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Not giving up on its foray into portable media players despite the iPod's dominance, Microsoft is expanding and improving its stable of Zune devices and pairing their release with a new, music-oriented social networking site. Chairman Bill Gates and Corporate Vice President J. Allard announced three...

As it battles Microsoft to try to gain some of the Web search market share gobbled by Google, Yahoo has upgraded its search technology with a feature that makes suggestions while users type. Called "Search Assist," the new feature arrives several days after Microsoft similarly unveiled improvements ...

Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, has agreed to buy navigation specialist Navteq, a deal that Nokia says will help it expand its business into location-based Internet services. The Finnish phone giant will pay $8.1 billion for the Chicago-based company, pending regulatory and shareholde...

A demonstration by Motorola of Sprint's Xohm WiMax wireless broadband technology took place this week on a tour boat in the Chicago River. Accounts of the exhibition are likely to have DSL and cable Internet providers worried. Journalists invited aboard the "Summer of George" filed generally upbeat ...

Open source software provider Red Hat reported strong revenue growth for its second fiscal quarter and announced there are now more than 3,000 applications certified to run on its Enterprise Linux operating system. The company saw $127.3 million in revenue for the quarter, an increase of 28 percent ...

Having agreed to buy Slingbox maker Sling Media, Dish Network parent company EchoStar Communications now is considering splitting itself into two distinct companies. The Colorado-based satellite TV company wants to separate its consumer-based and wholesale businesses, a move it says will allow both ...

Hoping to ride the rising mobile Web wave, Fox Interactive Media is offering free mobile access to MySpace and several other sites. The free mobile Web versions of the sites will be supported by advertising instead of user subscription fees. However, the fee-based versions of the sites will remain a...

Forcing consumers to buy prepackaged tiers of bundled TV channels is a violation of trade and anti-trust laws, contends a lawsuit filed in the federal court against media companies and cable/satellite TV providers. The complaint, filed by Los Angeles lawyers Maxwell Blecher and David Kesselman on be...

Intel, which wants to be at the forefront of a trend toward more powerful mobile devices capable of full Internet capability, said its new Menlow platform will be a big part of that future. Discussed at this year's Intel Developer's Forum by Anand Chandrasekher, the senior vice president and general...

Hoping to offer something for all budgets and desktop computing power requirements, Advanced Micro Devices is planning to sell triple-core versions of its multi-core processors. The Phenom Triple-Core units will be less expensive than its forthcoming top-of-the-line quad-core, AMD said. "Triple-core...

Yahoo is beta testing a new social networking site that, among other things, allows users to annoy their friends. One of the unusual features of the new service -- currently called "Mash" and available by invitation only -- is the way it lets members fool around with other members' profile pages. In...

In conjunction with the Huffington Post Web site and online magazine Slate, Yahoo is offering users the ability to grab video clips of "debate" answers from Democratic presidential candidates and use them to make their own mashups. Billed by Slate as the "first-ever online-only presidential mashup,"...

Sun Microsystems, the company whose former CEO used to denounce Microsoft as often -- and as sarcastically -- as possible, is now selling Windows. The Santa Clara, Calif., IT pioneer has "signed on" to become a Windows Server original equipment manufacturer, meaning it will install Microsoft Windows...

Computer geeks who've quietly longed for the ability to play "Guitar Hero" on their PCs and Macs can stop fretting. A company plans to release a personal computer version of the addictive pseudo-guitar-playing game, currently available only on video game consoles. Austin, Texas-based Aspyr Media has...

Technology similar to that which propels tiny droplets in inkjet printing might soon be used to painlessly inject medicine into the skin with a patch. Inkjet pioneer HP has created the drug delivery patches and is allowing Ireland-based medical device developer Crospon to sell them. The patches are ...

Google signaled its intention to go after enterprise users by announcing a partnership with a French firm that will help it deliver Google Apps as a Web-based service. Capgemini, a major global provider of outsourced business technology, will now provide professional support for enterprises that ado...

Warner Bros. Entertainment is launching a new multifaceted, multimedia Web site that will let people immerse themselves in, and even play the part of, their favorite Warner Bros., Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics characters. Called "T-Works," the endeavor is being described by Warner Bros. ...

Vudu, a California company that will sell or rent movies to customers with high-speed Internet access, began selling its $399 units Thursday and expects the downloads will begin in about three weeks. The company has agreements with major and independent film distributors and can offer its customers ...

A group of New York City taxicab drivers kept their cars parked Wednesday to protest the forced installation in their vehicles of devices that use GPS positioning and allow credit card payments. The 48-hour strike, urged by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, began at 5 a.m. Reports varied about the...

ITT this week emerged the winner of a lucrative contract with the Federal Aviation Administration to design and build the first component of a new satellite-guided air traffic control system. The $207 million initial contract is for the development and deployment of the Automatic Dependent Surveilla...