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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Nortel taps two new deals, ups stake in old one
April 9, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNortel Networks Corp. has hit the pavement with some new networking. Of the people sort. The cable equipment maker has partnered on projects with Agilent Technologies and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and it changed its deal with Antec Corp. Nortel and Agilent plan to partner on a product that will make managing optical networks a little easier and more cost-effective, the two report.
Nokia lands $143.5 M Orange contract
April 9, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsFinnish telecom company Nokia Corp. just signed a $143.5 million, three-year deal with Orange SA to supply its unit, Orange Communications SA, with a 3G network for its mobile Internet services. Nokia is sole supplier. Nokia will supply its 3G mobility core network, including packet- and circuit-switched elements and WCDMA Radio Access Network.
RealNetworks talks streaming media deals
April 9, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsRealNetworks Inc. has picked up partners for a couple of key projects. The multimedia software maker teamed with nCUBE in a deal that lets nCUBE's n4 broadband streaming media solutions support RealVideo 8 and RealAudio 8. The deal targets DSL, cable modem network and broadband providers, and lets broadband providers simultaneously deliver streaming media to thousands of customers on a single n...
Filling the NorthPoint gap
April 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsIn an ideal world, it wouldn't take even a few days to get your DSL up and running, especially when the building's other tenants already have it. But several providers are touting their services, and offering relief to stranded Northpoint ex-customers, getting them connected in as few as three days. They say.
Techies.com says telecom jobs up
April 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsGo figure. In a time of mass layoffs in the telecom sectors, a Techies.com report released today says requests for telecom workers is up. The job-search site's Tech Skills Demand index compares the change in top 20 skills demanded in its more than 30,000 job openings by more than 2,000 employers between October 2000 and March 2001.
ANT browser to power Internet appliances
April 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsIn a deluge of announcements, ANT Ltd. has released its embedded browser software for Internet appliances, licensed it to a customer and will demonstrate the product in a variety of appliances at the Embedded Systems Conference West in San Francisco. The ANT Fresco browser includes HTML 4.01, JavaScript 1.
Mitel launches decoders for digital TV
April 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsOttawa-based Mitel Corp. released its MT312 and MT351 decoder chips, which, it reports, are designed to boost satellite and terrestrial digital TV performance. Both allow systems to detect and tune digital TV channels delivered by satellite and terrestrial links, and include the digital functionality needed for interactive services.
PlayLink/Triveni team on games with ads
April 5, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNewgold's PlayLink Corp. and Triveni Digital have teamed on delivering interactive games over a standard digital TV signal. Arguably an added benefit: The games can include advertisements. ATVEF-enabled digital TV set-top boxes already offer interaction with TV programs in certain areas, the company reports.
TiVo cuts 25 jobs in new plan
April 5, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTiVo will lay off 25 workers, reduce spending on noncritical IT costs by nearly 50 percent this year, and dramatically reduce customer-service support costs per subscriber as part of its new operating plan. The personal TV company reports strong growth in its subscriber base, however, and a new leveraged marketing plan with such partners as AOL and DirecTV.
Study: Consumers want ITV and will pay
April 5, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsA study commissioned by interactive technology companies shows consumers want ITV service and are willing to trade up to get it. The study was conducted by Palm Desert, Calif.-based Boyd Consulting at the behest of ACTV Inc., Liberty Livewire Corp., Motorola Inc., OpenTV and Universal Electronics Inc.
Agilent cuts employee pay 10%
April 5, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsDeparting from the industry's well-publicized layoffs, Agilent Technologies opted for a 10-percent reduction in its 48,000-member, global workforce's pay. The cuts stem from a slower-than-expected second quarter and prompted a nearly 8.1-percent fall in Agilent's shares in Germany. Pay cuts started April 1 for the company's senior managers and will begin May 1 for everyone else, Agilent reports.
AirFiber technology lands $50 M in funding
April 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsAnother one. San Diego-based AirFiber Inc. just won $50 million in its third round of financing. The funds will go to operations, and continued product development, sales and marketing, said Geoff Mordock, who manages AirFiber's PR. AirFiber's equipment connects buildings within a 200- to 500-meter range with a "tremendous" amount of broadband service via equipment that shoots lasers between tw...
Cable Center offering to fund education
April 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThis tech stock's a whopping $100 a share. Don't even try to trade it or accumulate it, and don't count on any voting rights. And as to profits? Don't even go there. Still intrigued? What you will get with shares in Denver-based Cable Center's Third Millennium Fund is a per-share shot at helping to raise funds for the nonprofit's educational and research programs, and their documentation.
Rockwell cancels, but not with contractor
April 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTalk about out of the loop. Rockwell International Corp. halted investments in the In-Flight Networks joint venture, but no one gave contractor Datron Systems Inc. a heads up. The developer and builder of antenna systems for the project heard the news when it was released yesterday. And as of this morning, Vista, Calif.
Lucent: Bankruptcy rumors 'irresponsible'
April 4, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsA harassed Lucent Technologies Inc. yesterday stated it was not filing for bankruptcy, regardless of rumors it called "baseless and irresponsible." The company also announced it was restructuring a $425 million loan agreement with TeleCorp PCS Inc. that extends Lucent's time commitment. "Let me be very clear — our $6.
