Archive

Patent laws remain in the crosshairs, despite the passage and near final implementation of the infamous America Invents Act of 2011. The Supreme Court is again hearing a case that has far-reaching implications for future innovation in self-replicating systems in fields such as nanotechnology, cell ...

Business IT solution development generally follows specific trends and overlapping eras. The first, calculation, occurred as digital products and services wholly replaced adding machines and other mechanical business devices. The second, computation, mirrored the evolution of digitized solutions for...

Today, few people are using an IBM desktop computer -- and if they are, the machine could be close to 20 years old. However, back in 1995 when IBM bought Lotus Notes, it was the world's largest software company and still made personal computers. Fast-forward, and today IBM isn't really known either ...

Facebook's policy of requiring that users post profiles under their real names was upheld by a German court on Thursday. The decision reversed last year's Independent Center for Privacy Protection ruling that Facebook had to permit the use of pseudonyms in Germany. The ULD -- the privacy regulator f...

Groupon got a stock bump this week following an analyst's upgrade, a rare occurrence for the daily deal site that has seen its stock price plummet since its debut on the public market. The company's evolving business model, an increasing presence in mobile commerce and an international push can help...

The current winter of discontent in the U.S. Congress over federal finances does not bode well for cooperation in other areas. Yet legislators push on, and among top Congressional priorities for 2013 is the enactment of legislation regarding the role of the federal government in dealing with nationa...

Mobile commerce sites showed growth during the 2012 holiday shopping season as they gave consumers more on-the-go options for buying and researching products, according to the latest ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index. ForeSee, a customer experience analytics firm, saw the Index jump two points over ...

Amazon, purveyor of everything you would need for a Valentine's Day dinner -- wine, food, romantic music, a DVD of Casablanca -- received a lot of love from respondents to the 2013 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study released this week; it rated Amazon the top spot among 60 of the most visible U.S...

In case investors have any doubts that Yahoo sees its future in mobile, events of the past few days should dispel them once and for all. News surfaced Tuesday that Yahoo has acquired Alike, a mobile app that guides users to find nearby venues and places to visit. The acquisition was announced on Ali...

Frank Boulben is the new chief marketing officer at BlackBerry and he has his hands full. Did you ever stand in front of a mountain of work and wonder how to get started? Marketing was one of several key weaknesses before RIM became BlackBerry. Can Boulben refresh, reinvigorate and save the smartpho...

Comcast announced Tuesday it will pay $16.7 billion to acquire General Electric's 49 percent stake in NBCUniversal. Comcast currently controls 51 percent of NBCU, which it picked up from GE in a deal that was finalized in 2011. The agreement was structured to allow Comcast to eventually acquire 100 ...

Slacker is getting ambitious about drawing in listeners, announcing Wednesday that it has launched the world's most complete music service for the Web, mobile devices and even automobile and consumer electronics platforms. The 5-year-old Internet radio station's revamped service promises to give lis...

Periodically we are reminded that the Federal Trade Commission plays a major role in regulating the Internet. For instance, the FTC is in charge of protecting privacy on the Internet in the U.S. and continually starts new privacy initiatives as the use of the Internet evolves. Unlike the EU, which h...

Dell's plan to go private in what would be one of the biggest leveraged buyouts in recent years appears to be in jeopardy. Some of the company's largest shareholders have come out against the move. Southeastern Asset Management filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a letter it sent to De...

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt might sell as much as 42 percent of his shares in the tech giant, according to an SEC filing. At the stock's current price of around $785 per share, the sale could yield about $2.5 billion for Schmidt. He currently owns about 7.6 million shares of Class A and...