NextWave Wireless is planning to sell its holdings of U.S. airwaves. It is estimated that the licenses held by NextWave are worth billions of dollars. The money raised from the sales will be used by NextWave to pay off debt and invest in the company’s products. NextWave makes telecommunications equipment. Among other things, it makes chips for WiMax, a next-generation wireless standard being deployed by Sprint-Nextel.
NextWave announced late yesterday that it hired Deutsche Bank and UBS to help the company sell its spectrum holdings, which cover 85% of the U.S. population. Coverage includes major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. It is speculated that a company may try to buy most of the holdings to create a new national mobile provider in the United States.
It isn’t clear what the value of Next Wave’s holdings is worth. If the sale goes as well as the current FCC auction of the 700 megahertz spectrum, the licenses could be worth $6 billion. But NextWave isn’t apt to get that much for its holdings. The radio characteristics of its spectrum make it more costly to put to use.
According to NextWave’s chief financial officer George Alex, the company paid about $500 million for the airwaves. NextWave shares rose $1.25, or 26%, to $6 in midday trading today.
“The 700 megahertz auction was exceptional in the prices that they achieved,” Alex stated. “We’ve had a lot of inbound inquiry … A lot of people were unfulfilled in their needs by 700. They’d amassed the business plans and the money they needed to participate in that auction, so now they’re looking for other alternatives.”
After Darth Vader kicked a Jedi Master’s ass with the Dark Side of the Crutch, District Judge Andrew Shaw issued an arrest warrant against the Lord of the Sith. After dictating it, he added: “I hope the force will soon be with him” (really—God save the Judge, Queen, and English humor.) Vader arrived later, pleading guilty to assault. During the trial, however, the court found that the events weren’t exactly as we were initially told: the Jedis were actually even more moronic than previously imagined.
To begin with, dork número uno—hairdresser Barney Jones—wasn’t being interviewed for a documentary on the first Jedi Church of England. He was filming himself, “fighting” with “lightsabers” in the garden, probably while being watched by Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi Wan, and the rest of their imaginary pals, who actually were the only ones with actual girlfriends in the backyard at the time.
Vader, whose real name is not Anakin Skywalker but Arwel Wynne Hughes, pleaded guilty, saying in his defense that he’d a “chronic alcohol problem” and he didn’t remember anything at all. According to the two Joneses, however, Hughes jumped in the gardent shouting “DARTH VADER,” wielding a metal crutch, wearing a helmet, a black bin bag, a cape, and with a lot of wine in his stomach. Laughing—presumably hysterically, like anyone would do after consuming “the ideal part of a 10-litre box of wine”—he proceeded to bang Barney Jones on the head, before smacking the thigh of family nerd cousin, Michael Jones.
With nearly a box of wine in his body, Vader didn’t remember a single thing, but his defense attorney said alcohol was “ruining his life.” On the other side, the prosecution added that the two cousins “believe very strongly in the church and their religion.”
We can only hope the judge will set Vader free and put those two in jail. [BBC News]
Our friend Datamancer, steampunk modder extraordinaire, is at it again. His newest creation is this Steampunk LCD monitor, and it’s a doozy.
This is a 22″ widescreen LCD that I built to compliment my brass keyboards. The frame is solid 1/4-inch brass that has been sanded and polished to a high shine. The base features a mixture of brass and black marble with a small brass “cord catch” to keep the power and data cords tidy.
The monitor was made for an upcoming motion picture, and after filming is complete he’s gonna toss it up on eBay. Even better? He plans to design and create a mouse to finish the set. I have the ability to see people lining up to get a matching monitor/keyboard/mouse combo of this quality. We’ll, of course, keep you updated. [Datamancer]
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Buzzd, a location-based city guide and social network for mobile phones, announced that it has finished Series A funding, led by Greycroft Partners and Monitor Ventures. The money will be used for product development and distribution. Monitor’s Fern Mandelbaum will join Buzzd’s Board of Directors, along with company Co-Founders Nihal Mehta and Deepen Shah.
“Monitor and Greycroft have successfully guided digital media start-ups from seed to success. We are excited to have partners who will roll up their sleeves and really work with entrepreneurs,” said Buzzd CEO Nihal Mehta.
”Buzzd provides a necessary utility for users, helping them locate venues, interact with friends, and read reviews on the mobile device,” said Alan Patricof, Managing Director of Greycroft Partners.
Buzzd lets you search for local events and other hotspots in your city. Buzzd will tell you which bands are playing at local bars, the location of a four-star eatery and other such information. The interface lets the user share information with others on Buzzd, so people can setup their own social networks.
Hoenitos Premium Tequila is joining the Buzzd community as an advertiser. Through this partnership, Buzzd members can buy their friends Hornitos drinks and redeem the codes delivered via SMS at hundreds of bars in association with BuyYourFriendADrink.com. What could be better than getting your friends drunk with your mobile phone?
