Tech Clicks In School

Students at Universities, especially here in the Silicon Valley, are already used to traveling with mobile technology .. iPods, cell phones, all sorts of texting devices are everywhere.

Add to that .. the iClicker. A piece of technology starting to catch on at the college level .. we found some in a class at Santa Clara University. A class teaching, ironically, 4th century history.

The "clicker" technology is totally modern, though, letting professors quiz students, with everyone knowing the results instantly. As one SCU student told me, no one will be sleeping in class anymore .. you have to have your clicker ready.

We'll show you how this technology is shaking things up in class, tonight at 6.

Faster Surfing

It doesn't look all that imposing .. kind of a like a server bank we've seen in dozens of Silicon Valley companies.

But the new testing lab set up in Santa Clara by IXIA will eventually help you surf the 'net faster than ever. IXIA's new facility, just opened today, is a testing pad for companies like Cisco, Juniper, and AT&T .. companies that give its customers faster internet, smart phones, and IPTV.

Those companies can pre-test its new gear in IXIA's site, getting a good idea of how a city will react if a certain amount of users log on at the same time. This testing will allow the company to tweak its hardware & software, to better your experience.

This goes back, in some ways, to the early days of the dot com boom. Companies like Cisco and Marimba used to talk about "plumbing." It wasn't sexy, but it made the dot com world work. It's still working, and thanks to IXIA's new plumbing .. it will work faster.

Mergers? Just Say Yes!

First off, I'm not a shareholder in either Yahoo! or Take-Two Interactive.
That's probably not a surprise to you, given that in one case, I have to stand outside corporate headquarters and talk about layoffs, and in the other, I have to talk about controversy over an ultra-violent video game.

Nonetheless, I'm a bit baffled by the roller coaster ride each company is giving its shareholders. In Yahoo's case, Microsoft's offer sent the stock up 50% .. is management really going to say no, and eventually watch its stock price sink back to $19 a share? I think not.

In Take-Two's case, the video game maker, which really has ONE TITLE (albeit a very successful one), "Grand Theft Auto," just got a two billion dollar buyout offer from gaming giant Electronic Arts. That sent its stock price up a Yahoo-like 50% this morning. Then, the company said no.

Now, I understand that playing hard to get is a negotiating tactic in the business world .. often a good one. So, sure, let's see Yahoo and Take-Two get more money for their shareholders. If they can.

But will they really say no?

If you're a shareholder in either company, please let me know how you feel, and how you're leaning, either by commenting in this blog, or via an e-mail (scott.budman@nbc.com)

Are you ready to say yes, or gearing up for a fight?

Genentech Vs. Breast Cancer

As blogged about here earlier today, it's a big day in the fight against breast cancer.
We just learned that Genentech's Avastin drug, already used to fight some cancers, has now been approved, by the FDA, to treat breast cancer.

Breast cancer advocates are very happy about the decision, which helps to clear the way for another weapon in the battle against breast cancer .. and also puts money into the pockets of Genentech (DNA) investors. Already a big money-maker for the company, Avastin now has another big market to try & conquer.

There's still a ways to go before Avastin can prove that it's a sure-shot way to beat breast cancer, but today's FDA ruling means it's well on its way .. we'll keep you posted as the Bay Area's biggest biotech company continues to do well, by doing good.

DNA-Day for Breast Cancer?

Today, a very cool video-game related story for you, and something else, far more important.

We're waiting on the FDA's decision as to whether Avastin, already a billion-dollar drug for Genentech (DNA) of San Francisco, can also be used in the fight against breast cancer.

We'll let you know, in this space, and on the air at 5 & 6, what the FDA decides.

Video Game Feedback

The Silicon Valley loves vesting, but this takes it to a new level.

I just got back from the Game Developer's Conference, and one of the coolest things we saw was a new way to get video game force feedback .. not a mouse ot joystick, this is a vest you wear, that will really bring you the feeling of the game.

Admittedly, this will work best for fighting or shooting games, and some people avoid those. But if you've already got 'em, the vest from TN Games will enhance your playing in a serious, feel-the-action kind of way.

The vest, developed by a vascular surgeon, is available online now (at www.tngames.com) .. soon to gbet more mainstream distribution.

If you get a chance to give it a try .. it'll make your gaming experience more realistic .. a real kick in the chest.

The Digital Present

It's coming .. one year from now.
The TV signal piped into your home will be digital, and you're going to have to be ready.

