September 16, 2005

Forget IPOs. Tougher disclosure laws, big companies with loads of cash, and risk-averse entrepreneurs have made acquisitions fashionable. If the bubble era was marked by noisy bashes celebrating entry into the Nasdaq, this is the age of the quiet buyout. The payoffs may not be as big, or the parties as wild, but acquisitions are becoming the way to do business. Red Herring takes a look at this change in the business of technology in our September 26 cover story, “Buyouts Are Better,” on newsstands Monday. Here’s a look at the lineup, which appears along with our regular features:

· Star Trek-style sunglasses can turn your cell phone into a full-screen image—if they don’t make you sick. Will video eyewear be the next big thing? Read “The Big Picture.”

· “Finding the Perfect Drug” looks at pharmas focusing on developing niche contenders, rather than blockbusters in the search for better MS therapies.

· Rugged mobile computers are expanding beyond military and industrial use. Could a new market become just as specialized? Read “Roughing It.”

Here is a look at the top news story, which appears with several other items at the front of the book:

· “A Passage to Profits” looks at foreign firms scrambling for their piece of Indian telecom.