Texas Instruments cuts 1,700 jobs, winds down tablet chips

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Texas Instruments is eliminating 1,700 jobs, as it winds down its mobile processor business to focus on chips for more profitable markets like cars and home appliances.

Texas Instruments said in September it would halt costly investments in the increasingly competitive smartphone and tablet chip business, leading Wall Street to speculate that part of the company’s processor unit, called OMAP, could be sold.

The layoffs are equivalent to nearly 5 percent of the Austin, Texas-based company’s global workforce.

“A sale would have been better than a restructuring but a restructuring is certainly better than nothing,” Sanford Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said.

TI has been under pressure in mobile processors, where it has lost ground to rival Qualcomm Inc. Leading smartphone makers Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have been developing their own chips instead of buying them from suppliers like TI.

Instead of competing in phones and tablets, TI wants to sell its OMAP processors in markets that require less investment, like industrial clients like carmakers.

TI is expected to continue selling existing tablet and phone processors for products like Amazon.Com Inc‘s Kindle tablets for as long as demand remains, but stop developing new chips.

“This year, the Kindle runs on the OMAP 4 and next year’s Kindle is slated, we believe, for OMAP 5. We believe that program is well along to completion and do not expect that the termination of OMAP will disrupt those plans,” said Longbow Research analyst JoAnne Feeney.

Amazon had reportedly been in talks to buy the mobile part of OMAP.

TI said it expects to take charges of about $ 325 million related to the job cuts and other cost reduction measures, most of which will be accounted for in the current quarter. Its previously announced financial targets for the fourth quarter do not include these costs, TI said.

The company, which has 35,000 employees around the world, expects annualized savings of about $ 450 million by the end of 2013 from the action.

TI shares rose to $ 29 in after-hours trading after closing at $ 28.76, down 2 percent on Nasdaq.

(Reporting By Sinead Carew in New York and Noel Randewich in San Francisco; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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House of Cards Trailer

It's a brave new world out there, and Netflix is leading the digital content revolution with House of Cards, the first original series from acclaimed director David Fincher (The Social Network, Seven, Panic Room, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).

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The new series (which will only be available on Netflix) stars Kevin Spacey as the ruthless and cunning Congressman Francis Underwood, who, along with his equally driven wife Claire (played by Robin Wright) will stop at nothing to conquer everything.

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Adapted from a British miniseries of the same name, House of Cards, is a biting and beautifully shot political drama that digs deep into the "shadowy world of greed, sex, and corruption in modern D.C.," according to the provider. Now, the first trailer has premiered, and like the series, it's only available to Netflix subscribers. But considering Cards looks aces and new installments of Arrested Development will also bow in 2013, I can't imagine anyone who won't be a member by 2013.

Click here to watch the trailer!

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Deadly Williamsburg hit and run

A woman is fighting for her life and another is dead after a hit and run accident in Williamsburg this morning, authorities said.

The accident happened on Borniquen Place near South 1st Street around 5:10 a.m. when a car came hit the two people and kept going, the FDNY and police said.

At least one of the victims was pinned under the car, officials said.

A man, still unidentified, died at the scene. The other victim was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital where she is in critical condition, said a spokesman for the FDNY.

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Steve Wozniak, Chris Hughes share tales with Coconut Grove audience

Co-founders from two of Silicon Valley’s most innovative companies gave a South Florida audience a glimpse into the early days of developing the technology that would reshape the world.

Steve Wozniak, of Apple, and Chris Hughes, of Facebook, were back-to-back speakers for the three-day Americas Business Council’s Continuity Forum that wrapped up Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton in Coconut Grove.

The conference brought together innovators, activists, and thought leaders in entrepreneurship and philanthropy and also showcased 32 emerging social entrepreneurial ventures from around the Americas.

On Wednesday afternoon, both men relayed plenty of stories.

As a teenager, Wozniak used to hole up in his bedroom on the weekends, designing a computer on paper.

