai said in an interview at Tokyo headquarters. "That I think is where our core competence lies, and that's a differentiator for Sony."

The online service will include games, movie downloads and other interactive entertainment, which will be accessible on Sony products, such as Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Reader electronic books.

But Kazuharu Miura, analyst with Daiwa Securities SMBC in Tokyo, said it was unclear whether online services will boost gadget sales.

EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:04 EST

European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.

The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time "in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in response to the Commission's concerns."

The EU executive gave them an extra six working days.

Regulators sent a formal charge sheet to Oracle earlier this month laying out competition problems that they see with the deal, claiming Oracle's purchase of open-source database software MySQL could eliminate a crucial rival and hike prices.

The EU can block the takeover - which has already been approved by the United States - or demand changes to eliminate competition concerns. Officials complained that Oracle had not tried to offer any solutions - possibly selling off MySQL, which Oracle says it doesn't want to do.

B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:53 EST

Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.

The earliest that anyone who orders the $259 device on Friday - or later - will receive it is Jan. 4, 2010, the nation's largest bookseller said Friday.

"While we increased production based on the high consumer interest, we've sold out of our initial nook allotment available for delivery before the holidays," the company said in a statement. Preorders exceeded its expectations, the New York company said.

Customers who had hoped to buy a Nook as Christmas or Hanukkah present can get a certificate to present in lieu of the device.

Barnes and Noble said it is ramping up supply to meet the demand. The company wouldn't say how many Nooks it has sold.

Library group offers text search to 4.6M books

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:02 EST

A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes.

Last year, the University of Michigan and 24 other research libraries launched the HathiTrust Digital Library. The consortium said Thursday it's offering full-text search capability to all digitized works. Access to non-copyright books started in 2008.

The group says it adds hundreds of thousands of volumes monthly.

Participants include the University of California system; California Digital Library; Indiana, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue universities; and the universities of Chicago, Illinois, Illinois-Chicago, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison and Virginia.

Microsoft offers about 24K training vouchers in NC

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:05 EST

Microsoft Corp. is giving away nearly 24,000 vouchers to North Carolina residents who want to improve their computer skills so they can improve their lot in the work force.

Gov. Beverly Perdue and the software giant announced Thursday in Charlotte the state's portion of Microsoft's Elevate America program. The company wants to offer technology training to 2 million Americans over the next three years.

The 23,700 vouchers will be distributed over the next 90 days. They will provide free online training for Windows and Office software or advanced technical training. A recipient also may take the Microsoft Business Certification exam free of charge.

The vouchers are being distributed through the state community college system, Department of Commerce and Employment Security Commission.

Flurry of IPOs signals IPO rebound to continue

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:48 EST

The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about where they place their bets.

This week was the second-biggest for new issues - with five IPOs - since the market began heating up in mid-September. There have been 22 new offerings so far this quarter, compared to just one in the final three months of last year. There are more than 90 companies in the 2010 IPO pipeline.

"This week has been a preview of coming attractions next year," said John Fitzgibbon of IPOScoop. "There is a demand for IPOs."

But while increasingly robust, this IPO market isn't for the faint-of-heart. These days, investors want to see IPOs return cash to the company. Friday's IPO of Cloud Peak Energy Inc. - a spin-off coal producer Rio Tinto PLC's western U.S. assets - provided a payday for Rio Tinto. Cloud Peak failed to fetch the offering price the company had wanted and its shares fell further on their first day of trading, closing down 16 cents at $14.84.

"What people really want is IPOs where the money is used to finance growth," said Francis Gaskins of IPOdesktop. "There'll be more of those companies next year."

Google adding automatic captions to YouTube videos

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:37 EST

Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world.

Google Inc. said Thursday it is introducing automatic, machine-generated captions for videos on its YouTube site. The new service, being launched this week, is intended to make online videos accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired.

Hundreds of thousands of videos on Google sites already contain caption tracks that users have created and added manually with Google's existing captioning service. But with 20 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, most videos on the site still lack captions.

So Google is tapping into the speech-recognition technology that it uses for its Google Voice call management service to make captions an automatic feature on YouTube.

Because the speech-recognition technology is still a work in progress, Google is launching the automatic captioning service on the YouTube channels of just a handful of partners, including PBS, National Geographic and a few big universities. But the company promises that the technology will improve over time - and it hopes for a much broader rollout.

Dell's profit, stock drop on weak quarterly report

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:04 EST

Some of the computer industry's biggest players - such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. - have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

Dell Inc. didn't join them Thursday.

