Business

Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed a new three-track system to expedite filings rather than maintain the standard first-come, first-served basis. This move comes in response to the average review time soaring to nearly 35 months last year from an average of 27 months as recent...

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Motorola have settled their two-year-long patent dispute over smartphone technology. Under the terms of the agreement, RIM has agreed to make a one-time payment and ongoing royalties to put an end to the litigation. The two companies have also settled on a cro...

There has been a lot of activity related to the issue of Net neutrality in recent weeks, but none of it seems to be leading to a resolution of the central question of who -- if anybody -- ultimately will regulate broadband ISPs. The latest developments in this ongoing saga occurred Wednesday, when F...

This has been a busy couple of months for enterprise mobility. 2010 isn't half over, and there are already significant changes in the enterprise mobility landscape: HP agreed to acquire Palm; SAP agreed to buy Sybase; McAfee made a deal to acquire Trust Digital; Antenna Software acquired Vaultus; Bo...

Google will turn over data it collected from unsecured WiFi networks to authorities in Germany, France and Spain. This is the latest development in a controversy that began last month with Google's admission that cars gathering images for its Street View service were equipped with devices that captu...

Four out of five consumers don't know the speed of their broadband connections. Do they care? Apparently not -- but the Federal Communications Commission does, and it's starting two projects to clarify how fast U.S. broadband speeds are. In a survey released Tuesday on consumer broadband experience,...

HP has announced it will lay off 9,000 employees over the next three years, trimming approximately 3 percent of its total workforce. At the same time, it will add 6,000 new jobs in global sales and delivery operations. The company will take $1 billion in charges, with half recorded in the current qu...

Empty office space litters skylines, freeways and office parks. Once-busy hives of cubicles have become empty steel and concrete caverns. Their previous occupants met with a variety of fates: Some were victims of a deep recession; others were washed away by tsunamis of cheap labor in foreign lands; ...

Google has completed its acquisition of mobile advertiser AdMob, after what was apparently a very close decision by the Federal Trade Commission, which had been vetting the buy for antitrust purposes. With the legalities finally over, the speculation shifts from "will it happen?" to "what happens ne...

On May 3, SuccessFactors, a business execution solution, purchased CubeTree for $20 million in stock and a $30 million cash payment, contingent on the performance of SuccessFactor's stock over the next three years. This article will analyze this purchase, provide contextual background on this deal, ...

One of the most popular game providers on Facebook cut a deal Wednesday to bring its entertainment wares to Yahoo. Zynga -- known for its infectious social media diversions "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" -- announced a partnership with Yahoo that will expose the gamemaker's offerings to the aging port...

There has been a reorganization at the top of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division: Its president Robbie Bach, who has been with Microsoft for 22 years, is retiring. Also departing is J Allard, senior vice president of design and development for the division. A 19-year company veteran, All...

Apple, Dell and HP are all investigating the working conditions at a major Chinese supplier, following a rash of suicides at the plant, including one on Tuesday. Li Hai, a 19-year-old employee at Foxconn Technology Group in Shenzhen, China, took his life on Tuesday after working there just 42 days.

Last August, Douglas Rennick, a Canadian citizen, was charged with various offenses by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Specifically, Rennick was charged with several criminal indictments, including bank fraud, money laundering conspiracy, gambling conspiracy,...

Yahoo and Nokia have forged a strategic partnership designed to leverage their respective strengths in email, instant messaging, maps and navigation across PC and mobile devices. As part of the deal, Nokia will be the exclusive global provider of Yahoo's maps and navigation services, integrating Ov...