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webOS global business unit split outlined in leaked HP documents
It's been just over two weeks since HP announced plans to discontinue production of its webOS devices, and speculation over the future of the platform is still going strong. Just this week, Samsung CEO Choi Gee Sung put to rest rumors of a webOS deal, and now two leaked missives from inside HP show plans to split the webOS global business unit in two. According to letters apparently from Todd Bradley and Shane Robison, webOS software will find a new home in the outfit's Office of Strategy and Technology, while the hardware division will remain with the Personal Systems Group. One of these letters from Tom Bradley explains the split: The pan-HP charter of OS&T provides a broad view of how we can optimize our technologies. In fact, it has proven to be a successful incubator of technologies; it is home to a team of senior technology experts devoted exclusively to exploring longer-term strategies for our technologies.The second missive, from Shane Robison, goes on to say that "webOS software is still a great asset." None of this should come as a surprise, as our interview with Stephen DeWitt reiterated the company's dedication to the webOS platform, while HP's recent ads hocking PSG show the outfit's intentions to spin-off its PC business. Now the question is, who has the bones to make it happen? For the full-length leaks hit the source link below.
HP promotes '$40 billion' PC business spin-off with new series of ads
Before today, HP had only expressed that it "will consider a broad range of options" for the future of its Personal Systems Group; and now, said company's released a series of ads to confirm its intention to spin it off into a separate company. Amidst the lovely (and ironic) mention of HP's long-lived success with its $40 billion PC business, the underlying message here is all about "staying focused on our customer needs" and to "better anticipate change" -- much like being a start-up all over again, as suggested by Executive Vice President Todd Bradley on HP's website. Of course, the customer in question here is likely from the enterprise sector, as we've all learned from CEO Leo Apotheker's interview at D9, the death of HP's webOS devices, and the pending acquisition of Autonomy. Still, we've yet to hear more concrete plans or even figure out who the potential buyers might be (if any), but for now, you can take a gander at HP's "sample ad" after the break.
HP may spin off PC business, shift focus to software and services
Word 'round the campfire is, HP may be prepping to spin off its PC business. Though Hewlett-Packard is the world's largest computer company, desktops and laptops are a relatively low profit margin business. Obviously, there's no confirmation yet that such a split will happen, but with the recent focus on tablets and smartphones, and CEO Leo Apotheker's own admission that he'd like to expand into software and services, the move would make sense. According to Bloomberg the announcement could come as soon as today, during the company's quarterly earnings call, where it's also expected to reveal a $10 billion purchase of software company Autonomy Corp. We'll be listening in live later, so check back this afternoon to see if HP sets its PC business free.
The Perfect Ten: Sequelitis
As a long-time movie buff, I've always been fascinated by sequels. I know, they have a terrible reputation and everyone gets this face like he's digesting a porcupine when discussing them, but there's something fun about them as well. I think we always want a good story to continue, to see what happens next, and to answer the question, "What would the first film be like if it were put in the hands of a complete boob?" It would be an entertaining trainwreck, that's what. Even though the MMORPG genre is in its toddler stage, it's seen a number of sequels, prequels and spin-offs, just the same as other types of entertainment. Video game sequels for hit titles are safer financial investments than striking out into new territory, so it makes sense that MMO studios would follow this pattern as well. Right now there are loads of MMO sequels and spin-offs in the works -- including EverQuest Next, PlanetSide Next, Guild Wars 2, Mabinogi 2, MapleStory 2, Phantasy Star Online 2, Dust 514, and even a possible Ultima Online sequel -- so it's safe to say that the trend won't be dying down anytime soon. However, today I want to look at 10 sequels that already made it to release and briefly examine how they stacked up to their predecessors. Oh yes, there will be blood after the jump -- and I will drink your milkshake!
