W3C members reached preliminary agreement on best practices for mobile Web content, the group announced Tues. The group -- consisting of mobile players like AOL, AT&T, Ericsson, France Telecom, Google, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, OpenWave Systems, Vodafone -- drafted Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, an industry guideline for Web-enabled mobile devices. The group invited comments on the draft before Feb. 17 and plans to make the agreement a focus of the W3C World Congress in Barcelona Feb. 14-16.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review for the antidumping (AD) duty order on carbazole violet pigment 23 from India with respect to the following exporter/producer and review period:
Video technology company Focus Enhancements said it received $10 million in funding from the sale of convertible notes to private investors. CEO Brett Moyer said the money “will enable us to complete” the development of Talaria Ultra Wideband technology and “fund general operating requirements to support our expected revenue growth of over 30% in 2006.” The growth “will be driven by the introduction of multiple new products as well as new and expanding customer relationships in our Semiconductor and Systems Businesses,” Moyer said. The company also announced preliminary results for its 4th quarter ended Dec. 31, saying it expects to report sales of about $6 million -- lower than the $7.5 million it previously estimated. But Focus said it expects to post a loss of only about 5 cents per share instead of the 6-7 cents previously estimated. Moyer said “timing issues impacted shipments of a new HD FireStore product for one of our key Systems Business partners” in the quarter. He also said the company’s semiconductor business is less dependent on one major customer now, noting that the FS454 semiconductor chip used mainly in Microsoft’s first Xbox console represented about 10% of its total revenue of $20 million in fiscal 2004 and 54% of its semiconductor revenue. The company said Microsoft “ceased placing significant orders for the FS454” and Focus “significantly diversified its customer base” since then. Focus also said it expects first half 2006 revenue to grow in semiconductors thanks to “increased sales of chips for Personal Media Players (PMP), resulting from our strong showing” at CES early this month, where its FS45X series of video processors were displayed in products from 121 manufacturers including Toshiba’s Gigabeat and DigiCube’s I-Station. The company also expects its Systems Business to be boosted by sales of its FireStore product line as it starts shipping 2 new HD FireStore products: The DR-HD100 to JVC and the FS-100 to Panasonic for use in their new HD camcorders.
VeriSign gave ICANN a “last, best offer” to settle a suit over the .com domain. Changes proposed to the pact were posted for public comment Sun., after a private conference call last week involving ICANN board members and staff and Verisign representatives (WID Jan 24 p8). The proposal shows significant changes from an Oct. version that irked some in the industry who said it raised antitrust concerns and expanded VeriSign’s preeminence in the space (WID Nov 30 p1). The debate sparked a hue and cry at ICANN’s year-end meeting in Vancouver, as well as lawsuits, Congressional attention and gripes to the Justice and Commerce Depts.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated a new shipper review for the antidumping (AD) duty order on honey from Argentina with respect to the following exporter/producer combination and review period:
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of brake rotors from China for the review period of April 1, 2004 through September 30, 2004.
The Washington File reports that a preliminary decision by a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel on the U.S. challenge of the European Union (EU) moratorium on approvals for crops derived from biotechnology is expected around February 1st. According to the Washington File, Argentina and Canada also joined the U.S. in challenging the EU moratorium. (Washington File Pub 01/26/06, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=January&x=20060126123445AKllennoCcM0.5482599&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html.)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it is rescinding the antidumping (AD) duty new shipper review of honey from Argentina with respect to the following company, which is an exporter of subject merchandise:
Take-Two Interactive’s woes continued as the company disclosed in an SEC filing after market close Wed. that Barbara Kaczynski resigned Jan. 19 as chair of its audit committee and from its board and corporate governance committee. The company also reported final results for its 4th quarter and fiscal year ended Oct. 31 that were unchanged from the preliminary results announced early this month (CED Jan 9 p8). The resignation came only one day after the company said it asked the SEC for a 15-day extension in the filing of its 10-K annual report as it worked to fix serious accounting flaws (CED Jan 19 p2). Kaczynski didn’t indicate in a letter to Take-Two why she resigned. But the company included in the filing a subsequent letter from her attorney, Bruce Baird, in which he pointed to the company’s mounting troubles over the past year. “During Ms. Kaczynski’s tenure as a board member and chair of the audit committee, several matters requiring the board’s attention caused Ms. Kaczynski concern,” Baird said. “These matters included Take Two’s discovery of illicit images depicted in its Grand Theft Auto videogame, the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of Take-Two following that discovery, and various SEC inquiries directed at Take-Two and its employees.” He added that, “more recently, in connection with preparation of the 10-K and its late filing, Ms. Kaczynski’s concerns have risen significantly because of what she views as an increasingly unhealthy relationship between senior management and the board of directors -- in her experience, management’s interactions with the board were characterized by a lack of cooperation and respect.” She also “felt that management failed to keep the board informed of important issues facing the company or failed to do so in a timely fashion,” Baird said. The discovery of controversial “Hot Coffee” sexual content in discs of the hit game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas led to the Entertainment Software Rating Board changing the game’s rating from Mature to Adults Only (CED July 22 p7, July 21 p4). As a result, most major retailers pulled the game from their shelves until Take-Two released an edited version of the title once again rated M. Board member Todd Emmel is serving as acting audit committee chmn. now and Take-Two said it added ex-DMX Music Chmn. Michael Malone to its board to replace Kaczynski. Board member Robert Flug was also named non-exec. chmn. of the board on an interim basis. Take-Two’s board, therefore, remained at 7 members, it said. Harris Nesbitt analyst Edward Williams said in a research note “Take-Two continues to plod along with some difficulty as the management and board of directors attempt to steer the company through the challenging waters of a platform transition that have been made more difficult by poor decisions (or poor judgment) made by some employees at Take-Two.” But he said the company’s current low valuation as a result of the challenges provides “an opportunity for the stock to appreciate as the developers deliver what should be a good product lineup in 2006 and beyond.” Take-Two also said a recent fire damaged the Manhattan offices of its 2K Games, Global Star and Joytech N. America divisions. Although no employees were hurt in the fire, the company said it “temporarily relocated all of these employees” to its nearby hq “due to the significant damage sustained to these leased offices.” The employees are made up mostly of marketing and administrative personnel, along with a small number of product testing personnel, Take-Two said. The company said it was “still determining the overall financial and operational impact of the fire [but] does not expect any significant effect on its business.” The company said it expects to file its 10-K report by the close of business Feb. 1. Take-Two shares closed 4.1% lower at $17.03 in Thurs. trading.
Charter added 18% more broadband subscribers last quarter than a year earlier. The firm gained 76,400 customers, it said in a SEC filing outlining a plan to sell debt. That exceeded UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff’s forecast by 18%. Still, the increase was less than the previous quarter, when Charter added almost 100,000 broadband customers. It had more than 2 million Sept. 30. The firm, set to sell $400 million in senior notes, said a preliminary review showed Q4 revenue rose as much as 5.4% to $1.35 billion. Cash flow fell as much as 3.7%. Sales and cash flow were lower than Bourkoff had expected, he wrote in an investor bulletin. Charter has more than $10 billion in debt.