The U.S. is falling in the quality of broadband its ISPs are offering on a quarterly basis, although in the fourth quarter of 2011 that fall in speeds was seen by several other counties, with overall broadband speeds falling to a global average 2.3 Mbps from the third quarter to the fourth.

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The United States of broadband: Location matters

Microsoft and Barnes & Noble have buried the patent hatchet and teamed up to compete against Apple and Amazon in the eBooks business. The new partnership sees Microsoft investing $300 million in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary

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At $1.7 billion, Nook is worth more than Barnes & Noble itself

Microsoft’s Research division  is testing the home automation market through HomeOS , software it developed in-house to make it easy for devices to speak to each other. With the platform in place, developers can focus on home automation software without worrying how webcams, light switches and sensors talk to one another. Applications for the HomeOS ecosystem will be available in a “HomeStore” portal, a Microsoft app store for smart homes and the system can be controlled on a Windows Phone handset.

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Microsoft HomeOS merges the smart home and smartphone

The Netherlands still has the best overall Internet speeds in Europe, but it’s Romania that can boast the fastest, according to new figures from Akamai.

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Dutch top Euro broadband table, but things are slowing

On Monday, Silicon Valley’s fuel cell maker Bloom Energy plans to break ground on its first factory on the east coast at the University of Delaware’s campus in Newark, Delaware. Bloom Energy says the factory will bring hundreds of jobs to the region and will serve as the company’s first big push outside of California, where its current factory is and most of its customers remain.

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A rare peek behind Bloom Energy’s next-gen fuel cell tech [video]

paidContent 2012 : “At the Crossroads” features the best minds in global media who will debate how to make money from content and create scalable, sustainable media enterprises. Now in its third year, this one-day, highly interactive forum looks at the biggest opportunities in digital media and chats with the most proven industry luminaries about their present successes, past misses and future strategies. Just a few speakers from our stellar roster includes (check out the full list here ): Jim Bankoff, chairman and CEO, Vox Media Bob Sauerberg, president, Condé Nast Charlie Redmayne, CEO, Pottermore Lisa Gersh, president and COO, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Rob Grimshaw, managing director, FT.com Amit Kapur, CEO, Gravity Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda, chief strategist and editor-at-large, Washington Post , Labs Team Richard Russo, best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Mullenweg, founding developer, WordPress, and founder, Automattic Liz Schimel, EVP and chief digital officer, Meredith National Media Group Jonathan Shar, GM, Digital Newsstand and Emerging Content, Barnes & Noble, bn.com Let your voice be heard in this critical debate by registering today to reserve your place at this acclaimed media industry forum

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paidContent 2012: fads vs. the future

A few months after Barnes & Noble announced it was looking to spin off its Nook business, Microsoft and B&N are forming a strategic partnership that combines Nook and the B&N college businesses into a new, still unnamed company (for now called Newco). Microsoft is making a $300 million investment in the new company “at a post-money valuation of $1.7 billion in exchange for an approximately 17.6% equity stake.” Barnes & Noble will own the remaining 82.4% of of the new subsidiary, “which will have an ongoing relationship with the company’s retail stores.” Barnes & Noble “intends to explore all alternatives for how a strategic separation of Newco may occur,” the release says

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Microsoft invests $300m in Barnes & Noble’s Nook; more e-books for Windows

Just-Eat , the European online food delivery service, has set its sights on global domination after raising a new $64 million round of funding. The London-based company, which acts as the middleman for restaurants and helps them take orders online, announced on Monday morning that its third round was being led by the private equity group Vitruvian Partners (OpenBet, Unicom) , along with follow-ons from existing investors including Index, Greylock and Redpoint

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Just-Eat plans to devour rivals with $64m funding

Greylock Partners , seeking more operational experience in the enterprise sector, named Dev Ittycheria , an operations guy who made his name in enterprise software, as its newest partner. VCs and startups alike have been in the hunt for operational smarts in the enterprise arena of late

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BladeLogic founder joins VC firm, Greylock Partners

India is struggling to add more electricity capacity for the country’s rapidly growing economy, but the domestic coal industry is an absolute mess, points out articles in the New York Times and the Economist this month. That situation means that India could possibly be one of the most high-growth solar markets in the world

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Why solar will thrive in India: coal is a mess