Roundup: Apple tablet likely next year, gaming hits rough patch, Msft exec leaves…
Here’s the latest action:
More rumors about the Apple tablet — It will have 10 inch screen, looks like a giant iPhone, and will come in two editions, one with a webcam and one not, and cost $700-$900, according to Gizmodo. But that could be wrong, according to others. Meantime, others are hearing Apple plans to hold a keynote event the week of Sept. 7, but that the tablet won’t be unveiled there — more likely coming next year.
Games industry still in decline — The U.S. video games industry, once an outlier for being one of the few tech niches enjoying growth, has now declined for the fifth consecutive month, bringing year-to-date sales to $8.16 billion, down 14 percent from the same time period last year, according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Microsoft advertising executive joins venture capital firm — Brian McAndrews, who was CEO of digital advertising concern aQuantive until its sale to Microsoft for $6 billion in 2007, has left Microsoft and joined Seattle’s Madrona venture capital firm as managing director.
Intel works with fashion industry to adopt 3D computer aided design — Researchers at Intel Labs are collaborating with the Fashion Research Institute (FRI) to help embrace virtual worlds because clothing and accessories are 3D objects — with more complex shapes than traditional 2D sketches can convey.
Bubble in “microfinance”? — A few years ago, microfinance was all the rage: Lending small amounts of money to poor people, it was believed, helps fight poverty because it gives people a chance to finance small business and get out of their personal rut. But then the industry showed it could turn a profit, and funds came pouring in from private-equity firms and other investors. The WSJ tells the story of a poor Indian woman Zahreen Taj who was “carpet bombed” with loans. She kept making purchases, but then found herself in debt — so she sold everything and now has only a floor mat and a pile of kitchen utensils in a bare house. “Too much money is chasing too few good candidates,” quipped one expert.
