News

Gates bids adieu to CES, sense of humor intact

Bill Gates kicks off his final pre-show keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show with a video self-parody, before delivering his vision for a connected world of devices and services

Gateway adds gaming PCs to lineup

Systems range from the high-end to ones designed for budget gamers

Yahoo invites third-party mobile widget developers

Yahoo gives mobile users new ways to access its services from their phones, as well as the ability to customize the new Yahoo mobile home page

Update: Warner Bros. dumps HD DVD, goes solely Blu-ray

On eve of annual CES show in Las Vegas, competition heats up between dueling high-definition video disc formats

Google PageRank to stem staph infections?

After criticism, Sears plugs Web site’s privacy hole

Privacy advocates had pointed out that Managemyhome.com's 'Find your products' feature could be used by fraudsters to scam customers

U.S. agency initiates DRAM investigation

Based on complaints of potential patent allegations filed by IBM and Tessera, U.S. International Trade Commission launches multiple investigations

Sears puts customers’ buying histories on the Web

Feature designed to help customers keep track of items they've bought, but the site also lets them look up other people's purchase histories

Meraki Networks’ SF Wi-Fi plan avoids roadblocks

In addition to rooftop access points, startup will fill out coverage with repeaters on windows or balconies, distributed free of charge to individuals and businesses

Muni Wi-Fi back on SF map

Study: Open Document Format made gains in ’07

ODF Alliance reports that 12 countries and six regional governments have adopted 'pro-ODF policies,' and more than 40 applications now support ODF as well

Wall Street Beat: Tumult marks start of year for IT

Tech stocks post losses in 2008's first days of trading, with fears of inflation and recession continuing to discourage investors

Update: Class-action suit charges Apple with music monopoly

Suit alleges Apple unfairly uses technological restrictions with its iPod line and iTunes Music Store to beat out competitors

SAS launches Real-Time Decision Manager

Application puts cross-sell opportunities into the business process

East vs. West in the marketplace

Wi-Fi startup to pick up where Google left off in SF

Startup Meraki plans to deliver free wireless Internet access across San Francisco by the end of the year

U.S. indicts 11 over ‘pump-and-dump’ stock spam

Spam king Alan Ralsky is among those charged with sending millions of unsolicited e-mails intended to inflate the price of stocks

OLPC: Won’t miss Intel’s ‘half-hearted’ laptop effort

Intel's prototype laptop was 'more expensive and more power-hungry' than the XO laptop, says OLPC's president

HP goes high-definition with Pavilion HDX laptop

HP's new multimedia notebook has a 20.1-inch screen that plays back true 1080p HD-TV and gives users the option of an HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc drive to play high-definition movies

Wi-Fi virus outbreak is possible, researchers say

By targeting unsecured wireless routers, criminals could create an attack that could piggyback across thousands of Wi-Fi networks in urban areas

Update: Intel quits OLPC board over pressure to kill Classmate PC

Move ends the effort to build a version of the project's XO laptop based on an Intel processor

Qimonda, Macronix join in memory development pact

Companies will develop several types of non-volatile memory technologies

IBM restructures systems division

Realignment will enable the division to better determine and integrate hardware, software, and services

Apache Wicket 1.3 set for Java Web development

AJAX is bolstered in new release

Facebook hack fuels Web 2.0 concerns

Using people instead of technology to spread malware is the latest alarming trend in security

Microsoft to strong arm Silverlight adoption

Apple patent reveals innovative docking station

Proposed station will serve as a monitor for a portable computer, making for an ultramobile PC

SanDisk, PNY settle patent dispute

SanDisk will allow PNY to continue distribution of flash storage products

Microsoft ponders Emacs effort

Motorola device lets you bring DVR content anywhere you go

Portable broadcast TV player is based on a standard used in Europe, but will be available in the U.S. later

Microsoft prepares two Windows security updates

One update is critical, the other important — both will be announced next week

Finally: your TV connected to the Web

Netflix and LG plan work together to stream movies over the Internet

Facebook tightens app development platform to curb abuses

Facebook grapples with external programmers who spur adoption of their applications among Facebook members through deceitful practices

NetApp to buy Onaro to boost storage management

Onaro's main product family, SANScreen, is complementary to NetApp's existing offerings

Boston-Power expands laptop battery production

Startup Boston Power is more than tripling production of its Sonata laptop battery, which offers faster charging and longer life than conventional lithium-ion batteries

LG.Philips LCD unrolls 14-inch color e-paper display

LG.Philips claims its new electronic paper display, which is about the same size as an A4-sheet of paper, has the highest resolution screen of its type yet developed

Open source: a conservative force?

U.K. prepares for amended computer crime law

U.K. prosecutors receive guidance on interpreting amendments to a new computer crime law that has caused concern among computer security professionals

Hitachi unveils first laptop 500GB drive

Hitachi's Travelstar 5K500 is the highest capacity drive yet developed for portable PCs

Lenovo launches IdeaPad consumer laptop line

Lenovo adds the IdeaPad low-price line of consumer laptops to complement its ThinkPad notebook line aimed at business users

Asus unveils terabyte laptop

Asus' M70S laptop, sporting dual 500GB drives from Hitachi, will be released at next week's Consumer Electronics Show

Anti-botnet vendors plug in

New wave of IT startups gains attention as carriers, ISPs, and large enterprises seek stand-alone botnet-blocking technologies to protect their systems and networks

SanDisk auto-syncs flash drive files online

Eclipse reeling in Swordfish as SOA framework

Open source project leverages OSGi, Service Component Architecture, and Java Business Integration

US-CERT warns of flaw in latest RealPlayer

Russian security company uncovers flaw in multimedia software, but has not released its attack code or any technical details

Bain Capital quiet about probe into 3Com acquisition

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States likely to take 45 additional days investigating whether deal poses national security risk

Microsoft boosts ALM server

Holiday e-tail sales up, satisfaction down

Mixed results for online retailers, who see sales shoot up 19 percent compared to this time last year, while customer satisfaction dips 1 point

Company suing OLPC wants $20 million to settle

Lancor's patent infringement lawsuit against OLPC may aid a rival project by Intel

Nokia Siemens to buy Apertio

Nokia Siemens Networks will buy network management vendor Apertio for $205 million