Uncategorized

In macro terms, the hostile takeover has been a common, if generally reviled, tactic throughout human history. But does this art of war hold up over the long term in the business world? Are there times when such shotgun marriages turn out to be the right decision for the parties involved? Amid the O...

Fraud on the Web may be analogous to fraud in the real world, but it seems to be far easier to defraud individuals of their bank accounts, cell phone accounts and even entire identities online. In this new medium, the black hats are outpacing the white hats, at least so far. Analysts are hoping the ...

PeopleSoft has commenced its offer to buy software maker J.D. Edwards, forging ahead with the $1.75 billion deal despite Oracle's best efforts to squash the merger. PeopleSoft is offering each J.D. Edwards shareholder $7.05 in cash, plus a fractional share of its own stock, in a deal that values J.D

It would be a gross understatement to say the Mac faithful are eagerly awaiting a new office productivity suite from Apple. For rumor sites and Mac-focused blogs, the arrival of such software would be a touchstone. We may get a sneak peek during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next week in S...

Oracle has upped the ante in its hostile bid to take control of PeopleSoft, boosting its all-cash offer by 22 percent, or $1.2 billion. Oracle now says it will offer $19.50 per share for all outstanding shares of PeopleSoft stock, making the acquisition worth about $6.3 billion in total. "Oracle rem...

It was the kind of day a relatively young, publicly traded dot-com dreams about when it's just a startup daring to dream. Netflix had come out the night before and said that instead of posting an expected quarterly loss, it would turn in a strong profit, its first ever. After-hours traders had bumpe...

Microsoft has filed suit against 15 spammers in the United States and United Kingdom as part of a stepped-up campaign to stop the flood of junk e-mail. The lawsuits claim the 15 defendants sent some 2 billion unwanted and deceptive messages to members of Microsoft's MSN service and its Web-based Hot...

Although the Internet burst into the mainstream several years ago, many enterprises are only just beginning to consider how world-class search capabilities could benefit their in-house infrastructure. One of the forerunners in this field is industry darling Google. In fact, Google product manager Jo...

Microsoft is backing away from the Web browser business. On the heels of its late May disclosure that it will cease developing new stand-alone versions of Internet Explorer for Windows, the company has announced it is abandoning the Mac browser market entirely. The next new version of IE will not sh...

Microsoft has whittled the number of states appealing its antitrust settlement with the U.S. federal government to one, reaching a deal with West Virginia that will require the software giant to pay at least $21 million in total to consumers, businesses and state agencies. West Virginia's decision t...

Most CIOs at some point have asked: Should I outsource this IT project? The answer can be surprisingly complex, depending on the reasons for considering such a move. According to Gartner principal analyst Bruce Caldwell, savings achieved through outsourcing can be significant -- in the 20 to 30 perc...

Amid talk that U.S. adoption of broadband Internet access is about to slow down, Yahoo has forged an alliance with British Telecom (BT) to launch a co-branded broadband service in the United Kingdom. The two companies will jointly market BT Yahoo! Broadband, and BT will drop its dial-up offering, wh...

According to Giga/Forrester analyst Stacey Quandt, tech-oriented organizations, such as the Johnson Space Center and the U.S. Census Bureau, have begun using the Linux operating system on their desktop computers, and several insurance and financial services firms also are evaluating it. Has Linux fi...

They seem ubiquitous wherever consumer electronics, hardware and software are sold: the offers for rebates plastered on packaging, store displays and cash register receipts. It seems like a great deal, this offer of money back, especially when all the consumer has to do is send in a receipt and UPC ...

EBay has announced it will plunk down $150 million to buy the remaining two-thirds of Chinese e-commerce site EachNet, which, like eBay, sells a wide range of items in both auction and fixed-price formats. The news propelled eBay stock past the $100 mark once again, with shares up more than a dollar...