Both Hewlett-Packard and Compaq have claimed victory in votes which took place this week that were to decide the outcome of a proposed marriage of the companies. Compaq CEO Michael Capellas said Wednesday shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger by a 9-to-1 margin.
Although HP's vote was much closer, HP CEO Carly Fiorina claimed victory Tuesday despite merger opponent Walter Hewlett's assertion that an initial count was too close to call. A final tally of HP's 900,000 shareholders could take weeks, with a final approval expected to arrive in April.
"The intense debate throughout this contest has raised important issues, and prepared us even more fully for the integration and marketplace challenges that lie ahead," Fiorina wrote in an e-mail to HP employees after the vote. Fiorina was booed several times by opponents as she spoke during the vote.
After the merger goes through, 15,000 employees are expected to be laid off to support a $2.5 billion operating budget cut.
News source: Betanews
View: Betanews - HP, Compaq Claim Merger Victory
Although HP's vote was much closer, HP CEO Carly Fiorina claimed victory Tuesday despite merger opponent Walter Hewlett's assertion that an initial count was too close to call. A final tally of HP's 900,000 shareholders could take weeks, with a final approval expected to arrive in April.
"The intense debate throughout this contest has raised important issues, and prepared us even more fully for the integration and marketplace challenges that lie ahead," Fiorina wrote in an e-mail to HP employees after the vote. Fiorina was booed several times by opponents as she spoke during the vote.
After the merger goes through, 15,000 employees are expected to be laid off to support a $2.5 billion operating budget cut.
News source: Betanews View: Betanews - HP, Compaq Claim Merger Victory
'Change the world'
"To go through a two-hour operation I would say is a little bit extreme for a publicity stunt," he told the BBC.
"To say no you can't do this or this is publicity is absolutely crazy at this stage when we haven't even looked at it."
He said the £500,000 ($715,000) experiment was about "seriously helping people" with spinal injuries.
He added: "This has not been done on a human before so for someone to say this is not going to tell us much ... we don't know.
"We really don't know but we want to find out what sort of signals we are going to get and what sort of signals we can put in."
Researchers at the university's department of cybernetics will carry out experiments on Warwick for about a month.
It is hoped the science could one day help actor Christopher Reeve
He said: "What we're doing is historic and momentous. It is going to change the world.
"Science fiction has predicted this for quite some time. As a scientist, I'm excited about taking a step into the future.
"But as a human I do share the ethical concerns about what it will mean for humanity."
Warwick also hopes to wire himself up to a ultrasonic sensor, used by robots to navigate around objects, to give himself a bat-like sixth sense.
He believes the technique could be developed within a decade to restore movement to a tetraplegic's hand or feeling to a prosthetic leg used by an amputee.
"For someone like Christopher Reeve, it might not bring back complex movement. But if it could allow him to control a bit of technology to pick up a cup, it would be enormously useful," he said.
Warwick has already been a guinea pig for his own experiments.
In 1998 a silicon chip, which turned on lights and opened doors when he walked into his office, was implanted in his arm
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.