Forget microchips. Silicon Valley sees a profitable future in the humble brick thanks to a low-energy production process that illustrates the greening of the US technology capital.
Brick maker Calstar Products is backed by venture capitalists whose vision is to create buildings less expensively and in a way that saves energy. “We think it is time for a second industrial revolution,” said Paul Holland, a partner at Foundation Capital, which invested $7 million in Calstar. EnerTech Capital led another round that raised $8 million for the business.
Currently about 40% of US energy use goes toward the heating, cooling and general operation of buildings. Silicon Valley is finding high-tech ways to make ageold materials, pursuing carbon dioxide-eating concrete, windows that insulate better than walls, and wood substitutes.
The field is still new. Venture investments in green buildings have waxed and waned with the recession, but involved 45 deals worth about $350 million the past year, according to Cleantech Group LLC.
Bricks have been made pretty much the same way for 3,000 years, until Calstar’s scientists came up with their new technique, said Chief Executive Michael Kane. Ordinary bricks are fired for 24 hours at 1,100°C as part of a process that can last a week, while Calstar bricks are baked at temperatures below 100°C and take only 10 hours from start to finish, Kane said.
Lower energy costs mean higher profit, allowing the company to pay for its research and compete against large companies that have economies of scale. The new bricks — which the Brick Industry Association says are not actually bricks — will sell for the same price as traditional claybased ones.
Agencies
Showing posts with label Silicon Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Silicon Valley. Show all posts
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Oracle won't divest Sun's hardware business, assures Ellison
Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said he won't sell off Sun Microsystems Inc's hardware business, dispelling speculation that he only wanted the company for its software units.
Ellison shook up Silicon Valley last month by sealing a more than $7 billion deal to buy Sun, the world's No 4 maker of server computers and also the developer of Java and Solaris software. Oracle unexpectedly swooped in after Sun's talks with International Business Machines Corp broke apart.
"We are definitely not going to exit the hardware business," Ellison said in an email interview with Reuters. "If a company designs both hardware and software, it can build much better systems than if they only design the software. That's why Apple's iPhone is so much better than Microsoft phones."
His comments fly in the face of the belief of some analysts that Oracle, the world's largest database software maker, may divest Sun's server business and retain just its software assets, such as Java and Solaris.
Oracle's steadily rising profit margins have impressed Wall Street in recent years, and analysts say it is a risky move for it to buy Sun, which has lost $2 billion in the first three quarters of its current fiscal year.
Ellison declined to respond to a question on what he would do if efforts to turn around Sun's computer server business run into trouble. Sun's losses have piled up after losing market share to IBM as well as Hewlett-Packard Co.
His comments may reassure businesses that were hesitant to buy Sun hardware due to uncertainty over its future, said Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT Research.
"There has been some speculation that Oracle is going to auction off Sun by bits and pieces to the highest bidder," King said. "You end up with customers, many of whom own millions or tens of millions of dollars of Sun hardware, looking for another vendor to deal with."
INVESTING IN SPARC CHIPS
Ellison said he plans to boost investment in Sun's SPARC microprocessors, which serve as the brains in its line of high-end Unix computers. The biggest buyers of these servers are large corporations and government agencies.
He believes that by jointly developing Oracle's existing arsenal of software with Sun's computers and SPARC chips, they can build machines designed for specific purposes that work better than ones pulled together from separate components.
Oracle has sought to do this in the past through partnerships with hardware makers, including HP.
"Once we own Sun, we'll be able to plan and synchronize new features from silicon to software, just like IBM and the other big system suppliers," Ellison said in the interview.
Oracle plans to work with Japan's Fujitsu Ltd, which helps Sun design its SPARC microprocessors, to add new features that will improve the performance of Oracle's database software when used on Sun's servers. That will make Sun hardware more competitive versus rival products from IBM than it is today, the CEO added.
The acquisition makes Oracle the world's fourth-largest maker of servers, and puts the software maker into the No. 2 slot in the high end of the server market, which was worth about $17 billion last year.
STORAGE
Ellison also said he intends to hold on to Sun's data storage business and its tape backup unit, which compete with EMC Corp and IBM.
