Sony and Toshiba have failed to agree on a unified format for next-generation DVDs.
Talks have been suspended indefinitely between a group of companies led by Sony (SNE), which supports the Blu-ray format, and the Toshiba-led bloc, which backs the HD-DVD format. Sony's Blu-ray disks have a more sophisticated format and play back 25 GB of data compared with HD-DVD's 15, but are more expensive to produce.
Toshiba spokesman Junko Furuta acknowledged that a unified format did not look likely for the time being. Furuta also said the more sophisticated Blu-ray disks would be harder to adopt for use in laptop computers, as well as in car-navigation systems, also popular in Japan.
Both sides are already developing products that feature the respective DVD formats. Toshiba plans to roll out HD-DVD players by the end of this year, while Sony's game console PlayStation 3, which will play Blu-ray disks, is due out in spring 2006.
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Chat over chaat: Nokia has been awarded a $125 million contract to expand digital mobile networks for India's leading telecommunications company, Bharti Tele-Ventures, doubling its network capacity.
The world's biggest mobile-phone maker said the three-year contract includes Bharti's Airtel networks in the states of Maharashtra (including Goa and Bombay), Gujarat, Bihar and Orissa. It will also enable Airtel to cover more than 5,000 towns and villages across India, the world's largest cell-phone maker said.
Last year, Nokia signed a $275 million deal to supply equipment and managed services for Bharti, which has 13 million customers in India.
To meet growing regional demand, Nokia is increasingly turning its attention from Europe, where the mobile-phone market is reaching saturation levels, to the growing market in Asia. In April, it announced that Chennai in southeastern India would be the site for its new mobile-device manufacturing plant, which is expected to employ up to 2,000 people.
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Bargain bandwidth: Verizon Communications and Yahoo have teamed up to launch a cheaper high-speed internet service designed to compete against cable operators and dialup service providers.
For $15, subscribers will be able to download web pages over a digital subscriber line at speeds of up to 768 Kbps and upload data at 128 Kbps. The cheaper service, which requires a one-year contract and has a price hike after 12 months, offers Yahoo (YHOO) premium services, such as antivirus protection, on-demand music videos and unlimited photo storage, according to an advertisement on Yahoo's site.
When it comes to transmission speed, Verizon (VZ) is far behind SBC Communications (SBC), which launched a $15 DSL service with Yahoo in June. SBC transmits data at up to 1.5 Mbps, twice as fast as Verizon's.
Verizon will continue to offer faster DSL for higher prices. According to the ad on Yahoo's site, Verizon customers can pay between $20 and $38 to obtain transmission speeds comparable to SBC's.
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Fuel-economy taxonomy: The Bush administration proposed new fuel-economy standards for pickup trucks, minivans and some sport utility vehicles, calling upon automakers to make modest improvements to gas mileage amid rising prices at the pump.
The plan, announced by the Department of Transportation in Atlanta, would require the auto industry to raise standards for most vehicles other than cars beginning in 2008. All automakers would have to comply fully by 2011.
The program is expected to save about 10 billion gallons of gasoline, but does not apply to cars and the largest SUVs, such as the Hummer H2.
It was immediately criticized by environmentalists, who said the proposal would fail to reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil and create new loopholes that would weaken fuel-economy requirements. Automakers are currently required to maintain an average of 21 miles per gallon for light trucks, but will now be required to meet 22.2 mpg for the 2007 model year.
The proposal would change the method of calculating fuel-economy compliance, dividing light trucks into 6 categories based on size, with the smallest vehicles being required to get better gas mileage than larger trucks.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
