Roundup: FCC turns down Skype appeal, PG&E asks for more renewables, and more

FCC chair rejects opening existing wireless networks — A petition from Skype failed to convince FCC chairman Kevin Martin to force wireless carriers to open up their existing networks to outside devices and software, leaving the newly-auctioned 700Mhz airwaves as the only network opened by regulation. More at the WSJ.

PG&E wants 800 – 1,200MW more renewable energy by 2015 — Energy utility PG&E, which supplies the Bay Area, just struck a deal for 900 megawatts of energy from solar thermal company BrightSource. Instead of taking a day of rest, though, the company has gone on to ask for up to 1,200MW more in a public “Request for Offers”, or RFO. It will announce bid winners in July. Via the East Bay Business Times.

Jana refuses board seat, continues attack on CNET — Jana Partners, the fund that is using its 10 percent share in CNET in an attempt to force the company to oust its top executives, has turned down another offer of a board seat. According to a new statement from Jana, CNET’s execs “lack the industry-specific experience and expertise to stop this shareholder value destruction.” It’s sticking to its demands for seven board seats, and has sent a proposal to CNET for an some changes it wants made, including more extensive social networking on the news site. More at Reuters.

Algae could become major source of hydrogen — Auto companies and government are both calling for a hydrogen-fueled transportation infrastructure, but nobody’s quite sure yet where all the cheap hydrogen will come from. The latest possibility is algae, which could be tweaked to release hydrogen, according to researchers at Argonne National Laboratory.

[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":90485,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"enterprise,","session":"C"}']

Microsoft’s open-source OOXML standard gets approval — Despite stiff opposition from open source devotees and some advocacy groups, Microsoft’s open document standard, called OOXML, passed an ISO vote to become a recognized standard. As a result, Microsoft will have an easier time keeping governments and some large businesses using its document software. More at Ars Technica.

Cleantech investing doesn’t mean being a nice guy — People, planet and profit: Bill Green, managing director of VantagePoint Venture Capital’s cleantech investments, only cares about one of those factors, and you can probably guess which. “You really don’t want the chief sustainability officer, you want the chief financial officer,” he says. “We need to change this conversation around. The chief sustainability officer, man he’s your friend. He drinks the cool-aid, he wakes up in the morning, he reads your blog, he so gets this, he hates George Bush, it’s all good. That’s not going to get us to done.” More Green tips for green investing over at Greenbang (no relation).

Mashery launches WhitePages API — A new API from Mashery will allow developers to easily add people search to their applications. The company is growing quickly, according to a post on ReadWriteWeb.

Samsung’s iPhone killer and Microsoft smartphones — Samsung has released its ‘Instinct’ phone, an iPhone competitor that “does a decent job aping Apple’s phone”, according to the Silicon Alley Insider. The phone got better reviews from other sources, but as SAI points out, a new, even better iPhone is due out next quarter. Meanwhile, Microsoft announced that it is releasing Windows Mobile 6.1 and an upgrade to Internet Explorer Mobile, which the company says will have more security and easier navigation.