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Google has finalized its acquisition of Waze, developer of a crowdsourced mapping app, with the goal of expanding its location-based and social maps offerings while providing users with a way to outsmart traffic. Israel-based Waze has a worldwide user base of about 50 million people who log in to ac...

Major IT companies are hoping to seize the moment in an effort to restrain what they consider to be an abuse of intellectual property rights by so-called patent trolls. In a recent flurry of activity, lawmakers and the Obama administration have taken steps to support large IT companies seeking paten...

Comcast is rolling out a neighborhood WiFi initiative designed to allow its Xfinity Internet subscribers to log in to nearby wireless hotspots outside of their home. Subscribers to the service will essentially be the hosts for two separate WiFi networks. One will be their private and secure home con...

Softbank and Sprint issued a statement late Monday announcing changes to the merger agreement awaiting shareholders' approval. The new deal increases the amount of cash that would go to stockholders by reallocating funds that had been earmarked for direct investment in Sprint. SoftBank will acquire ...

Samsung stockholders went scurrying for the exit on Friday when a research note from J.P. Morgan predicted that third-quarter shipments of the Galaxy S4 would be disappointing. The company lost about $12 billion in market value that day and edged further down on Monday. J.P. Morgan was not the only ...

For many Western companies, a lack of confidence and basic local knowledge is stifling opportunity for international expansion. There are two key markets that I consider to be low-hanging fruit for U.S. merchants: Russia and China. First, develop a simple strategy for processing international paymen...

Facebook will simplify its advertising structure in an effort to make it easier for marketers to determine which products will help them best reach consumers, the company announced this week. Advertisers currently face a choice of 27 different formats on the social network, but the streamlining effo...

Homing in on consumers' frustration with the escalating costs of wireless services, FreedomPop this week announced a mobile plan that offers voice, text and data -- for free. The FreedomPop service utilizes mobile VoIP on Sprint's cellular network. The company will offer a number of Android phones f...

Private companies that do business with the U.S. government have a big stake in how federal agencies regulate the cybersecurity elements of federal contracts. As cyberthreats increase, the government is attempting to keep pace by upgrading cyber-requirements. The government has now launched a progra...

Amazon reportedly is rolling out a grocery delivery service that could allow it to expand into a mostly untapped e-commerce market. The company already runs AmazonFresh, a grocery service that delivers food and home products to several Seattle neighborhoods. A similar service reportedly will launch...

We have been watching the big guys battle it out for the last few years. Apple's iOS vs. Google's Android on the operating system side, and Apple's iPhone vs. Samsung's Galaxy on the handset side. However little attention has been paid to No. 3. Which company is No. 3? I'll be you don't even know. Y...

The Obama administration on Tuesday targeted patent trolls with a number of initiatives aimed at curbing activity it blames for stymieing innovation in America. The initiatives include five executive orders and seven legislative recommendations. Patent trolls have been accused of abusing the system ...

Zynga is slashing 18 percent of its workforce in an effort to better allocate costs as it attempts to develop more gaming hits across multiple digital platforms. It will eliminate about 520 positions by August. The cuts were necessary but not something the company ever expected to face, CEO Mark Pin...

It's nothing new for trial lawyers to investigate potential jurors in the hopes of making sure those assigned to their cases are likely to find in favor of their clients and against their opponents. What is new today is that social media services such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter can now enhance...

Google's Android operating system leads the smartphone market with a majority 51.7 percent share in the United States, but competitors are gaining ground, according to a report released Monday by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone platforms are now actually surpassi...