Tech companies bid billions for radio and TV waves

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that it had completed a $19 billion radio spectrum auction, hearing offers from participants like AT&T, Verizon and Google, according to the New York Times.

The new parts of the spectrum will be available as television broadcasters convert to a digital format early next year, allowing more space for the increased demand for wireless Internet and other services in the coming years.

Sources will not reveal auction winners until later this week, but the overall amount earned by the government was twice what analysts had predicted, said Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The auction was the largest in government history, he said.

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Wells Fargo to secure digital documents

Wells Fargo Bank will offer secure storage for digital files starting this summer, the first service of its kind to be offered from a bank, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The service, called Wells Fargo vSafe, will allow users to post any type of file, including wills, birth certificates and other sensitive documents.

Other companies provide online storage, but the Wells Fargo services will utilize the same security as their online banking and serve as a kind of digital safety deposit box.

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'Space Odyssey' author loses battle with post-polio

Arthur C. Clarke, author of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and science visionary, died at age 90 yesterday after a year’s-long battle with post-polio syndrome, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Known for conceptualizing many feats of technology before their actual invention, including the communication satellite, Clarke wrote numerous science fiction novels and short stories.

"Sometimes I am asked how I would like to be remembered," Clarke said recently. "I have had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer and space promoter. Of all these, I would like to be remembered as a writer."