equipment

Telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies won't be a family-run business for long.

In a letter sent to employees on Sunday and obtained by Reuters, Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei said that no one in his family will succeed him because he doesn't believe any relatives have all of the personal qualities necessary to effectively lead the company.

"Huawei's successor should not only have vision, character and ambition, like what we've said before, but also a good global perspective and the acumen to drive the business," Ren wrote, according to Reuters. "My family … Read more

Alcatel-Lucent announced today that Ben Verwaayen is resigning after serving four years as CEO of the Franco-American network equipment maker.

The imminent resignation of Verwaayen, who will stay on while the company's board searches for a replacement, was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal.

"Alcatel-Lucent has been an enormous part of my life," Verwaayen said in a company statement. "It was therefore a difficult decision to not seek a further term, but it was clear to me that now is an appropriate moment for the Board to seek fresh leadership to take the company forward.&… Read more

Lens cleaning equipment such as blower brushes and compressed air can take up quite a bit of space in your bag. The folks at Digital Camera World have come up with a novel DIY way of keeping things compact by transforming paintbrushes into portable tools for cleaning off minute particles when shooting in dusty environments.

All you need is an inexpensive paintbrush that's readily available at any craft shop.… Read more

Huawei, the embattled Chinese telecommunications equipment maker, has been caught in a convoluted tale over Iranian cellular sales.

Earlier this year, Huawei purchased cellular antenna equipment from a U.S.-based company, called Andrew LLC, and then through a partner in Iran, attempted to sell those products to a carrier in the Middle Eastern country, Reuters is reporting today, citing documents it obtained from unidentified sources. The carrier apparently cancelled the sale for fear of violating U.S. sanctions.

CNET has contacted Huawei for comment on the Reuters report. We will of course update this story when we have more … Read more

John Chambers, who has served as Cisco Systems' CEO longer than many of today's hottest companies have been in existence, is hinting that his retirement may not be far off.

The 63-year-old Chambers has been running the networking equipment giant since 1995 and recently told Bloomberg that he envisions a scenario in which he could retire as chief executive in the next two to four years to assume the role of chairman. He also offered insight into who might be tapped to succeed him when that time comes, saying there are as many as 10 candidates on a list … Read more

Nokia Siemens Networks is in talks with various companies to sell of its business support systems as the network equipment maker looks to unload noncore units and focus on mobile network equipment.

The company -- a joint venture of Finnish handset maker Nokia and Germany's Siemens formed in 2007 -- is also looking to sell its applications business, Nokia Siemens CEO Rajeev Suri told reporters today, according to a Wall Street Journal account.

"Overall, we have about six divestments that have already taken place," Suri said. These businesses "are either not core to our mobile broadband … Read more

The outlook for IT spending this year isn't quite as rosy as Gartner previously predicted.

Spending on IT products and services is expected to reach $3.8 trillion in 2012, a 3.7 percent rise from last year when spending totaled $3.7 trillion and had climbed by 6.9 percent from 2010.

Released today, the new forecast is a dip from Gartner's prior projection of 4.6 percent growth for this year. The market researcher now believes that all major tech sectors will witness slower gains in spending for 2012.

Spending on telecom equipment will see the … Read more

Semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research has agreed to acquire rival Novellus Systems in an all-stock deal worth $3.3 billion, the companies announced today.

The combined venture is expected to benefit from the individual companies' complementary product capabilities, with Novellus' thin-film application technology aligning with Lam's business of etching the film to create features that define a chip's final use and function.

Under the agreement's terms Novellus stockholders will get 1.125 shares of Lam common stock for each Novellus share, a premium of about 28 percent higher than Novellus' $34.70 closing price Wednesday. When the … Read more

Fishing is supposed to be relaxing. Kick up your feet, have a cold domestic brew, and wait for the little swimmers to nibble on the bait. This calm experience is sometimes rudely interrupted by the flurries of energy required to reel in a fish.

If you have a Power Fish'n Pro Hybrid Reel from Rock Island Equipment Company, you won't even have to set down your beer to catch a bass. It's the ultimate fishing relaxation-enhancement gadget.

The Power Fish'n Pro uses a standard Shakespeare spinning reel with a motor that activates at the push of a switch. The motor is quiet enough not to scare away your prey. You can still set it to manual mode if you want the full thrill of the hunt. It runs on four AA batteries.

This isn't a case of another gadget for lazy Americans. It's aimed at people with disabilities and senior fishers that could use a little extra assistance. … Read more