Business

Microsoft today released MSN Spaces and Messenger version 7.0 to the public, and with new initiatives designed to connect advertisers with target customers through the services, users may get more than they bargained for. The software company plans to integrate ads into users' personal Spaces -- fre...

An tech industry organization advocating interoperability has asked a European court to allow it to join the European Commission (EC) in defense of its antitrust decision against Microsoft. The five-member group, made up of IBM, Nokia, Oracle, RealNetworks and Red Hat, goes by the name European Comm...

Google has rolled out a round of price cuts on its enterprise search family of products, even as it boosts the search capacity of its two main product lines in a bid to appeal to more smaller and mid-sized businesses. The Google Mini, a search box first made available in January, will be cut in pric...

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is beginning to break out into a more rapid period of growth, fueled by the rollout of the service by trusted telecommunications providers, according to a new report on the emerging trend. IDC said VoIP has "clearly come into its own in the U.S." as major incumben...

Striking off in new directions as it seeks ways to stay ahead of the growing pack in the search industry, Google has unveiled a feature that gives users the ability to see satellite imagery when they view maps and also said it would collect personal video clips for a new service it's testing. The sa...

Business process outsourcing (BPO) facilities, which handle non-voice work, are easier to manage than offshore call centers. This is because of the nature of the work itself as well as the human resource issues associated with call centers in emerging economies. Common types of BPO work are: E-mail ...

Placing a bet that the book-making industry will move away from traditional publishing methods to embrace the efficiencies of the Web, Amazon.com said it has purchased a privately held print-on-demand publisher. Amazon paid an undisclosed sum to acquire BookSurge, a Charleston, S.C.-based firm that ...

Search engine Google marked the one-year anniversary of the debut of its much-hyped Web-based e-mail program by boosting the free storage it gives users to a massive 2 gigabytes and promising to continue to move the bar higher as users' needs expand. The move doubles the original 1 GB storage that c...

In sharp contrast to the harmless pranks that will be played on this April Fools' Day, deceptive phishing schemes are no laughing matter. To strike a blow against criminals who prey on Internet users, Microsoft yesterday filed 117 lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washi...

Even as IBM distances itself from the personal computer industry -- citing foreign competition as a reason -- and others might be prepared to follow suit, private U.S. investors have stepped forward to bankroll the Chinese company taking over Big Blue's PC wing. A group of private investors announce...

Even before the news was officially announced by Hewlett-Packard yesterday, the speculation had begun on the wisdom of the company's choice of NCR's Mark Hurd as its new CEO. Hurd, 48, who resigned his position has president and CEO after a 25-year career at NCR, will take over the spot Carly Fiorin...

EBay has moved closer to scoring a major victory in a long-running legal case after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a finding that patents the auction giant has been found guilty of violating should be revoked. The Patent Office issued a preliminary finding suggesting that patents previo...

Google raised eyebrows again with its latest acquisition, the purchase of a privately held software firm that specializes in Web analytics. The search engine giant said it bought San Diego, California-based Urchin Software for an undisclosed sum and said it would make the firm's analytical and on-de...

Possibly putting an end to a closely watched drama in the telecommunications space, MCI has accepted a sweetened takeover offer from Verizon Communications, a bid worth nearly US$1 billion more than an earlier offer but still well below the present value of what Qwest International is offering to ac...

There are four lessons for U.S. firms setting up operations offshore, beginning with the need for good market positioning, having enough American trainers on the ground, emphasizing quality over quantity, and the need to export American corporate culture overseas rather than have offshore facilities...