Articles by Rachelle Dragani

Amazon's Kindle Fire was second in tablet market share only to Apple's iPad in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a report from IHS iSuppli Amazon didn't release official sales figures when it reported its quarterly earnings for the end of 2011 recently, but the iSuppli report states the company shipped 3.9 million Kindle Fires during the las...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has put in place tougher restrictions regarding prerecorded telemarketing calls, aka "robocalls." In a 3-0 vote, the commissioners agreed on four ways to limit the automated marketing calls, which often irritate users of residential and cellphone lines....

Online game maker Zynga reported a net loss during its first quarter as a publicly traded company, due mostly to heavy stock compensation from its IPO and an increase in research and development costs Revenue at Zynga, however, was up 59 percent during the last three months of 2011. The company brought in US$311.2 million, compared to $195.8 millio...

Malicious hackers attacked Microsoft's India online retail store on Sunday evening, publishing obscured screenshots that appeared to contain personal user information. A Chinese hacker group known as "Evil Shadow Team" took responsibility for the breach, posting a message on Microsoft's website stating that the "unsafe system will be baptized." In...

Google is working on a branded home entertainment system designed to wirelessly connect Android devices to Google-designed speakers and stream music throughout the home, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal The device would be marketed and branded under the Google name. The system would offer streaming music content from a Google music ...

Shares of Groupon were down about 14 percent midday Thursday, a day after the company revealed that it failed to turn a profit in its first quarter as a publicly traded company The daily coupon site saw a revenue increase of 194 percent to US$506 million during its first fiscal quarter, but it still had a net loss of $42.7 million, or about 8 cents...

Yahoo's chairman and three of its board members will step down at the company's next shareholder meeting as part of an extensive overhaul process Yahoo has been undertaking to please investors Yahoo has faced criticism from shareholders for some time. Years ago, its management refused a buyout offer from Microsoft that would have netted US$44.6 bil...

Google has launched a new program devoted to fostering discussions and ideas among leaders in the science and technology industries. The project, dubbed ""Solve for X," aims to be a seeding ground for solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems The site is meant to inspire "moonshot" thinking, out-of-the-box technologies, and projects t...

Google has rejected the request of European regulators that it delay the implementation of its new privacy policies to give authorities time to review the changes and ensure that users' data will remain secure. The European Commission's Article 29 Working Party, an independent body of data privacy regulators, asked Google to hold off on launching ...

Google announced a new layer of security for its Android Market on Thursday, unveiling a program called "Bouncer" that will automatically scan apps and developer accounts for malware Bouncer works by analyzing each app as it's uploaded to the Market, scanning for threats, spyware and trojans. It also takes a look at developer accounts to make sure ...

Facebook filed it's long-awaited S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, announcing its intent to raise US$5 billion and begin public trading The highly anticipated move caused enough of a stir to clog traffic on the SEC's website and provided some insight into the social network's financial situation. According to t...

Amazon's stock took a pummeling Wednesday after the online retailer released quarterly figures that fell short of Wall Street expectations, which had been built up in part by past years' holiday performances Amazon's net income was US$177 million, or 38 cents per share, a 57 percent percent drop from a year ago. Sales for the three months before De...

Samsung's new Galaxy Note Android phone, which will feature one of the largest screens on a smartphone to date, will hit shelves on Feb.19. ...

Nintendo's Wii U will be out in time for the 2012 holiday season and will feature NFC technology, according to the company The next-generation Nintendo Wii will have a handheld controller with a touchscreen that can interact with what's showing on the TV screen. The new device will also come equipped with NFC technology, allowing users to create ca...

The FBI wants to keep its eye on social media users, according to a job post that invites software developers to submit applications capable of mining through sites such as Twitter and Facebook to identify possible threats. The post can be found on FedBizOpps.gov....

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday that law enforcement officials need a court-approved warrant before using a GPS device to track a suspect. Justices offered different opinions regarding how Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures apply to the balance between law enforcement and privacy....

The hacker group Anonymous has reportedly launched a series of attacks that shut down major websites in retaliation against the U.S. Department of Justice's actions against the site Megaupload. The attacks have been ongoing since Thursday, and various Web users who clicked on certain links may have been tricked into becoming accomplices The group r...

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday shuttered Megaupload, a popular file-sharing website, charging seven of its executives with engaging in an international criminal enterprise based on copyright infringement Federal authorities called it one of the largest criminal copyright cases in U.S. history. Megaupload, its movie streaming site Megavi...

AT&T announced new wireless data pricing Wednesday that will give customers more data per month, but at a higher price The telecom's lowest tier for wireless data use, previously US$15 for 200 megabytes of data, will jump to 300 megabytes for $20. The 2 GB plan for $25 will now be $30 for 3 GB, and its highest tier, which also includes mobile hotsp...

AT&T announced new wireless data pricing Wednesday that will give customers more data per month, but at a higher price The telecom's lowest tier for wireless data use, previously US$15 for 200 megabytes of data, will jump to 300 megabytes for $20. The 2 GB plan for $25 will now be $30 for 3 GB, and its highest tier, which also includes mobile hotsp...