Articles by Keith Regan

Cyber Monday lived up to and even exceeded its much-hyped advanced billing, with U.S. consumers setting a new spending record on the unofficial kickoff to the online holiday shopping season ComScore data show U.S. shoppers spent US$733 million online on Monday, a 21 percent increase when compared with the $610 million spent on Cyber Monday in 2006....

Google will invest heavily in a green power initiative during 2008 and beyond, with the ultimate goal of developing a renewable energy source that creates electricity at a lower cost thancoal, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions Google's initiative, which it has dubbed "RE

The president of South Korea will appoint an independent investigator to explore allegations that electronics and industrial giant Samsung Group had diverted money into a secret fund that was later used to bribe government officials South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun announced in a televised news conference Tuesday that he would agree to demands fr...

After years of relying mainly on its own Web site as an online sales vehicle for its airfares, discount carrier JetBlue changed course Monday, striking deals to allow third-party travel sites sell tickets for its flights JetBlue announced distribution deals with Travelocity, Orbitz, Expediaand Priceline, a move that will dramatically expand the num...

With brick-and-mortar retailers reporting a blockbuster Black Friday, Internet merchants looked to counter with a strong Cyber Monday, with at least one analyst firm predicting sales would set a record by exceeding 2006 levels Although Cyber Monday has come to stand for the virtual equivalent of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, the first M...

MoveOn.org, the civic and political action group best known for espousing Democratic ideals, has launched a campaign aimed at pressuring Facebook to change its privacy policy in the wake of a newly launched advertising program Using a Facebook page and its own Web site, MoveOn is collecting signatures on a petition demanding that Facebook "respect ...

Telecommunications giant AT&T may make an offer to buy Dish Network parent company EchoStar, according to a published report that sent EchoStar's stock soaring Monday AT&T is in the process of preparing to go public with a formal offer for EchoStar, something that could happen before the end of the year, according to a story in Barron's over the we...

Telecommunications giant AT&T may make an offer to buy Dish Network parent company EchoStar, according to a published report that sent EchoStar's stock soaring Monday AT&T is in the process of preparing to go public with a formal offer for EchoStar, something that could happen before the end of the year, according to a story in Barron's over the we...

Telecommunications giant AT&T may make an offer to buy Dish Network parent company EchoStar, according to a published report that sent EchoStar's stock soaring Monday AT&T is in the process of preparing to go public with a formal offer for EchoStar, something that could happen before the end of the year, according to a story in Barron's over the we...

A range of factors will drive down software licensing costs in coming years, benefiting enterprises but creating a challenge for leading application vendors to keep profits rising, according to a new report Information technology departments will seek ways to reduce what they spend on software, duplicating efforts to cut down on hardware and servic...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), stripping out a key provision that provided legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with secret wiretapping programs The move sets up a showdown with the White House, as President Bush has vowed to veto the bill -- k...

Garmin, the No. 1 maker of portable navigation systems, said it will drop out of what had become a bidding war for the right to acquire the last independent producer of the digital maps that power GPS (global positioning system) devices Garmin offered US$3.3 billion to acquire Tele Atlas, only to have its main rival, TomTom, top it with an offer wo...

GPS (Global Positioning System)-enabled device makers Garmin and TomTom have reached an agreement to settle a slew of intellectual property lawsuits between the companies The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement settles suits pending in the UK and the Netherlands -- where TomTom is based -- and U.S. cases in Texas and Wisconsin court...

Sony's pricing gambit has finally helped light a fire under sales of its PlayStation 3 model, with the electronics giant reportedly sellingtwice as many consoles in the U.S. last week as the prior week Sony recently launched a 40 GB version of the PS3 priced at US$400, more than $100 less than the reduced price tag on the 80 GB version, which still...

The European Commission will open an in-depth investigation into Google's proposed purchase of interactive ad giant DoubleClick, dashing the search company's hopes for a swift end to the ongoing regulatory review The commission now has until April 2, 2008, to render a final ruling on the proposed US$3.1 billion merger, which is also still under rev...

XM and Sirius on Tuesday took two key steps closer to having their merger finalized as shareholders from both companies gave their blessing to the deal, which is still awaiting regulatory approval Sirius shareholders voted at a special meeting to amend the company's certificate of incorporation to allow the merger and approved the issuance of the s...

Information systems and outsourcing giant Electronic Data Systems (EDS) will buy a controlling interest in Saber Holdings, a firm that provides software and services to government agencies across the country EDS will pay US$420 million in cash for the 93 percent stake in Portland, Ore.-based Saber, with the software firm's CEO and chief operating o...

Microsoft on Monday announced its intention to buy France-based mobile music services provider Musiwave in a move that could dramatically boost the software giant's presence in the cell phone music space Redmond reached a deal with Musiwave parent company Openwave Systems that gives it the exclusive right to negotiate an agreement to purchase Musiw...

Shares of E*Trade plummeted more than 50 percent Monday after the online stock brokerage firm backed down from previously announced profit targets, said it would be forced to take more write-downs due to its exposure to the subprime mortgage industry and disclosed it was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) E*Trade's a...

Cisco's first-quarter revenue rose 17 percent and profit jumped 37 percent, but the networking gear maker's shares took a beating after it failed to provide a more upbeat forecast The company earned US$2.21 billion, or 35 cents per share, for its first quarter, and revenue climbed to $9.55 billion. Those results were roughly in line with analyst ex...