> You can tell a lot about an operator by the vendors it recognizes. This is especially true in the close-mouthed cable industry, so it's worth noting that Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) recognized Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) for "best product & services quality;" Accenture for "best support & after sales;" and Samsung for "best innovative/breakthrough supplier" as part of vendor awards at the Liberty Global technology dinner. The international cable operator invited its 50 most important vendor partners to the event. News release.
> Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) CFO Michael Angelakis probably created a Wall Street panic party when he stated the obvious--cable rates won't go down as long as programmers keep getting the big bucks--during the Bank of America/Merrill Lunch 2010 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference. "We're fighting every day in the trenches," he said, perhaps signaling an impending civil war when Comcast itself becomes a big-time programmer via the acquisition of NBC Universal. Story.
> Could it be that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is not all that enamored of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)? The Schaumberg, Ill.-based vendor said it has acquired privately held Aloqa GmbH, which it described as "a privately held leading developer of location-based software and technologies that are designed to enable the discovery of relevant Web content by mobile smartphone users." News release.
> Elsewhere in the Google domain, Skyhook Wireless filed a lawsuit claiming that Google had persuaded Moto to break Skyhook contracts to use Google service and that Google is infringing on Skyhook's "patented methods of determining location." And just think, these are the guys who are coming into the TV space to compete with cable. Story.
> It seems that Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and ActiveVideo cozied up a bit more than previously reported during IBC in Amsterdam. Reports are that Cisco invited ActiveVideo back to its pad ... as in iPad where the pair demoed a video-on-demand programming solution. Cisco, though, is a fickle partner. It also had Brazilian cable operator Net over to chew the Apple.
> The latest MoCA associate level member TiVo Inc (TIVO.O) is offering 3DTV content to TVNZ's Caspa hybrid TV service in New Zealand. It's nascent, with only some short films and animations now available, TiVo said it will "grow to include a diverse range of 3D content."
And finally... The world wobbled ever so slightly on its axis this week when cable icon John Malone, currently serving as chairman of Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) said a bid to purchase Bresnan's cable businesses was "sentimental." Fortunately, Malone helped the orb correct course by pointing out that practicality won out. "We couldn't get the returns we were looking for ... so we had to lose." Story.