And he made a game of it — every weekend he would try to make a machine that would work just as well or better but cost a little less than the last design.

That engineering mentality to build things more efficiently as well as the desire to learn never left him, he told the audience. “I would buy my college books on a Friday and be halfway through before the first class on Monday.”

Then he met Steve Jobs, and began working with him on a variety of projects. “Steve Jobs was a hippie with no money. I was an engineer with no money. We had to think creatively. I designed projects for fun, and he would figure out how to make money,” Wozniak recalled as he told how he invented the Apple I and Apple II that started it all and the company’s ups and downs through the years. He called the iPhone the greatest product ever.

As one of the Facebook co-founders that lived in the famous Harvard dorm room, Chris Hughes said the movie The Social Network got a lot of things wrong.

“Our dorm wasn’t like a luxury condo, there was no sex in the bathroom, as far as I know. An alcohol-fueled hackathon, while it looked like a lot of fun, didn’t happen.”

Hughes told the real story of Facebook and described his roommate Mark Zuckerberg as “highly analytical and very skeptical of conventional wisdom.” What the movie did get right, Hughes told the crowd: “Facebook is the defining example of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the 21st century.” And at the core: “There’s a new universal respect for the entrepreneur.”

Hughes, now owner and publisher of The New Republic, also talked about his current passion: How to use mobile and social technologies to support serious long-form journalism into the 21st century.

“Conventional wisdom says this kind of journalism isn’t sustainable. Cynics say the golden age of journalism has past,” said Hughes.

Yet, over the past six months Hughes said it is the long, in-depth New Republic stories that have gone viral.

“Folks are reading just as much news today, if not more. ... We have an opportunity to deliver it across a limitless number of devices. [These trends] all come together to suggest … we are entering a true golden age of journalism.”

Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter at @ndahlberg.

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Police: 1 dead, 2 wounded in car shot up in Miami

One man was killed and two wounded in a shooting in Miami that left a car pocked with bullet holes.

Miami police responded to a call reporting shots fired at about 11:50 p.m. Monday at the corner of Northwest 11th Place and 43rd Street where they found a Nissan Altima with three young males inside.

The car was “shot up numerous times,” said Officer Kenia Reyes, Miami police spokeswoman.

One of the victims died on the scene and the others were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Unit. The second victim is listed in stable condition and the third was treated and released.

Several blocks away at Northwest 15th Avenue and 44th Street, police canvassed the area where they discovered gunshot casings. It’s not known yet if the incidents are related.

Reyes said the names of the victims are being withheld until the next of kin is notified.

Police have no suspects or motives so far and are asking anyone with information to call 305-471-TIPS (8477).

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Microsoft and Google financials could surface at trial

(Reuters) – Microsoft and Google‘s Motorola Mobility unit squared off on Tuesday at a trial with strategic implications for the smartphone patent wars and which could reveal financial information the two companies usually keep under wraps.

The proceeding in a Seattle federal court will determine how much of a royalty Microsoft Corp should pay Google Inc for a license to some of Motorola‘s patents. Google bought Motorola for $ 12.5 billion, partly for its library of communications patents.

If U.S. District Judge James Robart decides Google deserves only a small royalty, then its Motorola patents would be a weaker bargaining chip for Google to negotiate licensing deals with rivals.

Apple Inc and Microsoft have been litigating in courts around the world against Google and partners like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which use the Android operating system on their mobile devices.

Apple contends that Android is basically a copy of its iOS smartphone software, and Microsoft holds patents that it contends cover a number of Android features.

Motorola had sought up to $ 4 billion a year for its wireless and video patents, while Microsoft argues its rival deserves just over $ 1 million a year. A federal judge in Wisconsin last week threw out a similar case brought by Apple against Google just before trial.

In court on Tuesday Microsoft called Jon DeVaan, a veteran software manager in the Windows division, as its first witness. He said Motorola‘s wireless and video patents at issue covered only a small part of the overall Windows architecture.