"Sun was very successful for a very long time selling computer systems based on the SPARC chip and the Solaris operating system," he said. "Now, with the added power of integrated Oracle software, we think they can be again."
Sun rose to prominence in the 1990s but never fully recovered from the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, when demand for its high-end servers cratered.
Laura DiDio, an analyst with ITIC, said Oracle may be able to help Sun recapture the cache it once claimed as one of the world's most-respected technology companies.
"Sun has three decades and billions of dollars in investment in superlative hardware. They have some brilliant engineers," she said. "But Sun's marketing has not matched its technology. Larry Ellison is brilliant at marketing."
Agencies
Ellison shook up Silicon Valley last month by sealing a more than $7 billion deal to buy Sun, the world's No 4 maker of server computers and also the developer of Java and Solaris software. Oracle unexpectedly swooped in after Sun's talks with International Business Machines Corp broke apart.
"We are definitely not going to exit the hardware business," Ellison said in an email interview with Reuters. "If a company designs both hardware and software, it can build much better systems than if they only design the software. That's why Apple's iPhone is so much better than Microsoft phones."
His comments fly in the face of the belief of some analysts that Oracle, the world's largest database software maker, may divest Sun's server business and retain just its software assets, such as Java and Solaris.
Oracle's steadily rising profit margins have impressed Wall Street in recent years, and analysts say it is a risky move for it to buy Sun, which has lost $2 billion in the first three quarters of its current fiscal year.
Ellison declined to respond to a question on what he would do if efforts to turn around Sun's computer server business run into trouble. Sun's losses have piled up after losing market share to IBM as well as Hewlett-Packard Co.
His comments may reassure businesses that were hesitant to buy Sun hardware due to uncertainty over its future, said Charles King, an analyst with Pund-IT Research.
"There has been some speculation that Oracle is going to auction off Sun by bits and pieces to the highest bidder," King said. "You end up with customers, many of whom own millions or tens of millions of dollars of Sun hardware, looking for another vendor to deal with."
INVESTING IN SPARC CHIPS
Ellison said he plans to boost investment in Sun's SPARC microprocessors, which serve as the brains in its line of high-end Unix computers. The biggest buyers of these servers are large corporations and government agencies.
He believes that by jointly developing Oracle's existing arsenal of software with Sun's computers and SPARC chips, they can build machines designed for specific purposes that work better than ones pulled together from separate components.
Oracle has sought to do this in the past through partnerships with hardware makers, including HP.
"Once we own Sun, we'll be able to plan and synchronize new features from silicon to software, just like IBM and the other big system suppliers," Ellison said in the interview.
Oracle plans to work with Japan's Fujitsu Ltd, which helps Sun design its SPARC microprocessors, to add new features that will improve the performance of Oracle's database software when used on Sun's servers. That will make Sun hardware more competitive versus rival products from IBM than it is today, the CEO added.
The acquisition makes Oracle the world's fourth-largest maker of servers, and puts the software maker into the No. 2 slot in the high end of the server market, which was worth about $17 billion last year.
STORAGE
Ellison also said he intends to hold on to Sun's data storage business and its tape backup unit, which compete with EMC Corp and IBM.
"Sun was very successful for a very long time selling computer systems based on the SPARC chip and the Solaris operating system," he said. "Now, with the added power of integrated Oracle software, we think they can be again."
Sun rose to prominence in the 1990s but never fully recovered from the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, when demand for its high-end servers cratered.
Laura DiDio, an analyst with ITIC, said Oracle may be able to help Sun recapture the cache it once claimed as one of the world's most-respected technology companies.
"Sun has three decades and billions of dollars in investment in superlative hardware. They have some brilliant engineers," she said. "But Sun's marketing has not matched its technology. Larry Ellison is brilliant at marketing."
Agencies
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Has IBM pulled out of $7b offer for Sun Microsystems?
IBM withdrew its $7 billion bid for Sun Microsystems on Sunday, a day after Sun’s board balked at a reduced offer, according to three people close to the talks.
The deal’s collapse after weeks of negotiations raises questions about Sun’s next step, since the IBM offer was far above the value of the Silicon Valley company’s shares when news of the IBM offer first surfaced last month. Sun, an innovative pioneer in computer workstations, servers and Internetera software, has struggled in recent years and spent months trying to secure a suitor. With IBM and others shying away from a deal, a bruised Sun could be forced to continue pursuing a solo business model whose prospects have been questioned by many analysts.
