Technology Industry Archive

Amazon Web Services on Tuesday launched CloudFront, a pay-as-you-go content delivery network. The move is likely to accelerate already brutal pricing in the content delivery network market, which includes Akamai and Limelight Networks among others. CloudFront’s biggest feature is that there are no up-front commitments and long-term contracts. Content delivery networks speed up the Internet by...

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Sirius XM keeps plummeting — Sirius XMsubscribers are cyber screaming over changes in programming. Maybe that’s one reason why the stock price dropped to 20 cents. [Source: Ars Technica, Silicon Alley Insider] Motorola hopes that bribes will woo mobile developers — Motorolawants to convince iPhone and Android developers to develop applications for its platform. Management is...

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Microsoft to give away security software — Microsoftis taking aim at security software vendors by saying that it will discontinue its subscription PC security service and, instead, give away protection. The new product, code-named Morro, will be available for free download in the second half of next year. Is that an alternate term for operating system updates? [Source: Reuters] Judge...

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How far does Google’s reach extend? Far enough that telecom companies might consider giving up the battle right now and preemptively forming partnerships with the search giant, a recent Gartner Research report suggests. As Gartner sees it, Google poses a threat to telecom providers — not because it actually wants to move in on their business, but simply because it wants to be all...

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Jerry Yang finally gave in and said that he’d step down as Yahoo’s CEO as soon as the board could find a replacement, returning to his job as “chief Yahoo.” Shares jumped in response, but anyone who thinks that the change in CEO paves the way for a change in the company’s fortunes are going to be disappointed. That is because Yang was more symptom than cause of the...

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Virgin Mobile to cut ten percent of staff — Virgin Mobile will cut ten percent of its staff in New Jersey and California, which translates into 45 people. The trigger? “Continued synergies” by from the acquisition of Helio and outsourcing of IT functions to IBM. [Source: Silicon Alley Insider] China Mobile to open app store — China Mobile, eyeing the success of...

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Yang on way out of Yahoo — Jerry Yang is stepping down as CEO of Yahoo. He’ll return to his previous position as chief yahoo when the board finds a replacement. [Source: New York Times] Mark Cuban charged with insider trading — High tech investor, Dallas Mavericksowner, and blogger Mark Cuban has been charged by the SEC with insider trading in selling his entire stake in...

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When HomeAway announced that it had raised $250 million in private financing led by Technology Crossover Ventures, the eyebrows raised. First, the company has been around for about ten years and is already profitable. Second, many in the tech industry had been assuming that venture funding would be tight. Third … $250 million? So we chatted with General Partner Woody Marshall about this...

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The fastest way to raise the hackles of most U.S. IT professionals is to mention offshore outsourcing. Among them, there is a common perception that U.S. corporations are cutting IT budgets by laying off lots of IT professionals and shipping their IT jobs overseas, and generally wrecking a lot of IT departments in the process. This perception has been driven by two sources: 1.) the media, which...

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AMD is targeting what Intel calls the netbook market, but not completely. Here’s a tale of semantic fun on Friday night. When I read Brooke Crothers report on how AMD wasn’t entering the netbook market I was shocked. After all, I was one of those people that interpreted AMD’s musings Thursday as an indicator that it was going to take on Intel in at least part (the high end) of a category...

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