It'd be absolutely spectacular to actually see one of these admittedly ambitious municipal WiFi projects actually work out every now and then, but instead, we're seeing the nails start to sink into yet another citywide WiFi coffin. This go 'round, the network blanketing most of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is on the verge of sending out its last signals unless the city can devise a plan in short order to take it over from EarthLink, who unsurprisingly wants out on the double. Unfortunately, we don't have a great feeling about the system's future -- history has a way of forecasting, you know?

[Via CNET, image courtesy of Stippling]

Aside from planning to axe 400 jobs as part of Sega Sammy's most recent "turnaround efforts," the outfit will also be closing the doors to its Korean subsidiary. Currently, Sega Korea is "handling the domestic distribution and sales of video game software, as well as the operation / sales of amusement facilities and machines," and reportedly, the closure will be executed in the name of "global business optimization." As it stands, there's no set date for the branch's dissolution, but just in case your smile wasn't turned upside-down already, the company also stated that it would discontinue the development of a ginormous $330m arcade complex slated for construction in Yokohama, Japan -- if you couldn't guess, that one's being shuttered so the firm can "focus its efforts on its core business to improve its performance" in short order. Seriously though, what the hell kind of company would spend $330m on arcade, anyway?

[Via Joystiq, image courtesy of USMC]

Remember how the folks at the Meizu booth swore up and down that the M8 Mini One wasn't that similar to the iPhone? Well apparently the Hanover police think otherwise. According to a report, the booth (shown above in its vacated state) was shut down by cops for piracy during CeBIT and passersby were told that, "The venue is closed until further notice." It appears that after stopping down the M8 show, cops proceeded to confiscate equipment and literature associated with the painfully obvious knock-off, and will be making a more detailed statement on Thursday in regards to the action. Meizu, it might be time to get yourself a makeover... and a good attorney.

Update: As you've probably already read, the Meizu booth was apparently shut down due to its use of an unlicensed MP3 codec. At the time we wrote this, all signs were pointing to the cause being the M8's alarmingly familiar UI, though that appears to have slipped through unscathed.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in; Image courtesy Heise Online]

Marking the end of a remarkable era in cellular technology, the FCC is officially letting American carriers decommission their legacy analog networks as of today, February 18, 2008. Few of us still own a phone based on AMPS -- Advanced Mobile Phone System, ironically, despite the fact that there's been nothing "advanced" about it for many years -- but we owe the very existence of the world's modern wireless infrastructure to the introduction and overwhelming success of the Bell Labs-developed technology. So successful was AMPS, in fact, that it eventually covered virtually 100 percent of the continental United States, a statistic CDMA and GSM have only recently begun to approach.

It wasn't a pretty end for Amp'd Mobile, but even the hasty one-week extension of service, sale of customers to Prexar and asset liquidation wasn't enough to keep creditors at bay -- the bankrupt company is now suing after its former CEO for cash. Claiming that Peter Adderton "refused to perform certain aspects of his employment" and "threatened to take action that would damage" Amp'd, the lawsuit seeks some $1.15M in payments made. Amp'd is also going after some 20 other partners in similar suits, ranging from Merrill Lynch to law firm Latham and Watkins to Playboy and MTV. We're not sure how that's going to play out, but it looks like those rumors about the content team and properties like "Lil' Bush" being sold off are definitely true -- William Morris is in charge of shopping the group out to the highest bidder. All in all, it looks like Amp'd's creditors aren't being shy about getting their cash -- but what repo man ever is?

[Via mocoNews]

Welp, that didn't take too long. Around 1.5 years after it was first announced, Google has decided to "shut down its premium video service." Nevertheless, the most intriguing aspect of the whole shebang is that customers who purchased DRM-laden files will reportedly no longer be able to view them once the Video Store closes up shop, and rather than refunding customers with, you know, real money, it sounds like Google plans to offer "fixed credit on the firm's online payment system, Google Checkout, instead." Interestingly, another report noted that the search giant would "provide refunds or online shopping vouchers for previously purchased videos that won't be viewable," so it looks like the final verdict remains to be seen.

[Via BBC, thanks Steffen]

And you thought Sprint was catching flack for denying an exceedingly small portion of its customers service. Turns out, Vonage rival SunRocket has apparently shut its doors and abandoned the business -- all without a single warning or notice beforehand. Callers who recently dialed in for customer care reached an automated message saying that the firm was "no longer taking customer service or sales calls," and each individual that was employed at the call center has supposedly lost their job. As expected, no attempts by Reuters to contact SunRocket were successful, so we still have no idea if paying customers will ever see a pro-rated refund if their service does indeed cease to exist. So, dear readers, are any of you feeling the SunRocket burn?

[Thanks, Jerad]

UPDATE: Well, what do you know. Here's an article suggesting that SunRocket has actually been acquired by Pluto. We've seen no confirmations as of yet, but we'll keep an eye out.

[Thanks for the update, Bob]

In other news from our favorite Japanese corporate giant, Sony is denying that its legal action was the reason that Lik-Sang was forced to close its virtual doors earlier today. According to GamesIndustry.biz, Sony has accused the Hong Kong-based retailer of "sour grapes," pointing out that Lik-Sang did not contest the UK legal battle, "and therefore incurred no legal costs." That seems pretty fair, given that Lik-Sang had a pretty borderline business model to begin with. In related news, Sony also claimed that the reason why several Sony Europe execs bought PSPs from Lik-Sang was for "investigatory purposes," and certainly not because they were impatient.