In today’s Bulldog wrapup of science and technology news:

  • The COO at TransEnterix has resigned
  • Red Hat adds a woman to its board
  • IBM sees big mobile shopping season
  • AT&T and Verizon talk next-generation wireless voice service
  • Google signs a $1 billion lease with NASA

The details:

  • TransEnterix COO Resigns

Triangle-based medical device firm TransEnterix (NYSE: TRXC) reports that Richard Mueller, its chief operating officer, has resigned.

Mueller left the job effective Nov. 7.

TransEnterix offered no further details in its brief statement.

  • Red Hat Adds Woman to Board

Charlene Begley, a former General Electric executive, is the newest member of the board at Red Hat (NYSE: RHT).

 ”We are pleased to welcome Charlene Begley to our board. With her extensive business and leadership experience, she will add a valuable perspective as Red Hat continues its focus on developing innovative technologies to help enterprises leverage the power of open source to meet their IT and business needs,” said General H. Hugh Shelton (U.S. Army Retired), chairman of Red Hat’s Board of Directors, in a statement.

Begley worked at GE from 1988 to december 2013. Her most recent position was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, as well as the President and Chief Executive Officer of GE’s Home and Business Solutions business.

  • IBM Sees Big eCommerce Shopping Season

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is forecasting a record holiday shopping season for ecommerce consumers.

eWeek reports that IBM expects a 15 percent jump in holiday sales between Thanksgiving Day and so-called Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday sales are predicted to jump the most – 15.6 percent. Black Friday sales are projected to grow 13 percent.

eWeek offers more details online: http://www.eweek.com/mobile/ibm-predicts-record-mobile-holiday-shopping-in-2014.html

  • AT&T, Verizon Talk VoLTE

Rivals AT&T and Verizon are going to cooperate when it comes to the use of VoLTE, or voice over LTE, wireless. LTE is the latest technology enabling faster speeds over cellular networks. 

The firms plan interoperability between their networks in 2015. 

“VoLTE is an all-IP (Internet Protocol) technology that deeply integrates the network’s enhanced calling features into the smartphone, creating a seamless and simple experience for customers. Interoperability among VoLTE service providers in the United States and around the world will create a better and richer mobile experience for customers,” the companies said.

“Engineers from both companies are working through a full set of requirements, beginning with extensive testing in lab environments and then moving to field trials. This approach ensures customers will have a seamless experience making VoLTE HD Voice calls between networks and lays the foundation for interoperability of other Rich Communications Services (RCS) such as video calls, rich messaging, and more in the future.”

  • Google Signs 60-year, $1 Billion NASA Lease

Google has signed a long-term lease for part of a historic Navy air base, where it plans to renovate three massive hangars and use them for projects involving aviation, space exploration and robotics.

The giant Internet company will pay $1.16 billion in rent over 60 years for the property, which also includes a working air field, golf course and other buildings. The 1,000-acre site is part of the former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula.

Google plans to invest more than $200 million to refurbish the hangars and add other improvements, including a museum or educational facility that will showcase the history of Moffett and Silicon Valley, according to a NASA statement. The agency said a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures LLC will use the hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”