Analysts cast doubt on Nokia's mobile growth prediction

Analysts at IDC predict annual growth in mobile phone sales will drop below 10 percent this year, casting doubt on Nokia's more upbeat outlook for 2008. ...continue reading 'Analysts cast doubt on Nokia's mobile growth prediction'

Anti-piracy company runs afoul of Swiss telecom law

Switzerland has warned a company that tracks file sharers for copyright violations that its tactics violate the country's telecommunication law. ...continue reading 'Anti-piracy company runs afoul of Swiss telecom law'

AMD's Fusion chip will be based on Phenom processor

Advanced Micro Devices gave further details of its upcoming Fusion processor, saying it will be based on the design of a microprocessor used in the desktops currently shipping to enthusiast PC users such as gamers. ...continue reading 'AMD's Fusion chip will be based on Phenom processor'

IBM's Cognos acquisition gets EU approval

IBM's $5 billion acquisition of business intelligence software vendor Cognos took a step forward on Thursday as European regulators gave their approval to the deal. ...continue reading 'IBM's Cognos acquisition gets EU approval'

700MHz auction update: High bids total $3.2 billion

The high bids totalled $3.2 billion in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's auction of wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz band after three rounds and a day and a half of bidding. ...continue reading '700MHz auction update: High bids total $3.2 billion'

Inside the MacBook Air: The solid-state drive option

Jon L. Jacobi, Macworld.com

When it comes to storage, the newly unveiled MacBook Air offers an 80GB, 4,200-rpm Parallel ATA hard drive as part of its standard configuration. However, that's not the only option -- would-be MacBook Air buyers can also order the laptop with a 64GB solid-state drive (SSD). ...continue reading 'Inside the MacBook Air: The solid-state drive option'

Microsoft beats forecasts with record revenue for Q2

Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations for both revenue and earnings per share for its fiscal 2008 second quarter, attributing its strong quarter to sales of core client products such as Windows Vista and Office 2007, as well as Exchange and SharePoint server software. ...continue reading 'Microsoft beats forecasts with record revenue for Q2'

Sun reports strong profits but little growth

Sun Microsystems doubled its profit in the quarter ended Dec. 30, although revenue was nearly flat compared with the same period a year earlier, the company announced Thursday. ...continue reading 'Sun reports strong profits but little growth'

HP introduces thin client disguised as a laptop

In an effort to push mobility into thin clients, Hewlett-Packard is adding a laptop with minimal storage and wireless networking features to its lineup. ...continue reading 'HP introduces thin client disguised as a laptop'

Gates calls for 'creative capitalism' to solve needs of poor

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates gave a glimpse of his future as a philanthropist in a speech in Switzerland on Thursday, calling for a new kind of 'creative capitalism' from businesses to help improve the lives of the world's poorest people. ...continue reading 'Gates calls for 'creative capitalism' to solve needs of poor'

FCC auction reaches $2.8B for 700-MHz wireless licenses

At the close of the first full day of bidding for 700-MHz wireless spectrum Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission reported nearly US$2.8 billion in provisional winning bids. ...continue reading 'FCC auction reaches $2.8B for 700-MHz wireless licenses'

VC tech spending saw surge in 2007

U.S.-based venture capital investments reached their highest point last year since 2001, with software remaining the strongest category, according to The MoneyTree Report, released this week by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). ...continue reading 'VC tech spending saw surge in 2007'

NTT DoCoMo in talks on Android-based cell phone

Japan's biggest mobile telecom carrier gave its strongest support yet to Google's Android platform on Thursday when it said it is considering a cell phone based on the technology. ...continue reading 'NTT DoCoMo in talks on Android-based cell phone'

Nokia claims 40 percent of phone market

Nokia reported a 44 percent rise in net profit for the fourth quarter, on sales that increased 34 percent. The company estimates 1.14 billion phones were sold in 2007, 40 percent of them bearing the Nokia brand. ...continue reading 'Nokia claims 40 percent of phone market'

AT&T: mobile and broadband strong in Q4

AT&T's revenue was up 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, largely driven by increases in mobile phone and broadband customers, the company said Thursday. ...continue reading 'AT&T: mobile and broadband strong in Q4'

Sprint Nextel loses CFO, CMO and sales president

Tough times continue at Sprint Nextel, as the company said Thursday that three of its top executives are on their way out. ...continue reading 'Sprint Nextel loses CFO, CMO and sales president'