The company reported a 54 percent drop in net income and a 15 percent decline in revenue in its latest quarter, both steeper than analysts had forecast.

Dell's shares fell $1.43, or 9 percent, to $14.44 in morning trading Friday.

The numbers show that Dell isn't fully benefiting from the industry's fledgling recovery, even though the company is seeing improvement in some areas.

Obama answers questions from top Cuban blogger

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:42 EST

President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.

In an unusual written response to Yoani Sanchez, who has gained international acclaim for daring to criticize her government online, Obama also said it is up to Cuba to act if it wants normal relations with Washington, saying that a true thaw in nearly 50 years of deep-freeze "will require action by the Cuban government."

His comments were posted Thursday on Sanchez's blog, "Generacion Y," which like most sites critical of the Cuban government is blocked on the island.

Sanchez uses caustic, often witty posts to provide an inside look at a communist state, writing about such daily hardships as food shortages and tensions caused by a lack of freedom of expression and assembly.

Obama assured Sanchez that the United States "has no intention of invading Cuba," a Cold War concept that top Cuban officials insist is still a possibility.

John Malone: Comcast-NBC would have too much power

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:08 EST

Media mogul John Malone said Thursday that Comcast Corp.'s plan to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal would give it too much market power and force competitors to consider similar acquisitions.

Comcast Corp. - the nation's largest cable TV provider - is in talks to buy a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co. GE is negotiating to buy back Vivendi SA's 20 percent ownership in NBC Universal and then sell a majority stake to Comcast.

Malone, who is chairman of Liberty Media Corp., which has a controlling stake in satellite TV carrier DirecTV Group Inc., said GE did not approach him about investing in NBC Universal.

"It was developed very quietly between Comcast and GE and they did not seek any other," Malone told The Associated Press on Thursday.

NBC Universal owns broadcast and cable channels and the Universal Studios movie studio and theme parks. Malone said a combined Comcast-NBC would be a big threat to competitors because of the potential for the venture to charge higher fees for its programming. Subscription-TV operators such as DirecTV pay NBC Universal and other programmers for the right to carry their cable channels.

Gadgets: Digital photo gift ideas

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:46 EST

Once again it's that shopping time of year and if digital photography is on your shopping list, here is a roundup of accessories to kick off the season.

The Gorillapod SLR-Zoom from Joby is a flexible tripod that can be used almost anywhere.

Besides having the traditional three legs to stand upright on any flat surface, this unit has flexible legs that can wrap around most anything. Rubberized foot grips keep it stable, even on most slanted or slippery surfaces - even door knobs, car handles, trees and street lights. If the legs can go around it, this will hold up your camera even most of today's bigger SLR models (up to 6.5 lbs.)

The ability to attach to most anything allows the device to act as a larger tripod without the legs and bulk of bigger models.

More than two dozen leg-joints enable it to bend and rotate 360-degrees for secure attachment. Users can also purchase a Joby Ballhead for even more flexibility.

Shareholders OK DirecTV spinoff but sale uncertain

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:17 EST

Shareholders approved the formation of a new company out of DirecTV Group Inc. and some of Liberty Media Corp.'s entertainment businesses, as the chairman of both firms dampened speculation about a sale to a big phone company.

Media mogul John Malone told The Associated Press that he could see the new DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite TV provider, collaborating more closely with phone companies to offer Internet and phone services that compete with cable TV operators. But he was vague on whether or not he would seek a sale.

"We do bundling. We do product development directly with them. It's a major source of new subscribers for DirecTV," he said. "Whether it would lead to consolidation, that's speculation."

Malone also said he hadn't expected to name a new DirecTV CEO who had no experience in the satellite TV business, but he ultimately chose a soft drink executive for his "great leadership capabilities."

On Wednesday, DirecTV chose Michael White, vice chairman of PepsiCo Inc. and CEO of PepsiCo International, to be its chief executive, replacing Chase Carey, who left to be president and chief operating officer of News Corp.

On the Call: Dell's CEO Michael Dell

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:17 EST

A key element of Dell Inc.'s turnaround strategy has been a vow not to cut prices as aggressively as rivals just to keep market share. The tactic has allowed competitors such as Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. to steal business from Dell, and this fall Dell lost its ranking as the world's No. 2 PC maker.

Dell reported Thursday that its net income dropped 54 percent in the latest quarter while revenue dropped 15 percent. The company's CEO, Michael Dell, discussed the company's pricing strategy on a conference call with analysts.