During the run-up to trial in Seattle, both Microsoft and Google asked Robart to keep secret a range of financial details about the two companies, including licensing deals and sales revenue projections. Google requested that Robart clear the courtroom when witnesses discuss those details.

However, in an order on Monday, Robart rejected that request. The public will not be able to view the documents describing patent deals or company sales during trial, Robart ruled, but testimony will be in open court.

“If a witness discloses pertinent terms, rates or payments, such information will necessarily be made public,” the judge wrote.

Additionally, any documents the judge relies on for his final opinion will be disclosed, Robart wrote on Monday.

Before trial began on Tuesday, Robart said in court that he wanted to take the most “expansive” interpretation of the public’s right to know. Several outside companies besides Microsoft and Motorola, like Research in Motion Inc, have also asked him to keep secret their royalty deals.

Robart said he would consider a request to refer to those third party companies by code names, known only to the lawyers and the judge.

The case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington is Microsoft Corp. vs. Motorola Inc., 10-cv-1823.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby in Seattle and Dan Levine in San Francisco; editing by Jim Marshall and Carol Bishopric)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Channing Tatum is People's Sexiest Man Alive

Channing Tatum has been announced as this year's Sexiest Man Alive by People.

Last year's Sexiest Man Bradley Cooper relinquishes the crown to the 32-year-old actor, who probably swayed People's panel with his skin-showing performance in this year's Magic Mike.

VIDEO: First ET Interview: Channing Tatum

"My first thought was, 'Y'all are messing with me,'" Tatum said to People. "I told Jenna (his wife) after we'd been in the bathtub washing our dogs because they'd gotten skunked."

In his interview for the honor, Tatum also discusses his future plans for children with wife Jenna Dewan, whom he married in 2009.

"I'm ready; I think she's ready," he said. "The first number that pops into my head is three, but I just want one to be healthy and then we'll see where we go after that."

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Wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in October

WASHINGTON — Wholesale inflation fell in October as a big drop in gasoline and other energy prices offset a rise in the cost of food.

Wholesale prices dipped 0.2 percent in October, the Labor Department said Wednesday. It was the first decline since May and followed big gains of 1.1 percent in September and 1.7 percent in August, increases that had been driven by spikes in energy.

Energy prices retreated a bit in October, dipping 0.5 percent but food costs were up 0.4 percent as the summer drought continued to put pressure on some food prices.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy, fell 0.2 percent in October, the biggest drop in two years. Over the past year, core prices were up a moderate 2.1 percent, evidence inflation remains under control.

In October, the fall in energy costs included a 2.2 percent drop in gasoline prices, the biggest since July, and a 3.3 percent decline in home heating oil costs.

The rise in food costs was led by an 8.1 percent increase in the price of pork, the biggest spike in four years. The summer drought in the Midwest has driven up food costs include the cost of beef and pork because animal feeds made with corn have increased in price.

The 0.2 percent drop in core prices in October reflected in part big declines in the price of passenger cars and light trucks. Without those declines, core prices would have been unchanged.

Low inflation means consumers have more money to spend, which helps the economy. It also gives the Federal Reserve more room to keep interest rates low in an effort to spur economic growth. If prices were to begin rising rapidly, the central bank might be forced to raise rates in response.

Economists believe that the modest gains in wholesale prices should translate into further moderation in consumer inflation, keeping it close to the Fed's 2 percent inflation target and allowing the central bank to keep focusing its policy on efforts to boost economic growth and reduce the unemployment rate.

The government will issue its October report on consumer prices on Thursday and economists are also expecting moderation at the retail level because of falling gas prices.

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No touch screen? Stick with Windows 7

Q. I recently had to replace my 9-year-old Windows XP computer, and am having trouble adapting to Windows 7.

What are the advantages, if any, for me to upgrade to Windows 8, which I’ve read has touch-screen capability and works with other equipment besides desktop computers? Since I don’t have a touch screen, I’m wondering if there is any point in upgrading.

