Dell drops $299 Windows RT tablet, cheapest offer now $479

Shoppers who tried to buy a Windows RT tablet at Dell's website Friday morning would have seen one listed for US$299. By the end of the day the cheapest tablet came bundled with a keyboard for $479.

Buy One, Get One Free Dell made several changes to the RT offers on its website. By Friday evening it had eliminated all the options for a standalone tablet and now only sells the product, called the XPS 10, bundled with a keyboard.

In some ways it bucks a recent trend. Dell has been lowering prices for its Windows RT tablet since May, after the company admitted it was selling poorly. When it was introduced last October, the XPS 10 was priced at $499, and it had dropped to $299 in May.

Dell is apparently trying to up-sell customers to breathe a bit of life into its XPS 10 business after poor sales, said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates

Student Exclusive: Save an additional 10% off Surface Pro and Surface RT at Microsoft Store Canada Selling the tablet bundled with a keyboard suggests Dell views it as a device for creating content rather than just consuming it, perhaps because Windows RT is designed to provide some "laptop-like" capabilities, Kay said.

"It seems like the direction they are going in. It's a better idea if it's a bundle," he said.

Earlier Friday, a tablet with 32GB of storage priced at $299 was listed as "out of stock." IDG News Service inquired about the product to see if it was still on sale, and shortly afterward, the listing disappeared from the site. Later in the day, a standalone XPS 10 with 64GB of storage also disappeared.

Dell never replied to requests for comment about the changes.

The only models listed on the site by late Friday came bundled with keyboards. And, somewhat confusingly, the bundles with the 32GB and 64GB tablets were listed for the same price -- $479. That's apparently because the 64GB device comes with a steeper discount offer.

There's also an LTE version of the 64GB XPS 10 listed on the site, priced at $579 with a keyboard.

Apart from the storage and connectivity, the other tablet features are the same. They all have a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and a 10.1-inch screen that displays images at 1366 x 768 resolution. Windows RT is Microsoft's version of Windows 8 for ARM processors like the Snapdragon.

Keyboards are expensive as an accessory and can be more profitable for Dell than the tablet itself, and Dell could use all the financial help it can get right now, Kay said. On Thursday, it reported quarterly profits that were down 72 percent.

Bundling the tablets and keyboards together could also be Dell's way of clearing out its XPS 10 tablets and accessories, he said, though it was unclear if that was Dell's goal.

The price changes come at a time when other vendors are distancing themselves from Windows RT. Lenovo has stopped selling the Yoga 11 through its website, Asus has said it was moving away from the development of RT tablets after the failure of its VivoTab RT. Microsoft dropped the price of its Surface RT tablet last month from $499 to $349.

Microsoft plans to announce the successor, Windows 8.1 RT, on Oct. 17. Dell has said it is committed to Windows RT, and the OS got another potential boost with reports on Friday that Nokia will release an RT tablet, though analysts called the idea "bizarre."

Dell will likely not abandon Windows RT because it has a close relationship with Microsoft, Kay said.

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Dell OKs new plan for shareholder vote on raised offer from Michael Dell

The Special Committee overseeing Dell’s buyout proposal has reached an agreement with company founder Michael Dell and his associates, Silver Lake Partners, on a proposed purchase in which shareholders will get US$13.75 per share and a special dividend of $0.13.

After multiple delays, the shareholder vote tally on the revised merger agreement is now set for Sept. 12 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time. As part of the new proposal, shareholders will also get the regular third-quarter dividend of $0.08 per share.

With the new agreement, the PC company’s Special Committee and Dell-Silver Lake are now on the same page on the revised offer of $13.75 per share made last week as well as the guidelines to put the proposal to a shareholder vote.

Dell HQ
Dell and Silver Lake in February proposed to buy the company for $24.4 billion, or $13.65 per share. That offer was raised to $13.75 per share, and subject to a change in shareholder voting rules proposed by Dell and Silver Lake in which only “yes” or “no” votes would count, with abstentions left out. Initially, voting rules called for abstentions to be counted as “no” votes. The Special Committee, which is reviewing proposals to buy the company, earlier this week rejected the new guidelines, saying any vote should stick to the original rules.

But the revised agreement reached on Friday, which includes the sweetener of a $0.13 special dividend, modifies the voting standard to count only votes that are actually cast.

“In the context of the current decision, the Committee does not believe it is appropriate to count shares that have not been voted as having been voted in support of any particular alternative,” said Alex Mandl, chairman of Dell’s Special Committee, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In trying to explain the change in shareholder voting guidelines, Mandl said that the original voting rules were set when the choices were Dell-Silver Lake’s proposal or “continuation of the status quo.”

