Technology Industry Archive

IBM opens its foundry — There are foundries in the world, about 20 or so, that manufacture chips for chip design companies. Now IBM is joining the ranks with some interesting competitive advantages. One is that it already runs a 45 nanometer process — not the most leading edge, but pretty darned advanced. Another is offering a silicon-on-insulator process instead of the standard...

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NebuAd, the controversial company that was trying to sell deep-packet inspection technology as a means of delivering more relevant ads, has already had most of the life sucked out of it. Now, a class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco today, could put the final nail in the coffin. The suit names several Internet Service Providers, including Washington Post-owned Cable...

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The patience over Microsoft and Yahoo’s never-ending deal dance is wearing thin among the chattering class–bloggers, analysts and folks sick of following this dysfunctional courtship–and the consensus is right. The time to do a Microsoft-Yahoo deal is now and it’s time to put aside the bad boardroom blood and hook up on search. For those keeping score at home, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said...

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Despite the marked shift to Web software, Microsoft remains a dominant technology company and one of the biggest, most profitable firms in the world. The firm just made some of its first significant product direction announcements since Bill Gates officially left in late June. Who better to ask about the company than Mary Jo Foley, who has followed the company for the better part of 25 years,...

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Obama looks for telecom diversity? — President-elect Barack Obama reportedly will appoint Henry Rivera, a lobbyist, to head the FCC transition. However, don’t necessarily expect things as usual. Right before the election, Rivera sent a report to the FCC on how to expand the roles of minorities and women in telecommunications. Rivera is also heading the selection process for a new...

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Judge plasters Papermaster — A district court judge has granted a temporary injunction against former IBM chip exec Mark Papermaster actually doing anything for Apple after being hired by the company. Papermaster was to replace Tony Fadell, who was reputedly the brains and taste behind the iPhone. IBM was concerned that Papermaster might bring some intellectual property with him and help...

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It was news at the end of October that Google came to terms with publishers and authors regarding its scanning of copyrighted books and making them available for electronic search. However, a new twist has emerged: Google will be able to sell electronic versions of books that have gone out of print. Depending on the very specifics of that agreement between publishers, Google, and the Authors...

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EA loses exec, reorganizes — Gaming company EA has seen some rough economic times of late. Now it has trouble brewing in its successful Casual Entertainment label – the departure of president Kathy Vrabeck, who is leaving after 18 months to seek a new opportunity outside the company. EA is reorganizing itself to eliminate the Casual Entertainment division and merge it along with the...

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Consumer sales sag — October sales growth was sluggish in retail. Wal-Mart was up a few percent, as was Costco, and Target was down .7 percent. Consumer electronics was not able to save the day. At Costco, TV unit sales were up by 20 percent, but given sagging prices, the net was less than last year. BJ’s Wholesale Club actually saw close to a 12 percent rise in sales, it reported...

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Handset vendors play who’s on first — The old vaudeville routine of Who’s on First, often associated with Abbot and Costello, could make you dizzy. But the jostling among handset vendors is anything but a fun game. Samsung has supplanted Motorola as the number one mobile phone vendor in the U.S. with a 21.1 percent market share — a brutal slide down the razor blade of...

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