Apple Computer said Wednesday that it plans to acquire privately held PowerSchool, a provider of Web-based student information systems for schools, for $62 million in stock.
PowerSchool gives school administrators and teachers the ability to easily and cost-effectively manage student records and gives parents real-time access to track their children's progress, Apple said.
PowerSchool currently has 160 employees. The closing is subject to regulatory approvals, approval of PowerSchool shareholders, and other customary conditions to closing.
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Sony jazzes up its PDA: Sony unveiled a new version of its Palm-based CLIE handheld personal digital assistant featuring audio playback, an improved color display screen and longer battery life.
CLIE (for Communication, Link, Information and Entertainment) will be able to play digital audio files recorded on Sony's memory stick, a memory storage device the size of a stick of chewing gum.
CLIE's display improves on the first version launched last September and offers a higher 320-by-320 dots resolution and front lighting for easier viewing in poorly lit areas.
The PDA has been slimmed down and has a silver-colored casing with smoother lines. It is expected to be priced at about $420.
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Coke drops out of school: Responding to health concerns and criticism about commercialization in U.S. schools, Coca Cola was expected to announce a new policy to discourage bottlers from making exclusive deals with schools, The Washington Post reported.
Acknowledging the growing criticism, Jeffrey Dunn, president of Coca Cola's North American group, said that soft drink companies have become too aggressive in marketing soda to secondary school students.
Dunn said the company (KO) will encourage its bottlers to avoid the contracts that sparked "cola wars" in school districts across the country, the report said.
Coca Cola bottlers will soon begin scaling back the advertising on their vending machines, Dunn was quoted as saying, and the company will encourage distributors to offer less-sugary alternatives.
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CSFBdirect cuts fat: CSFBdirect said it will cut 150 jobs, or 10 percent of its U.S. work force, becoming the latest online brokerage to reduce staff because of weak online trading volumes.
Online brokerages have taken the prolonged stock market slump on the chin, as people are trading less and opening fewer accounts. The Nasdaq Composite Index posted its third-worst month ever in February, sliding 22 percent.
CSFBdirect, a unit of investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston, also said it will close its Parsippany, N.J. call center and take a one-time charge of $9 million in the first quarter because of the reductions.
CSFBdirect (DIR) shares, which have taken a beating since trading above $45 in May 1999, were 3 cents lower at $3.09 on the New York Stock Exchange, well below their 52-week high of $16.
CSFBdirect, which last month reported a fourth-quarter operating loss more than triple that of a year earlier, said annual cost savings from its actions would be about $11 million.
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Lucent looks to sell: Lucent Technologies said it was mulling options for its Atlanta-based fiber-optic cable unit, including its sale or a joint venture.
Analysts have said selling off the Optical Fiber Solutions unit would free Lucent from a capital-intensive business. The company is struggling with losses and a heavy debt.
Portfolio managers and analysts have said Lucent could sell the unit for $4 billion to $6 billion.
The Optical Fiber Solutions unit posted sales of almost $2 billion and grew 60 percent in fiscal 2000. It has about 6,300 employees and is in the middle of a $1 billion expansion.
Lucent's stock (LU) has been pummeled in the last year. The shares closed on Tuesday at $11.25 on the New York Stock Exchange, down from a 12-month high of $71.0625.
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Deal du jour: Shareholders of Powertel and VoiceStream Wireless approved their proposed merger with Deutsche Telekom AG.
VoiceStream (VSTR) is buying Georgia-based Powertel (PTEL) as part of a larger deal in which the German telecommunications company plans to acquire VoiceStream.
Last year, VoiceStream Wireless, the nation's eighth largest mobile telephone carrier, agreed to buy cell phone company Powertel for about $5.8 billion.
The Deutsche Telekom deal is pending regulatory review at the Federal Communications Commission. The VoiceStream-Powertel merger is contingent on Deutsche Telekom winning approval to acquire VoiceStream.
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Another exec leaves Yahoo: Yahoo said that its chief sales and marketing officer, Anil Singh, will leave the company in May, vacating one of the posts that will be instrumental in rebuilding its sagging advertising business.
Singh had been planning for months to step down from his current post, but the company had previously stressed that he would stay on in a more visionary role.
In a statement released late on Tuesday, Yahoo (YHOO) said he had decided to resign altogether to spend more time with his family and pursue more personal interests.
The news follows the recent departures of three of Yahoo's top overseas executives as well as its announcement last week that Tim Koogle would step down as chief executive once a successor was found.
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Pink slips at Homes.com: Homes.com, an online provider of home-selling services said it will lay off about 150 employees, or about 40 percent of its work force.
The move comes in response to disappointing operating results in January and February combined with the "very difficult environment for raising capital," said Tom Orsi, president and chief executive officer.
"With the markets being what they are, we found it necessary to reduce our operating expenses in order to continue as a viable business," he said.
The cuts will come in the company's sales, product development and administrative divisions.
Reuters and AP contributed to this report.
