Technology Industry Archive

The acquisition of Sun by Oracle is casting a large shadow that obscures a couple of other potentially important acquisitions in the tech world. One acquisition target, niche storage vendor Data Domain, has rejected an all-cash offer from EMC in favor of what seems like a less lucrative offer from NetApp, while another possible target, networking equipment vendor Emulex, is steadfastly...

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U.K. cable TV operator Virgin Media and music company Universal are touting their new partnership in a music downloading service as a first because it allows unlimited downloads for a fixed fee. (Microsoft has allowed unlimited streaming, but that has less consumer appeal.) It may be positioned as a way to combat piracy — people who get as much as they want have fewer reasons to purloin...

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Sun shareholders convening today to approve the company’s acquisition by Oracle can breathe a sigh of relief. The company seems to be in the clear today, although as recently as April 30 (ten days after Oracle announced its bid), Sun was concerned that it might have breached the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), potentially derailing the deal. The FCPA prohibits U.S.-based companies...

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IBM’s recent lawsuit against Dell may be a continuation of the recent wrangling the industry has seen over employees who are perceived as making a different to companies, such as IBM’s other recent suit against Apple over chip executive Mark Papermaster. However, it also offers some insights into the strategies of these two major tech players. The trigger for all the speculation is...

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Salesforce.com is trying to goose margins by introducing new ways for customers to use its cloud-based development platform, but it’s still missing in action where mobility, perhaps the fastest-growing tech segment, is concerned. The company said customers can now build applications and Web sites using the Salesforce development language and infrastructure. Furthermore, in order to...

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According to Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster, Wall Street doesn’t appreciate the sales boosting power that price cuts on Apple’s notebooks will have on Mac unit sales. But it may be that investors have become wary of Munster’s predictions, as they are often significantly off the mark. And, in this case, there is additional evidence suggesting against the sudden appearance...

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The past two times Apple has released a new iPhone, there were lines and frustration as the activation process fell apart. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but there are already signs that things are not smooth at operations, though whether the problem of Apple or AT&T, it’s tough to say. The US carrier’s internal sales system is asking staff to tell customers that any...

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A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits. Activision sues EA — Whoever came up with the phrase “it’s only a game” didn’t count on the PC gaming market. Activision sues EA over who owns the Brutal Legend title. [Source: GameDaily] Rambus drops some patent claims against Nvidia — Rambus has asked the...

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According to an SEC filing today, Amazon has entered a settlement in the long-running lawsuit with Toys “R” Us. The terms require Amazon to make a one-time payment of $51 million in the third quarter of this year. This payment was not anticipated in advanced or reserved against, so the entire amount will be charged to “other operating expenses” in Amazon’s second...

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SAP has caught on to this Internet thing a lot faster than the other large traditional software companies it competes with in the business applications space. While it’s unlikely to sell software services outside its current installed base for the next couple of years, it’s probably going to suffer fewer defection to the likes of Salesforce.com and SuccessFactors (the Siemens...

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