Archive

Struggling smartphone maker Palm just got a $100 million shot in the arm from private equity group Elevation Partners. In an investment agreement announced Monday, Elevation acquired new issues of preferred stock in Palm for $3.25 per share, a 31 percent premium over the closing price of Palm's stoc...

Lorrie Thomas does not "sell, share or whore out" the personal information of any visitor who comes to her Lorrie Thomas Web Marketing site -- and she backs up this no-share promise in her privacy statement. Indeed, the entire document is a straightforward description of what the company will and wi...

Warner Music Group has started pulling some of its songs from YouTube, a move that apparently reflects a breakdown in the renegotiation of a licensing agreement between the two sides. Warner licensed its entire music catalog to YouTube just before the latter was acquired by search engine powerhouse ...

Microsoft is giving PC makers -- essentially, companies that make build-to-suit computers -- an additional four months to buy the Windows XP operating system. Redmond had originally designated Jan. 21, 2009, as the cutoff for shipping the OS. Now, these manufacturers can take delivery up to May 30. ...

That the term "carbon offset provider" has become part of the business lexicon may be an indicator that companies are finally getting serious about neutralizing their impact on the environment. Consumers are finding that the Internet can be a valuable resource in their own smaller-scale efforts to f...

The current economic environment has consumers tightening their purse strings, carefully scrutinizing each dollar they spend. Scaling back on expenditures, including investments, they're not taking any chances with the money they do have. There is little trust in the economy or the future. To get co...

In the summer of 1865, newspaper editor Horace Greeley offered this advice to a nation just then beginning to recover from the Civil War: "Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." As America begins to recover from recent economic challenges, Greeley's best advice to merchants in 20...

Five years and 35,000 people later, the Recording Industry Association of America has apparently conceded a major battle over music file-sharing. The music industry trade group has decided to stop suing individuals it suspects of illegally downloading music via peer-to-peer Web sites. However, that ...

Shares of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software fell 26 percent to $8.91 in late-day trading Thursday after the company announced a disappointing financial forecast for the holiday shopping period. Take-Two shares were down 68.2 percent from their 52-week high of $27.91. Dismal forecast...

In yet another sign of weakening in the technology sector, enterprise software giant Oracle announced a decline in profits on Thursday. The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company reported $1.29 billion in earnings during the fiscal quarter ended Nov. 31, down 1 percent from $1.3 billion in earnings du...

The virtual world of the Internet has become a hotbed of activity designed to ease the real-world pollution problem. The Chicago Climate Exchange, or CCX, is a regulated exchange whose members are committed to cutting their emissions. It is the only cap-and-trade system in North America for six gree...

Business networking company LinkedIn has undergone a changing of the guard. CEO Dan Nye is out and has been replaced by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. Former Yahoo executive Jeff Weiner has joined the company as interim president and will oversee day-to-day operations. Weiner will report to Hoffman ...

A heavily financed Internet startup has launched a new question-and-answer search engine with a twist -- users pay one another to get answers to questions. Santa Monica, Calif.-based Mahalo launched Mahalo Answers earlier this week. The search service is reminiscent of Yahoo Answers and search engin...

New York Gov. David Paterson has proposed a 4 percent tax on digital music downloads and other "digitally delivered entertainment services." The "iPod Tax," as it's become known, is just one of many new taxes the governor has proposed in an effort to close the state's multibillion-dollar budget gap....

Struggling mobile phone maker Motorola announced drastic measures on Wednesday to cut costs as demand for its products flag in the now year-old U.S. recession. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based company will cut the pay of its co-CEOs -- Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha -- by 25 percent in 2009, freeze its U.S. pe...