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The arrival of new high-definition DVD players in the U.S. market this week means the fight between HD-DVD and the competing Blu-ray format is officially underway Both look to improve image quality with high-definition video and broaden the capacity of DVDs for the next generation of movie and video game discs....

Giving Internet-based television another boost, former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner and media giantTime Warner have both invested in a startup that aims to build a delivery platform for IPTV Eisner will also take a seat on the board of directors of Veoh Networks, which has raised US$12.5 million in a second round of venture financing. He will be ...

Microsoft's latest series of patches is brewing trouble for some customers While the MS06-015 patch was designed to fix a flaw in Windows Explorer, it is also causing plenty of problems for people who use Hewlett-Packard printers, scanners and digital cameras. Those who use Sunbelt Software's Kerio Personal Firewall are also experiencing difficulti...

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has once again sparked intense speculation about his company's next move, saying in a published interview that it might make sense for Oracle to be able to offer a Linux-based operating system and that his company is considering some acquisitions to make that happen Ellison also told the Financial Times of London that Oracl...

The number of malicious programs is on the rise, according to McAfee's Avert Labs, with exponential increases in rootkits and Windows-based stealth components In the first quarter of 2006, the number of rootkits increased by 700 percent over the year-ago period, according to McAfee. Meanwhile, the number of Windows-based stealth components dominate...

The global bandwidth glut that resulted when the telecom bubble burst in the late 1990s finally appears to be abating Signs of the glut's demise are evident in the industry, according to TeleGeography Research in Washington, D.C. "Following several rough years, the global bandwidth market is showing signs of improved health: supply equilibrium, pri...

The trend of Americans and Canadians buying call centers in India is driven by the low cost of these facilities and by the speed with which buyers can begin using them. Thefirst article in this series in this series focuses on the advantages of buying a facility with less than 100 seats in Bangalore, primarily for outbound voice work In Part 2, w...

Paul English, a Massachusetts-based software engineer turned customer service "guru," has become famous nearly overnight for his "dial zero for a human" automated phone system revolt. Judging from the widespread phenomenon and national attention, this is a customer service movement long overdue. Human interaction is critical to the success of service businesses and technology companies. Products are complex and constantly changing, leaving users frustrated -- although nothing that a friendly, competent customer account manager cannot clarify or resolve...

There's a good reason why Hewlett-Packard notebook computers have become so popular with consumers. They give you a lot for your money Consider HP's latest media center locomotive, the dv8000....

The Patti Santangelo Fight Goliath campaign was officially launched about four months ago and since then, it's raised an impressive $13,140.21 Santangelo is the New York mother of five targeted by the Big Four record labels' Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)....

IT consulting services will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2 percent from 2006 through 2010, with slightly rising growth rates each year, forecasts a new study from IDC Drivers behind this growth include the stabilization of prices, the entrance of new providers, and a changing attitude among buyers as to the value of IT cons...

Microsoft has released a beta version of its Windows Live Academic Search service -- an unusual move for the company, which tends to hold back from releasing its products until fully developed The search tool, the result of a cooperative effort between Windows Live Search, industry association CrossRef and more than 10 publishers, provides access t...

In a move to reducesoftware piracy in China, Beijing has banned the sale of so-called "naked" computers, that is, personal computers sold without software, according to an announcement on Friday The timing could be a political move to coincide with Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to the United States. The U.S. has urged a crackdown oni...

Advanced Micro Devices is asking Microsoft to turn over some internal records and preserve others as the number two PC chipmaker prepares for its civil antitrust suit against market leader Intel AMD is asking Microsoft for documents relating to internal discussions about AMD and its financial viability, especially around the decision to support 64-...

High-profile equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) has unveiled a deal for an affiliate to acquire Indian software company Flextronics for US$900 million Flextronics will retain a 15 percent equity stake in the software business with the deal, which represents KKR's first such stake in India....

NASA won't release its 70-page report on why the DART (Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology) spacecraft didn't complete its mission last year because of its sensitive content, the agency said "The official DART Mishap Investigation Report will not be publicly released because it contains information that is protected by U.S. Internati...

In a move rife with symbolism, Chinese President Hu Jintao will kick off his visit to the United States with meetings at Microsoft and Boeing before traveling to the White House. The meetings are meant to emphasize China's new openness to capitalism -- in terms of investments in mainland China on the part of U.S. companies such as Microsoft, as well as Chinese investment in U.S. companies. The meetings are expected to include a face-to-face session with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates...

Solid Information Technology on Monday announced an open source strategy to create a solidDB Storage Engine for MySQL The high-end database company is adapting its proven online transaction processing (OLTP) storage engine to work with MySQL Server. Businesses can adopt open source relational databases for mission-critical applications using Solid'...

The Hispanic market has been riding the headlines for the past couple of years as one of the fastest growing sectors of marketing. According to the third annual AOL/Roper U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy, Hispanics are entering cyberspace at a rapid pace with over 14 million U.S Hispanics online. Yet the companies successfully targeting them online in the direct response arena are few and far between. Why is it that something which seems like such low hanging fruit is so difficult to make successful?...

Last week I visited Hewlett-Packard's lab to see what they have in the works. Lab tours are one of the nice perks of this job. A few months ago I got to see Intel's rather extensive future lineup, and weeks ago I also witnessed Sun Microsystems' rather disappointing event It was clear that Sun had cut its research budget substantially because that ...