After the legal review, IBM shaved its offer on Saturday from $9.55 a share, the proposal on the table late last week, to $9.40 a share, said one person familiar with the talks. The offer was presented to Sun’s board on Saturday, and the board balked. The Sun board did not reject the offer outright, but wanted certain guarantees that the IBM side considered “onerous,” according to that person. Sun then said it would no longer abide by its exclusive negotiating agreement with IBM, a second person familiar with the discussions said. On Sunday, IBM’s board decided to withdraw the offer.
The breakdown in the talks, said the second person close to the negotiations, came over the shifting balance of price and conditions for the deal.
For example, IBM scrutinized the “change of control” contracts with Sun executives, senior engineers and managers. IBM felt that the payments to senior employees were higher and extended more broadly across the company than it had anticipated. IBM pointed to the change of control contracts as one reason it was reducing its offer price.
The breakup of the deal, analysts say, is a blow to Sun’s prospects. “For IBM, given its size, this was never a transformational deal,” said A M Sacconaghi, an analyst for the investment research firm Sanford C Bernstein.
“But in Sun’s case, it’s an extremely material event.” “This leaves Sun in a tough situation,” Sacconaghi added. “Sun was on a path to selling itself, and this will inevitably raise questions in customers’ minds, no matter what Sun says, about its commitment to a go-it-alone strategy.”
Sun was most concerned about securing tighter provisions to restrict IBM’s ability to walk away from the deal.
Whether the IBM decision amounts to a negotiating tactic to get agreement on the final sticking points is unclear. Though the offer is off the table for now, the two sides could resume bargaining if Sun’s share price drops from its $8.49 close on Friday and major investors pressure the company to come to an agreement. “There’s lots of testosterone going back and forth,” said a third person familiar with the discussions. All three people who discussed the deal would speak only on condition of anonymity because details of the merger talks are confidential.
Agencies
The deal’s collapse after weeks of negotiations raises questions about Sun’s next step, since the IBM offer was far above the value of the Silicon Valley company’s shares when news of the IBM offer first surfaced last month. Sun, an innovative pioneer in computer workstations, servers and Internetera software, has struggled in recent years and spent months trying to secure a suitor. With IBM and others shying away from a deal, a bruised Sun could be forced to continue pursuing a solo business model whose prospects have been questioned by many analysts.
After the legal review, IBM shaved its offer on Saturday from $9.55 a share, the proposal on the table late last week, to $9.40 a share, said one person familiar with the talks. The offer was presented to Sun’s board on Saturday, and the board balked. The Sun board did not reject the offer outright, but wanted certain guarantees that the IBM side considered “onerous,” according to that person. Sun then said it would no longer abide by its exclusive negotiating agreement with IBM, a second person familiar with the discussions said. On Sunday, IBM’s board decided to withdraw the offer.
The breakdown in the talks, said the second person close to the negotiations, came over the shifting balance of price and conditions for the deal.
For example, IBM scrutinized the “change of control” contracts with Sun executives, senior engineers and managers. IBM felt that the payments to senior employees were higher and extended more broadly across the company than it had anticipated. IBM pointed to the change of control contracts as one reason it was reducing its offer price.
The breakup of the deal, analysts say, is a blow to Sun’s prospects. “For IBM, given its size, this was never a transformational deal,” said A M Sacconaghi, an analyst for the investment research firm Sanford C Bernstein.
“But in Sun’s case, it’s an extremely material event.” “This leaves Sun in a tough situation,” Sacconaghi added. “Sun was on a path to selling itself, and this will inevitably raise questions in customers’ minds, no matter what Sun says, about its commitment to a go-it-alone strategy.”
Sun was most concerned about securing tighter provisions to restrict IBM’s ability to walk away from the deal.
Whether the IBM decision amounts to a negotiating tactic to get agreement on the final sticking points is unclear. Though the offer is off the table for now, the two sides could resume bargaining if Sun’s share price drops from its $8.49 close on Friday and major investors pressure the company to come to an agreement. “There’s lots of testosterone going back and forth,” said a third person familiar with the discussions. All three people who discussed the deal would speak only on condition of anonymity because details of the merger talks are confidential.
