Silicon Valley Brief

General Electric and Comcast have announced a joint venture that will eventually transfer control of NBC Universal to Comcast.  What does it mean for viewers?  Nothing in the short term - the government will have to approve the deal, and executives expect that could take a year.
 
After that, says Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, the new company will continue to value the broadcast side of NBC.  Some consumer groups are concerned about broadcast TV stations, which provide content free of charge, coming under a cable company's control.
 
Shares in Gamestop (GME) fell big Wednesday after Walmart announced it would cut prices on many video games.  However, investors may have failed to notice Walmart is NOT cutting prices on Call of Duty: World at War 2, Assasin's Creed 2 or the latest Mario game - the three most popular games on shelves.
 
In Washington, the Obama Administration is hosting a jobs summit.  It's invited 100 top CEOs, including Google's Eric Schmidt to "leave no stone unturned" in the search for new jobs.  Meanwhile, a recent Gallup poll says 55% of Americans are not satisfied with the way Mr. Obama is handling the economy.
 
The Bay Area Council surveyed local businesses and found more companies still plan to cut jobs than add them - except in the South Bay, where Santa Clara County continues to lead in growth.
 
And happy birthday, Segway Scooter.  It was on this date in 2001 that the device was unveiled.  At the time, many thought it would take over the world.  Steve Jobs once predicted cities would be redesigned around scooter transportation.  San Francisco Supervisor (who once made a high school girl cry at a county meeting) announced he would seek to ban the devices from San Francisco to protect the elderly.  "Stop the Segway Slaughter" he said.  And hey, look, it worked!  There have been no deaths associated with Segways in San Francisco.  In fact, outside of Fisherman's Wharf, we've never seen a Segway in San Francisco.
 

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