Business

Hewlett-Packard reported a four-fold increase in profits for its fourth quarter on a more modest rise in sales, as the top PC maker turned in results that exceeded Wall Street forecasts. In fact, the company's full fiscal year results showed it moving past IBM as the world's largest technology compa...

Two private equity firms have agreed to buy Clear Channel Communications for US$18.7 billion, ending weeks of speculation about the sprawling radio network's fate, including rumors of interest from Google. Clear Channel said Thursday it would be acquired by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Pa...

Former HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn on Wednesday pled not guilty to criminal charges in connection with the corporate spying scandal that swirled around the technology giant earlier this year. Accompanied by her husband, Bill Jahnke, Dunn entered her plea before a Santa Clara County, Calif., Superior...

Dell shares fell Thursday after the computer maker said it would delay its quarterly earnings report and acknowledged that the Securities and Exchange Commission began a formal inquiry into the company's past accounting practices. The announcement came at the last minute, as Dell was set to report e...

Online securities trading was a big fad a few years ago, but some of the major players disappeared from the scene after the dot-com fallout. However, many do-it-from-home traders cannot resist the Internet's speed and convenience, and there are still plenty of firms to accommodate them. Although som...

Regulators from the European Union say Microsoft continues to lag in its compliance with the conditions of its antitrust ruling and have again set a deadline for the software giant to make changes or face additional monetary penalties. European Commissioner Neelie Kroes has given Microsoft until Nov...

The Internet has completely reshaped customer relationships. The transformation began with the dot-com boom, which spawned a new type of company whose entire business model was predicated on Web acceptance and usage. These companies -- Yahoo, Amazon, eBay and Google -- took advantage of the Web in a...

Save those voice mails. That's the legal takeaway regarding new e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that will become law on December 1, 2006. The amendments make significant changes to the rules of discovery with regard to electronically stored information. For most compan...

Eyeing a growing interest in nuclear power as an environmentally friendly energy source, General Electric and Hitachi announced a partnership that will combine their nuclear power units. The deal -- financial terms were not disclosed -- brings together two of the largest industrial and commercial co...

In a major boost for the world's number two maker of mobile handsets, Motorola said Monday it landed a deal worth $1.6 billion to sell mobile phones in the Chinese market. Motorola said it would supply handsets to China Telling Communications, which is based in Shenzhen. The deal calls for Motorola,...

The power of music to bridge national boundaries and cultural divides has long been recognized, but perhaps has never been as starkly clear as it is today. One need only look at the phenomenal growth of MTV channels in countries around the world during the past decade. The commercialization and spre...

After considerable delays, Sony finally fired its long-awaited salvo in the next-generation gaming console war, launching the PlayStation 3 to anticipated huge demand in its native Japan. Stores began selling the PS3 early Saturday morning, with media outlets predicting long lines and a fast sell-ou...

Remember the tech bubble? If you do, I'm sure that you'll remember the bursting of that bubble in mid 2000. Now, it seems as though the tech run-up is happening again. To give us a little perspective, I want to quote something that CNNMoney ran on Feb. 4, 2000: "Emerge Interactive, an online marketp...

In its fifth acquisition of 2006, AOL on Wednesday said it has purchased a financial news and information search technology company. The Relegence Corporation will now join the AOL family. The Internet division of Time Warner closed the deal to buy out the privately-held Relegence on Monday. Financi...

With the dust still settling from its landmark deal to work with Microsoft on new products and support, Novell on Tuesday gave the first look into the financial details of the agreement, saying it would receive as much as US$400 million in direct payments and marketing support from its onetime bitte...