Agencies
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Yahoo CEO ushers out CFO in executive shake-up
After spending six weeks diagnosing Yahoo Inc.'s troubles, new Chief Executive Carol Bartz started to prescribe a cure on Thursday with a management shake-up that will usher out the Internet company's chief financial officer.
Besides pushing CFO Blake Jorgensen out the door, the overhaul will expand the responsibilities of Yahoo's chief technology officer, Ari Balogh, and the company's top advertising executive in the United States, Hilary Schneider.
Bartz also created two jobs: a chief marketing officer and her own chief of staff.
Elisa Steele, who has been working at NetApp Inc., will join Yahoo as chief marketing officer on March 23, while Joel Jones, a former McKinsey consultant who has been Yahoo's corporate strategist, becomes Bartz's chief of staff as of Thursday.
With the new pecking order, Bartz hopes to speed up Yahoo's decision-making and have a senior team that supports her strategy for turning around a company struggling with three years of declining profits _ a downturn that had battered its stock price well before the market's overall decline.
Although Bartz still hasn't specified how she intends to get Yahoo back on track, she has left no doubt about her resolve to recapture the Internet pioneer's glory days.
``I'm singularly focused on providing you with awesome products. Period,'' Bartz wrote in a blog posting Thursday addressed to Yahoo's 500 million worldwide users.
Yahoo's previous two CEOs, co-founder Jerry Yang and former movie studio mogul Terry Semel, also attempted to revive Yahoo in recent years by reshuffling executives, but those moves never paid off. Bartz's reorganization is meant to last two to four years.
Investors appear to be betting that Bartz will deliver on her promises. Yahoo shares gained 50 cents, or 4 percent, to close Thursday at $12.98.
Yahoo hired Bartz, 60, last month to replace Yang, who exasperated many investors and employees with his wishy-washy management style. Yang also infuriated stockholders last year by turning down an opportunity to sell Yahoo to rival Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, well above the price of $19.18 just before the software maker announced its initial bid.
Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has repeatedly said he no longer wants to buy Yahoo in its entirety, he has indicated he still wants to explore a possible partnership that would involve Yahoo's online search engine, the second most popular behind that of Google Inc.
Bartz so far has been lukewarm to the idea in her public remarks, but Jorgensen expressed an interest in working with Microsoft in a Wednesday presentation at an investor conference.
In a Thursday research note, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth said he didn't consider Jorgensen's departure a sign Yahoo is any less interested in working with Microsoft.
But Anmuth wondered about the wisdom of letting Jorgensen go, given that Bartz came to Yahoo without any previous Internet experience. Jorgensen also was somewhat of a novice, having joined Yahoo in June 2007, but Anmuth thought he would at least provide Yahoo some stability.
Jorgensen will remain CFO until Bartz can find replacement. His departure isn't a total shock because he was an ally of former Yahoo President Susan Decker, who resigned last month after Bartz beat her out for the CEO job.
But Jorgensen provided no inkling he might be headed out the door when he met with USB analyst Benjamin Schachter earlier this week, Schachter wrote in a Thursday note.
``While we were fans of Blake, Bartz is clearly going to be leading the charge here,'' Schachter wrote.
Jorgensen is paid a salary of $500,000, according to Yahoo's most recent disclosures about executive compensation. The terms of his severance package weren't disclosed Thursday.
Besides changing CFOs, Yahoo also appointed a new leader to expand its service on to mobile devices. David Ko, already part of the mobile team, was promoted to the top job in the division to replace Marco Boerries, who is leaving the company after a four-year stint.
Bartz mainly wants to root out bureaucracy with her new chain of command.
``People here have impressed the hell out of me,'' Bartz wrote Thursday. ``They're smart, dedicated, passionate, driven, and really nice. There's so much great energy and frankly lots of optimism. But there's also plenty that has bogged this company down. For starters, you'd be amazed at how complicated some things are here.''
