"We've been clear, as evidenced by the size of our offer premium, that speed is of the essence for the deal to make sense, " Liddell said.

FORBES: The Xbox Trap

The combination of size and speed brings economies of scale, boosted further by the route through Strasbourg to Germany opened last summer, and the new high-speed Eurostar link to London.

ECONOMIST: Face value

Well, Tactus has been sampling some new coating materials attempting to reduce glare -- and succeeding -- and to cut down on the controller's size by 70 percent and in so doing also doubled up the speed that the keyboard activates.

ENGADGET: blogger-avatar

Mr. Branson disclosed that in the wake of Monday's success, "I would like to speed up the program" by increasing to three from two the size of the initial fleet of rocket ships intended to carry passengers.

WSJ: Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Tests Its Rockets in Flight

Famous for his exuberance and sometimes mercurial nature, Mr. Branson disclosed that in the wake of Monday's success, "I would like to speed up the program" by increasing to three from two the size of the initial fleet of rocket ships intended to carry passengers.

WSJ: Virgin Galactic Spacecraft Tests Its Rockets in Flight