QUESTION: Once the upgrade cycle begins sometime next year, will you still focus on profit margin preservation over market-share stability, or does the strategy change somewhat to a more growth-oriented focus?

ANSWER: "We think we are holding or gaining share in the right kind of price points. Our efforts on the cost side should expand our ability to profitably compete in a larger portion of the price points. What I would also tell you is that the pipeline of client opportunities, we are already seeing more client activity in the last 30 to 60 days than we have in a long time, and the pipeline for client activity going forward into next year is the strongest it has been in a long time as well. So if I look at our commercial businesses, the second quarter was kind of the bottom. The third quarter was certainly better. October was the best, and November looks even better than October. So the momentum of the turns is good."

Sony chief executive outlines turnaround plan

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:25 EST

Sony said it aims to be profitable in gaming and flat-panel TVs by the fiscal year ending March 2011, pushing 3-D technology as a way to showcase its strength in entertainment and surface from deep losses.

"Our work is already bearing fruit," Chief Executive Howard Stringer said Thursday in outlining Sony's turnaround strategy at the electronics giant's Tokyo headquarters. "We still have more work to do."

The maker of the PlayStation 3 game console is headed for its second straight billion dollar loss in the current fiscal year ending March 2010, battered by the global slowdown and sliding prices of gadgets.

Sony Corp. has been uniting its sprawling businesses, bringing together purchasing for parts and other supplies, for instance, which had been previously divided and less efficient.

Stringer, who first promised a more nimble and streamlined Sony when he took the helm in 2005, said things would be different this time.

Glitch snarls air traffic in latest woes for FAA

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23 EST

For the second time in a little more than a year, a glitch at one of the two centers that handle flight plans for the nation's air travel system set off delays and cancellations for passengers around the country.

The snarl Thursday - traced to something as simple as a single circuit board - prompted calls for more money and manpower at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has struggled without success for years to overhaul the air traffic system.

The circuit board, at an FAA center in Salt Lake City, is part of a multibillion-dollar nationwide communications network that the agency has spent years installing as part of plans to modernize air traffic control.

A government watchdog said last year that the network was over budget and plagued by outages. On a single day in 2007 alone, the failure of parts of the network was responsible for 566 flight delays.

Aviation experts are unsure whether any system that relies on the interconnectedness of computers can prevent glitches from causing havoc unless there are sufficient backup systems to handle the thousands of flight plans filed each day in the U.S.

Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:47 EST

Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.

Beginning Thursday, Yahoo will mine the short messages posted on Twitter to find fresher information about hot topics.

Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. had earlier announced plans to incorporate Twitter messages into search results, but Yahoo said it will be the first among them to include such "tweets" on its main search results.

The addition comes at a pivotal time for Yahoo. The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is bogged down in a three-year financial slump partly because it has losing ground in the lucrative Internet search market to Google and, to a lesser extent, Microsoft.

The Twitter twist is the latest sign of Yahoo's resolve to spice up its search results even as it prepares to lean on Microsoft for most of the technology powering its search engine. That transition is scheduled to begin next year.

Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:43 EST

Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.

Google set the late 2010 target date Thursday during its first preview of a much-anticipated operating system that eventually may mount a challenge to Microsoft Corp.'s Windows - the foundation for most personal computers since the 1990s.

The Internet search leader announced plans in July for an operating system named after its Chrome Web browser. At the time, Google said Chrome OS would be ready during the second half of 2010. That left open the possibility that Chrome OS computers could be on sale as early as next summer.

But Google is taking its time so outside programmers can contribute to Chrome OS, which is being developed under an open-source model in which anyone can help with development and share improvements. Google also intends to work closely with computer manufacturers to ensure they meet the Chrome OS's requirements.

Chrome OS is initially expected to be limited to people looking for inexpensive, lightweight computers designed for Web surfing. None of the so-called "netbooks" running Google's operating system will have a hard drive, and they will need Internet access to run applications.

EBay completes sale of Skype for $2 billion

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:27 EST

EBay has completed its sale of Skype for about $2 billion to an investor group that included the founders of the Internet phone service.

Last week, the online auction site settled a legal skirmish with co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis which allowed the deal to move forward. The settlement gave Skype ownership of critical software that had been licensed from the company they founded, Joltid Ltd.

Ebay said Thursday it sold a 70 percent stake in the company for about $1.9 billion plus $125 million that it will receive at a later date. The company is keeping the remaining 30 percent stake.

The settlement means Zennstrom and Friis get a 14 percent stake in Skype. The investor group, led by Silver Lake, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Andreessen Horowitz, get 56 percent ownership.

