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Watch Shelly’s commentary on LG’s new Blu-ray player with NETFLIX (NASD: NFLX) streaming capability.
The INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE failed to secure unfettered Internet access from the Chinese government. Instead, travelers will be forced to rely on the IOC’s wireless network, which restricts access to many sights deemed illicit by the Chinese government. The restricted Internet comes months after IOC president Jacques Rogge claimed China had agreed to allow journalists and travelers full, unrestricted access to the Internet.
GOOGLE is developing a venture-capital branch. David Drummond, Google’s Senior VP of Corporate Development and CLO, will run the VC branch with William Maris, a former entrepreneur and investor. Google is following in the footsteps of INTEL, MOTOROLAS, COMCAST, and DISNEY, among others, who have had various VC operations for years.
NINTENDO announced that first quarter sales are up 34% to $993 million and net sales up 24%, to $3.91 billion. The gaming manufacturer sold 5.17 million Wii systems during the quarter, up 50% over a year ago. With Wii systems dominating the market, Nintendo expects to see a 26.3% increase in net profits for the fiscal year.
VERIZON (NYSE: VZ) FiOS and TIME WARNER CABLE (NYSE: TWC) are doing battle in New York City. Problems arouse after TWC began airing an ad that implied FiOS users had to also purchase a satellite dish. While that conflict was settled in the courts, the current battle is set to play out on TV, where both Verizon and TWC are taking shots at each other. Last year, TWC spent $147 million buying advertisements, nearly three times what Verizon spent promoting FiOS.