Technology Industry Archive

When Lindsay Blakely dug through Apple’s fiscal year 2008 (October through September) 10-K and found the company’s actual advertising expenditures, I wondered what else might be in the hundred and one pages. Let’s start with the actual number of product units that Apple sold: 9,715,000 desktop and portable Macs 54,828,000 iPods 11,627,000 iPhones That’s a total of...

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I thought that adding an occasional round-up of high tech legal machinations might be interesting to readers. If you think it’s worthwhile, or not, email or comment and let me know. Spansion sues Samsung — Memory chip maker Spansion, a Fujitsu and AMD joint venture, has decided to ramp up its legal actions, and the first target is Samsung. Not only is it going to sue in Delaware for...

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Just how much Apple spends on advertising has been a fun guessing game among bloggers and analysts recently, particularly given Apple’s successful “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign. Not only have the spots starring John Hodgman as the hapless “PC” helped eviscerate the image of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, they forced Microsoft to order a defensive buy — estimated at...

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Verizon employees view Obama cell phone account — Clearly keeping the telecommunications world safe for democracy, some Verizon employees “accessed and viewed” the cell phone account of President Elect Barack Obama without authorization. But apparently they didn’t listen to voice mails or read emails. They probably also didn’t inhale. [Source: Washington Post,...

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Microsoft gets help to scale SQL Server, scales Zune — Microsoft is hiring David DeWitt, a leading researcher and expert in databases, to help scale SQL Server. A particular expertise of his is query optimization on parallel systems. And in an attempt to boost its Zune online music service, consumers who opt for the all-you-can-listen-to $14.99 monthly access fee get to keep ten songs...

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T-Mobile launches app store, uses Yahoo — T-Mobile has a new web browsing system, using Yahoo’s oneSearch to get onto the full Internet. An app store will offer third-party applications [Source: VentureBeat] Nokia adding IBM’s LotusNotes email link to smartphones — Corporate users of Nokia phones will be able to get access to IBM Lotus Notes corporate email starting next...

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Ballmer says no, no, no to Yahoo — Microsoft isn’t interested in buying Yahoo, according to CEO Steve Ballmer, though it would consider acquiring the search business. Can anyone say at fire sale prices? Yahoo shares dove by more than 20 percent. On the up side, Yahoo OneSearch will be an option on T-Mobile USA phones, so at least it’s getting a food in the mobile advertising...

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Ascendant Consulting works with such clients as Kodak and ITT Industries on better focusing business efforts. Managing Director David Fieldsis currently working on a book about how top CEOs have turned major problems into winning situations. We chatted about what companies can do to fortify their positions and decision-making. BNET: What are the biggest mistakes managers make? David Fields: The...

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On the same day Intel chopped $1 billion off its fourth quarter sales target, its nearest rival, Advanced Micro Devices, said its business was just fine. And as it turns out, the financial health of AMD, the world’s second largest semiconductor maker, owes a lot to its caution in buying chips for its own use. Unlike so many companies that are just now starting to shift into recession...

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Since the world’s economic crisis began in September, SAP AG has adopted a “we do not hire, we do not replace” employment policy. The early results are in. And when you exclude acquisitions (see Business Objects, January 2008), there is one area of the world where the overall headcount has already been trimmed: the Americas. Europe and the Middle East: 848 new heads this year, net of...

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