In hopes of simplifying things, Bartz is placing all of Yahoo's products under Balogh, who joined the company a year ago. The shift appears to lessen the authority of Ash Patel, who had been overseeing most of Yahoo's products.
Schneider's job is being expanded to include oversight of advertisers and partners in Canada, not just the United States. Bartz intends to hire another executive to steer Yahoo's advertising relationships in Mexico and overseas.
Finally, Yahoo is creating a new division to handle complaints from frustrated users and advertising customers.
Agencies
Besides pushing CFO Blake Jorgensen out the door, the overhaul will expand the responsibilities of Yahoo's chief technology officer, Ari Balogh, and the company's top advertising executive in the United States, Hilary Schneider.
Bartz also created two jobs: a chief marketing officer and her own chief of staff.
Elisa Steele, who has been working at NetApp Inc., will join Yahoo as chief marketing officer on March 23, while Joel Jones, a former McKinsey consultant who has been Yahoo's corporate strategist, becomes Bartz's chief of staff as of Thursday.
With the new pecking order, Bartz hopes to speed up Yahoo's decision-making and have a senior team that supports her strategy for turning around a company struggling with three years of declining profits _ a downturn that had battered its stock price well before the market's overall decline.
Although Bartz still hasn't specified how she intends to get Yahoo back on track, she has left no doubt about her resolve to recapture the Internet pioneer's glory days.
``I'm singularly focused on providing you with awesome products. Period,'' Bartz wrote in a blog posting Thursday addressed to Yahoo's 500 million worldwide users.
Yahoo's previous two CEOs, co-founder Jerry Yang and former movie studio mogul Terry Semel, also attempted to revive Yahoo in recent years by reshuffling executives, but those moves never paid off. Bartz's reorganization is meant to last two to four years.
Investors appear to be betting that Bartz will deliver on her promises. Yahoo shares gained 50 cents, or 4 percent, to close Thursday at $12.98.
Yahoo hired Bartz, 60, last month to replace Yang, who exasperated many investors and employees with his wishy-washy management style. Yang also infuriated stockholders last year by turning down an opportunity to sell Yahoo to rival Microsoft Corp. for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, well above the price of $19.18 just before the software maker announced its initial bid.
Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has repeatedly said he no longer wants to buy Yahoo in its entirety, he has indicated he still wants to explore a possible partnership that would involve Yahoo's online search engine, the second most popular behind that of Google Inc.
Bartz so far has been lukewarm to the idea in her public remarks, but Jorgensen expressed an interest in working with Microsoft in a Wednesday presentation at an investor conference.
In a Thursday research note, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth said he didn't consider Jorgensen's departure a sign Yahoo is any less interested in working with Microsoft.
But Anmuth wondered about the wisdom of letting Jorgensen go, given that Bartz came to Yahoo without any previous Internet experience. Jorgensen also was somewhat of a novice, having joined Yahoo in June 2007, but Anmuth thought he would at least provide Yahoo some stability.
Jorgensen will remain CFO until Bartz can find replacement. His departure isn't a total shock because he was an ally of former Yahoo President Susan Decker, who resigned last month after Bartz beat her out for the CEO job.
But Jorgensen provided no inkling he might be headed out the door when he met with USB analyst Benjamin Schachter earlier this week, Schachter wrote in a Thursday note.
``While we were fans of Blake, Bartz is clearly going to be leading the charge here,'' Schachter wrote.
Jorgensen is paid a salary of $500,000, according to Yahoo's most recent disclosures about executive compensation. The terms of his severance package weren't disclosed Thursday.
Besides changing CFOs, Yahoo also appointed a new leader to expand its service on to mobile devices. David Ko, already part of the mobile team, was promoted to the top job in the division to replace Marco Boerries, who is leaving the company after a four-year stint.
Bartz mainly wants to root out bureaucracy with her new chain of command.
``People here have impressed the hell out of me,'' Bartz wrote Thursday. ``They're smart, dedicated, passionate, driven, and really nice. There's so much great energy and frankly lots of optimism. But there's also plenty that has bogged this company down. For starters, you'd be amazed at how complicated some things are here.''
In hopes of simplifying things, Bartz is placing all of Yahoo's products under Balogh, who joined the company a year ago. The shift appears to lessen the authority of Ash Patel, who had been overseeing most of Yahoo's products.
