VISUAL RADIO

The spread of railways stimulated communication. The standardisation of postal charges in 1839 saw a boom in mail services. But this was nothing compared to the revolution of the telegraph.

Intel Corp. on Thursday said it has agreed to acquire Oplus Technologies Inc. in an effort to expand the chipmaker's reach into the digital home. The acquisition gives Intel video-processing technology for digital displays on high-definition televisions.

Those displays include flat-panel plasma screens, liquid crystal displays and rear-projection TVs. Intel's microprocessors and chipsets work best today at processing data, not video, Intel spokesman Bill Calder said.