Bailout
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Doomed Indiegogo campaign hopes to crowdfund Greece's debt relief
Can crowdfunding do something better than make a beer cooler with a built-in Bluetooth speaker? That's what Thom Feeney believes after setting up an Indiegogo campaign to pay Greece's $1.7 billion loan fee that it owes to the International Monetary Fund. The project is hoping to raise the cash by encouraging all of Europe's 503 million citizens to kick in a few bucks for a postcard, a Greek salad or vouchers for a bottle of Ouzo. The page has been up for just over two days and already the figure stands at €200,000 ($223,000), although that's still less than a tenth of a percent towards the final figure.
Olympus scales back, shifts focus to turn around fortunes
Beleaguered camera maker Olympus vows to shed around 2,700 jobs and heavily restructure its business following a major accounting scandal. That works out that around seven percent of its total global workforce will be cut, with Olympus also aiming to sell unused property and close its Philippines plant over the next two years. The Japanese manufacture will also refocus on profitable imaging, medical and life-science departments -- presumably fields that would-be suitor Panasonic's also interested in. Update: Or perhaps not.
Panasonic gearing up to offer $635 million bailout to save troubled Olympus (update)
Panasonic is reportedly putting the final touches to a 50 billion yen ($635 million) bailout package to save Olympus. Panasonic will become the largest shareholder of the scandal-ridden camera maker, reeling from a $1.7 billion accounting fraud uncovered last year, with an eye on getting a foothold in Olympus' profitable medical imaging business. It gives us hope that the current range of blockbuster shooters including the OM-D won't be sacrificed in a last-ditch attempt to make the books balance. Update: Outgoing Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo has strongly denied the reports, saying that there's no company plan to invest. That clears that up, then.
XBLM listing reveals 5 maps, 2 CoD4 remakes in MW2 'Stimulus Package' DLC
We may have to wait until March 30 for Modern Warfare 2's first DLC, the "Stimulus Package," but thanks to an Xbox Live Marketplace listing for the map pack, we aren't in the dark anymore as to its contents. The blurb reveals the pack will contain "5 additional action-packed maps," including three all new ones ("Bailout, Storm, and Salvage"), as well as two remakes from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ("Crash" and "Overgrown"). "Bailout" is said to be "a multi-layered apartment complex," while "Storm" is described as "an open industrial park littered with heavy machinery," and "Salvage" is "a snowy junkyard fortified by stacked debris and crushed cars." Presumably, if you're reading about the details of unreleased a MW2 map pack, you already knew that "Crash" is a "war-torn urban environment" and "Overgrown" is set in a large dry creek. No pricing is set, unfortunately, though you can ogle the XBLM listing for now if it makes you feel any better (though we wouldn't suggest it). [Update: Clarified Stimulus Package DLC date of release.] [Thanks CL4P-TP!]
Case-Mate offers $0.99 iPhone recession case... a day after recession ends
In life, you'll quickly learn that everything is about timing. And thankfully for us Earthlings, Case-Mate seems just 24 hours off with this one. A day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that this so-called recessions was "very likely over," the aforesaid accessory maker has popped out an iPhone case for those of us who vehemently disagree. The aptly titled iPhone recession case is quite possibly the greatest thing since sliced bread the AirMail, and at just $0.99 including shipping, we figure you'll have a tough time finding a better way to protect your cellie. Or waste $0.99, now that we think of it.[Thanks, Andy]
Pantech restructuring underway
Sloughing off your CEO, getting in the door in a big way with AT&T, and continuing a focus on crazy design are all positive indicators for a down-but-not-out manufacturer looking to break into the elite Big Five, but at the end of the day, there's nothing like a little cold, hard cash to get things kick-started. To that end, Korea Development Bank has hooked up with a bunch of creditors to provide Pantech with 120 billion won (about $129 million) to get back on its feet with payments deferred through 2011 (can we get hooked up with something like that for our car loan?). Pantech's restructuring will ultimately result in some layoffs, sales of non-critical assets, and a massive share consolidation that'll (somehow) result in the company raising about 151 billion won (about $163 million), while corporate parent Pantech & Curitel will raise another 305 billion won (about $328 million). It's all Greek to us, but as long as it doesn't result in a delay to our low-end 3G love on AT&T, we're cool. Is that too much to ask? [Warning: subscription required]
