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Zuckerberg to give $100 million to Newark public schools

Posted by Harshad

Zuckerberg to give $100 million to Newark public schools


Zuckerberg to give $100 million to Newark public schools

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 08:58 PM PDT

Zuckerberg to give $100 million to Newark public schoolsAccording to the NYTimes, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will donate $100 million dollars to the Newark, New Jersey public school system, which has long been underfunded.

The donation will be made official on an upcoming Oprah Winfrey show.

Furthermore, the gift would be the first "installment in an education endowment" to be started by the world's youngest multi-billionaire.

While he is currently not worth much, when Facebook eventually goes public Zuckerberg's fortune has been estimated at between $1.6 - $3.5 billion.

Currently, the Newark schools have an $800 million annual operating budget, so Zuckerberg's gift is more than significant.

The only condition of the gift is that the state give back "some" control of the city's school system to mayor Cory Booker.

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JetBlue to go fully Wi-Fi starting in mid-2012

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 08:42 PM PDT

JetBlue to go fully Wi-Fi starting in mid-2012JetBlue has said today that its full fleet of over 150 planes will be getting in-flight broadband starting in mid-2012, after taking months to decide on its wireless strategy.

Most of JetBlue's biggest competitors, including low-cost Southwest Airlines have already begun offering Wi-Fi through Gogo Inflight Internet, or are deploying the service to their fleet currently.

When asked for the reason for the late deployment, CEO Dave Barger said: "This system will be designed for the 21st century, not just for today's personal connectivity needs, but with the bandwidth to expand to meet tomorrow's needs as well."

Instead of using a Gogo package, JetBlue will build its service from scratch, partnering with the satellite company ViaSat.

ViaSat currently "serves satellite Internet to over 400,000 subscribers through resellers like DirectTV and DISH Network," says Mashable.

When it launches, the JetBlue in-flight broadband package is expected to have 30-50Mbps downstream.

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Nvidia Tegra 3 is almost ready

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 02:58 PM PDT

Nvidia Tegra 3 is almost readyDuring his GTC keynote speech, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made it clear that the Tegra 3 mobile system-on-a-chip (SoC) was well on its way to being completed, even though devices using the Tegra 2 SoC have still not hit the market.

Early development of the Tegra 4 has already started, added Huang.

The CEO says the plan is to release a new ARM-based processor each year, meaning the Tegra 4 should hit in 2012.

While the timetable sounds nice, the real question will be whether Nvidia can stick to it. The original Tegra was not used in many devices, with the Microsoft Zune HD being the highest-profile device to equip the chip. The ill-fated Kin smartphones also used the SoC.

The dual-core Tegra 2 has been promised for many smartphones and devices, but so far none have hit the market. The Boxee Box, available for pre-order now, was supposed to use a Tegra 2 but the company switched to an Intel processor very late in the manufacturing process.

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RIM to reveal iPad competitor next week

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 02:24 PM PDT

RIM to reveal iPad competitor next weekAccording to the WSJ, RIM is set to unveil their iPad competitor next week, during a developer's conference in California.

Nicknamed the "BlackPad," the tablet should be released during the Q4.

The tablet will have a 7-inch screen, two built-in cameras, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G access when connected to a BlackBerry smartphone.

Perhaps more notably is the notion that RIM is tossing out its BlackBerry OS in favor of a completely new and unknown OS built by QNX Software, the software company purchased by RIM earlier this year.

QNX has created operating systems since the 1980s.

Eventually, RIM is expected to transition all their BlackBerry devices to the new QNX OS.

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Microsoft sees 2 million downloads of Internet Explorer 9 beta

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 02:09 PM PDT

Microsoft sees 2 million downloads of Internet Explorer 9 betaMicrosoft has released figures today relating to their launch of the Internet Explorer 9 beta and downloads have been very strong.

Released on the 15th, the software giant says 2.1 million people downloaded the beta over the first 48 hours of availability.

By comparison, only 1.3 million downloaded the IE8 beta during its first five days in 2008.

Additionally, the company says it has seen 26 million page views to the "Beauty of the Web" IE9 main page in its first week.

The newly revamped browser includes a combined search/URL bar, tighter integration with the Windows Taskbar, "tear-off" tabs, site pinning, JumpLists and new HTML 5 support.

For more information, including a free download of the beta, visit here: Internet Explorer 9

TAKE NOTE: The IE9 beta does not work in Windows XP.

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Netflix launches in Canada

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 12:32 PM PDT

Netflix launches in CanadaNetflix has officially launched in Canada today, after first being announced early in July.

Canadian users will be able to stream unlimited movies and TV episodes starting at $7.99 CAD.

All new users are eligible for a one-month free trial (similar to users in the U.S.).

Netflix does make one important note, however, that the service only works in English for the time being, meaning French Canadians will not have a service for them for the time being.

The Canadadian service will only include streaming, with no physical media rentals plans in the works.

"With our launch today in Canada, Netflix is focused on adding meaningfully to the entertainment choices available to Canadian consumers," says CEO Reed Hastings. "Convenience, selection and value are at the heart of the Netflix service, and it is our hope that this resonates with Canadians."

You can check here for more pricing details.

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Blockbuster bankruptcy coming within days

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 09:34 AM PDT

Blockbuster bankruptcy coming within daysMultiple sources are reporting today that Blockbuster's long-expected Chapter 11 bankruptcy should be filed within the week.

Blockbuster has over $900 million in debt and will use the bankruptcy to restructure most of that debt whilst also closing under-performing stores.

Some sources say the filing could come as early as later today.

"We continue to explore all of our options and are making good progress in our recapitalization process,"
said Blockbuster this morning. "Our discussions with the studios and bondholders continue to be productive, and we have every reason to believe we will come out of the recapitalization process financially stronger and more competitively positioned for the future."

Under the plan, senior bondholders would have $630 million of their debt converted into equity of the new company. All lower bondholders and all shareholders would be wiped out.

Additionally, senior bondholders will give the company a $125 million loan to operate while under bankruptcy protection.

It was recently discovered that "corporate raider" Carl Icahn had purchased about 30 percent of the company's senior debt.

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