Schneider's job is being expanded to include oversight of advertisers and partners in Canada, not just the United States. Bartz intends to hire another executive to steer Yahoo's advertising relationships in Mexico and overseas.
Finally, Yahoo is creating a new division to handle complaints from frustrated users and advertising customers.
Agencies
Friday, January 23, 2009
Intel to shut sites in Malaysia, Philippines; To layoff 6,000 jobs
Intel Corp said on Wednesday it would close manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as its only remaining factory in Silicon Valley, cutting as many as 6,000 jobs.
The announcement comes a day after the world's largest maker of microprocessors used in personal computers slashed prices on a number of its chips and a week after it reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue.
Intel said it would close two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia, and one in Cavite, Philippines.
It will also halt production at a wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, as well as its Santa Clara, California plant -- a factory connected to its headquarters and the only one left in Silicon Valley.
The actions will result in a reduction of 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, Intel said. It ended 2008 with around 84,000 employees.
Not all cuts at the affected plants will lead to job losses and some workers will be offered positions at other facilities, it said, adding that the restructuring will take place between now and the end of 2009.
"It's not a surprise given that their first quarter is probably going to be challenging, and they're trying to do what they can to cut costs in places that make sense," said Taunya Sell, an analyst at Ragen Mackenzie, a division of Wells Fargo.
Intel said it was not halting production at any of its more advanced factories.
Intel shares rose about 1 percent to $13.40 in after-hours trading, after rising 3.11 percent to close at $13.26 on the Nasdaq stock market.
Last week, Intel said its fourth-quarter revenue fell 23 percent from the year-ago period and profit tumbled 90 percent. It also held back on giving detailed quarterly forecasts, citing economic uncertainty.
Analysts have been wary about Intel's outlook for the year as chip sales slide. PC makers and other technology companies have been trimming inventory and cutting back on purchases.
Intel also faces competition from new, cheaper chips made by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N).
On Tuesday, Intel said it was lowering prices on some of its processors, including price cuts of up to 40 percent on some of its higher-powered, faster quad-core chips.
AMD said earlier this month that it expected to post additional restructuring charges for fiscal 2008 and 2009.
Agencies
The announcement comes a day after the world's largest maker of microprocessors used in personal computers slashed prices on a number of its chips and a week after it reported a decline in fourth-quarter revenue.
Intel said it would close two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia, and one in Cavite, Philippines.
It will also halt production at a wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, as well as its Santa Clara, California plant -- a factory connected to its headquarters and the only one left in Silicon Valley.
The actions will result in a reduction of 5,000 to 6,000 jobs, Intel said. It ended 2008 with around 84,000 employees.
Not all cuts at the affected plants will lead to job losses and some workers will be offered positions at other facilities, it said, adding that the restructuring will take place between now and the end of 2009.
"It's not a surprise given that their first quarter is probably going to be challenging, and they're trying to do what they can to cut costs in places that make sense," said Taunya Sell, an analyst at Ragen Mackenzie, a division of Wells Fargo.
Intel said it was not halting production at any of its more advanced factories.
Intel shares rose about 1 percent to $13.40 in after-hours trading, after rising 3.11 percent to close at $13.26 on the Nasdaq stock market.
Last week, Intel said its fourth-quarter revenue fell 23 percent from the year-ago period and profit tumbled 90 percent. It also held back on giving detailed quarterly forecasts, citing economic uncertainty.
Analysts have been wary about Intel's outlook for the year as chip sales slide. PC makers and other technology companies have been trimming inventory and cutting back on purchases.
Intel also faces competition from new, cheaper chips made by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N).
On Tuesday, Intel said it was lowering prices on some of its processors, including price cuts of up to 40 percent on some of its higher-powered, faster quad-core chips.
AMD said earlier this month that it expected to post additional restructuring charges for fiscal 2008 and 2009.
Agencies
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Yahoo to sack 1,500 workforce in high-cost markets; while hire in India
Yahoo Inc will tell 1,500 employees on Wednesday they are losing their jobs, after announcing in October that layoffs would occur by year's end, a person familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
The expected date of the announcement and some details were reported this week by All Things Digital, a blog covering Silicon Valley. The layoffs will hit hardest in the labor-intensive areas of human resources and finance.
