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Skinny Bastard
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#11

Post by Skinny Bastard »

good to know someone is reading this...
Here are a few for today: No link for this one from the WSJ

Sony Apologizes for Battery Recall

Executives Seek to Stem Overheating Concerns Before the Holiday Season

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE, October 25, 2006; Page B2

TOKYO -- Two months after a defect in Sony Corp.'s laptop batteries sparked mass recalls world-wide, company executives gave a detailed explanation yesterday of what went wrong, in an effort to put the issue behind them before the all-important holiday season.

In August, Dell Inc. announced plans to recall Sony laptop batteries because of worries they could overheat and catch fire. Since then, almost every major computer maker has made similar recalls, putting the total number of batteries involved at more than nine million.

Sony, the world's second-largest maker of lithium-ion batteries after Sanyo Electric Co., said it first became aware of a problem with its batteries in Dell computers about a year ago, but it thought the issue was tackled soon afterward. It realized that the number of batteries affected was much larger than it first thought only after Dell and Apple Computer Inc. reported problems earlier this year.


Sony's corporate executive officer, Yutaka Nakagawa, center, and corporate executives Makoto Kogure, left, and Naofumi Hara, right, bow during a news conference yesterday in Tokyo.

The issue enveloped Sony and hurt its brand image just as the Japanese company had begun turning around its consumer-electronics business. In September, Sony initiated a global replacement program for its lithium-ion batteries used in laptop computers. Last week it said the recall will cut its July-September quarterly earnings by about $430 million when it reports results tomorrow.

Until yesterday, company executives hadn't provided a full explanation of the battery problem, which spawned concerns about whether there was an overall decline in Sony's manufacturing capabilities.

"We would like to apologize for the worry that we've caused," said Yutaka Nakagawa, Sony's corporate executive officer, as he bowed slightly. "I take the matter seriously and I want to complete the battery-replacement program as quickly as possible to wipe away concerns." Mr. Nakagawa said the battery problem was an isolated incident, and he stood by Sony's overall quality of manufacturing.

Sony stopped short of offering comment from its top executives, Chief Executive Howard Stringer or President Ryoji Chubachi. The company said no executive would resign over the recall.

While apologizing, Sony maintained that lithium-ion batteries overheat and catch fire in rare instances that depend on how they are set up for recharging. The battery is typically charged via the computer, which is connected to an electrical cord.

Sony didn't explain why it was the only battery maker with problems.

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Skinny Bastard
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#12

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AMD announced Wednesday that it completed the takeover of Canadian graphic chip-maker ATI Technologies in a cash-stock deal worth about $5.4 billion. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Associated Press

Oracle will offer "full support" for Red Hat's Linux distribution to both Oracle and non-Oracle customers, Larry Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., said Wednesday. Ellison, who was widely expected to announce an Oracle-branded version of Linux, showed video clips of support from the heads of its partners - including Dell, AMD, EMC, HP and Intel ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ during his announcement. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ InfoWorld

Fujitsu reported a 10 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Thursday, beating market estimates, boosted by its overseas services business and better sales of mobile phone stations and hard disk drives. The company, which aims to become one of the world's top three makers of hard disk drives, has been aggressively cutting production costs on its drives. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Reuters

Acer has changed its target for overtaking Lenovo and becoming the world¢¢¬¢ž¢s No.3 PC maker by 2007 instead of 2008. Lenovo currently has 7.8 percent of the market and Acer 6 percent, but Acer grew 34.3 percent this quarter compared to Lenovo¢¢¬¢ž¢s 10 percent. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ InfoWorld

Nanya Technology Corp., Taiwan's second-biggest memory-chip maker, said third-quarter profit more than doubled, as demand from makers of personal computers including Dell pushed up prices. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Bloomberg

Researchers at IBM's Zurich labs have developed a "chip cap" filled with a network of channels that can help capture the heat generated by microprocessors and other semiconductors and transport it elsewhere. So far, the researchers have demonstrated how the cap can help spread thermal grease (a particle-filled substance that conducts heat from the chip) to another component. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ CNET

