Will Skype Help Microsoft Beat Google?
May 13, 2011, Silicon Valley, California- By now you’ve probably heard that Microsoft is buying Skype (pending regulatory approval). This is Microsoft’s biggest acquisition to date at $8.5 billion, and Skype’s second acquisition (it’s already been bought and sold by eBay). Since Skype’s [...]
Comcast takes control of NBC Universal
LOS ANGELES (AP) -The nation’s largest cable TV company, Comcast Corp., took control of NBC Universal after the government shackled its behavior in the coming years to protect online video services such as Netflix and Hulu.
The deal closed shortly before midnight EST on Friday.
The takeover gave [...]
Stimulus funds help wire rural homes for Internet
EAST BURKE, Vt. – Up in rural northern Vermont, it took until the 1960s to run power lines to some towns – decades after the rest of America got turned on.
These days, it’s the digital revolution that remains but a rumor in much of rural America.
Dial-up user Val Houde knows this as [...]
In future, cars might decide if driver is drunk
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — An alcohol-detection prototype that uses automatic sensors to instantly gauge a driver’s fitness to be on the road has the potential to save thousands of lives, but could be as long as a decade away from everyday use in cars, federal officials and researchers [...]
PayPal to restrict payments to India merchants
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — PayPal is making more changes to its online payment service in India, saying it will begin restricting the size of payments to merchants in India because of new rules from the Reserve Bank of India.
In a Friday post on PayPal’s blog, spokesman Dickson Seow said [...]
Comcast to take over NBC Universal at midnight
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nation’s largest cable TV company, Comcast Corp., was set to take control of NBC Universal on Friday after the government shackled its behavior in the coming years to protect online video services such as Netflix and Hulu.
The deal’s closing was to occur [...]
Internet cutoff fails to silence Egypt protests
NEW YORK (AP) — In its effort to silence protesters, Egypt took a step that’s rare even among authoritarian governments: It cut off the Internet across the entire country.
The nation’s four main Internet providers all went dark, and cell phone service was suspended in some [...]
Egyptian military deploys in Cairo under curfew
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s military deployed on the streets of Cairo to enforce a nighttime curfew after the sun set Friday on a day of rioting and violent chaos that was a major escalation in the challenge to authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
In the strongest [...]
WikiLeaks rival launches new secret-spilling site
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — A former WikiLeaks spokesman launched a rival website Friday, saying he planned to give whistleblowers more control over the secrets they spill.
The new platform, called OpenLeaks, will allow sources to choose specifically who they want to submit documents to [...]
Verizon to buy Terremark for $1.4 billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday it is buying Terremark Worldwide Inc., a provider of information technology services, for $1.4 billion in cash.
Verizon plans to pay $19 per share for Terremark Worldwide Inc. That represents a 35 percent premium to Terremark’s [...]
LinkedIn looks to link up with investors with IPO
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LinkedIn Corp., the company behind the largest website for professional networking, plans to raise at least $175 million in an initial public offering of stock that could open the IPO floodgates for other widely used online services that connect people with common [...]
Cairo scene of violent chaos as protests escalate
CAIRO (AP) — Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters poured into the streets of Egypt Friday, stoning and confronting police who fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas in the most violent and chaotic scenes yet in the challenge to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. [...]
The day part of the Internet died: Egypt goes dark
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — About a half-hour past midnight Friday morning in Egypt, the Internet went dead.
Almost simultaneously, the handful of companies that pipe the Internet into and out of Egypt went dark as protesters were gearing up for a fresh round of demonstrations calling for the [...]
Security forces disappear off Cairo streets
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian security forces have all but disappeared from the streets in the heart of the country’s capital ahead of planned demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.
Egyptians had expected a huge police presence ahead of Friday’s planned protests.
Instead, [...]
Amazon shares slip on revenue miss, profit outlook
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amazon.com’s results for the holiday shopping season highlight the inherent tension between retailers and consumers: What’s good for one isn’t necessarily good for the other.
The intense competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other discounters [...]
Nintendo chief says Sony portable is different
TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata is unfazed by rival Sony’s plans for an upgraded successor to the PlayStation Portable, confident that his company’s 3-D handheld game machine going on sale next month has a competitive edge.
“We are more focused on [...]
Samsung’s 4th-quarter net profit rises 13 percent
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest manufacturer of computer memory chips and flat screen televisions, said net profit rose 13 percent in the fourth quarter amid higher sales of semiconductors and smartphones as the technology giant rounded out a record [...]
