Archive

IT and business managers are spending an increasing amount of time and money trying to predict what kind of return they can expect on their software investments, because their multi-networked, online working environment requires them to continually invent new approaches, as Part 1 of this two-part s...

CBS is hoping an innovative approach will ignite excitement in its fall TV lineup. The television network is planning to use Bluetooth technology to beam clips of the new shows from billboards to the mobile devices of passersby. Starting in September, billboards located in New York City's Grand Cen...

More than ever, knowingly or unknowingly, consumers disseminate personal data in daily activities. Credit and debit card transactions, ATM visits, website browsing and purchases -- even mobile phone use -- all generate data downloaded for analysis and customer profiling. Collectors may use this data...

Google's presence in Brazil might be threatened by a dispute with that government's law enforcement agency over user data. Brazil's public attorney has filed suit against Google demanding information on users of its social networking site, Orkut, who are suspected of engaging in child pornography an...

AOL became the latest Internet player to move aggressively into the movie download space Thursday, saying it would make full-length features from a number of Hollywood studios available through the AOL Video portion of the Web portal. The company said partnerships with 20th Century Fox, Sony Picture...

After a somewhat half-hearted effort to compete with Apple and the other digital music player makers, Dell signaled Wednesday that it will halt production of its DJ Ditty MP3 player. The move comes as Apple continues to enjoy dominance in the digital audio player space -- it owns as much as 80 perce...

A major auto manufacturer spends four years and more than US$200 million to install a Web-based enterprise resource planning system from an industry leading developer, then pulls the plug and goes back to its legacy system. An IT industry pioneer launches a leading vendor's customized order manageme...

Microsoft's efforts to build out its advertising network received a considerable boost with the announcement that Facebook has signed on with the company to receive online advertising services. As part of the multiyear contract, Microsoft will be the exclusive provider of banner advertising and spon...

Former eMachines owner Lap Shun Hui has offered to buy the retail operations of PC maker Gateway, to whom he sold his firm in 2004, for US$450 million. Gateway saw its stock price rise more than 22 percent Wednesday following news of the offer and said its board of directors, as well as financial an...

IBM is making yet another splashy acquisition, this time in the data security arena. The computing giant will pay US$1.3 billion to acquire Internet Security Systems, it announced Wednesday. The deal, which values ISS at $28 per share in cash -- an 8 percent premium over the previous day's closing p...

Microsoft on Tuesday launched a legal campaign against parties that register Web addresses designed to attract visitors by using trademarked terms and common misspellings of more popular domains. The software giant filed three lawsuits this week against alleged "cybersquatters" and "typosquatters." ...

To some observers, it may seem like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped, but next month a group of high-tech companies -- including leading notebook computer makers Dell, Lenovo, Apple and Hewlett-Packard -- will be holding a summit meeting in San Jose, Calif., to get the ball rollin...

In a move that could spark a price war in the emerging video download marketplace, Guba Tuesday slashed prices for purchasing and renting newly released films and television show episodes. Guba cut prices on new release movies from US$19.999 to $9.99, said it would make older movies from its catalog...

Two employees were fired and a top executive has voluntarily left AOL, the direct result of the public disclosure of millions of supposedly private search records. AOL said Chief Technology Officer Maureen Govern is leaving the company and reports suggested that two other employees were dismissed. O...

The debate over net neutrality is getting a bit belligerent online. A senior executive at cable company Comcast is challenging the CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman, to a debate on the topic. A copy of a recent e-mail between David Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast, and Whitman has surfaced on the ...