Hasta La Gadget!

Kodak has been offloading many of its signature businesses, and we’re seeing a another symbolic changing of the guard today: after deciding to quit digital cameras last year, the company is licensing rights to make Kodak-branded cameras to JK Imaging, a subsidiary of global supplier JA Capital Holdings. No, we’re not expecting those names to be immediately recognizable, although the Kodak-badged cameras, pocket camcorders and projectors that should result from the deal will be familiar enough. While it’s unfortunate that any future Kodak cameras won’t come straight from the original source, we won’t judge just yet — after all, similar deals have led to surprising new directions for some of Kodak’s competitors.

Continue reading Kodak licenses its name to JK Imaging for cameras and projectors

Filed under: Cameras

Comments

In many ways, VeriSign has been one of the internet’s true arbiters. It’s ICANN’s official registry operator for .com domains, which lets it determine how (and how much) we pay to get a particularly coveted address. As we’re learning, the US Department of Commerce is only comfortable with that state of affairs to a certain point. It just approved a deal renewal that will let VeriSign watch over .com between December 1st this year and November 30th, 2018, but it’s requiring that the company drop a previous right to hike registration prices as many as four times, at up to 7 percent, over the length of the term. The current $7.85 price will last unless VeriSign either faces exceptional circumstances or can prove that the market is healthy enough to lift the ceiling. We’re sure the business isn’t happy when the DOC move dictates how much money it can make, but compulsive domain hunters will enjoy the extra dollars in their pockets.

Continue reading Department of Commerce renews VeriSign control of .com registry, demands price freeze

Filed under: Internet

Comments

Source: The Next Web

Verizon used the prospect of selling lower-block 700MHz spectrum as a carrot to lure in the US government: it would share the wireless wealth only if it was cleared to buy cable company spectrum in the AWS bands. Now that the DOJ and FCC have greenlit the cable purchase, the carrier is living up to its end of the bargain. Verizon has just signed a related deal that sells B-block 700MHz access to Nortex Communications, a rural phone company operating northwest of Dallas. While it’s not Verizon first pact for the lower 700MHz space, it’s the first directly resulting from the carrier’s promises during the AWS frequency grab and shows the company being true to its word. We’re not expecting the Texas agreement to suddenly level the balance of power when Verizon wasn’t even using those airwaves for LTE; still, it’s good to know that the provider isn’t waiting around to give smaller competitors a break.

Continue reading Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum following the AWS handover, acts on its promise

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Verizon

Verizon signs first deal to sell lower 700MHz spectrum following the AWS handover, acts on its promise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

AT&T is close to securing a major victory in its battle against the spectrum crunch. While it’s not quite a done deal, FCC chairman Genachowski has submitted a proposed order to FCC commissioners that would authorize AT&T’s deployment of its LTE service within a 20MHz portion of the 2.3GHz (WCS) band. The deal is unique in that the spectrum is currently reserved for satellite radio, and the reallocation would mark the first of its kind within the WCS band. As you may recall, AT&T previously conceded to a 5MHz dead zone on both ends of Sirius XM’s operating frequency in order to mitigate interference concerns, and it seems the move was sufficient to gain the chairman’s support.

Also looming on the FCC’s to-do list is the decision of whether to approve AT&T’s purchase NextWave and its unused WCS spectrum. If it’s any indication, however, Chairman Genachowski seems bullish on the reallocation and has suggested that the agency may authorize another 30MHz of the WCS band for mobile broadband use. AT&T has previously said that it could feasibly deploy LTE over the 2.3GHz spectrum within the next three years. One group fighting the deal is the Competitive Carrier Association, which posits that AT&T’s purchase of such a significant chunk of spectrum on the secondary market is anti-competitive in nature. It’ll no doubt be interesting to see if the argument gains any traction with the FCC. In the meantime, you can view remarks from the agency’s spokesperson after the break.

Continue reading FCC chairman green-lights AT&T’s use of WCS spectrum for LTE with proposed order

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

FCC chairman green-lights AT&T’s use of WCS spectrum for LTE with proposed order originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC, GigaOM  | Email this | Comments

IBM is becoming serious about enterprise-grade computing in more ways than one. It just struck a deal to acquire Texas Memory Systems, best known these days for its extra-quick RamSan SSD cards. As you’d anticipate, that fast yet lean storage is the focus — IBM wants servers that aren’t limited by their drives, or which just use less power than old-fashioned spinning hard disks and tape machines. Neither side is talking about how much the deal is worth, but TMS’ product roster should stay on the market even as it’s folded into IBM’s Smarter Storage initiative. Expect that database at work to suddenly get faster sometime after the acquisition closes later this year.

Continue reading IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage

Filed under: Desktops, Storage

IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Reuters  | Email this | Comments