AMD Chief Meyer Is Forced Out

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. forced out Chief Executive Dirk Meyer, just as the long-struggling chip maker appeared to be gaining momentum in its turnaround.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company said Monday that Mr. Meyer had resigned. But people familiar with the situation said the move reflected pressure from the company's board, which concluded that he was not moving quickly enough to improve AMD's position in markets such as server systems and tablet computers.
"The board feels we've got opportunities for significant growth and superior financial returns, and a change in leadership can accelerate the ability to accomplish those goals," said Drew Praire, an AMD spokesman. "We're marching in the right direction, but the issue was just with the pace and finding ways to accelerate the pace."
The company named Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seifert, 47 years old, as interim CEO while the company searches for a successor. Mr. Seifert, who will maintain his current responsibilities during the search, has asked not to be considered for the permanent role, the company said.
Mr. Meyer's departure stunned industry analysts, coming immediately after his appearance at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, where he launched a major new product line based on an effort called Fusion that combines microprocessor and graphics circuitry. Besides appearing at a press event, Mr. Meyer hosted a party that featured talk-show host Joel McHale.
Mr. Meyer, 49, could not be reached for comment. "My 15 years at AMD have included some amazing high points," he said in a statement provided by the company. "I wish the company well as AMD focuses successfully on the road ahead.

AT&T faces tough year after losing iPhone exclusive

Only 10 days into 2011 and it is already shaping up to be AT&T's toughest year since its 2004 formation as it is set to lose the exclusive U.S. rights to sell Apple Inc's iPhone.

Despite AT&T's promise to launch 20 new advanced phones, all eyes are on its arch rival: Verizon Wireless, the top U.S. mobile service, is expected to announce on Tuesday a plan to start selling a version of the iPhone in the next few weeks.

Investors in AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service, dumped the stock on Monday, pushing it down 1.8 percent ahead of Verizon Wireless' expected announcement, which would end AT&T's 3-plus years of strong growth driven by iPhone sales.

"I think AT&T is going to get demolished," said Gleacher & Co analyst Brian Marshall, who covers Apple.

Many analysts expect AT&T to lose contract customers this quarter without a powerful, unique incentive to lure subscribers. The operator also suffers from a perception that its wireless network is ill-equipped to handle iPhone users' heavy data usage.

A quarterly subscriber loss would be AT&T's first since it was formed in 2004 through the merger of AT&T Wireless into Cingular Wireless. It could lose up to 3.5 million customers this year by some measures.

News Corp to launch digital newspaper Jan. 19

News Corp's will launch its long anticipated digital newspaper for tablet devices on Jan. 19 at a joint news event attended by Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs, according to a person with knowledge of the plan.

News Corp, which generates almost 30 percent of its first quarter revenue annually from publishing, is a making a big bet that starting a newspaper from scratch that is dedicated to tablet devices could help revive the news business.

News Corp said the digital newspaper, known as the Daily, will deliver original coverage of news, the arts, lifestyle, sports and opinion .

The Daily's launch will initially be for the iPad, on a paid subscription basis, News Corp disclosed in a court filing in December.

In early December News Corp asked a judge to bar IMG Worldwide from laying claim to trademark ownership of the Daily name.

Murdoch and Jobs will appear together at an event at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, but the date is subject to change.

Yahoo's the Cutline blog, Forbes.com and All Things D reported earlier details of the plan.

Apple is set to report earnings on Jan. 18.

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Supermassive black hole 'discovered' in dwarf galaxy

Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole in a nearby dwarf galaxy which they claim will shed light on how black holes and galaxies may have grown in the early history of the universe.

A team in the US says that finding a black hole a million times more massive than the sun in a star-forming dwarf galaxy is a strong indication that supermassive black holes formed before the buildup of galaxies.
The galaxy, called Henize 2-10, 30 million light years from Earth, has been studied for years, and is forming stars very rapidly, the 'Nature' reported.

"This galaxy gives us important clues about a very early phase of galaxy evolution that has not been observed before," said lead astronomer Amy Reines of the University of Virginia.