Sledgehammer Games working on Call of Duty game
When Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Visceral Games to form Sledgehammer Games with Activision, you may have jokingly speculated that the Dead Space creators set to work immediately on Call of Duty. After all, it was either that or Guitar Hero. You would have been correct. Activision today revealed that Sledgehammer is working on a Call of Duty game with a targeted 2011 release date, which will "extend the franchise into the action-adventure genre." No other details were released about the game, but it sounds more like a spinoff than a sequel. Third person, perhaps?
RealNetworks to spin off Rhapsody, give up control
Seems like times are tough in the streaming music game -- Warner is making noise about dropping free streaming rights to its catalog, and now RealNetworks and Viacom have announced plans to spin off the Rhapsody subscription service. The new company will obviously be known as Rhapsody, and both Real and Viacom will hold a sub-50 percent stake in the outfit and remain on the board of directors. Real's also contributing $18m in cash to the cause, while Viacom's committed to providing $33m in advertising -- we'll see if Rhapsody can make it on its own once that all runs out.
Motorola to roll out revised plan, schism not so clear-cut anymore
Remember Motorola's decision to pause the sale of its largest division? Change of plans again, folks. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company's getting ready to reveal a new initiative, whereby it still sells its wireless networking business, but the set-top box and core handset business would instead be spun off into a new, publicly-traded company. That'd invariably leave a pretty small Motorola -- less than one-third its current size in terms of sales, selling primarily public-radio system and bar-code scanners. Would the newly-minted company get a new name, logo, and series of catchy, name-inspired puns? Our guess is it'd retain the Moto name -- why waste such good branding -- but it's not confirmed either way. Plans are still being finalized, but we're watching this closely.
Deutsche Telekom rumored to be eyeing T-Mobile USA spinoff
Not a week goes by that we don't hear of investor pressure on Deutsche Telekom to strengthen its financials and offload underperforming units -- T-Mobile USA included -- and the American outpost is back in the spotlight this evening coming off a report out of The Wall Street Journal that a spinoff might indeed be in the works. According to our favorite "people familiar with the matter," DT has reached out to a few banks with the goal of raising enough capital for T-Mobile through an IPO that it'd be able to continue to fund its network build-out, something that's going to become increasingly critical as it fends off 7.2Mbps HSPA and 4G competition from all of its national competitors. There are a few scenarios allegedly being discussed, ranging from a full-on excision of T-Mobile from its corporate parent to a merger with another US wireless firm -- but the plan gaining most traction internally is said to involve selling around 20 percent of the carrier to investors while hanging onto the rest, a situation that would get the underperforming unit's financials off DT's books. Ultimately, whatever comes of this probably won't happen for a few months while the options get mulled, but considering what went down in the UK, this certainly seems plausible.
Motorola pauses split to mull options
Amazing what a little success will do to a company, isn't it? The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Motorola has put the brakes on its search for a buyer for its Home and Networks Mobility division that's responsible for the company's set-top boxes and network infrastructure equipment. It's easy to see why this might be a good time for Moto to pause and take stock of its situation -- while no one's even close to calling the Mobile Devices division's turnaround complete, the focus on Android appears to have injected fresh interest (and commercial success) in a lineup plagued with countless duds just a year ago. Apparently the company is also discouraged by the fact that suitors have lowballed Motorola's expected sale price by a billion or two, but make no mistake, the split isn't off altogether -- the executive board is expected to convene in the next few days to figure this all out before the next round of bidding is due in February. Stay tuned -- by the end of the year, we could realistically be looking at one, two, or even three Motos depending on how this goes down.