But since then, an alternative proposal—likely a reference to a counterproposal by investors Carl Icahn and his associates, Southeastern Asset Management—has emerged, and Mandl said the nature of the choice facing shareholders has changed. Icahn and affiliated parties believe their counteroffer is worth up to $18 per share for current shareholders.

“We believe modifying the voting standard is in the best interests of Dell shareholders, both because it has enabled us to secure substantial additional value and because it provides a level playing field for the decision facing shareholders,” Mandl said.

The vote has already been delayed twice, which analysts said was because Michael Dell and Silver Lake failed to find enough shareholder backing for its $24.4 billion buyout proposal. The response to that proposal was mixed. Some shareholders came out against the deal, saying the company was being undervalued, while some advisory services were for the deal, recommending stockholders take the money and run, especially with the PC market in decline.

Icahn has been leading the charge against the Dell-Silver Lake proposal. He filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the PC maker to prevent the company from setting a new date for the meeting at which shareholder votes on the Dell-Silver Lake proposal are to be counted. The suit also demanded that if a new vote date is set, the company’s annual meeting “be held on the same date and time, and with the same record date,” according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The new agreement reached on Friday also amends the breakup fee from $450 million to $180 million in case any merger agreement is terminated.

DealBook: Worried About Defeat for Dell Offer, Board and Bidders Prepare Maneuvers

Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesMichael Dell and Silver Lake are working to convince Dell shareholders that they will not raise their $24.4 billion bid.
A high-stakes game of poker is now being played over the fate of Dell Inc., less than 36 hours before shareholders are scheduled to vote on the computer company’s proposed $24.4 billion sale to its founder.
A special committee of Dell’s board is poised to adjourn the vote on Thursday morning because it is concerned that the offer may be defeated by shareholders, people briefed on the matter said on Tuesday. The directors have signaled for days that they would rather postpone the shareholder meeting, giving them time to either elicit a higher bid from Michael S. Dell and his partner, the investment firm Silver Lake — or get the buyers to declare their current offer of $13.65 best and final.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dell and Silver Lake are working behind the scenes to convince shareholders that they will not raise their current offer and are prepared to walk away.

The jockeying comes amid more signs that the deal faces stiff investor opposition. BlackRock, which owns a nearly 4.5 percent stake, has voted no, according to one of the people briefed on the matter. And the mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price, which owns a 4 percent stake, said publicly on Monday that it remained opposed to the deal.

The primary opponents to the leveraged buyout, the billionaire activist Carl C. Icahn and the asset management firm Southeastern Asset Management, have pressed their argument that the proposed sale would shortchange investors. They contend that their plan, in which the company would buy back 1.1 billion shares for $14 apiece, would deliver more to fellow shareholders while letting them participate in any revival of the computer company.

In a letter to investors sent on Tuesday, the Dell special committee again sought to rebut Mr. Icahn’s claims, arguing that a so-called leveraged recapitalization would leave shareholders owning stakes in a more indebted company. Moreover, Mr. Icahn’s offer requires investors to completely replace Dell’s board with the activist’s own slate of candidates.

Still, the directors remain pessimistic because of the tough threshold for approval of Mr. Dell’s deal. More than 42 percent of the company’s shares must be voted in favor of the transaction. More than 21 percent of Dell’s shares — including the roughly 13 percent stake held by Mr. Icahn and Southeastern — is currently arrayed against the proposal, this person said.

By briefly opening the shareholder meeting and then adjourning, the special committee buys more time to twist arms. The maneuver will let the company maintain the current record date of June 3, the day by which investors must have owned shares to participate in the vote. (That said, Dell directors may be ultimately fine with moving the date.)

Both the special committee and the buyer group believe that many of Dell’s shareholders are wagering that Mr. Dell and Silver Lake will blink and raise their offer. By some estimates, nearly one-quarter of Dell shares held as of June 3 are now in the hands of arbitrageurs, who bet on the outcome of mergers.

But people close to the would-be buyers argue that there is less incentive than ever for the consortium to increase their bid, pointing to the company’s declining earnings; increasingly negative analyst outlooks on sales of personal computers; and the rising cost of debt borrowing.

As recently as last week, the research firm Gartner estimated that worldwide PC shipments had fallen from the year-ago period by roughly 11 percent, to 76 million units. That is the fifth consecutive quarter of falling sales.

Meanwhile, raising the offer above $13.65 a share could prove expensive. A 25-cent increase of the bid would require an additional $400 million or so in new equity, hurting the potential return of Mr. Dell and Silver Lake.

Any bump in price would need the approval of both partners, even as many shareholders are hoping that the company founder would succumb to pressure and make additional concessions to allow an increase in the price.

