Sega head: Industry stunned by Activision/Vivendi merger

By Jeffrey M. O'Brien

On one level, the proposed $18.8 billion merger of Activision (ATVI) and Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment (EPA:VIV) seems to make a lot of sense. Good mergers maximize revenue by combining non-overlapping products (like the Guitar Hero Franchise, Tony Hawk, and the World of Warcraft phenomenon), and maximize profits by consolidating administrative costs. But in an industry like gaming, there's an X factor, creativity. Sure, these companies fit MORE

Mixed wireless signals out of Google

By Stephanie Mehta 

In case you missed it, today marks the deadline for submitting paperwork to the Federal Communications Commission for bidding in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction. Search-engine giant Google (GOOG) says it will participate, and analysts expect competing bids from Verizon Wireless -- a joint venture of Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD) -- and AT&T (T).

Google certainly has the financial firepower to make a winning bid. (The FCC MORE

NBC pulls its TV shows from Apple iTunes

No more ad-free episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs or Friday Night Lights for $1.99 each.

As promised, NBC (GE) removed all its content and that of its affiliates from the iTunes Store over the weekend after its contract with Apple (AAPL) expired.

That means no shows on iTunes from Bravo, mun2, NBC, NBC News, CNBC, NBC Sports, Sci Fi, Sleuth, Telemundo or USA Network. (Some shows aired on NBC but MORE

The death of the desktop

By Michael V. Copeland

For all the fuss over whose Internet platform is bigger, Facebook or Google's OpenSocial, the biggest platform, and the one that promises the most utility -- for social networks, for taking care of business -- is the web itself. Full stop.

Speaking on behalf of all of broadband connected humanity, what we want is to be able to carry and access our digital lives wherever we go and MORE