XSEED reveals preorder bonuses for Ragnarok DS
click for a Massively Multi-Image Online GalleryRemember Ragnarok DS? If you do, you're likely an avid fan of the Ragnarok Online MMO, and thus exactly the kind of person XSEED hopes to entice with the pre-order bonuses for the DS game. Pre-orders for the DS RPG will include exclusive in-game items for the PC game, which increase experience, attack speed, damage and other stats when used. In addition, every retail package will have more items thrown in, which increase even more stats. While at first blush it seems obvious to target people who like Ragnarok with this Ragnarok spinoff, it actually strikes us as kind of odd. People obsessed with Ragnarok have a lot of online gaming in their lives as it is! Are they going to want to jump into some random dungeons with just a few people? %Gallery-63545%
Comcast deal to buy NBC is done, will be announced Thursday
We told you we had a feeling this thing was happening -- less than a day after GE consolidated ownership of NBC Universal in preparation to spin it off and sell a controlling stake to Comcast, CNBC is reporting that the deal is actually done and will be announced Thursday morning. As rumored from the start, Comcast will now own 51 percent of NBC to GE's 49 percent, and the new company will fold in Comcast's various content assets, which means the new NBC will rival Disney in size. That's a big enchilada, and it should make the future of Comcast initiatives like TV Everywhere extremely interesting. Of course, all this still has to go through the FCC and FTC, and we wouldn't expect anything to be approved and finalized for a year, but none of that takes away from the magnitude of this deal. We'll obviously know more in a couple days, stay tuned.
DirecTV CEO resigning effective July 1
Turns out the rumors were correct, DirecTV has officially announced CEO Chase Carey is resigning as of July 1, and a search for a successor is "under way." Of course, there's no word if the subsequent speculation that the company's next move after its spinoff/merger is a sale to AT&T is at all accurate, but we're sure there will be plenty of viewpoints on the subject in the weeks and months to come.
Dead Space: Extraction gameplay footage & prod interview
In the IGN video interview embedded after the break, Dead Space: Extraction producer Steve Papoutsis discusses the motivation for the "guided first-person experience" design for the Dead Space prequel, as well as the storyline, the controls, and the co-op modes. That's great, and of course it's wonderful to hear such ideals behind the game's design.But the real attraction here is footage. The video is interspersed with gameplay footage from Extraction, mostly consisting of the disarming (and dislegging) of creepy spider-dudes. In our estimation, at least, EA is delivering the graphics it needs to ensure that the game is appropriately atmospheric. And by "atmospheric" we mean "eeeeeeeee."
Time Warner spills details on TWC spinoff
This won't affect the most of you one single bit, but for those that have a vested interested in either Time Warner, Inc. or Time Warner Cable, the details of the spinoff are now public. The tax-free separation of TWC from Time Warner will involve a dividend distribution of all of the Time Warner Cable common stock held by Time Warner to Time Warner stockholders; said distribution will be made on March 27th to Time Warner stockholders of record at 8PM on March 12th. Time Warner Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes noted that he was "confident that this separation would benefit Time Warner and Time Warner Cable stockholders," suggesting that the move would enable each entity to be "better positioned to compete, with capital structures more suited to their respective needs as well as greater operational, financial and strategic flexibility." Maybe TWC will get around to adding a few more HD channels now that daddy isn't looking over its shoulder 24/7, but we wouldn't bet the farm on it.
Time Warner to finalize TWC spinoff this quarter
Wait, what? Time Warner Cable is still a part of Time Warner, Inc.? Weren't they supposed to split, like, almost a year ago? We've always heard that old flames are hard to extinguish, so we guess we shouldn't be too shocked to hear that this drawn-out separation is still being, well, drawn out. According to a fresh release from parent company Time Warner, it has "elected to complete the separation of the two companies through a spin-off distribution involving a pro rata dividend of all of the Time Warner Cable common stock held by Time Warner to Time Warner stockholders." If you're hungry for details beyond that, we're afraid you'll have to wait -- all we're told is that the two "continue to expect that the separation will be completed by the end of the current quarter." Cute how "continue" was thrown in there, yeah?