Shares in Dell closed on Tuesday at $13.02, down almost 1 percent.

Icahn wants judge to appraise Dell buyout offer

Billionaire US investor Carl Icahn says he will go to court to get a better price for his stake in the computer manufacturer Dell.

For several months, Carl Icahn has been fighting a $24.4bn buyout offer from a group led by the company’s founder Michael Dell.

In attempt to get back control of the company and take it private, Michael Dell has partnered with private equity group Silver Lake to offer shareholders $13.65 a share.

Michael Dell is seeking to regain majority control so he can pursue his plan to retool the struggling company as a maker of datacentre equipment and software for corporations.

But Icahn and Dell’s biggest shareholders are unhappy with the deal, which is well below their estimation of company’s value at $24 a share.

Having failed to put together a successful rival offer, Icahn now says he will ask a judge to assess whether the offer, supported by Dell’s board, represents a fair price.

He is urging other shareholders to demand a court appraisal too, according to the BBC.

Carl Icahn entered the fray over Dell's sale in support of the unhappy shareholders, at first teaming up with private-equity group Blackstone in March 2013.

But in April 2013, Blackstone withdrew because of concerns over an unprecedented drop in PC sales and Dell reduced its operating income projections for the year to $3bn, down from $3.7bn.

Icahn then teamed up with Southeastern Asset Management, offering to pay $12 a share in cash or stock and let investors hold on to equity in the computer maker.

In the latest appeal to other Dell investors, Icahn said in a letter: "We believe if you seek appraisal, you will receive more."

However, the appraisal process will take time, which will prolong the period shareholders will have to wait until they can offload their shares.

Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the offer led by Michael Dell on 18 July 2013.

Rosneft may offer to buy out, or convert, TNK-BP shares

MOSCOW - Russian state oil major Rosneft said on Thursday it may offer to buy out minority shareholders in TNK-BP Holding or convert their stock into its own shares, but only at a lower valuation than at which it took over TNK-BP.

"We don't have any obligations. It would be a voluntary offer or, if a decision on a reorganization is taken, a conversion. We will see," Rosneft Vice President Igor Maidannik told reporters.

Maidannik, speaking after TNK-BP Holding's annual shareholders meeting, said he preferred the idea of a share swap, because buyouts "usually don't lead to the desired result".

His comments offered a glimmer of hope that minority shareholders who own about 5 percent of TNK-BP Holding, the listed unit of the Anglo-Russian venture bought by Rosneft for $55 billion, will not end up empty-handed.

Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, had previously rebuffed calls for a buyout or special dividend. Since the deal's announcement last October, TNK-BP Holding's shares have lost 57 percent of their value.

Maidannik, Rosneft's legal counsel, played down expectations that shareholders - which include several leading global emerging markets equity funds - could expect a big payout. TNK-BP shares rose by 3.75 percent Moscow trading.

"It has been obvious since the deal was announced that TNK-BP's capitalization would fall," said Maidannik. "Someone might have dreamed that a buyout could happen at the deal's price, but in my opinion that was a gamble."

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Google-backed O3b launches satellites to offer Internet connectivity

O3b Networks, a company backed by Google and other investors, has launched its first satellites that aim to provide low-cost and high-speed connectivity to parts of the world that do not have fiber infrastructure.

 

The company's first four satellites, launched Tuesday aboard the Arianespace Soyuz launch vehicle from French Guiana, made first contact with O3b's gateway in Hawaii, O3b said. The launch was delayed by a day reportedly because of weather conditions.

 

The O3b system aims to combine the wide reach of satellite with the speed of a fiberoptic network, targeting customers and businesses in nearly 180 countries with lowcost, highspeed and low-latency Internet and mobile connectivity.

 

O3b uses MEO (medium earth orbit) satellites as an alternative to more expensive geostationary satellites. Satellites in geostationary orbit offer the logistical advantage of remaining at the same point over the Earth at all times, enabling a single satellite to continuously serve a large geographic region. But geostationary satellites require a high altitude of over 35,000 kilometers above the earth in order to maintain their stationary position, according to O3b documents. This distance decreases their ability to provide the low latency required by most business applications.

 

Operating in MEO, the O3b satellite constellation will provide full country coverage within 45 degrees of latitude north and south of the equator, with a round trip latency of less than 150 milliseconds, according to O3b.

 

The Jersey, Channel Islands company aims to provide IP trunking and mobile backhaul services to ISPs and mobile operators in the equatorial region. Its O3bCell service, for example, connects cell site towers and the core mobile network, with support for 2G, 3G and 4G-LTE voice and data services, offering seamless upgrade to packet switched networks.

