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Now that e-tailers have a few strong holiday seasons behind them, many have learned it is never too early to start planning for next year. Increasing levels of Internet use and greater comfort with online shopping among the overall population should make next year's critical November-December stretc...

RealNetworks not only provides the RealPlayer platform for delivering digital media across a multitude of devices, but also delivers subscription music through its digital jukebox, Rhapsody, and has just opened a download store. Such an array of tactics is what it takes to conquer the growing digita...

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) has announced its first Chinese member organization: Beijing Co-Create Open Source Software Company, Ltd., which plans to work on the Linux kernel and promote Chinese adoption of Linux on the desktop. Beijing Co-Create is the second Far East organization to jo...

Microsoft has announced it will hold off on implementing modifications to the Windows operating system and Internet Explorer as a result of an ongoing patent lawsuit filed by Web software firm Eolas. Eolas claims the software that allows IE to use plug-ins infringes on a patent that it holds jointly...

PeopleSoft has reported earnings that paint a mixed picture, with revenue up but net profit down as a result of charges related to its J.D. Edwards acquisition. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased to $685 million. However, fourth-quarter net income plunged 70 percent. Analysts noted that while t...

Not everyone watches the Super Bowl just for the football. Given that many of the previous 37 Super Bowls were duller than watching golf on TV, some people would argue that the advertising is as much, if not more, of a reason to watch. This year, Apple, AOL and Monster.com are among the e-businesses...

A new vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser that could deceive Web users into downloading malicious files has been reported. The hole was identified in version 6 of IE, but previous releases also could be affected. The newly reported flaw allows a Web site owner to misidentify a...

Amazon.com, perhaps the premier e-commerce site, has announced its first-ever full-year profit. According to the company's balance sheet, 2003 net income totaled $35 million. In 2002, despite booking a small fourth-quarter profit, the company recorded a full-year net loss of $149 million. Yankee Gro...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is set to unveil a cyberalert system that could include a way for businesses and individuals to report security issues and Internet threats. Details of the system will be outlined by Amit Yoran, the department's director of the National Cyber Security Divisi...

Notebook computers may not have the same cachet as a Hermes purse or a Savile Row suit, but for some executives, carrying the right laptop ranks on a level with choosing the most suitable restaurant for a power lunch or driving the best company car. Depending on the type of business in which prospec...

Virginia Tech, whose G5 Mac-based supercomputing cluster made headlines last fall as the third fastest supercomputer in the world, has announced it plans to migrate the cluster from Power Mac G5 desktop computers to Apple's recently released Xserve G5 1U server. According to Virginia Tech, the team ...

A malicious program spread quickly across the Internet Monday, slowing down network traffic and potentially leaving electronic back doors open on individual computers. Known as MyDoom, Novarg and a variant of the Mimail worm, the infection usually appears as an e-mail error message. An attached exec...

Jerry Ungerman, president of firewall leader Check Point Software Technologies, oversees the company's worldwide sales, marketing, business development, product management and technical services. The E-Commerce Times spoke with Ungerman last week, on the eve of the company's release of its new Inter...

Branching out into yet another area of the Web, search engine Google has quietly unveiled a social-networking site designed to compete with the fast-growing Friendster. Like Friendster, an invitation from an existing member is required to join the site, known as Orkut, which breaks free of its paren...

As the new year swings into high gear, e-business seems to be better positioned than it has been for years, with a rosy economic outlook ahead and a strong holiday season just past. Of course, 2004 will bring challenges too, including legal issues that will have to be addressed or at least closely w...