Josh OngBorders
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that, according to people familiar with the matter, a bidding deadline to buy the nation's second-largest bookstore chain and rescue it from bankruptcy had passed without any offers that would keep the company in business. But, Borders, which still operates 400 stores and 11,000 employees, will likely accept offers up until a bankruptcy-court auction on Tuesday, the report noted.
Sources said Borders remained in talks with several interested buyers, including Books-A-Million Inc., but had yet to reach an agreement. Should the company prove unable to find a buyer, a group of liquidators will serve as the opening bidder in Tuesday's auction.
Borders had been in negotiations with private-equity investor Jahm Najafi, but creditors reportedly objected to his bid because of a clause that would allow him to liquidate the company. Instead, they argued that a "backup bid from liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group" would be a better deal.
China Unicom 3G iPad 2
China Unicom executives are reportedly planning a trip to the U.S. to discuss plans to bring the 3G iPad 2 to China, as reported by CC Time (via Bloomberg).
Yu Yingtao, a manager in the sales department of China's second-largest wireless operator, said the timing for a mainland release of the iPad 2 still remained unclear, as Apple is awaiting approval from "relevant domestic policies and regulations." According to the report, the 3G iPad 2 has passed 3C certification in China and is awaiting access permits from the Ministry of Industry.
The Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 went on sale in China in early May, quickly selling out. The 3G iPad 2 is already available in the country on the grey market.
Though Wi-Fi models of Apple's original iPad arrived in China last October, 3G versions have never officially hit the market. Regardless, China Unicom offers plans and SIM cards for iPad 3G users who import the device or purchase one off the grey market.
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Wesley Hilliard
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14 Comments
They won't partner with Apple for obvious reasons - OS is locked down and proprietary. Can't touch it.
They could develop their own OS, but it will result in a mess of systems pre-iPhone and nothing would operate well in such a mess.
Partnering with Microsoft (Mango) is a better bet, albeit a messy one. May work, but let the Chinese folks run with it for a few months, and Mango will fall into a cesspool of malware infestation just like Android is.
Will be very interesting to see what develops!
They won't partner with Apple for obvious reasons - OS is locked down and proprietary. Can't touch it.
They could develop their own OS, but it will result in a mess of systems pre-iPhone and nothing would operate well in such a mess.
Partnering with Microsoft (Mango) is a better bet, albeit a messy one. May work, but let the Chinese folks run with it for a few months, and Mango will fall into a cesspool of malware infestation just like Android is.
Will be very interesting to see what develops!
I would think royalties to Apple would be a lot cheaper than a software license from Microsoft
The Borders near me closed a few weeks ago. People were in there like vultures. I couldn't watch, I loved that shop. I know it's just a big faceless chain - whatever, many a great book I found there.
The Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 went on sale in China in early May, quickly selling out. The 3G iPad 2 is already available in the country on the grey market.
Even though we in India get screwed over by Apple at times, like waiting a year for the iPad and almost a year for the iPhone, at least we got the iPad 2 just a couple of week's after the international launch in places like UK. And the 3G iPads sold here are unlocked, so to speak, so I can put in any 3G sim I want. While some carriers do have special iPad plans and micro-sims available, others have a cutter that will chop the standard sim to micro size and allow for it to be used in the iPad.
I guess India is too small an iPad market to worry about right now, even though iPhones are still sold locked to a carrier.
This would be a good opportunity for HP and WB smartphone makers.