Reines added: "Now, we have found a dwarf galaxy with no bulge at all, yet it has a supermassive black hole. This greatly strengthens the case for the black holes developing first, before the galaxy's bulge is formed."

The scientists, in fact, found a region near the center of the galaxy that strongly emits radio waves with characteristics of those emitted by superfast "jets" of material spewed outward from areas close to a black hole.

Internet-connected television sets create buzz

The blending of television and the Internet is inevitable. But will it happen in concert with the major cable and satellite distributors, or in spite of them? That question loomed large at the Consumer Electronics Show last week as manufacturers promoted Internet-connected television sets and companies like Cisco and Sony talked about “redefining television.” All involved know that connecting the Internet to television and vice versa could solidify the distributors’ place in the food chain — or greatly erode it.

“We want to use all this technology to make a better consumer experience,” Glenn Britt, chief executive of Time Warner Cable, said in an interview after speaking on stage here. A better experience, it stands to reason, will help Time Warner Cable and other cable companies retain customers, protecting the lucrative subscription TV business from the prospect of cord-cutting. It will also help manufacturers sell more hardware for the living room. During the trade show, however, there was a point in every demonstration where fantasy collided with reality — and it was usually when the cable and satellite distributors came up.

“The idea here is to work with cable,” said Google’s Rishi Chandra as he showed off Google TV to Julius Genachowski, the Federal Communications Commission chairman, on Friday afternoon. When working together, Google TV can seamlessly find live television channels, recorded shows, on-demand options and Web streams. So far, though, it works that way only with Dish Network. “Right now,” Mr Chandra said, “we’re limited.” After seeing television setups at the show, Mr Genachowski said: “They’re incentivising the cable companies to innovate.”

At the show, media and technology executives largely agreed with that sentiment. And signs of innovation were evident: Time Warner Cable, one of the biggest cable operators, announced that it would start delivering programming via its network straight into some Sony and Samsung television sets, removing the need for a set-top cable television box.

Microsoft shake-up continues, server unit head exits

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has ousted the head of Microsoft Corp's third-largest unit, marking the latest in a series of high-level departures as the software company tries to regain its leadership in the technology sector.

Overtaken by Apple Inc as the world's most valuable tech company last year and stung by a stagnant stock price for the last decade, Microsoft has been shaking up its top leadership for several years.

In the last 15 months alone, the company has lost chief software architect Ray Ozzie, office unit head Stephen Elop, entertainment and devices unit head Robbie Bach and Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell.

Of the leaders of its five business divisions, only online chief Qi Lu has the same role he did two years ago.

The latest to leave is Bob Muglia , a 23-year veteran of the company. Muglia, who will stay on until this summer to help his eventual replacement settle in, runs Microsoft's $15 billion a year Server and Tools business, which sells server and database software to companies.

An internal memo from Ballmer indicates Muglia was pushed aside in a disagreement over strategy.

"Bob Muglia and I have been talking about the overall business and what is needed to accelerate our growth," Ballmer wrote in the memo, which was made public. "In this context, I have decided that now is the time to put new leadership in place for STB (the server and tools business)."

BlackBerry tablet will be a winner: Market analysts

With its monopoly in the business handset market under onslaught from Google's Android devices and Apple's iPhone , BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) is now shifted its focus entirely to its tablet Playbook.

In the projected 55-million tablet market this year with iPad in the clear lead, RIM is trying "everything right first time'' before it launches the tablet in March, according to market analysts.

Accordingly, at the just concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the top Canadian technology company went out its way to show how PlayBook stacks against the pack of tablets - many yet to be unveiled.

Through hands-on demonstrations, RIM took pot shots at rivals by showing how PlayBook will be unbeatable in terms of the multitasking capabilities and versatility of its Web browser vis-a-vis Apple and Android tablets.

The demonstrations tried to highlight how PlayBook browser is built on open Web standards and thus supports Flash which Apple's iPad does not, and how PlayBook is capable of simultaneously running Flash browsing, desktop applications, 1080p video games, mobile desktop, 3D games and apps.