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Telephone service provider Alltel has finalized a deal to buy fellow niche carrier Western Wireless for US$4.4 billion in cash and stock as the merger activity in the wireless field moves into the regional space. As part of the deal, Alltel will take on about $1.5 billion in debt that Western Wirele...

Analysts predicted that online shopping would increase 20 percent over the last holiday season. Don't they know that you should never underestimate the (spending) power of a woman? There is no denying that female shoppers are flexing a lot more monetary muscle on the Internet these days. E-commerce ...

Bidding to capitalize on the mobile services trend by extending its powerful brand beyond the bounds of the Internet, MapQuest has launched a service that enables users to send the company's maps to cell phones. The Send to Phone service will be offered as part of the monthly subscription plan to Ma...

EBay has launched a major initiative that brings together leading technology companies, government agencies, environmental groups and millions of eBay users to confront the problem of "e-waste" -- unused or obsolete computers that might pose environmental hazards when disposed of in landfills. The c...

The number of malicious code attacks aimed at mobile phones continues to expand, with the latest threat coming from a variant of the Skulls Trojan. Security firm F-Secure said the variant, which it has dubbed Skulls.D, targets smart phones using the Symbian operating system and disguises itself as a...

Not too many years ago, the acronym VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) was virtually unheard of. Today, it is becoming an everyday term. In fact, the major phone companies ignore this technology at their peril. A while back, I remember trying to set up my computer to receive and send phone calls vi...

Six Apart, which develops and provides blogging software and service, announced today that it has acquired Danga Interactive, operator of LiveJournal, an online community organized around personal journals, for an undisclosed amount. The merger of the two blogging pioneers makes the new company a bl...

Reports of the demise of the consolidation trend in the wireless sector might have been premature, as Alltel, which currently ranks sixth in the U.S., is reportedly in talks to buy regional carrier Western Wireless. The deal, which has yet to be made official, would be worth an estimated US$4 billio...

Every holiday season, online retailers develop a "tractor beam" focus on customers, ensuring orders are met, packages arrive on time and toys are in stock. However, historical data show that January is even busier than December -- and more valuable for building and solidifying customer loyalty, acco...

Business folks reach agreements, lawyers write the contracts. This being the case, often times a business person need not concern him or herself with the details of the final contract or what is commonly referred to as the "legalese" aspects of an agreement. However, there are exceptions in that the...

Customers of all major wireless phone carriers continue to be largely unhappy with the service they're getting, but analysts say consumers probably aren't nearly disgruntled enough to slow the growth of the mobile industry. Consumer Reports said its annual survey of cell phone users found a majority...

All you will need to establish a worldwide trademark is the desire to go global with a powerful global identity. The rest will fit if you follow the right procedures and make sure your entire organization is ready to play the new global games. There has been a drop in the old branding cost of some 9...

In a bid to bring two of the hottest technology trends together and put a potentially "disruptive" tool into the hands of consumers, Vonage said today it will roll out handsets later this year that will enable voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone calls using WiFi connections. Vonage announced a...

Online shopping in the U.S. soared by 25 percent, to US$23.2 billion, during the 2004 holiday season, with almost every category posting year-over-year increases, according to the latest holiday eSpending Report from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Harris Interactive, and Nielsen//NetRatings. Online shopp...

Business communication skills are the most important skills that any manager or staff person can have. You might have the best product or service in the world. You might have great technical skills and domain knowledge. However, if you cannot communicate effectively, then you are lost.