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ChangeQuakes Of The Week

January 09, 2006

TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK
** Five More Human Bird Flu Cases In Turkey
** IBM To Freeze Pension Plans To Trim Costs
** UDI Proposed As New Interface Standard For PCs
** U.S. Government to Regulate Offshore Alternative Energy
** Next-Gen DVD Format War Frustrates Retailers, Consumers

MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

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TOP CHANGEQUAKES OF THE WEEK

Five More Human Bird Flu Cases In Turkey

(DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Five more people have tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in Turkey, the Health Ministry said, raising the number of human cases in Turkey to 15.

www.forbes.com

Related Story: Britons Urged To Beware Of Bird Flu
news.yahoo.com

IBM To Freeze Pension Plans To Trim Costs

(CORPORATE CHANGEQUAKE) -- The giant computer firm IBM announced it will freeze its $48 billion pension plan in 2008 and instead enhance its 401(k) benefits for its 125,000 U.S. workers.

abcnews.go.com

UDI Proposed As New Interface Standard For PCs

(TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKE) -- Leading PC and consumer electronics companies announced that they are working to develop a specification, referred to as the unified display interface (UDI) that is intended to serve as the next-generation digital display interface standard for PCs and provide compatibility with consumer electronics devices, including HDMI.

hiddenwires.co.uk

U.S. Government to Regulate Offshore Alternative Energy

(REGULATORY CHANGEQUAKE) -- Development of wind, wave, current and solar power projects on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf is now being structured by the federal government agency with oversight of oil and gas development, as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

www.ens-newswire.com

Next-Gen DVD Format War Frustrates Retailers, Consumers

(TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKE) -- Consumers, confused over the brewing battle between next-generation DVD technologies, are not alone: top U.S. electronics retailers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas called the war "nightmarishly unfriendly" and "stupid."

news.yahoo.com

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MORE CHANGEQUAKES TO WATCH

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGEQUAKES

Starz Unveils Vongo Download Service

Cable network Starz Entertainment Group said it plans to launch an Internet movie download service called Vongo, backed by partnerships with Microsoft and Sony, amid a race to offer more videos over high-speed Internet connections.

money.cnn.com

Motorola To Launch iRadio Service

Motorola unveiled details of its plan to take on two hot industries with one product: its iRadio cell phone-based radio service, despite the failure of the company's ROKR iTunes service last year.

www.redherring.com

Nearly 1-In-10 Now Using Firefox Browser

Mozilla's Firefox Internet browser finished the year with a flourish, and came within half a point of the 10% market share that many analysts have set as the bar to long-term success against Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

www.techweb.com

Magazine Offers CES 2006 Picks And Pans

A team of PC World editors flocked to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Here's their take on the highlights and lowlights of the show.

news.yahoo.com

Related Story: High-End Audio Still A Major Draw At CES
www.msnbc.msn.com

Digital Music Downloads Enjoy Record-Breaking Week

There was so much legitimate downloading in the final week of 2005 that it recalled the impossible tallies research firms used in the late 1990s to dazzle venture capitalists and scare the daylights out of major-label executives.

news.yahoo.com


CORPORATE CHANGEQUAKES

HP, Blackstone May Bid For Computer Sciences

Blackstone Group and Hewlett-Packard are reportedly mulling a joint buyout of government technology contractor Computer Sciences, as private-equity buyers begin to sweep through the computer-outsourcing business.

www.redherring.com

Google To Make Shows Available Online

According to a recent report, Google will soon be offering a service to allow consumers to buy video over the Internet from CBS, the NBA and other providers, becoming the latest company to explore the new method of distributing TV content.

www.foxnews.com

Related Stories: Google Offers Free Software Starter Kit
msnbc.msn.com

Google Takes On iTunes
www.usatoday.com

Yahoo! Unveils New Service To Let Consumers Take Favorite Internet Content With Them
www.lightreading.com

Cisco's Scientific-Atlanta Acquisition Waiting Period Ends

The federal waiting period for Cisco System's acquisition of cable television technology company Scientific-Atlanta has expired without regulators taking any action, paving the way for a deal that is expected to fuel changes in how TV is distributed and watched as programming is shuttled to homes using the Internet.

www.forbes.com

Texas Instruments To Sell Part Of Company For $3 Billion

Texas Instruments, the world's largest maker of chips that run mobile phones, agreed to sell its sensors and controls business to Bain Capital for $3 billion as the company focuses on the faster-growing handset market.

today.reuters.com


ECONOMIC CHANGEQUAKES

South Korea Forecasts Increase in Exports

The South Korean government has predicted an 11.7% increase in exports for 2006, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, propelled by demand for Hyundai Motor cars and Samsung Electronics mobile phones.

www.iht.com

Mine Tragedy a Reminder Of Coal's Role

Even as the tragic death of 12 men beneath the ground reminds the nation of its grimy coal-mining past, the ebony jewel they sought remains very much part of our present -- even if we don't know it.

seattlepi.nwsource.com


FDA APPROVAL CHANGEQUAKES

Implantable RFID Chip Approved By FDA For Medical Use

Digital Angel's VeriChip Health Information Microtransponder System has been approved for human medical use by the FDA, opening up the age of implantable technology.

www.gizmag.com

New Studies Counter FDA On Antidepressant Risk

A new study of more than 65,000 children and adults treated for depression over a 10-year period found that suicide risk declines, not rises, once a patient begins taking antidepressants, conflicting with previous FDA analysis.

www.medpagetoday.com

DISCOVERY CHANGEQUAKES

Thai Stem Cell Therapy Sparks Hope In Ailing Hearts

A novel therapy that involves injecting stem cells culled from a patient's own blood into the heart to try to regenerate ailing heart muscle gets tested in Bangkok.

www.msnbc.msn.com

Depression Might Be Linked To Protein In The Brain

Scientists have discovered a protein that seems to play a crucial role in developing depression, a finding that may lead to new treatments for the often debilitating illness -- and fundamental understanding of why it strikes.

www.msnbc.msn.com

Hypothetical Propulsion System Could Make Deep Space Travel A Reality

A theoretical "hyperspace" engine that could make interstellar space travel a reality by flying into other dimensions is being investigated by the United States government, and could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in just three hours.

news.scotsman.com