"You've got questions, we've got answers," has been a guiding statement for RadioShack since the 1990s. However, radio silence from RadioShack is frustrating Wall Street, which wants answers from the electronics company that has seen executive shake-ups, poor sales and a public relations nightmare involving the firing of employees via e-mail during the past year. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Associated Press

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WAY
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#13

Post by WAY »

Damn stalker, I was gonna post most of those yesterday.. lol

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Skinny Bastard
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#14

Post by Skinny Bastard »

QUOTE(WAI @ Oct 27 2006, 01:44 AM) Damn Mr. SM, I was gonna post most of those yesterday.. lol

I know... I was watching you ....
...from outside...

...

hello.... I'm a stalker.....

...

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Skinny Bastard
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#15

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Red Hat Inc. lost nearly a quarter of its market capitalization on Thursday after Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison said his company will offer bug fixes, maintenance and support at a sharp discount to businesses that use Red Hat's version of Linux, raising the specter that Red Hat could lose substantial market share. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Reuters

Sun Microsystems Inc., the world's third-largest maker of server computers, reported a narrower first-quarter loss as demand increased for services and updated products. The net loss shrank to $56 million, or 2 cents a share, from a loss of $123 million, or 4 cents, a year earlier, Santa Clara, California-based Sun said today in a statement. Sales jumped 17 percent to $3.19 billion. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Bloomberg

Mobile operator Orange is bringing faster wireless data access to notebook owners with a new 3G modem card that fits in an ExpressCard slot. Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Fujitsu-Siemens are among those that have announced or started selling notebooks with built-in 3G capabilities. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ InfoWorld

China's labs may soon rival its powerhouse factories. Led by President Hu Jintao, the Chinese government is exhorting companies to transform China by focusing on the lab as well as the factory. Companies, both foreign and domestic, are taking up the challenge. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ BusinessWeek

EMC announced upgrades to nearly all of its product lines, new software applications, and is claiming up to 70 percent more power efficiency than its competitors. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ InfoWorld

A team of business students from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University took top honors at the fifth annual Dell-Microsoft Marketing Case Competition, a commitment to diversity, education and professional development of Hispanic talent. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ Sys-Con Media

Spanish start-up FON is giving away Wi-Fi routers loaded with software that allows broadband subscribers to share their Internet connections with Wi-Fi users throughout their communities. ¢¢¬¢‚¬Å“ CNET (This is cool - IMHO)

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#16

Post by AYHJA »

Heh...Sony and their battery issues...heh...Good luck to those that are planning invest 6 notes into a PS3...I'll wait till the shit is done being tossed from the proverbial fan first...

Go Acer... /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> I'm am glad to help contribute to that bottom line anyday...Love my new PC...

Interesting too, how the AMD acq. of ATI will go....Damn, I went from AMD/ATI to Intel/nVidia just like that, and probably not going back, lol...
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emanon
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#17

Post by emanon »

Vista changes lock out antivirus makers

By Ryan Russell

Microsoft is making statements claiming it's going to let security vendors such as Symantec and McAfee have access to the Vista kernel. I don't believe it.

Some people say that Microsoft is merely trying to protect the kernel and that Symantec and McAfee are afraid of fair competition. After Microsoft announced its new Vista security APIs, similar voices argued that allowing third-party security vendors to make effective products would also let in the bad guys.

Read on, and I'll explain why I don't think these arguments hold water.

MS OneCare halts flow of antivirus info

By Woody Leonhard

When Microsoft announced it was entering the antivirus biz, the usual nattering nabobs of negativism moaned and groaned about unfair competition and unlevel playing fields.

But several recent events seem to confirm the worst: Microsoft may well be using its desktop monopoly to trump its AV competitors.

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#18

Post by WAY »

Bring out the 'suits..!

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