San Jose, Calif.-based Ebay Inc. also purchased senior debt securities worth $50 million to help finance the deal.

AOL offers buyouts to over a third of work force

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:27 EST

The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs - more than a third of its work force - as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage.

Major job cuts had been expected and seemed certain after Time Warner said last week that AOL would take $200 million in charges for severance and other restructuring-related costs. But the magnitude was not known until Thursday.

AOL, which has already pared thousands of workers in recent years and now employs about 6,900, is asking for volunteers to accept buyouts. If it falls short of the 2,500 target, it plans layoffs to reach a payroll cut of up to 2,300 positions, a third of its current total.

The cuts will leave AOL at less than a quarter the size it was at its peak in 2004, when it had more than 20,000 employees.

The reductions show the Internet company is endeavoring to become lean as it leaves Time Warner's side in three weeks. Yet it is still unclear how they will help AOL, which has been trying to reinvent itself as a content and advertising company amid an ongoing decline in its legacy dial-up Internet access business.

Judge rejects AT&T's bid to pull Verizon ads

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:08 EST

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by AT&T Inc. to force competitor Verizon Wireless to pull its "There's a Map for That" commercials.

But the judge scheduled a Dec. 16 hearing to give the AT&T attorneys another chance to make their case.

AT&T filed the lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta earlier this month and asked for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop the ads. It contends they are misleading and amount to deceptive trade practices.

Verizon argues that the commercials are valid and truthful.

The ads show maps of the United States with areas highlighted to depict where third generation - or "3G" - network coverage is available. A map of the country nearly covered with red dots is shown to depict Verizon's coverage, while a map with some blue areas and a lot of blank space is shown to ostensibly display AT&T's 3G coverage.

Microsoft told to stop some Windows sales in China

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:22 EST

A Beijing court has ordered Microsoft Corp. to stop selling some versions of its Windows operating system in China in a licensing dispute with a local supplier.

The order Monday said Microsoft exceeded its rights under licensing agreements with Zhongyi Electronic Ltd., a Beijing company that developed Chinese character fonts used in the software.

Microsoft must stop selling versions of Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 with Zhongyi's fonts, the Beijing People's No. 1 Intermediate Court said in its ruling, a copy of which was released by Zhongyi.

Microsoft said it would appeal.

"Microsoft respects intellectual property rights. We use third party IPs only when we have a legitimate right to do so," the company said in a statement. "We believe our license agreements with the plaintiff cover our use of the fonts."

Calif. requires TVs to be more energy-efficient

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:05 EST

California regulators adopted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards for televisions Wednesday in hopes of reducing electricity use at a time when millions of American households are switching to power-hungry, wide-view, flat-screen, high-definition sets.

The 5-0 vote by the California Energy Commission is just the latest effort by the state to secure its place in the forefront of the environmental movement.

California represents such a big consumer market that environmental groups hope the new standards will lead manufacturers to make energy-saving TVs for the rest of the nation, just as California's stringent fuel standards for cars and trucks forced automakers to produce more efficient models for all of the U.S.

"Once again, California is leading the way, and we hope others will follow," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The commission estimates that TVs account for about 10 percent of a home's electricity use. The fear is that energy use will rise as people buy bigger, more elaborate TVs, put more of them in their homes, and watch them longer.

Sony Ericsson closes NC, other sites as HQ moves

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:05 EST

Cell phone handset maker Sony Ericsson will move its North American headquarters from North Carolina to Atlanta and close a half-dozen sites worldwide as it retrenches against what it expects will be a tighter market and cuts about 1,600 jobs globally.

The joint venture between Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp. will consolidate product development operations by closing sites in Research Triangle Park; Seattle; Miami; San Diego; Kista, Sweden; and Chennai, India, spokeswoman Stacy Doster said.

The site closures are new elements of a plan announced in April to cut a worldwide staff of 10,000 by 20 percent, Doster said. About 400 jobs have been cut since then and about 1,600 remain to meet that goal by the middle of next year, she said.

The cost-cutting follows the loss of 2,000 jobs last year.

The 8-year-old company has about 425 workers left in Research Triangle Park after shedding hundreds of jobs in the past year. Operations include customer support, sales, finance and research and development.

Union ramps up efforts to organize T-Mobile

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:09 EST

Union officials in the United States are teaming up with their German counterparts in a bid to organize workers at wireless carrier T-Mobile USA.

Leaders at the Communications Workers of America said Wednesday that the new arrangement with German union ver.di will help show a "double standard" between how European companies treat workers in their home countries compared with the U.S.

