Transcripts

"Tech Talk"-The SEC Subpoenaes Apple CEO, Steve Jobs

SUZANNE PRATT: A date with the lawyers for Steve Jobs, hot new computers for your holiday gift list and an anniversary celebration for a grin. That and more in tonight's "Tech Talk" with our technology guru, Scott Gurvey.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Is this "Tech Talk" or Court TV? Reports tonight say Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to give a deposition about alleged backdating of Apple stock options. Neither Apple nor the SEC would comment. Jobs is not known to be under investigation, but the SEC is suing Apple's former general counsel in the matter.

Several other tech giants now fear they will become targets of the European competition commission after its victory over Microsoft in the European appeals court. Commissioner Neelie Kroes says she would like to see a significant drop in Microsoft's 95 percent market share for operating systems. Intel is already under investigation in Europe for its share of the microprocessor market. Chip makers Rambus and Qualcomm could face similar action. So could Apple for its market-leading iTunes music store. These are all American companies. If you can think of a European company which dominates a tech sector, please drop me a line.

Is the Internet the future of television? NBC is joining CBS, ABC and Fox in making its prime time shows available on the net for free during the week following their broadcast. And will we be watching those shows on hand-held mobile devices? A new survey from Juniper Research says mobile- based TV services will reach 120 million users and bring in $6.5 billion in revenue by 2012.

Hewlett-Packard passed Dell, becoming the number one PC maker last year and it put the industry on notice it intends to defend that position, showing off an impressive line of products for the fall and holiday shopping season. HP's media smart high-definition television is designed to be the center of your viewing room, whether the source is your cable TV, DVD player or family videos.

There is a new digital picture frame for displaying home productions in a smaller format, new laptops for both business and pleasure and the star of the show, the Blackbird. This is a high-performance computer with the latest quad processor, lots of memory, advanced graphics and a liquid cooling system to keep it all running without melting the case. HP VP Todd Bradley says the Blackbird will find a wide audience.

TODD BRADLEY, EXECUTIVE VP, PERSONAL SYSTEMS, HEWLETT PACKARD: Blackbird is going to be priced at about $2,500, so while it is a gaming machine, it is also a lifestyle machine. It's a very powerful computing platform for the home, so I think that market will be pretty broad. I think we'll see lots of people coming in not only for gaming, but for things like film editing, film - film -- home film production, so you'll see a broad base.

GURVEY: For those who don't know, these are emoticons, symbols used in text messages to convey emotion. A "Tech Talk" tip of the hat tonight to Carnegie Mellon University Professor Scott Fahlman, who is recognized as the creator of the smile, a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis and the first emoticon, 25 years ago this week. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.