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Picture this: You're a young entrepreneur who's had that a-ha! moment that most only ever dream of. You've found your niche, built your offering, compiled an impressive team of engineers and salespeople that checkbook-wielding VCs are drooling over -- you're nearly ready to take the world by storm. ...

Both Amazon and Google have seen their respective businesses grow by adapting and expanding into areas far removed from their original bookstore and Internet search focuses. Thus it didn't seem far-fetched when rumors intensified Friday that Amazon plans tso enter the smartphone arena -- in part to ...

Amazon has acquired 3D-mapping startup UpNext, according to a report earlier this week. Mapping functionality has become a must-have feature for mobile device makers, but that alone may not explain what Amazon is planning for UpNext. Amazon's tablet, the Kindle Fire, does not sport a GPS radio, and ...

Dell's announcement of its planned Quest Software acquisition seemed more inevitable than surprising. Quest had been in play since March, when it said investment firm Insight Venture Partners offered $23 per share, or about $2 billion, for the company. The price jumped when an unidentified player en...

Google may have to buffer its patent portfolio or start paying licensing fees to Nokia now that the search engine giant is becoming a bigger player in the tablet market. Google launched the Nexus 7, its first Nexus-branded tablet device, last week. The 7-inch slate will run the latest version of the...

Verizon has filed a legal brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals against the Federal Communications Commission's Net neutrality rules, arguing that they exceed the agency's regulatory authority and violate constitutional rights protected by the First and Fifth Amendments. The FCC adopted the rules in ...

Windstream has been riding the growth Wave over the last several years. Are things starting to change? You may recall that a while back I said the company would continue to look strong as long as acquisitions continued. I asked what would happen when it slowed? That next chapter may be starting. It'...

Many people believe they can say what they want on the Internet as long as they use a pseudonym. After all, it is easy to set up an account using an anonymous alter ego. In addition to believing they can post whatever they want, they may also think they are protected by the First Amendment. They m...

Google's battle with Apple continues, and this week the website iFixit conducted a teardown of the new Nexus 7 tablet and found it to be more repairable than Apple's iPad. The site, which regularly takes apart high-tech and potentially expensive gizmos and gadgets, noted that the Nexus shell came ap...

Based on the underperformance of its online services division, Microsoft announced Monday that it would be taking a write-down of $6.2 billion. The non-cash, non-tax-deductible income statement charge for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012 is for the "impairment of goodwill" related primarily to...

Google has sent a letter to European antitrust regulators proposing to address the Commission's concerns about competition. The widespread assumption is that Google is seeking to head off formal proceedings that may be pending to avoid a long, drawn-out investigation and hefty fine. Google's overtur...

The U.S. government's push to utilize cloud-based technology will eventually lead to some blockbuster contracts -- many well over $10 million and others for even more than $100 million. Consider that just one contract in the current batch -- a cloud deal for email services at the U.S. Interior Depar...

Facebook is rumored to be testing a Want button that would be similar in look and function to its now ubiquitous Like button. The feature was spotted by developer Tom Waddington, who published the button's code on his blog. Such buttons already exist -- but they have been developed by third-party b...

Apple has won a preliminary injunction against Samsung that bans U.S. sales of the latter's Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The ruling came just days after the same court handed down a similar decision that banned U.S. sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1. Judge Lucy Koh ruled Friday that Apple had sufficien...

The purpose of Google's new Mobile App Analytics is to help marketers and developers measure the performance of mobile apps by providing reports on all the key points in a mobile customer's journey. One set of app metrics deals with the initial app user acquisition, which includes app discovery, upl...