The blog had speculated the layoffs would affect more than 1,500 people, or about 10 percent of Yahoo's workforce, and the source said the number has not changed.
Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said in October Yahoo would be prepared to cut jobs and other expenses further in 2009 if the economy continued to deteriorate.
Yahoo will cut its workforce in high-cost markets and hire aggressively in lower-cost locales such as Eastern Europe, India and Southeast Asia, the company has said.
The highest-profile personnel change has not yet occurred. Chief Executive Jerry Yang said in November he would leave the company, after facing strong criticism for his leadership. That change will take effect when a replacement is named.
Source; Agencies
The expected date of the announcement and some details were reported this week by All Things Digital, a blog covering Silicon Valley. The layoffs will hit hardest in the labor-intensive areas of human resources and finance.
The blog had speculated the layoffs would affect more than 1,500 people, or about 10 percent of Yahoo's workforce, and the source said the number has not changed.
Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said in October Yahoo would be prepared to cut jobs and other expenses further in 2009 if the economy continued to deteriorate.
Yahoo will cut its workforce in high-cost markets and hire aggressively in lower-cost locales such as Eastern Europe, India and Southeast Asia, the company has said.
The highest-profile personnel change has not yet occurred. Chief Executive Jerry Yang said in November he would leave the company, after facing strong criticism for his leadership. That change will take effect when a replacement is named.
Source; Agencies
Has recession hits jobs in Silicon Valley?
Young professionals and recent graduates have struggled to find work in a sliding economy, but one area — Silicon Valley — has been relatively immune. Until now. Silicon Valley companies that initially resisted the swooning of the economy are looking to cut costs and shed entry-level positions, and people in their 20’s are finding a college degree is no longer their golden ticket to a dream job in high tech.
“I feel like I put in all the work (in school) to not have a job,’’ said Jillian Crawford, 25, who’s been looking for a marketing job with a tech company since she graduated with honors from San Jose State University in June. Crawford has applied to about 25 marketing jobs without receiving much of a response from employers. She remains committed to finding a job in Silicon Valley and would be dismayed if she had to look elsewhere.
That may not be easy
Silicon Valley has been hit hard by the global economic crisis as tech companies, including Hewlett Packard, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials have shed 140,000 jobs in the last few months, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a consulting group.
Instead, employers are putting an increased value on experience and tenure, something recent graduates lack. And many companies are moving seasoned employees around to fill open positions rather than add another person to the payroll, according to Kerry Kiley, Bay Area regional manager for employment firm Adecco.
“Things out there are very, very tough right now and seem to be getting tougher before they’re getting better — even for the educated,’’ she said. Only engineers buck the trend. It has been tough for Crawford. She moved back home with her parents a little over a month ago to save money while searching for a job.“I was thinking (it would take) maybe a couple weeks, maybe three weeks, before finding a job I was really interested in,’’ said Crawford. “I am completely still shocked at how long it’s taken.’’
Source; Agencies
“I feel like I put in all the work (in school) to not have a job,’’ said Jillian Crawford, 25, who’s been looking for a marketing job with a tech company since she graduated with honors from San Jose State University in June. Crawford has applied to about 25 marketing jobs without receiving much of a response from employers. She remains committed to finding a job in Silicon Valley and would be dismayed if she had to look elsewhere.
That may not be easy
Silicon Valley has been hit hard by the global economic crisis as tech companies, including Hewlett Packard, Yahoo, Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials have shed 140,000 jobs in the last few months, according to Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a consulting group.
Instead, employers are putting an increased value on experience and tenure, something recent graduates lack. And many companies are moving seasoned employees around to fill open positions rather than add another person to the payroll, according to Kerry Kiley, Bay Area regional manager for employment firm Adecco.
“Things out there are very, very tough right now and seem to be getting tougher before they’re getting better — even for the educated,’’ she said. Only engineers buck the trend. It has been tough for Crawford. She moved back home with her parents a little over a month ago to save money while searching for a job.“I was thinking (it would take) maybe a couple weeks, maybe three weeks, before finding a job I was really interested in,’’ said Crawford. “I am completely still shocked at how long it’s taken.’’
