Memble

Best Buy to acquire music-sharer Napster

Napster Inc., the online music community that rose from a dorm room project to became the scourge of the global recording industry, is being purchased by Best Buy Inc. for nearly $127 million as the electronics retailer tries to boost its digital music business.

The $2.65 per share all-cash deal announced Monday is nearly double the music network's Friday closing price but a small sum to pay for Best Buy, which gets access to Napster's 700,000 subscribers who pay a monthly fee to access digital music catalogs.

Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 protection

Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the biggest bankruptcy filing ever on Monday and said it was trying to sell off key business units.

The filing was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank's holding company.

Bank of America agrees to buy Merrill for $50 bln

Bank of America Corp. said early Monday it would acquire Merrill Lynch in a $50 billion all-stock transaction that should lift the uncertainty shrouding the investment bank since the start of the credit crisis over a year ago.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America has the most deposits of any U.S. bank, while Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is the world's largest and most widely recognized brokerage.

Bank of America will rival Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets.

Oil closes below $100 for first time in 6 months

Oil prices closed below $100 a barrel for the first time in six months Monday, tumbling in another dramatic sell-off as the demise of Lehman Brothers and the sale of Merrill Lynch deepened worries about the U.S. economy.

Crude prices shed more than $5 a barrel and have now given up virtually all their gains for the year, extending a steep, two-month slide from record levels above $147 a barrel.

Oil's pullback also came as early signs suggested that Hurricane Ike delivered less damage than feared to the Gulf Coast energy oil and gas infrastructure. But pump prices jumped above $4 a gallon in parts of the country as a precautionary shutdown of Gulf refineries caused gasoline shortages.

HP to cut 24,600 jobs as part of EDS integration

Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday it plans to slash 24,600 jobs over the next three years, nearly 8 percent of its work force, as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems Corp., the technology-services company it recently acquired.

Most of the cuts will come from within EDS's ranks, and nearly half will hit jobs in the U.S., HP said Monday after the markets closed.

HP had not previously detailed how many employees of the combined company would lose their jobs. Before the acquisition, HP had 178,000 people and EDS had 142,000, a total of 320,000.

Continental to charge $15 for 1st checked bag

Continental Airlines Inc. said Friday it is charging some coach customers $15 for a first checked bag, matching a similar fee imposed by most other major U.S. carriers.

A company spokeswoman said the fee would help offset high fuel costs, which have caused Continental and other carriers to lose money this year.

The fee took effect immediately on tickets for travel in the United States and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada for travel starting on Oct. 7 or later.

Samsung working to acquire SanDisk

Samsung Electronics Co. is pursuing an acquisition of U.S. computer memory card maker SanDisk Corp., a South Korean online business newspaper reported Friday.

Both Samsung and SanDisk neither confirmed nor denied the report. But SanDisk's shares climbed more than 31 percent Friday.

Commodities pullback speeds up as oil tumbles

Investors are fleeing commodities in another massive exodus, reviving debate about whether the futures bubble has burst or is just going through a temporary contraction.

A steep drop in oil prices Tuesday started the latest selling wave, and gold, silver, copper and wheat also posted huge losses.

Oil prices plunge as Gustav dissipates

Oil prices plunged to the lowest level in five months Tuesday, falling to within sight of $100 a barrel on signs that Hurricane Gustav only grazed U.S. energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell $5.75 to settle at $109.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier dropping as low as $105.46. It was the lowest trading level since April 4, just before oil began an unprecedented march above $147 per barrel.

GM recalling 944,000 vehicles

General Motors Corp. said Friday it was recalling 944,000 vehicles because of a problem with a windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire.

More than 850,000 sport utility vehicles, trucks and passenger cars in the United States and nearly 100,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico and the Middle East are involved in the recall, the company said.

Japan's Ricoh to buy IKON Office for $1.62 billion

IKON Office Solutions, which sells and leases copiers, printers and other office machines, has agreed to a $1.62 billion buyout offer from one of its suppliers, Ricoh Co. of Japan.

The deal will combine IKON's sales and service capabilities with Ricoh's engineering and manufacturing expertise, IKON said.

The cash offer of $17.25 per share disclosed Wednesday represents a 33 percent premium to IKON's average stock price for the last two months, the companies said.

Flights back to normal after FAA software glitch

The FAA said that most flights around the country were back to normal Wednesday, after a software malfunction delayed hundreds of flights on Tuesday.

The flight delays drew new criticism for the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been scrutinized over air traffic controller staffing levels and inspection standards for its ground-based equipment.

The Northeast was hardest hit by the delays prompted by a glitch at a Hampton, Ga., facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S.

A-Z Computer Liquidators Offer corporate liquidation solutions, recycling eWaste partnership

A-Z Computer Liquidators has branched out to recycling ewaste partners nationwide. Headquartered in Anaheim California and serving both northern and southern California has partnered with Electronic Waste Management, Los Angeles, California. A-Z Is now able to better serve its corporate clients needing to recycle and dispose of used and outdated Pac’s & laptops, computer parts & supplies, CRT’s & LCD monitors, all sizes printers, copiers, scanners, used servers and data center network hardware.

In today's ever-changing technology marketplace, companies are feeling the pinch when desperately trying o remove unwanted used IT equipment. Select businesses throughout California choose A-Z Computer Liquidators to provide full service disposal, recycling, and remarketing for their obsolete IT assets.

