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Western Digital purchase of Hitachi's hard drive business approved by EU regulators
Two of the hard drive industry's biggest players will soon be just one company. European Union regulators have given a conditional thumbs-up to Western Digital's plans to snatch up Hitachi's storage division for $4.3 billion. The companies are the second and third largest hard disk manufacturers in the world (respectively) behind Seagate, which purchased Samsung's HDD division back in April. Out of concern for the quickly consolidating market, regulators only approved the Western Digital deal after assurances that the company would sell off some its production assets, including a manufacturing plant, and transfer some intellectual property to the new unit being put on the auction block. As soon as WD finds a buyer it'll be free and clear to take over Hitachi's HDD division. So, anyone interested in a hard drive manufacturing plant?
HTC Thunderbolt granted conditional approval by Verizon, could be on sale soon
The drama-filled timeline of rumors leading up to the HTC Thunderbolt's release on Verizon is a tale whose final chapter has yet to be written -- we still don't know when Big Red's first LTE handset is actually going to be on shelves, after all. That fateful day is drawing a little closer, though, on word from one of our trusted sources today that the device has received "conditional approval" from the carrier. Theoretically, that means the phone could be released any minute now -- but first, the retail launch is dependent on HTC agreeing to Verizon's requested changes and fixes for the first and second firmware maintenance releases. We're told that process typically takes two to four weeks -- so realistically, we're looking at a launch within a month. Stay strong, folks! [Thanks, HTC Kid]
