A new feature wherein All Things Digital looks at up-and-coming and innovative start-ups you should know about.
This week: We caught up with Sam Blackman, CEO of Elemental Technologies at the San Francisco NewTeeVee Live conference. Elemental Technologies hopes to become a major player in the future of online and over-the-air video through its high-performance encoding technology.
by Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
As Sony Corp. scrambles to reassert its technological relevance, Chief Executive Howard Stringer is betting on a strategy for the electronics giant that focuses on adding online content to more of its gadgets.
Speaking at the first joint public appearance by Sony’s new management team since a shake-up in February, Mr. Stringer said the Japanese giant is “moving faster than we’ve ever moved” to meet parallel challenges.
by Lorraine Luk, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, is pinning its hopes on new third-generation services such as mobile television and mobile readers to drive growth amid increasing competition and falling voice revenue.
Scientists at IBM’s Almaden research center have built the biggest artificial brain ever–a cell-by-cell simulation of the human visual cortex: 1.6 billion virtual neurons connected by 9 trillion synapses.
by Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Dell’s fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 54 percent to $337 million, while revenue declined 15 percent to $12.9 billion.
The personal-computer maker saw revenue in its small and medium business unit slip 19 percent from the year-earlier period, while its consumer business was down 10 percent. In a statement, Michael Dell, its chief executive, said that the launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 has been “very well received” by consumers and businesses, and that the company will see those results more in the fourth quarter.
by Eric Savitz, Columnist, Barron's, Tech Trader Daily
Bank of America/Merrill Lynch chip analyst Sumit Dhanda this morning turned cautious on semiconductor stocks, downgrading a slew of stocks; his colleague Daniel Heyler made a comparable on the foundries, lower ratings on a number of stocks.
“We are downgrading our view on the sector given unfavorable indications from our cyclical framework,” he writes.
by Rebecca Smith, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
California created the nation’s first energy-efficiency standard for television sets, arguing that it needed to act because federal energy officials have been slow to confront the issue.
Under the standard adopted Wednesday by the California Energy Commission, no TV with a screen size less than 58 inches may be sold in the state after 2011 unless it meets limits on energy consumption.
Two high-profile electronic-book readers seeking to challenge Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle could be scarce under the Christmas tree.
Sony Corp. Wednesday said orders for its new Daily Edition Reader–which the company said in August would arrive in time for the holidays–are now expected to ship Dec. 18 through Jan. 8. It added that the actual delivery date can’t be guaranteed.
by Scott Austin, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
I remember my brother showing off a new device in the late 1990s that let him navigate the Internet on the television. Back then, there were no dogs riding skateboards on YouTube or NBC dramas on Hulu, but the technology from WebTV appeared to be a breakthrough in the convergence of the two mediums.
by Jerry A. Dicolo, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Solar panel makers, taking cues from industrial products like Trane air-conditioners and Andersen windows, are racing to roll-out networks of installers across the U.S. and internationally as they try to establish their brands in the residential market.
Inside a nondescript warehouse on a nondescript street of this Seattle suburb is a research laboratory that looks like it came out of a James Bond movie–had Q the gadget master been a gastronome.
by Conor Dougherty, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
While Tony Hawk has been a skateboarding legend since the 1980s, today there is a generation of kids who know him for his eponymous videogames.
Starting with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999, the Tony Hawk series has spawned more than 10 titles–among the more successful gaming franchises, and popular among skateboarders who play videogames as well as gamers who have never stepped on a board.
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