Sharp launches slimmest LCD TVs yet

Sharp will shortly begin selling a new line of LCD televisions that are substantially thinner than competing sets currently on the market. The sets are just 3.44 centimeters at their thinnest point and fatten slightly to 3.85 cm at the thickest point. ...continue reading 'Sharp launches slimmest LCD TVs yet'

Red Hat to focus on core products and service, says new CEO

Red Hat's new CEO plans to keep the company focused on its core Linux OS and middleware business while also improving the service it offers to customers, he said Thursday. ...continue reading 'Red Hat to focus on core products and service, says new CEO'

Microsoft: Vista more secure than XP and open source

Windows Vista was hit by significantly fewer publicly disclosed security flaws in its first year than Windows XP and open source rivals in their first years, according to a report from Microsoft. ...continue reading 'Microsoft: Vista more secure than XP and open source'

EBay beats Street, Meg Whitman to retire

EBay exceeded Wall Street's earnings and revenue expectations for its fourth quarter and, as expected, announced that Meg Whitman will step down as president and CEO at the end of March, ending a 10-year tenure at the helm of the e-commerce giant. ...continue reading 'EBay beats Street, Meg Whitman to retire'

Vista SP1 due out in next few weeks, sources say

The wait is nearly over for the first service pack for Windows Vista, according to sources close to Microsoft. ...continue reading 'Vista SP1 due out in next few weeks, sources say'

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw

Microsoft said Wednesday that another one of its operating system products is vulnerable to a critical vulnerability, first patched two weeks ago. ...continue reading 'Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw'

Skype glitch leaves some users at risk from video bug

Some Skype users were left vulnerable to a possible worm attack Wednesday after company technicians failed to disable a buggy component of the network. ...continue reading 'Skype glitch leaves some users at risk from video bug'

HP launches diet desktop with solid-state drive

Hewlett-Packard Wednesday introduced a business desktop with a slim form factor that packs a flash-based solid-state drive, giving the system faster boot times than PCs with hard drives. ...continue reading 'HP launches diet desktop with solid-state drive'

JBoss alumni launch open-source startup

A startup founded by former JBoss developers will come out of stealth mode Monday to announce a new product designed to help businesses zero in on their best sales leads. ...continue reading 'JBoss alumni launch open-source startup'

International growth boosts Symantec earnings

With strong international sales and growth in its services business, Symantec reported earnings Wednesday that beat analyst expectations. ...continue reading 'International growth boosts Symantec earnings'

As US spectrum auction opens, questions linger

One of the major questions as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission kicks off a multibillion-dollar spectrum auction Thursday is whether the auction will produce a winning bidder that will challenge telecom and cable-based broadband providers with a national wireless broadband network. ...continue reading 'As US spectrum auction opens, questions linger'

FCC auction draws repeat entrepreneurs

A handful of people who bid in the disastrous C-Block PCS auction in 1996 plan to participate in the upcoming 700MHz contest, despite warning signs indicating the potential for similar troubles. ...continue reading 'FCC auction draws repeat entrepreneurs'

Mozilla says that flaw could lead to data leak

Firefox developers are working to fix a low-severity bug that lets an attacker read JavaScript code used by the browser. ...continue reading 'Mozilla says that flaw could lead to data leak'

Phishing kit pits wannabe scammers vs. pro fraudsters

In a twist, security researchers have discovered a group of hackers who are exploiting a new category of victims -- aspiring Internet scammers. ...continue reading 'Phishing kit pits wannabe scammers vs. pro fraudsters'

Dell, Microsoft team up on (Red) PCs

Dell will sell special crimson-red versions of its XPS line of computers to raise money for AIDS treatment programs in Africa, the company confirmed Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Dell, Microsoft team up on (Red) PCs'

US FTC settles with company over Ethernet patent claims

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has settled a complaint against a company that owns patents to a widely used Ethernet standard, saying the patent owner was attempting to collect huge license fees despite a prior commitment to the contrary. ...continue reading 'US FTC settles with company over Ethernet patent claims'

Falling phone sales hit Motorola Q4 results

Motorola's mobile-phone business continued to lose its signal in the fourth quarter, dragging the company's revenue and profit down. ...continue reading 'Falling phone sales hit Motorola Q4 results'

