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Former News Corp. president wants Hulu for $500 million, says report

Former News Corp. President Peter Chernin wants to buy Hulu for about $500 million, Reuters reported today.

Unnamed sources told the news service of Chernin's interest in the video-streaming site. Chernin, a former Hulu board member, helped create Hulu in 2007. He left News Corp. in 2009 to start The Chernin Group, which owns other media companies, such as Pandora Radio.

News Corp. and Walt Disney, which currently own Hulu, were said to have reached out to potential buyers in March.

Providence Equity Partners, one of the Chernin Group's investors, sold its 10 percent stake in Hulu last … Read more

News Corp. readies Amplify Tablet for schools

News Corp. might be known for its range of news outlets, but the company today has unveiled a tablet as well.

At the SXSWedu event in Austin, Texas, today, Amplify, the recently launched education arm of News Corp., unveiled a new tablet. Appropriately named the Amplify Tablet, the device will run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and come with a 10-inch display. The device, which is running on the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, is designed for children in grades kindergarten through 12 and comes bundled with all kinds of Amplify software designed to improve the learning experience.

According … Read more

NASA launches Landsat Earth observation satellite

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from California and safely boosted a new Earth-watching Landsat into a polar orbit today to kick off an $855 million mission. It's the latest chapter in a 40-year program to monitor the planet's resources, land use, and environmental changes.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, got underway at 10:02 a.m. PT when the Atlas 5's Russian-designed RD-180 first-stage engine thundered to life and throttled up to full power with a rush of brilliant exhaust.

The towering 192-foot-tall rocket, generating some 860,000 pounds of thrust, … Read more

DARPA's latest footage of LS3 robodog astounds

If you've never seen DARPA's version of Boston Dynamics' semi-autonomous LS3 (Legged Squad Support System) robot in action, now's a good time.

The government agency released a video yesterday that highlights one of LS3's most powerful skills: the ability to follow a leader by using computer-aided vision and GPS. In the four-minute clip, you can watch the dog-like robot following an instructor over some rough terrain -- with great ease -- in a wooded area near Fort Pickett, Va. … Read more

News Corp. cans The Daily

News Corp. axes The Daily.

The Daily, which was an ambitious tablet-only news publication backed by News Corp., is shutting its doors December 15. Launched back in February 2011, The Daily was an interactive newspaper stylized for consumption on the iPad. Best of all, a year's subscription went for only $40 and offered a wide variety of sections. While there will be no more issues of The Daily, its brand will live on other channels within News Corp.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the first text message. On December 3, 1992, SMS pioneer Matti Makkonen successfully sent … Read more

The 404 1,176: Where where Brian admits he has a problem (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Justin wanted to like the modern take on The Rockettes at Friday's showing, didn't.

- Father of SMS reflects on 20th anniversary of first text.

- News Corp shuts down The Daily.

- These companies hate your guts.

- StickNFind Bluetooth stickers are the best idea you didn't think of.

- Apple trying to patent wireless charging.… Read more

Could Yahoo's move away from media be AOL's big chance?

NEW YORK--Yahoo's new direction under CEO Marissa Mayer could be the big chance for AOL, a couple of former tech execs said today.

Ross Levinsohn, who served as interim Yahoo chief executive before Mayer's appointment, and Jon Miller, AOL's former CEO, said during a Business Insider conference in New York that Yahoo's shift away from becoming a media company in favor of focusing on its core tech offerings could be really lucky for AOL.

"It creates an opportunity for AOL I haven't seen for them in a number of years," said Miller, who … Read more

Oorah! Marines to get hybrid power generators for the field

U.S. Marines may have a reputation for persevering in primitive conditions and dealing with whatever comes their way, but they like their electricity just like everyone else.

Yet bringing fuel-guzzling generators with them when on forward deployment is inefficient work, requiring carting around heavy loads of diesel and taking a toll on the local environment.

But not for much longer. Today, the Office of Naval Research awarded Raytheon a contract to develop a hybrid power generator for the Marines, a system that when completed should help Marines in the field consume as much as 40 percent less fuel than … Read more

News Corp. puts IGN Entertainment up for auction

News Corp. is taking bids for IGN Entertainment as the media conglomerate tries to divest itself of the network of video game and pop culture Web sites.

News Corp., which paid $650 million in 2005 for the network, expects to get around $100 million for the sale, people involved with the negotiations tell The Wall Street Journal, which is also owned by News Corp. The media giant is formalizing the bidding process as part of its planned separation of publishing assets from its media and entertainment business.

Digital content providers such as Break Media and SAY Media, as well as … Read more