Cisco may up Tandberg bid

Cisco Systems doesn't have many options now that Tandberg shareholders have rejected the network giant's $3 billion bid for the video conferencing provider, according to an analyst, reports eWeek.

Cisco can either up its bid or walk away, says Roopam Jain, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, adding that it would make more sense for the company to raise its offer.

"Tandberg's addition to the Cisco collaboration portfolio offers multiple synergies and advantages for Cisco's long-term collaboration vision," Jain said. "There has been a positive response to Cisco's announcement of its intention to acquire Tandberg, and walking away will cause some confusion in the minds of investors.

Sony aims to start selling a more expensive version of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) for the holiday season, offering increased storage capacity for downloaded games, movies and television shows, reports LATimes.

The 250GB PS3 will be available for $350, starting 3 November, says Sony Computer Entertainment America. The current version has 120GB and sells for $300. Tokyo-based Sony cut the price from $400 in August.

The added storage will give the PS3 more room for storing games and other entertainment purchased through Sony's online PlayStation Network.

The UK Metropolitan Police wants to buy £3 million of handheld units for law enforcement agencies that would be capable of capturing facial, iris and fingerprint biometrics, as well as reading chips held on credit cards and passports, states Computing.co.uk.

The Met is tendering for a framework agreement with selected suppliers that would set out terms and conditions under which purchases can be made by different agencies for the length of the contract.

Such agencies would include HM Revenue and Customs, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, the UK Border Agency, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and all UK police forces.

Twitter was bombarded by the shocking news that a six-year-old boy had climbed into a homemade hot-air balloon and taken off over Colorado. The microblogging service's timeline temporarily slowed to a crawl and its trending topics were filled with tags like Colorado, Denver, and #balloonboy, says CNET.

He was never actually in the balloon, apparently: CNN reported later that he was found, safe, hiding in a box in the attic of his family home.

Live video streams from news outlets' helicopters showed the saucer-shaped balloon speeding through the air and then making a relatively soft landing. But then those same news outlets began to report that there was no one inside, sparking even more debate and speculation on Twitter.