IN THE PAPERS
In the papers 27 March
27-03-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Comcast and BitTorrent in collaboration talks | AMD to release Phenom ahead of schedule
The Irish Times reports that two teenage Limerick brothers have shared in a multimillion-dollar payday following the sale of their fledgling software company, Auctomatic, to publicly-quoted Canadian firm Live Current Media. Read the full story on ENN.
The same paper reports on Motorola's plans to split into two companies next year amid pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn to break off the money-losing mobile-phone business that it pioneered 25 years ago. Read more on this story on ENN.
The Financial Times says that Nokia is increasingly confident of securing deals with the world's leading record companies ahead of launching its flagship music service for mobile phones later this year. In December, Nokia announced plans for its Comes With Music service, under which people will be able to buy mobiles giving them access to Universal Music's entire back catalogue for up to one year. Nokia is in talks with the other three leading record companies -- Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music -- plus about 10 independent music labels about giving people access to their catalogues.
According to the same paper the USD19 billion Clear Channel buy-out collapsed on Wednesday as the media group and private equity firms Bain Capital and Thomas H Lee filed suits accusing their banks of reneging on financing commitments. The banks, led by Citigroup, denied the allegations and said they had complied with terms set out in a commitment letter. The breakdown has thrown into question the future of Clear Channel, the largest US radio broadcaster, which agreed to go private in late 2006.
The Wall Street Journal says that cable provider Comcast and popular file-sharing company BitTorrent are in talks to collaborate on ways to run BitTorrent's technology more smoothly on Comcast's broadband network. The pair will also discuss ways to allow Comcast to transport video files more effectively over its own network in the future, said Tony Warner, Comcast's chief technology officer. BitTorrent plans to publish its findings in technology forums so that other application developers looking to work with Comcast can benefit. Comcast and BitTorrent have been at odds since the cable operator said it was delaying traffic from BitTorrent at peak times.
The same paper writes that AMD plans to introduce a high-end microprocessor for desktop computers on Thursday, a chip that had been expected in the second quarter of the year. The company hopes that the quicker introduction of its Phenom chip will help appease computer makers and investors frustrated by earlier delays in the arrival of its new "quad-core" chips for desktop and server computers. AMD's stock has lost 40 percent of its value in the past four months, reflecting the firm's own mistakes and stiffer competition from rival Intel.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 