 

A second group of four O3b satellites will be launched in September to complete the first phase constellation of satellites. The first O3b customers will be able to begin using the service early November.

 

O3b did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

A total of 12 O3b satellites are to be put into orbit by Arianespace in groups of four, with missions planned for later this year, and another in 2014, the commercial satellite launch company said.

 

O3b's many investors include satellite operator SES, Google, and Liberty Global. It raised US$1.3 billion to cover the cost of building and launching the first 12 satellites and running the business until it becomes operational and starts to generate revenue. O3b has already signed deals with telecom providers and ISPs including Malaysian telecommunications provider Maju Nusa and West Africa Telecom in Liberia. It has also tied with Royal Caribbean Cruises to provide broadband access service to passengers on its cruise ship.

 

Google announced recently its Loon project which involves the use of a network of balloons floating in the stratosphere, around 20 kilometers above the earth's surface, to provide Internet service "to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters." Project Loon started in June with a pilot in New Zealand. People will connect to the Internet using a special antenna on top of buildings.

 

 

Review: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon will win your heart, offer it as a dragon snack

Half the battle with campy comedy is picking the right subject for a roast in the hot seat. Poking fun is just part of good satire. The other half is a fondness for the subject that transcends the jokes. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon replaces the generic jungle-island backdrops from previous entries in the series with a neon-lit 1980s dystopia that lovingly references every cliché of the era to hilarious effect. I looked at the PC version, but it's available for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 as well.

Headshots pay off big in Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

For example, your character, Sergeant Rex Power Colt, starts the game in a helicopter gunship, manning the cannons and firing away at the evil Omega Force installation to the strains of "Long Tall Sally," all of which ends in a pre-scripted crash and a control tutorial you aren't likely to forget. Cutscenes, lovingly rendered in period Sega/NES style, are laugh-out-loud funny, and character dialog is just as sharp, aside from the occasional awkward and self-conscious bursts of vulgarity.

The FPS mechanics are superb, which isn't a surprise given the pedigree of the Far Cry series. Weapons have multiple attack modes and each plays to the strength of different combat styles, from pray-and-spray Arnold types to silent takedown Sho Koshugi ninjas. Even the base pistol packs a satisfying auto-fire punch.

Gems like this are tucked away in odd corners of the game.

Instant-kill takedown melee attacks are potent, and you can chain them into slaughter-fests that leave your firearms feeling like popguns. These require a more stealthy approach, but the payoff is sublime...and point rewards for difficult kills are generous.

Speaking of points, a vestigial RPG system exists, but it's nothing you need concern yourself with. You accrue points with kills, and the character advances up a level structure, but all skills and other improvements are automatically assigned. In Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, character builds are for eggheads.

The tutorial will challenge your patience, but it's a chuckle the first time around.

Weapon loadouts, on the other hand, are extensively customizable. You get more firepower than you can comfortably tote around right from the start, and each segment’s decision about what to take and what to leave behind start shortly after the tutorial. You collect cash around the island and spend it at weapons-and-ammo vending machines (who wanders around and collects the money from these machines, anyway?) to purchase weapon upgrades or reloads. You can also select different loadouts to better suit the enemies at hand. Sometimes a shotgun is a better companion than a Minigun.

Mutated versions of Far Cry's more mundane fauna prowl the island, along with the titular laser-eyed, giant Blood Dragons, which are a force to be reckoned with and a tactical consideration that can be leveraged to significant effect. The hearts you pull out of enemy cyber-soldier chests when pillaging for supplies act like dragon catnip. You can toss these hearts like bait to control dragon movement patterns or lure enemies into ambushes. It's hard to call this subtle, but it illustrates that the open-ended tactics Far Cry is famous for remain in full effect.

It's the future (aka 2007), and the Apocalypse has had an Apocalypse.

While the game engine isn't sporting any new technical features for this standalone expansion, the vivid color palette and more imaginatively conceived environments serve as a visual upgrade in style. Fun character and creature designs give these flourishes further depth.

There are technical problems, but these are relegated to the Uplay DRM client required by Ubisoft to play the game. Many users report issues with game startup, caused by bugs in the offline mode of Uplay. Suffice it to say the quicker Ubisoft ditches Uplay, the better.

Joyride! Vehicles like cars and hang gliders are fully operational.

Although short by AAA gaming standards, the ten hours or so of gameplay here are well worth the low $15 asking price, especially when you take into account the standalone nature of the package. A side bonus is the relatively small installation size. While 4GB isn't tiny, it's just a quarter the size (and price) of the full Far Cry 3 game, yet Blood Dragon offers similar thrills and a lot more style and humor. If you're an action game fan, be sure to give Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon a chance to steal your heart.

Note: The Download button takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.