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Blockbuster, the company that once reigned atop the video rental business, announced Thursday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This may be its last chance at surviving in an industry in which consumers increasingly are gravitating toward services that enable instant access to ...

Microsoft has launched a program to reward users of its search engine, Bing. The program awards points for searches conducted with the engine. The points can be later traded for products, services or charitable contributions. Microsoft has been experimenting with this kind of offering for several ye...

I recently spoke at a Windstream meeting and helped them think about the changing industry and what's coming next. Preparing for that speech opened my eyes to how fast this company -- and, in fact, the entire industry sector -- is changing. Windstream and CenturyLink are in the process of transformi...

Netflix said Wednesday that it has launched its video-streaming-only service for Canada, a plan it first publicly revealed last July. At about $7.76 a month for unlimited streaming, the service is more than a dollar cheaper than the most inexpensive U.S. unlimited streaming option, which goes for U...

Twitter was hit by what's called an "onMouseOver" attack this week that affected thousands of users. The attack exploited a security flaw in Twitter, Bob Lord, a member of the site's security team, wrote on the company's blog. Users dubbed the hole the "onMouseOver" flaw because the first attack tur...

The Texas Comptroller's Office recently made revisions to its sales tax rules that could ensnare many companies that merely use computer servers located in Texas, requiring them to collect the state's sales tax on sales to customers there. In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a state can only ...

Tech circles are buzzing about a pilot project Intel is trying out at select Best Buy stores, initially brought to light by Engadget. Intel is apparently marketing a $50 "upgrade" card for the Pentium G6951 dual-core LGA1156 Clarkdale processor that powers the Gateway SX2841-09e. The card offers the...

Monday's announcement that Oracle and HP have settled the lawsuit triggered by Oracle's hiring of former HP CEO Mark Hurd may seem surprising, given that the suit was filed just two weeks ago. However, there are many reasons both companies would want to end this battle now. HP filed the suit the day...

IT conferences come in all shapes and sizes, with participants ranging from tens of thousands of general technology enthusiasts to mere hundreds of professionals with highly specialized skills. Intel's annual Developer Forum is relatively small compared to CES and Oracle OpenWorld, but attendees inc...

IBM has made a $1.7 billion offer to acquire Netezza, a data warehouse specialist that allows users to analyze huge amounts of data very quickly by integrating hardware with analytics applications. Since IBM announced its offer, Netezza's stock price has risen past the $27 per share price it reflec...

Today's consumers are more connected than ever with mobile devices in hand. Mobile solves many problems, with its high reach and in-the-moment communication. A well-designed app can place flashy content in the hands of the consumer. SMS provides the consumer with valuable tidbits of information. SMS...

Two tech stalwarts -- Oracle and Research In Motion -- posted solid quarterly earnings, not only goosing their own shares, but delivering a boost to the stock market in general. The bigger surprise was RIM, which posted higher-than-expected second quarter earnings and gave a forecast for the third q...

ComScore's latest tally of smartphone operating system market shares in the U.S. showed RIM's BlackBerry OS continues to hold a dominating lead in the smartphone arena. Apple's iOS owns the No. 2 spot, but it saw a slight decline. The big story in the ComScore report is the third-place OS -- Google'...

Consumers will spend $237 billion on online purchases in the United States alone in 2010, Javelin Strategy & Research predicts. That's almost 15 percent more than in 2009. Online retail is also growing globally. MasterCard announced a global agreement with cross-border e-commerce shopping firm B...

Consumers will spend $237 billion on online purchases in the United States alone in 2010, Javelin Strategy & Research predicts. That's almost 15 percent more than in 2009. Online retail is also growing globally. MasterCard announced a global agreement with cross-border e-commerce shopping firm B...