A-Z Computer Liquidators protects an organizations data on existing IT assets. When upgrading their IT infrastructure, companies need cost-effective and an effective EPA process to dispose of obsolete IT assets. A-Z is able with Electronic Waste Management to serve all the recycling requirements of its corporate America clients.

“With the many recycling, liquidation requirements from our business customers, IT assets such as used computers, used monitors, servers and hard drives sitting idle, clients need an organization that can be trusted to adhere to all e-waste environmental regulations” said Holly Wild, Director of Asset Recovery Services at A-Z Computers. "We offer a range of full services and will continue to seek out effective recycling partners so that we can expand out regions and services nationwide.

ZOTAC Unleashes New Affordable GeForce 9 series

ZOTAC International, a leading manufacturer of NVIDIA-based graphics cards, today unleashes its latest entry-level GeForce 9 series graphics cards for budget gamers on the second day of NVISION 08 – the ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 and GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE Edition. The new ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 series enables users to bring their PCs to life with NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology and NVIDIA unified architecture for smoother high-definition video playback and realistic gaming capabilities.
NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology empowers the ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 series with high-definition playback capabilities that’s low on CPU utilization and low on power consumption, freeing up the system processor for more mundane tasks and reducing your power bill. PureVideo HD technology also enhances standard-definition content with inverse telecine, high-quality scaling, noise reduction and edge enhancement algorithms to produce vivid visuals that rivals high-definition content.
“Video playback capabilities are becoming a vital part of graphics cards as more and more users make their PCs the center of their entertainment center, using their PC to playback high-definition Blu-ray and standard-definition videos. Our ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 series with PureVideo HD technology will instantly enhance their video playback capabilities at a fairly low-cost,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.
The ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 series features NVIDIA unified architecture with 16 programmable stream processors for high-performance 3D graphics processing. Full support for Microsoft DirectX 10 with Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 2.1 standards ensure maximal compatibility with current and next-generation 3D games and applications.
The powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400GT graphics processor is paired with 512MB of fast DDR2 memory connected via 128-bit wide bus for phenomenal visuals and performance. The fast graphics processor and high-speed memory connects to the rest of the system via a PCI Express 2.0 interface for up to 5GT/s transfers between the system processor and memory to the graphics card.
The ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE Edition replaces the conventional single-slot active cooler on the GeForce 9400GT DDR2 with a silent dual-slot passive cooler. The ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE Edition cooler caters to the noise needs of quiet PC users while delivering the same performance users expect from a ZOTAC GeForce series graphics cards.
“Quiet computing has become quite popular as users find different ways to reduce overall system noise. Our ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE Edition delivers the silence quiet PC users need with no performance compromises,” Mr. Berger said.
It’s time to play with the new affordable ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 and silent GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE Edition.

General details

• New ZOTAC GeForce 9400GT DDR2 and GeForce 9400GT DDR2 ZONE
Edition
• Affordable and high performance
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400GT
• 512MB of GDDR2 memory
• 16 stream processors
• Passive cooling (ZONE Edition)
• PCI Express 2.0 interface (Compatible with 1.1)
• DirectX 10 with Shader Model 4.0 compatible
• OpenGL 2.1 compatible
• PureVideo HD technology with hardware decoding of high-definition video
formats
• Dual-link DVI – up to 2560x1600
• DVI to HDMI dongle included
• DVI Audio (HDMI) compatible

Website: http://www.zotac.com/

CHECK POINT SHIPS FIRST SINGLE AGENT FOR ENDPOINT SECURITY

Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced it has began shipping a new version of Check Point Endpoint Security™, the first single agent for endpoint security to combine the highest-rated firewall, network access control (NAC), program control, remote access, antivirus, anti-spyware, full disk encryption and media encryption with port protection. The new release, Check Point Endpoint Security R70, features a newly enhanced and streamlined interface as well as additional tools for enterprise deployment.

By creating a single endpoint security agent with a single client interface, deploying and managing endpoint security is dramatically simplified. A single tray icon on the endpoint device makes reviewing security status and settings easier and eliminates interoperability conflicts. Consequently, Check Point Endpoint Security’s single agent and client interface reduces the time and costs associated with endpoint security.

“Rather than having to deploy and manage multiple solutions to mitigate each type of endpoint risk, Check Point Endpoint Security provides customers a single easy-to-manage endpoint security solution,” said Dr. Dorit Dor, vice president of products at Check Point. “By combining endpoint security into one comprehensive solution, Check Point eases the burden placed on security administrators.”

“Security administrators are always dealing with the challenge of having to increase network security levels in more efficient, cost effective ways,” said Joe Luciano, chief executive officer at AccessIT. “Check Point Endpoint Security solves the dilemma, by giving enterprises a solution that combines all the endpoint security they need in one solution that can be managed centrally through one console.”

Check Point Endpoint Security R70 features and benefits include:
· Single agent with combined firewall, NAC, program control, remote access, antivirus, anti-spyware, full disk encryption and media encryption with port protection provides superior security and eliminates the need to deploy and manage multiple agents, reducing total cost of ownership.
· Single client interface for all local endpoint security administration assures compatibility of endpoint security technologies and simplifies end-user experience
· Unique distribution utility lets administrators deploy customized installations quickly and easily
· Windows Vista support allows new Vista-based PCs to seamlessly plug into a customers IT environment

More information on Check Point Endpoint Security can be found at: www.checkpoint.com/products/endpoint_security/index.html.