IBM buys complex-event processing vendor for SOA

IBM said Wednesday it is expanding its broad SOA (service-oriented architecture) portfolio with the acquisition of AptSoft, a maker of business event processing software. ...continue reading 'IBM buys complex-event processing vendor for SOA'

Record iPhone, Mac sales boost Apple's earnings

Apple reported strong quarterly earnings on Tuesday, boosted by record Macintosh computer and iPhone sales. ...continue reading 'Record iPhone, Mac sales boost Apple's earnings'

Worm fears shut down Skype video feature

Skype has been forced to turn off a video-sharing feature in its software because it could be misused to launch a self-copying worm attack against Skype users, security researchers said Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Worm fears shut down Skype video feature'

Click-to-call, security among RIM software updates

Research in Motion is stepping up its game against Microsoft, Nokia and other rivals with several enhancements to its BlackBerry software that it will showcase at Lotusphere this week. ...continue reading 'Click-to-call, security among RIM software updates'

Microsoft offers new products for governments

In Berlin on Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled a product package aimed at local and regional e-government initiatives, in the midst of growing government opposition in Europe to proprietary software. ...continue reading 'Microsoft offers new products for governments'

User-group study: Mainframes live on through SOA

Mainframe systems are playing a key role in many SOA (service-oriented architecture) projects, according to a study released this week by IBM user group SHARE. ...continue reading 'User-group study: Mainframes live on through SOA'

Ciena to acquire World Wide Packets

Ciena has agreed to acquire World Wide Packets in a deal, valued at about $290 million, that will bring together two players in the growing carrier Ethernet market. ...continue reading 'Ciena to acquire World Wide Packets'

Weird science: Giant rats, musical seizures

In their continuing quest to make the world a weirder place, scientists announced the discovery of an extinct species of rodent that weighed in at more than 1,500 pounds. Proving that they aim to prevent weirdness when it might interfere with someone's life, though, they successfully cured a woman who was sent into seizures by the reggae stylings of Sean Paul. ...read more

Six things online savvy kids know that many businesses don't

By Sean McGrath

Want to schedule meetings more easily or manage "to do" lists more efficiently? Check with a kid. They often have a better handle on new Internet apps than many top execs. ...continue reading 'Six things online savvy kids know that many businesses don't'

Using WMIC for customer support

By Mitch Tulloch, Microsoft MVP

A detailed explanation of how one reader uses WMIC to support his company's customers. ...continue reading 'Using WMIC for customer support'

Spreading worm hits Nokia handsets

Security vendor Fortinet has uncovered a malicious SymbianOS Worm that is actively spreading on mobile phone networks. ...continue reading 'Spreading worm hits Nokia handsets'

Intel offers first dual-core Celeron processor

Intel is shipping a dual-core Celeron processor, the first low-end desktop processor from the company to ship with two cores. ...continue reading 'Intel offers first dual-core Celeron processor'

Yahoo to lay off hundreds

Yahoo will announce plans to lay off hundreds of its 14,000 employees as the faltering Internet giant continues trying to snap out of its financial funk and fine tune its business strategies, several media outlets are reporting. ...continue reading 'Yahoo to lay off hundreds'

Mac users warned of bad year for security

The Mac is no longer immune to Windows-like software exploits, and its users should prepare for a rougher year, a report from security vendor Sophos has said. ...continue reading 'Mac users warned of bad year for security'

Report: EBay CEO Whitman preparing to retire

EBay CEO Meg Whitman is planning to step down from the company she has led for the past 10 years, The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Report: EBay CEO Whitman preparing to retire'

Microsoft steps up assault on virtualization

Microsoft has laid out plans to become a bigger force in the market for virtualization software, stepping up its assault on established leaders such as VMware. ...continue reading 'Microsoft steps up assault on virtualization'

EMC unveils first SaaS offerings after Berkeley buy

EMC Corp. Monday is set to unveil a hosted backup and recovery service based on technology gained from its $76 million acquisition of Berkeley Data Systems in September. ...continue reading 'EMC unveils first SaaS offerings after Berkeley buy'

Polymer Vision readies roll-out of rollable e-reader

Polymer Vision plans to launch Readius, an e-reader with a flexible screen weighing little more than a cell phone, in the middle of this year, it said Tuesday. ...continue reading 'Polymer Vision readies roll-out of rollable e-reader'