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Rumors are stirring about Blockbuster making its way into homes by using set-top devices to stream films directly to consumer televisions. The once-dominant movie company has lost some steam with the advent of movies available through the Internet, making its leave-the-house-to-rent-a-video approach less desirable than it used to be and leaving the company in search of other ways to continue its reign. As of our publishing date, Blockbuster hasn’t made a formal statement on the issue but they have announced publicly their offer to acquire Circuit City. It makes one wonder if Blockbuster does have a grander scheme in mind. Perhaps its own giant division of set-top boxes available thru its new chain of stores and serviced by the company itself? Stay tuned to find out….

Consumers want, and are starting to expect, flat-rate pricing from their wireless providers (consider Verizon Wireless’s decision to offer a $99.99 per month flat-rate for unlimited usage of the wireless network) and the pressure seems to be building for them to deliver. Sonus Networks has plans to make said pricing profitable for the wireless operators. “The key to addressing flat rate pricing for carriers lies in the optimization of

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may push to have that law changed in order to get this merger to happen. While the maneuver may end up being at least somewhat good for Brazil’s telecom economy, it also smacks a bit of nationalistic pride.

Comarch’s (a Central European IT solutions provider) product Virtual Consulting Services has won the Award for Innovation at “Innovationspreis 2008.” The product enables web-based end user collaboration, where users will see “the same content, mouse movements, and keyboard entries in their respective browsers as their follow users. In this way, they virtually navigate together, simultaneously on one website,” says Comarch’s press release. It sounds like an innovative application that may be interesting to those that view web browsing as a team sport. Anyone out there familiar with the on-demand software solutions company Digital Fairway may be interested to hear that the company has changed its name to Commsolv

their current networks. From bandwidth, to routing, to session and border management, carriers need to drive efficiency in both operational and capital expenditures,” said Vikram Saksena, chief technology officer, Sonus Networks. “Using the distributed, scalable technology in the Sonus IP infrastructure, carriers can squeeze substantial cost from their networks and provide a flexible foundation to build the services needed to attract new customers and offer new revenue opportunities.” Anyone skeptical of the plan can see the solution in action at CTIA 2008, where it will be on display at the Sonus booth.

The government of Brazil is pushing for a merger between its two rival telecom companies, Telemar Participacoes and Brazil Telecom, in an effort to combine forces in order to compete with telecom companies from Spain and Mexico. Shareholders of Brazil Telecom are holding up the deal due to disputes. Also holding up the deal are laws which ban landline companies that are dominant in different regions from merging. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may push to have that law changed in order to get this merger to happen. While the maneuver may end up being at least somewhat good for Brazil’s telecom economy, it also smacks a bit of nationalistic pride.

Corporation in an effort to better reflect what the company feels it has to offer its customers. “Our new company name and identity reflects the future of our business. Enterprises especially are more concerned than ever about telecom cost containment and our tried and tested solution delivers unprecedented cost savings to our client’s businesses,” said Dennis dos Santos, CEO of the newly-named Commsolv Corporation. The name change is already in effect.

Motorola Inc. has named David Dorman to serve as non-executive Chairman of the Board in place of Ed Zander who will be officially retiring in early May. Dorman is the managing director and senior advisor at Warburg Pincus and Co.

The FCC has approved a text message emergency service where providers can alert mobile customers of emergencies such as nationwide alerts, disasters, severe weather, and even child abductions. The four major nationwide carriers are expected to participate, though participation is not mandatory. Such a service may prove particularly useful for those that are often away from computers and televisions.