My guess is, if you're reading this blog (and thank you, by the way), you're already hip to the digital changeover .. if not, here are some simple facts:

The changeover is not an expensive one .. I know (firsthand) how tempting and intimidating it can be at the same time to cruise through a Best Buy or Circuit City and see all the cool thin, HD plasma screens that can cost thousands of dollars. Truth is, you don't have to spend a lot of money to upgrade your set .. today, we saw digital TV sets for $150. If you want more, it's there, but it's not necessary to take out a second mortgage to join the digital TV revolution.

I'll be blogging more about this, and what we all need to do to keep up. Just be assured, it doesn't take a huge amount of money. You may need a new set (or at least an adapter - for sale now, by the way), and a little tweaking of your cable or satellite systems.

We'll keep you posted, as the changeover gets closer.

Movies & Robots

If this was a movie, you could call it "Rise of the Machines."

It's actually a story about the company that sends out nearly two million DVDs a day .. Netflix. Long known as a software company, Netflix recently created some of its own hardware to better sort its vast library of DVDs, and get them in the mail faster.

We got the very first look inside the Netflix Sunnyvale sorting center, where people have been (largely) replaced by robots. Extremely cool, high-tech robots. They can sort and prepare the DVDs almost four times as fast as people. That's good for Netflix's bottom line, its shareholders, and its subscribers, who get the DVDs mailed faster.

Netflix is not entirely giving up on the human touch .. you'll still see some people in the sorting center. Their voices, however, are drowned out by the hum of robots, who don't need a break, and who work extremely fast.

Well show you how they work, tonight at 6 o'clock.

High Tech In The Hospital

We just got back from Valley Medical Center, where they're taking technology that we take for granted every day, and doing something extraordinary with it.

The hospital rooms inside the trauma center are small .. as one patient told me, the only things that change are the clock and the television set. But thanks to something as basic as a laptop computer, and a wifi network, patients can now travel, virtually, to the outside world.

Dorothy Hushing-Kline is a 16-year old patient at VMC. A drunk driver hit her car on january 18, leaving her with a severe brain injury, and a family struggling to cope. Her recovery is remarkable, and today she goes home, two weeks early. The fact that she's been able to communicate with her family and friends every day is thanks to VMC's wifi network, and a computer that was donated.

In fact, Dorothy's mom says as soon as Dorothy started to communicate via her laptop, her mood changed, and her brain started functioning better by the day. Her laptop was not only a window to the world .. it was a way to help her recover, and got home.

Yahoo's Next Move?

It seemed like a good idea at the time .. but now Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's proposal to buy it for 44.6 billion dollars.

Is this a stall tactic? It wouldn't be the first. With most contract negotiations, there is a first offer, a coy denial, and, eventually, a compromise with a handshake. Not sure how eager Yahoo and Microsoft are to shake hands, but at some point, a deal seems to to be coming.

How do we know this? The markets. Yahoo stock did not fall when it rejected the deal that boosted said stock price by 50 percent. That means Wall Street is confident Yahoo make actually get a better offer. Microsoft stock is still slipping .. perhaps the consensus is that the Redmond Giant will come up with a better offer.

Meanwhile, there is also talk of some sort of a Yahoo/AOL tie-up. This would give Yahoo even more coveted "eyeballs," but would that put a dent in Google's armor?

We'll follow developments as they happen today, and keep you in the loop.

Do You TiVo?

We all know people who fire up the DVR during the Super Bowl .. after all, it's not just the great plays people re-watch .. we now know yesterday was the day to check out clever commercials.

And TiVo (TIVO on the Nasdaq) knows what you watched .. and what you re-watched.

According to the Alviso based company, the E-Trade ad with the baby investor was the #1 rated spot during the big game. Good for E-Trade. It's been a horrible year. So bad, in fact, that when I saw the baby ad, I could only think of the fact that this is a company that lost billions of dollars over the last three months .. and it's buying a Super Bowl ad?

But, that's just the business reporter in me. Today we head over to TiVo, to figure out how the magic happens that this company knows all of our TV watching habits.

We'll show you at 5 & 6.

YahooSoft?

This is the story we'll be covering all day today ..
Microsoft, admitting that it's been coming up short in the search department, making a hostile bid for Yahoo!, to the tune of 44.6 Billion dollars.

Wow.

This is a direct shot at Google, which has been vexing both Microsoft and Yahoo! for years.
Can this combination work? It seems to make sense, what with Microsoft needing the search Yahoo! has, and Yahoo! needing the stability that Microsoft has.

We'll be asking around the Silicon Valley to see what people think .. the guess here is that this merger will eventually go through, but not without some pain - think legal antitrust concerns, maybe Yahoo! looking for a sweeter deal, etc.

And Google? Silent so far this morning .. still licking its own wounds after a weaker-than-expected earning report from last night.