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VeriSign, the same company in charge of the .com and .net Internet registries, has been chosen by an international standards group to provide and run a root directory for a massive radio frequency identification (RFID) network considered to be the next evolution beyond bar codes EPCglobal, a nonprofit standards organization, said the selection of V...

After skipping its December security update even after the publication of several new vulnerabilities -- some of which were used to perpetrate Internet crimes, such as identity theft and financial scams -- Microsoft has released several security patches as part of its new monthly security initiative The patches primarily address issues in three of ...

In the past, mobile computers could not begin to approach the processing power of desktop machines. When you bought a new laptop, you had to be happy with the graphics processor, CPU, and other fixed-system components. These days, you don't have to settle for meager performance when you are on the move One of the companies helping to shape the ultr...

Several bellwether U.S. technology firms got a major boost Tuesday as Chinese telecommunications firms dished out more than US$2 billion worth of contracts to such firms as Intel, Motorola, Lucent Technologies and Juniper Networks The Telecommunications Industry Association said four Chinese companies awarded the contracts, totaling $2.32 billion, ...

Last year was a busy one for Symantec, one of the United States' leading developers of security products. The Cupertino, California-based company helped customers battle and protect against an ever-growing list of malware, ranging from Blaster, Slammer and SoBig to hundreds of smaller irritants The hectic year paid off: Symantec posted revenue of U...

Opposing forces in the DVD format world are lining up support and touting firm rollout timelines as they compete to establish the next generation of DVD format specs, with the Blu-ray disc format winning support this week from computer makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard The two American companies join Sony, Hitachi, Matsushita, LG, Pioneer, Philips, S...

Microsoft has announced it will extend some forms of support for two older versions of its Windows operating system well beyond planned phase-out dates. The company justified the move by saying customers in far-flung countries are not aware enough of its phase-out schedule and thus have not upgraded to current Windows versions in sufficient numbers...

Digital video recorders that allow consumers to skip commercials in television programs they record might be more difficult to find in the future due to the "chilling effect" of a court case ended by a federal judge last Friday Judge Florence-Marie Cooper dismissed a lawsuit filed against 28 entertainment companies by five owners of a ReplayTV DVR ...

With the growing demand for always-on high-speed Internet access, consumer-grade firewall boxes are becoming as common in computing as modems and mice. The prevalence of these devices makes sense, as network security and protection against intruders have become topics of great concern for home-office telecommuters as well as for IT staff in upscale corporations...

Internet telephony player Vonage and silicon specialist Texas Instruments have announced a collaboration on voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for equipment designers The partnership, which combines Vonage broadband telephony software with TI's VoIP silicon, is aimed at speeding adoption of VoIP, touted as a cost-saving, unencumbered al...

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas every year is perhaps the most exciting show for the technology enthusiast to attend. There were several high-profile announcements made during the show -- and some were only made to a select number of analysts. Perhaps the biggest public announcement was the partnership between Apple and HP, which will create an HP-branded iPod that will work not only with iTunes, but also with HP's Media Center products based on Microsoft's platform...

A new Trojan horse computer program, which secretly steals personal information by tricking users into visiting a malicious Web site, is trying to duplicate the devious success of the Swen worm, which infected more than a million machines last September Known as "Xombe," the Trojan horse program mirrors Swen by masquerading as a critical update fro...

Technology heavyweights IBM and Intel have agreed to provide seed funding for a new legal defense fund aimed at thwarting attempts by The SCO Group to sue Linux end users and creators The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) said the two companies, along with MontaVista Software, provided US$3 million toward what it hopes will become a $10 million n...

A few years ago, micropayments seemed like yet another brilliant idea in the midst of the Internet revolution. To download content, consumers could pay in small increments, ranging from just under a dollar to fractions of a penny. Some industry watchers thought micropayments would replace Internet access charges or take the place of subscription fees...

In the six years since Musicmatch opened its virtual doors, the online music business has seen some significant changes. From the death (and then rebirth) of Napster to the success of services like Apple's iTunes Music Stores, the industry has emerged from the dark dot-com fallout to face a bright future. Musicmatch CEO Dennis Mudd spoke with the E-Commerce Times about what liesahead...

Bill Gates and Microsoft outlined a vision of "seamless computing" at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas this week, but consumer electronics giant Panasonic has begun to advance a plan founded on the concept of computing without PCs. Part of the company's vision is to create home networking with a new power-line technology that does not req...

Optimism about the tech sector abounded at this year's CES event in Las Vegas, as more than 110,000 attendees gathered to gape at computers embedded in refrigerators, hear about new offerings from Microsoft and watch rhinestone-studded singers belt out selections from the musical "Chicago" at the Samsung booth Although glitzy production value has n...

In his keynote address at the 2004 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates expanded on the company's vision for "seamless computing," demonstrating software designed to deliver unified digital experiences and make the technology in consumers' lives work as a connected whole...

Hewlett-Packard has shaken up the high-tech industry, saying it will work with Apple Computer to build its own version of the Apple iPod and will include Apple's digital jukebox software on its new personal computers The partnership provided the biggest surprise so far during a hectic week of one-upmanship at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Ve...

Apple Computer set its sights even more squarely on supercomputing and distributed grid computing this week with the preview and beta release of its Xgrid technology designed for scientists and their compute-intensive environments. Apple's announcement of the technology, available as a free beta download from the Cupertino, California-based compan...