Archive

While globalization of the world's economy may be a done deal, global business still largely happens in English -- or at least in languages that use the same characters as the English language, such as Spanish and French. This week, however, the organization that controls the naming of Internet doma...

As business offerings go, Go800's plan is simple: It gives mobile consumers a quick keyword connection to a call-back from vendors. The vendor's ad lists an easy-to-remember keyword, a ready-to-buy viewer texts that keyword to Go800, and a moment later the viewer's phone rings with a call from the v...

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has laid out a proposal that establishes the agency's authority to regulate Internet broadband providers much as it does telecom service companies. The FCC has always claimed to have this authority -- but it was not put to the test until Comcast challenged an order by...

A new attempt to offer regulations for Internet privacy may be a so-called discussion draft, but so far the discussion has been anything but promising for Virginia Congressman Rick Boucher, a man who cosponsored the 2005 Consumer Privacy Protection Act. The Democrat released the draft legislation on...

In the post-Sarbanes-Oxley world, board members face multiple challenges that they must address if they are to fulfill their fiduciary duties. Having a former top corporate executive and experienced board member address these challenges provides a wonderful window of opportunity for current and pros...

Several years ago analysts began trumpeting the finding that operational costs had surpassed capital costs as the dominant source of expense in IT infrastructure. Despite evidence supporting this claim, many IT managers for a time continued to focus primarily on capex. However, over the past few y...

Looking to improve its ability to integrate across various cloud ecosystems, IBM on Monday bought integration services provider Cast Iron Systems. The latest addition to IBM's infrastructure portfolio comes amid a rolling thunder of acquisitions in the technology space, a result of confidence that t...

Google's impending launch of an e-bookstore could make it easier for consumers to get digital books, but it's difficult to tell how this development will impact the competitive landscape in this suddenly booming market. The market for e-book readers is poised to catch fire, the Yankee Group predicte...

Skype on Wednesday announced that it is launching subscription plans to more than 170 countries with substantial savings over the company's standard rates for calling mobile phones and landlines. Starting Thursday, Skype's range of calling subscriptions will start from as little as $1.09 per month a...

International e-commerce is poised for explosive growth in the months and years ahead. Demand for U.S. products overseas is booming due to vast selection, high-quality specialty goods and unbelievable values. The Internet is bringing all of this value, selection and convenience directly to consumers...

The Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox Web browsers are gaining market share at the expense of Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer. Statistics from NetApplications.com show that Chrome had 6.73 percent of the browser market in April. Firefox had nearly 25 percent, and Internet Explorer continued t...

Last week, VMware and Salesforce.com announced a new partnership around VMforce, a Platform as a Service offering aimed at enterprise Java developers. The companies' CEOs -- VMware's Paul Maritz and Salesforce's Marc Benioff described VMforce as an enterprise cloud designed to serve the needs of m...

Google has acquired Bump Technologies, a company that has developed an application that transforms a computer desktop screen into a 3-D display. The app -- called "BumpTop" -- is compatible with multitouch display technology, a feature found on devices like Apple's iPad and iPhone. That multitouch f...

How we communicate has always had a dramatic impact on business. The telephone made the "sales call" possible; soap company advertising created a whole genre of radio and TV programming; the Internet enabled the "live demo." Business is about connecting with your consumer, and the earlier your compa...

I'm not saying that IT departments have a PR problem, but when was the last time you saw a button saying, "Hug an IT person today"? What I am saying is that IT is largely misunderstood outside the walls of the IT environment. And the crusty silos inside of IT can make their own cultural connections ...