DivX Inc, the company that owns the codec which made your early 2000s movie downloads look actually not too bad, is being acquired by Sonic Solutions, a content delivery company, for a reported $US300 million. Sonic’s been working in circular media like CDs and DVDs for years – they own the popular Roxio brand – but is now looking to the internet as the content delivery platform of the future. DivX, a current competitor of Sonic’s, has been helping deliver video content to internet users, legally and otherwise, for years.
The reports are swirling today that Radio Shack is “exploring strategic alternatives” for the company, the most intriguing of which is a possible merger with Best Buy. But what would that mean, exactly?
Al Franken can be a blowhard at times, but occasionally he’s the hero of the tale. Like when he rips apart Comcast CEO Brian Roberts over some contradictions in the arguments for the Comcast/NBC merger.
Segway is the UK’s problem now. Details are scarce, but the company has merged with a UK-based firm backed by Jimi Heselden, Chairman of Hesco Bastion and an investor in the independently owned Segway UK distributorship. Segway has also received funding to support future growth. [The Last Mile]
Recently, Dell’s been doing all the things that a major company does when getting ready to make a big acquisition, like building up cash reserves, selling bonds, and, well, talking about it, at least internally. The only question now is, what do they want? Is it a hardware company, maybe to break into the mobile space, or, as the WSJ boringly insinuates, a “data-storage and tech-services business.” [WSJ]
This one came through Friday afternoon after beer o’clock, but it looks like that Vodafone merger with Three here in Australia is going to go ahead, after the ACCC did the fatherly thing and gave the companies its blessing. So now the two companies want to finalise everything within the next two weeks.
Vodafone and Three held a conference call today to offer answers to questions about the new joint venture. The biggest thing you should know is that for the most part, a lot of the finer details are still yet to be worked out.
It has been in the works for months, but Verizon and Alltel have finally consummated their relationship—making Verizon the nation’s largest wireless carrier with nearly 83.7 million subscribers.