T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom AG is known as a union-friendly model in Germany, where cooperation with unions is encouraged by labor laws. But CWA president Larry Cohen says T-Mobile USA has worked aggressively against union organizing since it entered the U.S. market nine years ago.

"We're tired of the two faces," Cohen said at a news conference announcing the joint union, to be called TUnion.

Cohen said the new "global union" would highlight the contrast between "the smiling face" that Deutsche Telekom presents to workers in Germany and "the club of intolerance" in the U.S.

Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:50 EST

You might call him the Mickey Mouse of video games. He's reminiscent of a doughnut, round and sweet and comforting. He's also a vessel, devoid of a real personality so you can live vicariously through him.

Mario, the pot-bellied Italian plumber with a penchant for rescuing princesses, collecting golden coins and gobbling magic mushrooms, has been around for nearly three decades. And even though he hasn't changed much, the latest game he stars in, the newly released "The New Super Mario Bros. Wii" ($50), is one of the holiday season's top titles.

Created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario is a recognizable character even to people who don't play video games. He pops up in Halloween costumes - blue overalls, red hat, gut and all - as does his brother Luigi. Mario has been in cartoons and movies (though some were best forgotten), and he graces oodles of official and unofficial Mario merchandise.

"I like him. I like him a lot. He has a cool mustache," says Colin Gaul, 9, from Portland, Ore. "He is awesome because he is brave and he's been on a lot of adventures. And his favorite color is red and mine is too."

Colin first played a Mario game when he was 5, on Nintendo Co.'s handheld Game Boy system. On the Wii, Colin has played "Super Paper Mario" and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," which features a cavalcade of Nintendo characters duking it out.

IBM signs $500M deal with UK agency

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:52 EST

IBM Corp. said Wednesday it signed a contract extension worth 300 million pounds ($500 million) with a British government agency that licenses drivers and registers their cars.

IBM said the deal extends an existing 10-year contract with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by another three years, until September 2015.

The contract covers projects such as upgrading the agency's computer systems and setting up the technical infrastructure for an electronic payments system for drivers to pay their car taxes.

IBM signs billions of dollars in services deals every month. Last quarter, the company, based in Armonk, N.Y., signed $11.8 billion in services contracts, including 13 greater than $100 million each.

Semtech to buy Sierra Monolithics for $180 million

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:39 EST

Semiconductor maker Semtech Corp. said Wednesday that it agreed to buy fellow chipmaker Sierra Monolithics Inc. for $180 million in cash.

Semtech said that it will pay Sierra shareholders $180 million when the deal closes. It will get $8 million worth of Sierra employees' existing unvested options and will grant employees equity incentives valued at up to $12 million.

Semtech, which is based in Camarillo, Calif., said it will pay for the acquisition with cash reserves and expects to book a related one-time tax charge of $33 million in the third quarter of 2010. Semtech expects the purchase to add to its earnings within a year of the deal's closing.

Sierra Monolithics, which makes chips for optical communications, microwave and wireless products, is based in Irvine, Calif. It has 110 employees. Semtech said Sierra stands to benefit from growing video traffic over the Internet, competition between cable operators and telecom carriers, cloud computing and wireless data services.

Sierra expects to report $50 million in revenue this year, and expects revenue to grow 20 percent to 30 percent next year. For the nine months ended Oct. 25, Semtech reported revenue of $201.5 million.

NetEase 3Q results miss estimates, shares fall

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:55 EST

Chinese online gaming company NetEase.com Inc. said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit rose on higher revenue from online games.

However, the results fell below analyst expectations, sending NetEase's American Depositary Shares tumbling $3.69, or 9.1 percent, to $37.10 in after-hours trading. They closed earlier down $1.25, or 3 percent, at $40.69.

NetEase said that revenue from online games rose to $113.6 million from $98.9 million last year, though advertising service revenue slipped to $12.6 million from $16.6 million.

The company saw a jump in operating expenses due to nationwide promotion activities for its games during the summer and for the relaunch of the hugely popular multiplayer fantasy game "World of Warcraft" in September. It also spent more on advertising and exhibitions to promote its portal business, and boosted research and development spending, all of which crimped profit margins.

For the quarter that ended Sept. 30, Beijing-based NetEase said its profit rose to 393.8 million yuan ($57.7 million) from 313.3 million yuan ($45.9 million) in the year-ago quarter. The company earned 44 cents per ADS, up from 35 cents per share in the year-ago period.