According to Conscius Capital analyst Kona Shio, Research in Motion and Intel will unveil a major R&D deal tomorrow focused on Wi-Max. RIM will use Intel's Wi-Max chips in Blackberries while Intel will use RIM technology in its Wi-Max chipsets. The growing involvement of RIM within the Wi-Max ecosystem is a significant development and should give Intel more clout as it works to get additional technology partners on board. The relationship between RIM and Intel goes back to Intel Capital's investment in RIM many years ago and RIM's use of Intel's 386 chips.
Shio offers some more thoughts today on the RIM-Intel deal:
"We believe Intel will make a major push for WiMax similar to the push it made for WiFi - single handedly popularizing the technology via its Centrino chips. We believe RIM will greatly benefit from including Intel’s WiMax standard in its Blackberry the same way as laptop manufacturers have benefited from including the Centrino chip as Intel’s WiMax could rapidly become the standard in consumers/end-users mindset."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., better known as the CBC here in the Great White North or our national broadcaster that consumes a couple billion dollars in taxpayer cash, is moving into the podcasting world in a major way. Only it's not the CBC itself but some of its 5,600 employees who have been locked out since earlier this month amid a nasty labour dispute. While there has only been a trickle of content so far, CBC Unplugged (an independent site with no ties to the CBC) is starting to give loyal listeners a small fix of what they've been missing. If anything, it's an interesting negotiating/keep-busy tool amidst a dispute that shows no indication of being settled soon. Who knows, maybe when the stand-off is finally resolved, the CBC will adopt CBC Unplugged as its podcasting portal, which would be a way for the CBC to meet one of its mandates of reaching out to younger listeners. Then again, national broadcasters don't tend to be this creative or pro-active so don't hold your breath.
The Corante's Matt May suggests if the lock-out extends for another month or two, CBC Unplugged could become a very active news operation that could start to compete directly against the CBC. Now that would be an interesting bargaining chip!

The New York Times' John Markoff has an article today suggesting people will be disappointed if they expect Google will a blockbuster deal with the $4.2 billion it plans to raise in a secondary offering. Instead, he believes Google could continue to acquire small start-ups with interesting technology and strong R&D. A case in point is Android Inc., which Google bought last month. There is not much known about Android, which is led by Danger Inc. co-founder Andy Rubin, other than it makes software for mobile devices. This may indicate Google is interested in expanding its reach into the wireless world but the idea of Google may launch a Google-branded smartphone, for example, seems farfetched. So why does Google need to raise $4.2 billion if few people believe it will make a major deal and it already has $2-million of cash? For one, smart companies raise money when there's demand for their stock. Look at all the dot-com firms that didn't do a financing during the boom - only to run out of money when the bubble burst despite having good technology/business plan. The other angle is "never say never". A big deal may not have been Google's modus operandi so far but it's nice having cash in the bank if something irresistible comes along. As much as many people are doubtful Google will make a big financial splash, I still believe there are many fertile markets (instant messaging, VOIP, e-commerce, social-networking) where Google can become a huge player by leveraging its world-class brand and millions of loyal users.
The Street.com's Cody Willard offers his take on Google's fund-raising activity - raising the possiblity the company may get into the wireless Internet access, video storage or video services markets. Another option, he opines, could be the acquisition of Tivo Inc., which would cost about $500 million plus a takeover premium. Andy Abramson also offers up a list of reasons why Google shouldn't buy Skype. Among the most intriguing is if Google is really keen about the telephony space, it should buy Research in Motion before Microsoft does.