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Businesses

Submission + - Japanese Telco Near Deal To Purchase 75% Stake in Sprint (nytimes.com)

Submitted by milbournosphere
milbournosphere writes: Sprint has confirmed that it is in talks with the Japanese Telco Softbank to sell off a reported 75% stake in the company. If the deal goes through it could add substantial monetary backing to Sprint's US business, and add the Japanese company an entry into the US market. From the article:

Buying Sprint would give Softbank an entry into the American market, one of the largest and most profitable in the world. The Japanese company has steadily surpassed rivals in its home country, in large part through acquisitions. Earlier this month, it agreed to buy a smaller competitor, eAccess, to become the second-biggest service provider in Japan.

Sprint's stock is currently up around 17% on the news.
Games

Submission + - How Nintendo made the Wii U a small, efficient games console (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Nintendo's latest "Iwata Asks" session focuses on the Wii U hardware and some of the challenges faced when designing the new machine. What we learn from this discussion is the main objectives Nintendo set out to achieve with the Wii U hardware. They were:

- A console focused on HD content and output
- Very low power use
- As small a console as possible
- Backwards compatibility

And the key to achieving those goals? A multi core processor with integrated GPU from a collaboration between IBM, AMD, and Renesas.

Comment It's official... (Score 1) 295

by milbournosphere (#41608269) Attached to: Steve Ballmer: We're a Devices and Services Company
Microsoft has gone full Apple. I'm curious to see whether this will end up taking an Android like approach, with Microsoft producing 'flagship' devices for 3rd parties to aspire to, resulting in wide price ranges, or if they'll end up catering to and designing for their own (expensively priced) hardware only (ala Apple). The latter could be very bad for Microsoft's bottom line (all those licensing fees) in the immediate future; stockholders would have to prepare for quite the rollercoaster...

Comment Funding not included, (Legislative) Assembly Rqd. (Score 1) 201

by milbournosphere (#41494503) Attached to: Brown Signs California Bill For Free Textbooks

Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall become operative only if funding for the purposes of this act is provided in an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, or through federal or private funds, or through a combination of state, federal, and private funds.

Well, I had my hopes up for a second, anyway.

Comment ala Google Backpacks program? (Score 2) 66

by milbournosphere (#41464753) Attached to: Google Captures 'Street View' of Underwater Habitats
I think this is really cool. As a certified diver, I think it'd be a blast to help streetview-ify my local dive spots. Many locals have never even gone snorkeling in the local coves and beaches, much less diving in them; it could really help raise awareness of just how cool and awesome our local ecosystems are. Most people are amazed when they visit the local Scripps Aquarium and see just how much diversity is sitting just off of our coast in 60ft of water.

Comment Re:Am I the only one reacting to the fact that... (Score 1) 180

by milbournosphere (#41291161) Attached to: App Developer Says Stolen UDIDs Came From Them, Not FBI
Read, my friend:

Blue Toad is a little-known privately held company, but its technology touches millions of users around the world. It provides private-label digital edition and app-building services to 6,000 different publishers, and serves 100 million page views each month, DeHart said.

Comment Re:Huge misunderstanding (Score 1) 274

by milbournosphere (#41248477) Attached to: EA Exec Won't Green Light Any Single Player-Only Games
It's an RPG. I loved the Mass Effect series, and still have characters from earlier play-throughs that I plan to get to eventually. I did as many side missions as I could find, and was able to get to to the threshold needed to unlock the best ending. It wasn't easy, but they did manage to make it not feel like grinding...I wouldn't call it 'ocd', I'd just call it getting my money's worth. :)

Comment Such a Shame (Score 4, Insightful) 274

by milbournosphere (#41240543) Attached to: EA Exec Won't Green Light Any Single Player-Only Games
They've bought their fair share of studios that were previously oriented around a great single-player experience, and have proceeded to suck the life force out of many of them. Bioware is one such studio that comes to mind. After seeing what they did to Dragon Age II and Mass Effect 3, it's likely I won't buy another EA game again for a long while. It's really sad seeing these once-great studios killed by the plague that is EA Games.

Comment Re:Mark of a shitty instructor (Score 1) 400

by milbournosphere (#41223641) Attached to: With 'Access Codes,' Textbook Pricing More Complicated Than Ever
That's not necessarily true. My GF is in the midst of getting her Mathematics PhD and is teaching some algebra/pre-calc courses this semester. They're making her use the asinine digital solutions for homework, and it's causing her (and her students) nothing but headaches. She'd love nothing more than to use old-school pencil and paper, but her hands are tied by her department head.

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