NEWS

Broadcom to buy AMD TV-chip business for $192.8 millionAdvanced Micro Devices will sell its unit that makes chips for digital TV sets to fellow chip maker Broadcom for $192.8 million in cash, the companies announced today.



Pizarro: Celebrities attending Nvision
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has proclaimed this "Visual Computing Week" in San Jose. But here's the thing: It's always "Visual Computing Week" in San Jose, and probably everywhere else, too.

Feds push child-porn cases; penalty can be years in prison
Just a few mouse clicks into the forbidden world of Internet child porn can transform an apparently upstanding individual into a federal prison inmate - doing a long sentence.

Flex your apps
Expecting a new golden age of handset software, programmers are developing thousands of new applications that they're betting you'll want on your phone.

Docu-Drama: Verifone to offer basic reference for departing CFOBarry Zwarenstein leaves the same day the company amends financial statements and wipes out $70 million in past profits.

AT&T expands tech support to cover other gadgets
Phone companies have been expanding their technology-support offerings, and AT&T took that trend one step further last week by introducing a tech-help plan that's even available to people who don't subscribe to other AT&T services. AT&T ConnecTech offers in-home service for "virtually all" tech-support needs, the company said, including home theater installation, wall-mounting of flat-panel TVs and computer repair, starting at $99.

Critically ill find companionship, advice on Internet
Limited physical mobility is one reason that a growing number of people with serious illnesses are turning to the Web. They set e-mail alerts for the latest research, read first-hand accounts of treatments they could try, and start blogs and join chatrooms, sharing in a sort of virtual catharsis. For someone who can't easily go out to lunch with friends, chatting and writing online "can create a little normalcy," says University of Miami psychiatrist Eva Ritvo. "We are by nature a social being, and we like to share information."

Scientists tackle the problem of tongue-powered computing
The tireless tongue already controls taste and speech, helps kiss and swallow and fights germs. Now scientists hope to add one more ability to the mouthy muscle, and turn it into a computer control pad.

Magid: Expect a lot of convention coverage by new media
The blogosphere and Web video sites will provide views and perspectives of the two parties' conventions that people -- especially political junkies --would otherwise miss.

A tangled family fight over former Intel director's fortune
Jim Guzy retired as Intel's longest-serving director in May, winding up one part of a classic Silicon Valley career - Stanford grad, high-tech exec, entrepreneur, inventor, angel investor and multimillionaire.