Articles by Keith Regan

Just a day after IBM soothed investors with a solid quarter, fellow tech bellwether Intel raised fresh questions about the strength of the sector by missing its fourth quarter targets and issuing a softer-than-expected outlook The dominant chipmaker managed to post a 51 percent profit increase for the fourth quarter to US$2.3 billion, but still fel...

Just months after it decided to stop its legal battles against a landmark European Union antitrust finding, Microsoft now finds itself facing two new inquiries into claims that it abused its market dominance in Europe The European Commission is looking into accusations that Microsoft used its power in the word processing and spreadsheet markets to ...

IBM posted strong fourth quarter results Monday, beating profits and sales targets as it rode to the rescue of a sagging stock market by providing renewed optimism about technology earnings Big Blue's profit rose 24 percent to US$2.80 per share in the fourth quarter of 2007 while revenue increased 10 percent to $28.9 billion. For the full year, IBM...

Leading domain registrar Network Solutions is under fire for a controversial practice under which it briefly reserves domain names after it notices search activity on the names Network Solutions describes the technique as a way to protect legitimate interest in domains from modern-day cyber-squatters. Word of the approach spread quickly last week a...

Amazon.com will start selling songs from the massive library of Sony BMG in a format free of restrictions on copying and playback -- a major victory for the e-tailer's fledging music store and another sign that digital rights management (DRM) controls on premium digital music may soon be a thing of the past Sony BMG becomes the fourth and final maj...

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating Intel for possible illegal business practices meant to keep rival Advanced Micro Devices at bay -- the latest development in an ongoing antitrust entanglement for the leading chipmaker Cuomo's office has issued a "wide-ranging" subpoena to California-based Intel, seeking documents and other in...

The bizarre and controversial case of a Missouri teenager who killed herself after being bullied through MySpace, allegedly by the parent of a peer, has reportedly shifted to California, where the social networking site is based A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has issued a subpoena to MySpace, according to the Los Angeles Times. This is apparen...

More than a decade after they first rushed to search for exit-strategy gold in the e-commerce niche, venture investors are still finding plenty of early and mid-stage companies to back in the space Often, however, the deals are more modest in size than they were when the dot-com bubble was building and the businesses themselves are being built in a...

Comcast is launching an online video hub that will connect users with content in a variety of formats. With this effort, Comcast is joining a crush of companies aiming to leverage the Web to provide the ultimate on-demand experience The cable giant's Fancast site will be the first such destination meant to connect users with content -- whether it's...

Microsoft is moving to buy Norway-based enterprise search specialist Fast Search and Transfer for approximately US$1.2 billion, a purchase that would instantly grow the software giant's business search footprint Redmond is offering Fast shareholders 19 Norwegian kroner ($3.50) per share, a 42 percent premium to the company's trading price last week...

Bidding to reshape its image, Xerox is launching a major rebranding effort meant to encourage business customers to think of it as an innovation company, not just a leading maker of copiers The new image is meant to reflect the needs of today's business and to be "a bit less formal, a lot more lively with links to our heritage and a nod to the futu...

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates gave his 11th and final keynote address at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show on Sunday, a speech laden with predictions that technology will grow ever more personal and interconnected in coming years Gates, who first addressed CES as keynote speaker in 1994, noted that this speech will likely be his la...

Shares of leading chipmaker Intel lost more than 7 percent in middaytrading Friday after the company's stock was downgraded for a second time in a week JP Morgan analyst Christopher Danely downgraded the company on Friday, citing rising inventory levels at personal computer makers and a likely slowdown in corporate spending heading into the new yea...

A Michigan grand jury has indicted the man widely know as the "Spam King" and 10 others in connection with an alleged stock fraud scheme that used bulk e-mails to pump up the prices of stocks The biggest name among those indicted is that of 52-year-old Alan Ralsky, who earned the nickname of "Spam King" by being considered one of the world's most p...

Overstock.com cofounder Jason Lindsey has resigned from the company's board and has given up his titles of president and chief operating officer, an unexpected move likely to raise questions about the company's holiday season performance Lindsey, who founded Overstock with CEO Patrick Byrne, stepped down effective the end of 2007; however, he will ...

Movie rental giant Netflix will partner with LG Electronics to offer set-top boxes that will enable consumers to stream movies from the Internet to their network-enabled TV sets The service will eliminate the need to use a personal computer to download films -- a service Netflix currently offers on a limited basis -- and enable high-definition vers...

Qualcomm began the new year by scrambling to deal with an old problem. The mobile chip maker will appeal a judge's injunction barring it from selling products found to infringe on patents held by rival Broadcom San Diego-based Qualcomm intends to push hard to finalize development of work-around alternatives to the disputed technology, but it acknow...

Considering the speed at which technology evolves, predicting even a year in advance can be a dicey proposition. Still, given key tech sector developments during 2007 and the outlook for 2008, some trends are unmistakable It's a safe bet that social networking and Web 2.0 overall will remain a closely watched sector and that mobile marketing and pa...

Strong growth in mobile advertising and a "major iPhone security incident" are among the predictions a wireless consulting firm is making for 2008 Google and the upcoming Federal Communications Commission auction of wireless spectrum will also alter the mobile landscape in 2008, predictsinCode. The firm -- which has been part of VeriSign since 2006...

Google received an early holiday present from federal regulators Thursday, as the Federal Trade Commission granted a wish the search giant has had on its list since April -- approval to complete its purchase of interactive advertising agency DoubleClick The Federal Trade Commission authorized the deal after its investigation found that Google's US$...