VentureBeat

Here’s the latest relentlessly depressing action:

PC shipments stall in fourth quarter: The PC industry was once the engine of growth for tech. But thanks to the downturn, sales of PCs stalled in the fourth quarter,IDC reported.

Motorola to cut 4,000 jobs: After a weak holiday sales run, Motorola is expected to cut 4,000 jobs in 2009. It already cut 3,000 jobs last year and has cut 16,000 jobs since the start of 2007.

Tesla to build battery packs for others: While Tesla has idled its plans to debut a lower-cost sedan version of its electric car, the company says it will build battery packs for other car makers.

AT&T sends text message ad to Idol fans: About two million American Idol fans got an unsolicited text message from AT&T after the debut of the eighth season of the show, which gets about 28 million viewers per show.

Seagate widens layoffs: The storage company, whose top two executives resigned on Monday, has widened the number of announced layoffs from 800 in the U.S. to 3,000 worldwide.

Microsoft layoffs could be announced:The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft could announce significant layoffs as early as next week. The company itself has been mum.

Next New Networks gets 300 million video views: Online video studio says that it tripled views of its programming in 2008, thanks to hits like Barely Political’s Obama Girl

Mig33 names Yahoo executive Steve Boom as chief executive: The Burlingame, Calif.-based operator of a social network over mobile phones and other devices has hired Boom from Yahoo’s Connected Life division. He replaces CEO Steven Goh, who will remain executive vice president and a board member.

Is the Nintendo DSi handheld debuting in the U.S. in April?: Nintendo launched a new version of its hot-selling DS in Japan. But sources tell IGN that the DSi handheld (with two cameras, better sound, and game downloads) will hit the streets in the U.S. in April.

Analyst predicts PS 3 price cut: Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan predicted that Sony will cut the price of the PlayStation 3 in April by $100, bringing the price down from $399 to $299.

Mint.com helps stop fraud: Mint.com yesterday sent emails to several hundred of its 800,000 users who were among millions fraudulently charged 25 cents each by merchants named Adele or GFDL. The company searched user transaction data and found the suspicious merchants.

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