For more information on Buzzd visit http://www.buzzd.com. Users can register for the service immediately by texting ‘join’ to 96321, or visiting http://buzzd.com/m from their web or mobile browser.
I don’t know if you follow Starbucks news, but as much as I prefer local coffeehouses, I’ve been intently watching their current efforts to get back the soul they’ve commoditized away. Here’s their new espresso machine, the Mastrena, which they call a “high-performance Italian sports vehicle,” set to roll out this year. It’s shorter than the ones now, so baristas can look you in the eye while they press buttons to auto-mechanically spit out your espresso.
Besides the spaceship orb on top, it holds more beans than the old machines (more productivity, less sore arms) and actually does give overworked coffee slaves more control over what comes out, like shot length and adjustable steam wands, both of which used to be fixed (from what I know about their current machines). Hopefully, this means superior coffee. They’ll be in about 30 percent of US stores by the end of this year, and 75 percent by 2010, but I think with a woodier look to them. [Hossli]
This LEGO mousetrap by Jason Allemann is pure, classic simplicity made of bricks. Created with LEGO technic, the trap measures 30 x 16 x 24 studs, and captured two mice that had decided to live in his home (one in the picture above.) The mechanism itself is quite simple:
1) mice get inside to get food 2) mice step onto a pressure plate 3) pressure plate pulls an axle out of the door 4) door closes immediately caging mice inside 5) kill mice 6) skin mice 7) make furry coats and cool sneakers for a bunch of mini-figs sell clothes to LEGO fans 9) grill mice meat slowly, applying multiple thin layers of teriyaki sauce 10) eat mice
So as you can see, it’s not only a perfect pest killer but also a great way to start a LEGO business (ok, Jason says he released the two captured mice in a “not-so-nearby wooded area.” Obviously, the guy doesn’t have a single idea about business or gourmet cooking.) [True Dimensions via Brothers Brick]
If the lack of GPS on the AT&T Blackberry Pearl was the one thing holding you back, today is your lucky day. The GPS-capable 8110 is now available through AT&T. Unfortunately, the $150 handset sacrifices Wi-Fi in favor of navigaton. [AT&T via IntoMobile]
When I say enormous, I mean enormous. We’re talking 500-ft wingspan here. The idea is it would be a permanent sub-orbital (60,000-90,000ft) base, powered by the sun and capable of carrying 1,000lb of gear. It could cruise around, taking high-res photos for map applications or meteorologists, or maybe a few of them could carry […]
When I say enormous, I mean enormous. We’re speaking 500-ft wingspan here. The idea is it would be a permanent sub-orbital (60,000-90,000ft) base, powered by the sun and capable of carrying 1,000lb of gear. It could cruise around, taking high-res pics for map applications or meteorologists, or maybe a few of them could carry transceivers for bouncing signals around. Or, considering it’s DARPA doing this, it might carry a couple precision-strike missiles or bunker busters.
In any case, they’ve checked out a few designs and the one they contracted for (from Aurora Flight Sciences) has unfortunately not been photographed. It’s got a 493-ft wingspan in a tri-section design with hinges that allows it to rotate and get the best possible exposure from the sun. Aerovironment tried something like this called the Helios (pictured above) but the conditions took their toll and it, well, crashed. Here’s hoping Aurora and their “Odysseus” craft fare better.
NextWave Wireless is planning to sell its holdings of U.S. airwaves. It is estimated that the licenses held by NextWave are worth billions of dollars. The money raised from the sales will be used by NextWave to pay off debt and invest in the company’s products. NextWave makes telecommunications equipment. Among other things, it makes chips for WiMax, a next-generation wireless standard being deployed by Sprint-Nextel. 
After Darth Vader kicked a Jedi Master’s ass with the Dark Side of the Crutch, District Judge Andrew Shaw issued an arrest warrant against the Lord of the Sith. After dictating it, he added: “I hope the force will soon be with him” (really—God save the Judge, Queen, and English humor.) Vader arrived later, pleading guilty to assault. During the trial, however, the court found that the events weren’t exactly as 
Our friend Datamancer, 
I don’t know if you follow Starbucks news, but as much as I prefer local coffeehouses, I’ve been intently watching their current efforts to get back the soul they’ve commoditized away. Here’s their new espresso machine, the Mastrena, which they call a “high-performance Italian sports vehicle,” set to roll out this year. It’s shorter than the ones now, so baristas can look you in the eye while they press buttons to auto-mechanically spit out your espresso.
This LEGO mousetrap by Jason Allemann is pure, classic simplicity made of bricks. Created with 
sell clothes to 
If the lack of GPS on the 
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