Source; Agencies
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Billionth mark for Logitech mouse
Even as the discussions are on whether the technology called 'mouse', which is celebrating its birthday on next Wednesday (December 10), would soon be an extinct species in another couple of years, leading mouse manufacturer Logitech announced that it has shipped its billionth mouse.
"We've just done something that makes us all very proud at Logitech – we've shipped our one billionth mouse. How cool is that!?," read a blog posting by Rory Dooley, senior vice president, Control Devices, Logitech. "When all of this started for Logitech back in the early '80s, the mouse was primarily a tool for CAD (computer-aided design applications). Since then, the mouse has become something much more – it is truly the key to the kingdom – the device that unlocked the power of the computer."
He said the mouse opened up computing to the average person by providing a simple, intuitive way to interact with the computer.
Logitech has enthusiastically driven nearly every major innovation in mouse technology – persistently refining this ubiquitous interface between people and their digital experiences, said a press release.
With more than a billion people currently using computers worldwide and another billion expected to begin using computers by 2014, according to a report by analyst firm Gartner, Logitech continues to pursue compelling innovation to delight users of the next billion mice and input devices of the future, it said.
Founded in a farmhouse in Apples, Switzerland in 1981 and shortly thereafter establishing strong ties in Silicon Valley, Logitech introduced its first retail mouse in 1985 and reached the 100 millionth mouse mark in 1996, the company said.
"Since the first click of the Logitech P4 mouse in 1982, Logitech mice have played an indispensable role in the evolution of the personal computer," said Gerald P. Quindlen, Logitech president and chief executive officer.
"During the last few decades, the way people use computers has changed dramatically – what was once strictly a business tool has become highly integrated into our personal lives," he added.
Quindlen said Logitech has continually pursued innovations to meet those changing conditions, introducing – in the last five years alone – the world's first laser mouse, hyper-fast scrolling and the nano-receiver.
In celebration of its billionth mouse, Logitech is launching a worldwide contest that invites people to follow the travels of this notable mouse – from the manufacturing line to its final destination – and to try to figure out where in the world it will end up.
Logitech also said that the mouse's journey will be chronicled on Logitech's blog, Blogitech (blog.logitech.com).
"We've just done something that makes us all very proud at Logitech – we've shipped our one billionth mouse. How cool is that!?," read a blog posting by Rory Dooley, senior vice president, Control Devices, Logitech. "When all of this started for Logitech back in the early '80s, the mouse was primarily a tool for CAD (computer-aided design applications). Since then, the mouse has become something much more – it is truly the key to the kingdom – the device that unlocked the power of the computer."
He said the mouse opened up computing to the average person by providing a simple, intuitive way to interact with the computer.
Logitech has enthusiastically driven nearly every major innovation in mouse technology – persistently refining this ubiquitous interface between people and their digital experiences, said a press release.
With more than a billion people currently using computers worldwide and another billion expected to begin using computers by 2014, according to a report by analyst firm Gartner, Logitech continues to pursue compelling innovation to delight users of the next billion mice and input devices of the future, it said.
Founded in a farmhouse in Apples, Switzerland in 1981 and shortly thereafter establishing strong ties in Silicon Valley, Logitech introduced its first retail mouse in 1985 and reached the 100 millionth mouse mark in 1996, the company said.
"Since the first click of the Logitech P4 mouse in 1982, Logitech mice have played an indispensable role in the evolution of the personal computer," said Gerald P. Quindlen, Logitech president and chief executive officer.
"During the last few decades, the way people use computers has changed dramatically – what was once strictly a business tool has become highly integrated into our personal lives," he added.
Quindlen said Logitech has continually pursued innovations to meet those changing conditions, introducing – in the last five years alone – the world's first laser mouse, hyper-fast scrolling and the nano-receiver.
In celebration of its billionth mouse, Logitech is launching a worldwide contest that invites people to follow the travels of this notable mouse – from the manufacturing line to its final destination – and to try to figure out where in the world it will end up.
Logitech also said that the mouse's journey will be chronicled on Logitech's blog, Blogitech (blog.logitech.com).
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