Nokia is trying its first non-phone mobile device, a handheld internet tablet for accessing the web around the home over a wireless broadband connection.
The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is based on Linux rather than the Symbian platform the company uses for "smart" cell phones or the mobile version of Microsoft's Windows. Nokia said it plans to publish the source code in hopes developers will write customized software for the device.
Priced at $350, the Internet Tablet is being positioned as an alternative to buying an extra personal computer or laptop for different rooms, providing a cheaper, quicker and less-cumbersome way to connect to the web.
While unique in terms of its handheld size, the Internet Tablet is the latest in a long line of attempts to create a so-called "internet appliance" -- a TV-like device providing easy access to the web for which the computing power of a PC is unnecessary.
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They shall be heard: A button worn by picketing actors at last week's E3 video-game trade show suggested they might pull the plug if they don't get a bigger share of the industry's huge profits. It read: "Game Over."
Voice actors have worked under a contract with game publishers since 1993. But now that video games generate nearly as much revenue as movie ticket sales, actors say they want a piece of every game sold rather than one-time, upfront fees.
The two actors' unions have sent ballots to their members working in video games asking for a strike authorization. The results are due in two weeks. If actors fail to support a strike by a significant margin, union officials will consider accepting the latest proposal from publishers or restarting talks.
Publishers have proposed raising overtime payments, limiting the number of voices that actors would be required to perform and agreeing to pay extra when a publisher uses a voice recording in another game.
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What now?: The chief executive of Qwest reiterated that the telephone company has ended its multibillion-dollar bid to acquire MCI and is now looking at alternatives ranging from partnerships to other acquisitions.
The announcement came less than a month after Qwest withdrew a $9.85 billion bid for MCI, leaving the long-distance company to pursue a lower-priced deal to be purchased by Verizon for just $8.54 billion in cash and stock.
Qwest, the dominant provider in 14 states, is looking to increase revenue and shrink its $17 billion debt. Qwest spent an estimated $5 million on the failed MCI bid.
Without that deal, Qwest may look to acquire a smaller telecommunications firm that has little debt.
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Quick cards: About 400,000 credit card holders in Georgia will be the first in the country to use a new technology that allows them to pay for items by waving their card near a terminal instead of swiping it through a machine.
Card maker JPMorgan estimates that the new technology will help shorten lines at businesses and help merchants reach more customers by speeding up credit card purchases.
In Atlanta, the cards will be accepted at hundreds of businesses starting next month, mostly at pharmacies, convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and movie theaters.
The "blink" card is like a traditional credit card except that the new cards don't have to be swiped through a machine, shaving a few seconds off a transaction. There is a radio frequency identification chip embedded inside it. When a customer brings his credit card within a couple of inches of the terminal, it lights up and beeps, and the transaction is captured.
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Compiled by David Cohn. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
