Business

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has taken the first steps that could eventually rework -- perhaps significantly -- two programs that provide low-income residents with subsidies for their telephone service. How those subsidies and services might look when all is said and done is unclear. W...

Word on the street about Twitter in recent weeks has pointed to a company looking for new dollars. The latest buzz: It wants to sell out to Facebook or Google; or JP Morgan is about to make a significant investment. Cofounder Biz Stone has been dispelling those rumors, but it's possible, of course, ...

A recent study that I just read shows that the startup success rate over a period of 10 years is about 30 percent. This obviously means that about 70 percent of startups are out of business after a 10-year period! There is no doubt that the failure rate of startups is stunning and, in my opinion, wi...

In the midst of the civil unrest in Egypt and throughout the Middle East, U.S. Senate-proposed legislation that has become known as the "Internet kill switch bill" was recently reintroduced. The controversial bill, first introduced by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn, i...

Where should you invest, what should you avoid, why and when? These are the basic questions every investor wrestles with. There are so many companies in the wireless, telecom and healthcare industries, and they are no longer on the same track. Some are strong and growing rapidly and leading, while o...

HP reported its fiscal first quarter results for 2011 on Tuesday, revealing a strong performance in earnings and income. Its net income was $2.6 billion for its first fiscal quarter, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier. Overall revenue was $32.2 billion, up from $31.2 during last year's first quarte...

Another company has lodged antitrust allegations against Google in one of the most feared forums -- at least for U.S. tech companies -- in the world: the European Commission. This time it is French firm 1plusV, a maker of specialized search engines for such topics as law and music, and parent compan...

Technology leaders in the White House have promoted greater use of cloud technology at the federal level almost from the start of the Obama presidency. Now the administration has issued its strongest backing yet for cloud technology with the release of the Federal Strategy for Cloud Computing. Offic...

Every corporation has a face. Imagery, shine and style are interlayered into a skin that appears as a mask; uplift captured by a distinct name identity poises it to reach the upper stratosphere of stardom. Corporate masks are just like real people: Some are exciting and some boring; some you remembe...

Google just couldn't leave the bone alone. When Apple announced its digital content subscription service on Tuesday, Google came back with its own on Wednesday, complete with a lower margin for publishers. On Wednesday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced a new subscription service, Google One Pass, a...

As the U.S. begins to limp through another anemic year economically, we see more government regulation hampering innovation -- this time engineered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office through its new fast-track process. A fee of $4,000 (increased from the base fee of $1,090) would expedite the ...

Despite Groupon's recent high-profile missteps, enthusiasm over the daily deal site's anticipated initial public offering doesn't seem to be dissipating. That's unfortunate, at least in my opinion -- and my thoughts have nothing to do with Groupon running what were widely perceived as culturally in...

Apple has announced a new subscription service that will be available to all content-based apps on the App Store. This includes magazines, newspapers, videos, music and more. Apple will process payments and keep a 30 percent share as it does with current App Store sales. However, if a publisher shou...

Major federal agencies in the U.S. are gradually getting the hang of dealing with open source technology -- a situation that bodes well for commercial open source providers. In a recently released "report card," Open Source for America says that a handful of top level cabinet departments have achiev...

Nokia and Microsoft have banded together to fight Apple and Android. On Friday morning, Nokia announced it will partner with Microsoft, adopting the Windows Phone 7 operating system for its smartphones. In the past, Nokia has equipped its phones with its own software platform, Symbian, and a new one...