CSG International has acquired Ascade, an independent Swedish software company that has developed software tools used by telecommunications companies to manage their wholesaling operations. The total cost of the acquisition, excluding transaction fees, was approximately $19 million, paid in cash. Ascade’s trading and routing product, Ascade7, complements CSG’s own Wholesale Business Management Solution (WBMS). CSG […]
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Pace powers Sky New Zealand’s new Igloo TV service
Pace announced today that it is providing hardware and software elements for Sky New Zealand and TVNZ’s new Igloo TV service, which soft-launched with some customers last month. The service is using Pace’s Elements software platform on a its DVB-T2 Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) hybrid IP set-top box to offer consumers digital TV services, video-on-demand, […]
Behind the blackouts: Power plays for profits
Channel blackouts such as the one that resulted from the recent spat between Viacom and DirecTV have become far more common over the past three years. Consumers can thank the changing dynamics of the entertainment industry. Media companies such as Viacom and Disney have become steadily more profitable since the gloom of the recession lifted […]
Sprint expands LTE launch to 15 cities
Sprint has turned its five-market LTE launch on Sunday into a 15-market debut as it works to catch up with its larger competitors. The LTE network was live for just one day in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Kansas City before Sprint decided to light it up in 10 more markets today. “This new […]
Comcast buys out Microsoft’s stake in MSNBC
Comcast has bought out Microsoft’s 50 percent stake in MSNBC.com and rebranded the site as NBCNews.com, which put to rest the long-standing relationship between Microsoft and NBC. The New York Times, citing unidentified sources, said that Comcast paid roughly $300 million for Microsoft’s stake in the website that first launched in 1996. “When MSNBC.com launched […]
Report: Mobile broadband pushing mobile services to $976B
Mobile broadband is poised to push mobile services to $976 billion by next year, according to a recent report. The report by Infonetics Research also said that mobile broadband subscribers would grow from 15 percent to nearly 40 percent of all mobile subscribers between 2011 and 2016. “The mobile world is undeniably shifting from voice […]
Berger named ISCB fellow
Bonnie Berger, a professor of applied mathematics and computer science at MIT and a principal investigator at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), has been named a 2012 fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). The ISCB fellows program honors members that have distinguished themselves through outstanding contributions to the fields […]
German scientists concoct new coolant for electric cars
(Reuters) – Scientists in Germany have come up with a new fluid for cooling the expensive batteries in electric cars and thereby extending their life, another potential step in improving the cost efficiency of electric propulsion. The fluid, dubbed CryoSolplus, absorbs heat more effectively than either air or water and could allow for tighter packing […]
Mechanical engineers develop an ‘intelligent co-pilot’ for cars
Semiautonomous system takes the wheel to keep drivers safe CAMBRIDGE, MA — Barrels and cones dot an open field in Saline, Mich., forming an obstacle course for a modified vehicle. A driver remotely steers the vehicle through the course from a nearby location as a researcher looks on. Occasionally, the researcher instructs the driver to […]
Science goes through the roof
Specialized NMR equipment delivered COLLEGE STATION – Top-notch molecular research swung into gear at Texas A&M University this week – literally. A crane lowered a high-field 800 megahertz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer through an opening in the roof of a biochemistry and biophysics building Wednesday, putting the university on par with leading U.S. research institutions, […]