Articles by Keith Regan

Amid a rapidly changing personal computer industry, Hewlett-Packard reported strong earnings with double-digit growth in its PC line, gains that are seen hurting rivals such as Dell and setting the stage for even greater competition as Apple rolls out its enhanced PC line HP said it had revenue of US$22.6 billion in the quarter, up 5 percent compar...

With the kaching of ringtone sales still ringing in their ears, music companies are preparing the next wave of mobile music services, with customized snippets of songs providing alerts for a range of phone functions Ringtone revenues are expected to begin leveling off this year, and labels are preparing to pursue early adopters with new offers: sho...

The U.S. Justice Department said it will not pursue complaints raised by Google over Microsoft's decision to build search functionality into the new version of its Internet Explorer browser, a feature that could provide a boost to Microsoft's MSN Search Antitrust regulators said they had looked into the search feature built into Internet Explorer 7...

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered a lower court review of the eBay and MercExchange case, a decision that could have far-reaching impacts for small firms that hold technology patents -- and larger companies that often find themselves locked in patent litigation The high court's unanimous decision sets aside a lower court ruling that barred eBay fr...

Seeking to expand its reach and to lock in more high-value business customers, Qwest Communications said Monday it would buy OnFiber Communications, a provider of custom-built high-speed network solutions for large businesses Qwest said it would pay US$107 million to acquire privately held OnFiber, which is based in Austin, Texas. Qwest also said i...

A report saying that a popular electronic voting machine can be tampered with to alter or erase votes has prompted states that have purchased the devices to order increased security ahead of upcoming elections On Thursday, Black Box Voting, a nonprofit group, issued a report based on the findings of Harri Hursti, a Finnish computer expert. The repo...

Microsoft has strategies in place to deal with the twin competitive threats of Linux and Google, CEO Steve Ballmer said Thursday, with the software company using innovation, tenacity and time to gain on its rivals Ballmer said Microsoft planned to use "sheer tenacity" to wrest market share in the online advertising space from Google and Yahoo, usin...

A group of executives from Internet companies such as Lycos and Yahoo Shopping have launched a tightly focused local shopping search engine they say will help shoppers pinpoint retailers whether they want to buy online or off Yokel.com features both a national site and a local site focused on the Boston market that will contain a deeper database of...

Using authorization given in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S., the National Security Agency (NSA) has secretly been working with major telecom companies to collect and store records of millions of phone calls, according to a published report USA Today reported Thursday that the NSA has worked with AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth to build a ...

Internet and wireless networking gear maker Cisco Systems posted better-than-expected profits for its third quarter, but issued a forecast that disappointed some analysts and investors Cisco beat both earnings and revenue targets from analysts, with revenue up 18 percent to US$7.32 billion as consumer and business demand for its networking gear inc...

Windows Vista will have robust built-in security features when released early next year, according to a new report that says the platform upgrade will be good news for PC users, but could spell trouble for the PC security software industry The Yankee Group said the security features Microsoft is building into Vista will largely eliminate the need f...

Dell said its first-quarter earnings and revenue would be lower than previously forecast, a direct result of price cuts made to help it retain market share amid stepped-up competition The one-time Wall Street darling saw its stock price take a significant hit, with shares dropping 6 percent in early trading to US$24.90. In addition to being a new 5...

A New York state lawmaker has filed suit against Google, claiming the search engine has profited from helping users access child pornography and saying that the company has already demonstrated the ability to stop such searches through its dealings with the Chinese government Jeffrey Toback, a representative in New York's Nassau County Legislature ...

Another piece ofMicrosoft's ambitious advertising distribution strategy fell into place Thursday with the software maker's announcement that it had closed its rumored purchase of in-game advertising pioneerMassive Microsoft did not disclose financial details, but analysts have estimated the sale would be worth between US$200 million and $400 millio...

Delivering a message that may be aimed at inspiring employees or reassuring investors, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said his company is being "underestimated" as it launches products into the market dominated by search giant Google The "Microsoft-as-Underdog" motif may be hard for some to swallow, given the company's long and storied history, incl...

Intel has fired back against Advanced Micro Devices, filing court motions to throw out or limit AMD's antitrust suit against its larger rival Intel argues in court filings that the case does not belong in U.S. District Court in Delaware because AMD contends that Intel's alleged antitrust behavior has harmed it most in overseas sales....

The long-anticipated online advertising battle between Microsoft and Google moved closer to becoming a reality Wednesday as Microsoft begins final preparations on its MSN adCenter search advertising platform Microsoft is expected to display the last update to the test version of adCenter during the two-day MSN Strategic Account Summit at its Redmon...

Less than two months after settling its longstanding legal battle with NTP for more than US$600 million, BlackBerry e-mail reader maker Research In Motion has been slapped with another patent infringement action, this time from rival Visto Like NTP, Visto is seeking an injunction that could force the shutdown of the BlackBerry mobile e-mail service...

Two of the biggest-selling rock bands of the 1970s have filed suit against their onetime label saying the royalties reaching them from digitally downloaded versions of their songs are too low The Allman Brothers Band and Cheap Trick filed suit against Sony BMG in U.S. District Court in New York, claiming that a higher percentage of royalties from d...

Hoping to help make it easier for consumers intimidated by technological jargon to become buyers, Yahoo has launched a site aimed at simplifying decisions about purchasing home computers, portable gadgets and a host of other electronics The portal said the Yahoo Tech site would cut through "geek-speak" to give "plain-English advice and information"...