recession
Business
Microsoft May Lay Off 5,000 More Employees
8:23AM Jason Chen | This follows up their 1,400 count layoff in January, which were its first ever. Maybe it can use some of that $US11 million in stimulus money to build a bridge so the poor people who got laid off can live under it. [Seattle Times] More »
Software
Google to Save Money by Getting Product Ideas From Users, Not Paying Them
1:30AM Adam Frucci | Google has figured out that it can save money by getting product ideas from users rather than engineers. After all, you can’t pay engineers in “shout outs” on their blogs like their offering for users. More »
Gadgets
Financiapocalypse Kneecaps Christmas Gadget Sales
10:36PM John Herrman | Analysts knew it would be bad, but not this bad. Retail sales this year are down 5.5% in November and 8% in December overall, but electronics specifically fell by an astounding 27%. More »
Regulars
Caption Contest: Recession Laptop
7:00AM Jesus Diaz | “All set. Now, only 23 more payments and this beauty will be all mine.” [Midget Quest -- Thanks B.B.] More »
GPS
Dash To Can Its Hardware Biz, Licence Its Web-Connected Nav OS To Other Devices
3:57AM John Mahoney | We’ve always been fans of the Dash Express, with its real-time web-delivered traffic monitoring and its constantly evolving app platform. Somewhat sad news today is that Dash Navigation will be pulling out of the consumer hardware business entirely and cutting 50 jobs (two-thirds of its work force)–enabling them to move toward licensing their innovative software platform to other GPS nav makers, as well as to mobile phones and MID platforms in the future. But in a lot of ways, the move makes perfect sense. More »
Vehicles
Tesla Motors Gets a $US40m Cash Recharge, Probably Won’t Disappear
7:42PM John Herrman | Fresh off a pretty huge round of layoffs, their Detroit office closure and a flurry of rumours about their solvency, Tesla Motors has been promised $US40m in financing. Considering the fact that Elon Musk, mildly successful space invader and the owner of the company, had admitted just a few weeks ago that the company only had about $US9m in bank, this new investment probably means the difference between customers getting their cars on time and Tesla, well, dissolving. So, Tesla, you’ve got your money — can we have our sedan, please? [NYT] More »
Press
