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Nearly 10 months after making an aggressive move to acquire struggling Internet portal Yahoo, Microsoft no longer has any interest in buying the company At the software giant's annual meeting on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft is "done with all acquisition discussions" with Yahoo....

Among the titles Nintendo highlighted during E3 this year, "Animal Crossing: City Folk" stood out. Previously a bestselling franchise on the Nintendo GameCube, the updated Wii version, Nintendo said, would take advantage of the console's Internet connection and new Wii Speak microphone accessory to connect gamers with other players near and far Th...

In a move that could threaten the livelihoods of security software makers Symantec and McAfee, Microsoft has announced it will offer free antivirus software some time in the second half of 2009 The free software, codenamed "Morro," will replace Microsoft's current security offering, Windows Live OneCare, a suite of services that costs consumers abo...

It was just a matter of time before businesses started to respond to the financial meltdown with some creativity, and as usual, the biggest advantages will go to the early movers. I have been noodling on several convergent ideas recently, and they seem to be taking shape in the marketplace, but in some quarters where you might not expect innovation or creativity...

Part 1 of this three-part series on intellectual property law in virtual worlds discusses trademark rights as applied to virtual goods. Part 2 addresses patent rights, including how patent rights can be obtained based on actions performed in virtual worlds, and whether patent rights are enforceable against virtual infringers. Part 3 will delve into copyright issues...

Perhaps the greatest invention of the 20th century is the hardware and software infrastructure that makes up the data communications system known as the Internet. It's led to revolutions in the way people and businesses communicate, advertise and sell Although the technology underpinning the Internet had been in development and use for several deca...

RightNow Technologies has gone deep with contact center functionality in November 08, the latest quarterly update of its flagship Software as a Service CRM application. The new version builds on RightNow's strong self-service platform with the addition of agent-scripting technology, a desktop add-in framework, and guided assistance. RightNow has a...

National Geographic, publisher of the iconic magazine of the same name, announced a new division Tuesday. National Geographic Games (NGG) will publish and develop games for consoles, handheld systems, mobile systems and online platforms. The games will be developed and published with partners Namco Bandai Games America and Sony Computer Entertainment...

Just weeks after being linked to a scandal over tainted milk that killed four infants and sickened thousands in China, Chinese search engine giant Baidu has been hit with more bad news Shares of Baidu plummeted Monday after China Central Television, China's state-run television network, reported that the company had sold links to unlicensed medical...

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has finalized specifications for the next-generation transfer technology. The completion of the roadmap for USB 3.0 means the technology is now ready for device manufacturers to bring the so-called SuperSpeed USB technology to the market "The finalization of the specification is very significant and has been anticipated i...

Yahoo CEO and cofounder Jerry Yang is stepping down as leader of the beleaguered Internet portal after a tumultuous 18-month tenure Yang will resume his previous role as "chief Yahoo" and maintain his seat on the company's board. He will also participate in the process of finding a new CEO....

Online shoppers looking to save a few bucks have plenty of options this holiday season. Those looking to save on shipping costs in particular might find themselves at FreeShipping.org, a new Web site that lists free shipping deals for hundreds of retailers "We noticed how many retailers were offering free shipping, and that shoppers were wanting it...

What mistakes will cause emergency communication systems to undergo excessive stress or possibly fail in a disaster, and what steps should be taken to improve performance? One of the biggest challenges for emergency communication centers is the wide range of situations that require responses -- including man-made emergencies such as power outages, ...

It's a small wonder that the Linux operating system remains vibrant in multiple industries and is poised to make a dash for more consumers' desktops, considering how often misunderstandings get in the way of its advancement For instance, Linux was not immediately recognized as a real OS in the way that consumers and business owners viewed the Apple...

Folks in IT tend to ask a lot of questions. We're a curious breed by nature. In fact, we have to be. Change comes about so quickly in our industry, technology moves so fast, and our businesses adapt so fluidly that we have to ask questions just to keep up. Some might even say that a healthy curiosity is the hallmark of a successful IT professional -- and I wouldn't disagree...

CA has released a suite of Enterprise IT Management (EITM) software tools that it's calling the next "killer app" for virtualization. The first phase in the nascent industry -- server consolidation -- is well underway; the next big trend, according to CA, is the comprehensive management of virtual systems....

That blur you saw at the edges of your vision just now? That would be the Internet continuing to move at light speed to your cell phone and other mobile devices. So Adobe's argument is, how can anything move that fast without Flash? The company is staging its MAX 2008 conference in San Francisco this week, and Adobe is putting the spotlight on anno...

Court documents in a class action lawsuit over Microsoft's "Windows Vista Capable" logo show intense dissatisfaction by top executives at HP, one of the software giant's largest PC partners "You have demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to HP as a strategic partner and cost us a lot of money in the process," HP executive Richard Walker wrote ...

Intel's latest high-end desktop processor series, the new Core i7 lineup, has officially hit the sales channels with offerings from computer makers like Dell, Gateway and others. The processors, which were codenamed "Nehalem" by Intel, are based on a new microarchitecture designed to deliver high performance and energy efficiency. "Typically, when...

In the past, network management mainly consisted of monitoring whether routers and switches were up or down -- as long as the power light was on, it was available, and the network administrator could proclaim, "It's not the network." With pervasive wireless connectivity and handheld devices capable of accessing the Internet from nearly anywhere, ...