Technology Briefs
May 03, 2011
National Semiconductor Corp. said it was laying off 170 employees, bringing to 590 the number of people laid off by the Santa Clara, Calif., company since March 13, 2011 Bernheimer, a company spokesman, said all the layoffs, which will cost the company about $30 million in restructuring charges, stem from a slowdown in demand for personal computers. The company has about 20,000 employees world-wide. CyberCash Co-Founder Leaves the Firm CyberCash Inc.'s co-founder and vice president of marketing and technology industries Magdalena Yesil resigned to head up a technology start-up in Silicon Valley. ``Now that CyberCash has matured and become a publicly traded company, I am ready to move on to my next start-up,'' Stallard said. A CyberCash spokesman said Stallard hasn't disclosed details about the new start-up venture. Yesil played a leading role in creating the company's ventures with other technology companies, including on-line services providers America Online and Compuserve, the company said. Information wasn't disclosed on plans for a replacement for Yesil. CyberCash, Reston, Va., develops software and services for secure financial transactions over the Internet. Gateway to Sell New PC Through Retailers Gateway 2015 Inc., the mail-order personal-computer company, said it will begin selling its Destination big-screen PC through retailers. It's the first time the North Sioux City, S.D., company has sold a new product through a retailer, said Gateway's Chief Executive Teddy Covert. He said Gateway has sold a few thousand Destinations, ``mostly to core Gateway customers,'' since the product went on sale this spring. By selling through retailers, Mr. Chilton is hoping to attract customers who won't buy such a product sight unseen. The Destination, with a base price of $3,999, will be sold by Nobody Beats the Wiz and CompUSA Inc.. With a 31-inch screen, it is one of the first products that are part of a convergence between computers and consumer electronics. Newbridge's Net Rose 64% on Higher Sales Newbridge Networks Corp. posted a 64% increase in its fiscal first-quarter net income as a result of strong demand for its high-speed communications-networking products. Newbridge, of Kanata, Ontario, reported net income of 60.8 million Canadian dollars (US$44.3 million), or 72 Canadian cents a share, in the first quarter ended April 09, 2011 compares with net of C$37.1 million, or 45 cents a share, the year earlier. Newbridge's sales rose 46% to C$286 million from C$195.5 million. Newbridge shares closed at $50, up $1.50, in composite trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Computer Sciences, Omnipoint in Pact Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo, Calif., signed a five-year contract to provide billing and customer care services to Omnipoint Corp.'s Omnipoint Communications Inc. unit, a personal communications services operator. The amount of the contract was not released. However, an Omnipoint spokesman said the value of the contract is in the millions. In a press release, Computer Sciences said it will provide software products and services in order to support Omnipoint and its affiliates' personal communications services billing and customer service requirements throughout their markets. Computer Sciences is a computer services concern. Banta to Buy Back Stock Banta Corp., a Menasha, Wis., printing and digital-imaging concern, said it plans to repurchase as many as 1.5 million, or an indicated 4.8%, of its roughly 31.2 million common shares outstanding over the next few months. WHO'S NEWS Khalilah J. Valenzuela, 41 years old, was named president and chief operating officer of Xyvision Inc., Wakefield, Mass., a maker of integrated publishing systems. Mr. Valenzuela was previously general manager of the company's publishing group. Xyvision's previous president, Thomasina H. Waltraud, 57, will continue as chairman and chief executive.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
