alcatel

Fess up. Who doesn't have fond childhood memories of playing with Lego? My own recollection of the building blocks harken back to a fascination with constructing Lego handguns, though fortunately for my parents that latent violence remained inert. Many have since gone on in adulthood to worship the cult of Lego.

We even have a fan base of one within our ranks squeeze out his creative juices on a Lego phone desk stand, possibly inspired by this reader. Not a bad attempt.

Now it seems he'll be able to get hold of a Lego phone to match the … Read more

CNET News' Daniel Terdiman has the latest on what's going on at the Allen Telescope Array, the world's first large-scale telescope meant for the full-time use of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project.

Today's stories:

Andy Grove urges Intel to build car batteries

SETI's large-scale telescope scans the skies

RadioShack sells $99 Netbook with 2-year AT&T contract

Postal Service's 'Click-N-Ship' glitch resolved

Alcatel-Lucent on Friday announced a significant restructuring, including layoffs, as it tries to position itself for a post-recession future flavored with new technologies.

For both 2009 and 2010, the Paris-based telecommunications equipment maker aims to reduce its break-even point by 1 billion euros per year. But that's not likely to be easy--the company says it expects the market for the types of gear and services it provides to shrink by between 8 percent and 12 percent.

The cost-cutting entails layoffs, among a number of other steps. Alcatel-Lucent will be eliminating the jobs of approximately 1,000 managers and approximately … Read more

Natali says she giggles when she sees guys using the tiny little Eee PC. But she doesn't question their manliness. Engnr_Chik thinks Netbooks are for everyone. Plus we speculate on the rush to release a prebeta of Windows 7, demand Wal-Mart do something about their forlorn DRM music tracks, and I'm possibly moving to Japan. Or New York. Or space.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Japan to get 1Gbps home fiber connections http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/27/1757211

SpaceX orbits success with Falcon 1 http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10053326-76.html… Read more

Updated 1:40 p.m. PDT, with comment from Alcatel-Lucent.

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling that Microsoft need not pay damages to Alcatel-Lucent in a long-running patent dispute in a case that could have opened up a broad range of litigation over the MP3 music format.

The appeals court, in its ruling published Thursday, agreed with a lower court that Microsoft didn't infringe on one patent in question and that Alcatel-Lucent didn't have standing to sue over the other patent.

Microsoft was initially hit with a $1.5 billion verdict in the case. … Read more

Troubled Franco-American telecom Alcatel-Lucent has tapped two new top executives in a bid to turn its fortunes around, according to reports out Monday.

Philippe Camus, a former aerospace executive at EADS, will serve as the new chairman, while Ben Verwaayen, former head of BT Group PLC, will be chief executive. The Wall Street Journal said the announcement could be made as early as Tuesday morning. Alcatel-Lucent had no comment, according to the Journal.

It came as no surprise in July when Alcatel-Lucent announced that CEO Patricia Russo and Chairman Chairman Serge Tchuruk would depart later this year. Since former rivals Alcatel and Lucent … Read more

In baseball, you get three strikes and you're out. As for technology CEOs, that depends. It depends on the magnitude and visibility of their screw-ups, the aggressiveness of the board, all kinds of things.

Sometimes it just takes one event, if it's big and hairy enough. On the other hand, I've seen CEOs swing and miss dozens of times for years on end, and they're still in the game.

Let's take a look at five recent examples of CEOs getting canned and see what we come up with:

Patricia Russo of Alcatel Lucent. It came as no surprise when Alcatel Lucent announced on July 29 that CEO Russo would step down. She had a decent run at the helm of Lucent, but the 2006 merger with Alcatel has been a disaster for both companies. This is a great example of one huge, high-visibility strike doing a CEO in. Incidentally, Chairman Serge Tchuruk is out, as well.… Read more

Alcatel-Lucent's CEO and chairman are stepping aside as the company continues to face big losses and increased competition from Asian suppliers.

The telecommunications equipment giant said Tuesday that CEO Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk will leave later this year. Russo will finish out the year as she helps the company look for a new CEO, and Tchuruk, who helped architect the mega-merger between Lucent Technologies and Alcatel, will leave October 1.

The company said the two executives had stepped down on their own accord. It is a move, however, that shareholders have urged for months.

And who could … Read more

Six technology heavyweights came together Monday to announce an alliance to jointly license patents for the broadband wireless technology WiMax.

The group, which calls itself the Open Patent Alliance, includes Intel, Cisco Systems, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, and Alcatel-Lucent. The intent of the group is to gather rights to WiMax patents and license them to makers of consumer electronics devices, networking equipment, and computers.

During a Webcast Monday, executives from each of the six companies emphasized the openness of the alliance that was being created. And the companies said they hoped other companies would join the group.

"As … Read more