Peter Robinson Chaska, Minn.

Different versions of Windows 8 are being offered on PCs, tablet computers and smartphones. But in every case the new operating system is primarily aimed at people who are using touch-sensitive screens.

So unless you’re planning to buy a touch-screen device in connection with upgrading to Windows 8, you’re probably better off continuing to use Windows 7. By most accounts, using the touch-screen-oriented Windows 8 with a mouse and keyboard is more difficult than using previous Windows versions with a mouse and keyboard.

In addition, if you find the changes in Windows 7 to be challenging, I suspect you won’t enjoy the more radical changes embodied in Windows 8 (i.e., much different start screen.)

I’m not saying you should never upgrade to Windows 8; just let Microsoft deal with some of these usability issues first.Q. I disagree with your warning to never click the unsubscribe link to put a stop to spam emails. Totally inundated with spam, I began unsubscribing and cut my spam down from more than 50 a day to one or two.

Some spam senders were more difficult to shake than others. I threatened a nonexistent Florida corporation that I would go to their state attorney general’s office, but never heard from them again. I gave a dental company a taste of their own medicine until they finally stopped sending me email. Others just took me off their lists pronto. It has been well worth the effort.

Deborah Gray Mitchell North Miami

Your strategy will work with legitimate companies and with spammers who can be located and threatened with legal action.

Unfortunately, most spam producers are neither legitimate nor traceable. When you respond to their emails, you confirm that yours is a working email address, and therefore fair game.

At the same time, you’ve essentially challenged some spammers to a duel, a risky business because they know your email address. Make sure you have a strong email password to prevent tampering.

Congratulations on your success, but I can’t recommend your approach to others.

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Florida man describes being shot by police Taser as he sprayed fire with garden hose

PINELLAS PARK --
The fire was all around Dan Jensen.

He could see it. He could smell it. He could hear it.

It was close enough to touch. It was burning down his neighbor's house. It was creeping toward Jensen's own fence 10 feet away, and he started spraying the fire with his hose.

Police ordered Jensen to get back, and he complied.

But after a few minutes passed without firefighters arriving, a frustrated Jensen stepped forward and leaned down to grab the skinny gray garden hose once again.

That's when he heard the order.

"Hit 'em! Take him down! Tase him!"

Within moments, Jensen was on the ground. He felt electric.

"It was all over me," Jensen said. "Crawling all over me."

The 42-year-old commercial fisherman is still struggling to comprehend exactly how things deteriorated so quickly Thursday. He said he doesn't understand why police shot him with a Taser that night as he tried to battle a house fire at 3420 Beechwood Ter. N.

Jensen's family, friends and neighbors have been quick to defend him and accuse police of crossing a line.

"It was wrong," he said. "There's no way around it. … I was fighting a fire. I wasn't fighting police. I thought they were here to help me. Instead, they hurt me."

Police said they can sympathize with the stress Jensen was under. But they said he put himself and officers in danger when he refused to back down from fighting the fire.

Pinellas Park Capt. Sanfield Forseth told the Tampa Bay Times authorities could have even charged Jensen with obstruction, but decided against it.

Jensen's attorney, Heidi Imhof, said she believes authorities are trying to deflect attention from their actions that night. She called the Taser use "excessive force."

"They can't just Taser anyone," she said. "He's an unarmed person on his private property trying to fight a fire."

Imhof said the officers had other options. They could have yanked Jensen away, she said, or just turned off the water.

The agency's policy says officers must issue a warning before using a Taser, "except when such warning could provide a tactical advantage to the subject."

Imhof said her client was never warned.

Jensen said he's "disappointed" in police.

He said that when they arrived on the scene, they told him to back off and let insurance take care of it. He did for a few minutes but grew impatient and irate. He picked up the hose again because he thought firefighters weren't getting there soon enough.

Officials told the Times it took six minutes for fire fighters to respond.

"That's my home," Jensen said Monday, his voice breaking. "That's my family."

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