Here's the latest action:
Zune prunes -- Microsoft's Zune portable media player saw its revenue decrease by over $100 million, or 54 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Microsoft blames price cuts on the 30 gig model (you know, the one that had the massive failure) as well as a shrinking MP3 player market. Funny, iPod sales still went up during the same time period. mocoNews has more.
Yes. We (The tech industry). Can. -- Looks like the tech sector will get a piece of president Obama's $825 billion stimulus plan. Specifically, $20 billion is set to computerize medical records, $11 billion to update the electrical grid and $6 billion to expand high-speed internet access. Sorry, no bailouts for individual tech companies -- yet. The New York Times has more.
Sprint cuts 8,000 jobs -- The company hopes to reduce costs by about $1.2 billion. That Palm Pre can't come soon enough. CNNMoney has more.
The age of the $200 laptop -- The New York Times wonders if the $200 netbooks are breaking the business model for some tech companies, and forcing big players like Dell and HP to adapt. One firm thinks 35 million netbooks will be sold in 2009.
Get your iLife '09 tomorrow -- The consumer-focused software package for tasks like photo and movie editing will finally launch, making good on Apple's promise to have it out by the end of January. Read more at Apple.
BlackBerry Storm fails to take the world by storm -- The new smartphone from RIM offered by Verizon Wireless sold about 500,000 units since its late November launch, but that's way behind the 2.4 million iPhone 3Gs Apple sold during its first quarter release. Consumer complaints about the device also abound. The Wall Street Journal has more.
Garlinghouse gears up for his new gig -- The former senior vice president at Yahoo has teamed up with a former venture capitalist to start WithoutStripes. No word on what this venture will be yet. PEhub has more.
Conde Nast refocuses on digital -- The publisher previously had two web operations which will now be folded into one, run by digital exec Sarah Chubb. No layoffs are planned right now, as MediaMemo notes.
Philips axes 6,000 -- The consumer electronics company follows Sony in massive layoffs. Digital Daily has more.
Carol Bartz addresses the Yahoo troops -- The search giant's new chief executive has indicated that heads will roll if there are leaks to the press. Naturally, this was leaked to the press. BoomTown has it.
Gamervision raises another round -- The privately-held gaming information site and online community adds $3.5 million in a second round from private angel investors. This brings the site's total funding to $8.5 million.
Global Game Jam announced -- Gamers will gather in a variety of locations and build games in long "jam sessions." More on its site.