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Seeing potential to merge entertainment with e-commerce, MTV Networks today said it would buy the parent company of the wildly popular youth Web site Neopets.com Financial terms were not disclosed, but published reports suggested the purchase price was around US$160 million....

Optus, Australia's second-leading telco, and NineMSN, a joint venture between Microsoft and Publishing & Broadcasting, announced a strategic alliance to provide content and Web-based communications to Optus broadband and mobile customers Through the alliance, Optus' six million daily customers will receive communications services including e-mail, ...

Microsoft will release the beta of its long-talked-about Longhorn Server in August, at about the same time as it releases the beta for the Longhorn desktop OS, Senior Vice President Bob Muglia said in an online chat last week Muglia also suggested that the company may be working on a home version of the 64-bit server system, although one analyst wa...

In a move already sending shockwaves through the e-commerce industry even though it is still unconfirmed, Google is said to be considering an online payment service that would go head-to-head with eBay's PayPal EBay shares were down nearly 4 percent on published reports that Google was preparing a service, tentatively called Google Wallet, meant to...

A new software language promises to allow computers to consider the consequences of their commands Analysts said this artificial intelligence technology looks promising for both manufacturers and business management processes. ISO 18629 becomes part of what Business Communication Company (BCC) predicts will be at least a US$21 billion market by 200...

Chief risk officers aren't just for banks anymore, but analysts say the position still is only necessary for certain companies A position that first appeared in the financial services industry to deal with a bundle of compliance and security issues, chief risk officers, or CROs, are now spreading to other large corporations faced with regulations s...

Online marketers are in a quandary. Their customers prefer e-mail as a vehicle of communication, but spammers have poisoned that well, making it very difficult for legitimate advertisers to deliver their messages to their loyal customers However, Think360, a marketing firm in Austin, Texas, thinks it has a solution to this problem: screensavers. Th...

A lot can be drawn from watching the initial moves of a new CEO. In Carly Fiorina's case those moves were building an empire and driving a fast path to becoming the largest company, as well as the most visible CEO, in the segment. Both goals were achieved, but afterwards Fiorina lost focus and ultimately, she lost the job Mark Hurd is clearly a d...

Identity theft from phishing and pharming attacks is one of the biggest problems computer users face. It can take ID theft victims four or five years to repair the damage, according to financial consultants "The most prevalent ID theft threat is the phishing attack, and it is getting worse. Attacks are larger and are more frequent," Peter Schlampp,...

Sony Online Entertainment has purchased the rights to the video game "The Matrix Online," the company announced today The deal also includes the an exclusive long-term licensing agreement for to create a massively multiplayer online game for PC and next generation consoles based on DC Comics superheroes....

Looking to the world's leading nation in terms of broadband and wireless adoption, Intel is working with South Korean company KT to collaborate on the country's next wireless broadband solution KT and Intel indicated they would team up on what is known as WiBro 802.16e wireless technology, and on Intel's similar wireless solution for wider coverage...

When Sony opened the proprietary Universal Media Disk (UMD) format it uses in its PlayStation Portable (PSP), it wanted to encourage other companies to provide content specifically for the hand-held device Sony Computer Entertainment, the wholly owned subsidiary of Sony responsible for its game segment, surely had tamer movies and music in mind, bu...

Millions of former newspaper readers now get their news from the Web, but the majority remain loyal to their favorite print news outlets A study by Nielsen//NetRatings said that 21 percent of online users who read newspapers now rely primarily on Web editions, while 7 percent say they split their news consumption between the Web and print. That lea...

British Internet security officials issued a critical alert yesterday to warn UK governments, companies and individuals that they may be under a hacker attack The United Kingdom's National Infrastructure Security Co-Ordination Centre (NISCC) reported a series of Trojanized e-mail attacks are targeting people to covertly gather and transmit commerci...

Bidding to secure a strong foothold in the rapidly emerging mobile-search marketplace, Google has begun testing of a wireless search service that returns results based in part on how well-suited content is to be viewed on hand-held devices Google Mobile Web Search focuses on sites that employ XHTML, or extensible HTML, which can be customized to di...

In a bid to strengthen its data protection portfolio, network storage solutions provider Network Appliance announced yesterday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a private storage security firm Network Appliance will purchase Redwood City, Calif.-based Decru for approximately US$272 million in cash and stock. Decru's storage...

Yahoo has lifted the veil on the "deep Web" with the beta version of Yahoo Subscription Search The "deep Web" includes information on the Web that is not available for free. This information is not listed within general search results. Yahoo will now offer results for sites such as The Wall Street Journal, which offer subscription access and requir...

Long after they became fixtures in the hands of businesspeople and teenagers alike, mobile phones still hold a unique and unenviable position in the world of technology, a device that's loved and hated as intensely as any Anyone who's ever been forced to listen to half a conversation held on a phone in public, or had a peaceful moment or a business...

Linux distribution developer Xandros announced earlier this week that it will release localized editions of the Xandros Desktop operating system in German and French. The company plans to make the new editions available in the fall "We have received many requests from individuals and enterprises for localized versions of Xandros products," said And...

California began a series of public hearings on the SBC/AT&T merger in Oakland, Calif., this week. While the purpose is to gather public input, in reality, special interests dominate, putting the real public interest at risk An hour before the hearing took place, the meeting room was plastered with signs that could have been dusted off from the 19...