Time Warner and cable unit announce separation, dividend information
We knew last month that Time Warner was looking to spin off its Time Warner Cable unit, but now the nitty-gritty details are starting to surface. Parent company Time Warner, Inc. will receive a $9.25 billion one-time cash dividend in the transaction, while TWC will "borrow $10.9 billion to fund the payout to its parent, which owns 84 percent, and other shareholders." CEO Jeffrey Bewkes was quoted as saying that "Time Warner no longer needs to own a cable operator to carry its movies and TV shows because it has established brands and more options for distribution," though the exact distribution form hasn't been decided upon just yet. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Thanks, J. Goodwin]
Sprint "seriously considering" spinning off Nextel
We'd take this with half a tablespoon of salt for now, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint-Nextel Corp. is "seriously considering spinning off or selling its ailing Nextel unit." That's according to undisclosed people "familiar with the situation," though Sprint did decline to comment on whether it actually was considering a sale of Nextel. Also of note, Cyren Call is reportedly attempting to "assemble a consortium of investors to acquire Nextel as part of its plans to create a nationwide wireless network for public safety communications," and while it can't be confirmed, we are hearing that Sprint is "contemplating other possible buyers such as private equity firms." Still, these same sources made clear that "no deal was imminent and that Sprint was preoccupied for the moment with other matters." It's no secret that the firm would be way more attractive to suitors (read: Deutsche Telekom) if the flagging Nextel division was detached from the deal, but we guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Warning: read link requires subscription][Thanks to everyone who sent this in, image courtesy of Flickr]
Motorola officially considering dropping its phone unit
Rumor no longer, Motorola is taking a hard look at its Mobile Devices unit and might very well give those slackers the ol' Freescale treatment and spin off the division as a separate company. This sort of love 'em and leave 'em tactic is oddly a bit of a habit with Motorola when times are bad, and times certainly have been better -- Motorola's phone unit lost $388 million this quarter, compared to $341 million in earnings a year ago. Motorola may sell the unit or spin it into its own company, which would leave Motorola with precious few intersections with the RAZR-saturated consumer, and as more of a government and enterprise business. Says Greg Brown, current president and CEO: "We are exploring ways in which our Mobile Devices Business can accelerate its recovery and retain and attract talent while enabling our shareholders to realize the value of this great franchise." It's a pretty odd statement for any company to make, and considerations may be further along than they sound, but either way we'll be keeping an eye out for any developments. [Thanks Stasys; via Unwired View]
Sprint explores options for WiMAX, ponders Clearwire deal
Looks like Sprint's feverish approach to WiMAX just swallowed a chill pill, as the firm is reportedly "exploring new options for financing its ambitious plan." In a presumed effort to "soothe investor concerns about the cost of the WiMAX plan," the company is actually investigating a partnership or joint venture with Clearwire in order to simultaneously remove a potential competitor and gain access to the critical Clearwire markets in the southeastern US. Of course, Clearwire isn't one to shy away from high stakes partnerships, and the FCC nod for a WiMAX-class laptop card that it garnered just last month could fit in quite well here. Still, Clearwire is refusing to comment just yet on whether this possibility is even feasible, but the mere mention of a spinoff likely means that Sprint isn't feeling all too peachy about future WiMAX profitability. [Warning: Read link requires subscription][Via InformationWeek]
Keepin' it real fake, part LVII: Ultimate knockoff phone rips four separate brands
We get a wee bit excited round here when brands collide to create interesting new spinoffs, but this handset is full-on ridiculous. Our creative Asian friends weren't happy with a simple gaming handset, they had to bust out a Windows Mobile-esque OS, with a dash of faux PSP, a splash of Nintendo all wrapped in almost Anycall. Notice that great big PSP logo on the back? Well that's all there is for Sony content here, the handset is actually loaded with NES games and Pac-Man? Of course, we have to congratulate on the Samsung F520 double slider thing going on here, we feel that this is definitely a winning idea, but of course this handset only copies and is definitely not the brainchild of Samsung. Packing dual-band GSM a-la 900 / 1800, a 1.3 megapixel shooter, a touchscreen, and support for up to 2GB of memory, the mystery manufacturer handset definitely has the goods. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of Keepin' It Real Fake fare, and we think this could only be topped by some clever use of iPhone branding and maybe a Coca-Cola color scheme. This one won't be hitting carriers over here, but at the end of the day, who really cares? We are justifiably in awe.
