Articles by Rachelle Dragani

Microsoft announced last week it will provide its latest software, including Windows 8, to the Department of Defense in a US$617 million deal that the DoD said will help streamline costs and foster inter-agency collaboration. Under the three-year deal, the Air Force, Army and Defense Information Systems Agency will have access to software includin...

Facebook has added a recording feature to its Messenger mobile app, allowing mobile users to send each other voice messages without using their voice minutes. In addition to the recorded message options, iPhone users in Canada are able to make voice calls via Facebook's mobile app. Users can tap the "i" button in the app and hit "Free Call" in the...

More bibliophiles are turning to e-books rather than their paper forebears for their reading consumption The percentage of people who read e-books in the past year jumped from 16 percent to 23 percent, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project....

Google is heading into the new year with a new set of enterprise customers, the result of moves made this year to revamp its cloud-based productivity applications. For years, Google has been infiltrating areas beyond its core search business. This was the first year it was able to make real headway with large-scale customer adoption for its collab...

Edison Junior is issuing the largest Kickstarter refund ever after it couldn't secure the use of Apple's new Lightning dock technology for its universal charging gadget The company set out to create a portable charging station, called the "Pop." The minimalist device was supposed to support ports for multiple chargeable devices, including iPhones.

Oracle released a quarterly earnings report that exceeded Wall Street expectations, thanks largely to a significant jump in software and cloud subscription revenue. The company announced a profit of US$2.6 billion, or 53 cents per share, for the quarter. This compares with the $2.2 billion, or 43 cents per share, it brought in during the same peri...

Instagram is rolling out an update of its terms of service that gives it more control over users' photos. The changes have unleashed a storm of criticism on various social networks The new policies are privacy measures that will help Instagram integrate more easily with its parent company, Facebook. The terms will also allow the site to more effec...

SolarCity enjoyed a much better IPO than some of its green industry peers have had in recent months. Its stock rose 47 percent on Thursday, netting about $92 million for the day. SolarCity opened at US$8, skyrocketed to about $15, and closed at $11.79 per share. The stock continued to perform well on Friday, trading around $12 at midday.

The Federal Communications Commission approved a proposal from the Dish Network that would allow it to convert spectrum currently allocated for satellite service into airwaves that could support a land-based wireless network. Dish did not lay out specific plans for its next step with the spectrum, saying only that it would "consider its strategic ...

Microsoft is putting its Surface RT tablet on more shelves just in time for the holiday season The recently released tablet will be available at more retail outlets, including Staples and Microsoft's seasonal stores, in a matter of days. The company had been planning to increase Surface retail availability starting in 2013 but said it was hastening...

People anticipating weight gain over the holiday season can look toward mobile technology to help them shed those extra pounds, suggests new research. Patients in weight loss treatment programs lost more weight when they coupled nutritional coaching and exercise with prompts from mobile apps, reported Northwestern University researchers in a stud...

Akamai is joining forces with AT&T to help the telecom carrier better deliver Web and entertainment content to mobile consumers The two will team up over the next year, with AT&T folding much of Akamai's content delivery platform into its IP network. The system will be jointly marketed, managed and supported by the duo.

Akamai is joining forces with AT&T to help the telecom carrier better deliver Web and entertainment content to mobile consumers The two will team up over the next year, with AT&T folding much of Akamai's content delivery platform into its IP network. The system will be jointly marketed, managed and supported by the duo.

Tablet sales will be better this year than originally thought, and they are only going to increase until at least 2016, IDC forecast Wednesday. Increased Android device shipments and demand for Apple's iPad mini are making the market more robust, said IDC. IDC raised its 2013 worldwide sales projection to 122.3 units from its year-ago estimate of ...

Yahoo acquired video chat startup OnTheAir on Tuesday in a move that may be more about deepening its mobile talent pool than adding a new service to its lineup OnTheAir is a video broadcasting app that allows users to chat on a split screen or broadcast live video streams. The app was created as a webinar platform for professionals. It allows the h...

Google has acquired the Canadian startup BufferBox, a package-storage service, in a move to expand its e-commerce offerings BufferBox provides subscribers with temporary lockers accessible at all hours for receiving packages from online retailers. The company has teamed with 7-Eleven and public transportation company Metrolinx to offer lockers at p...

The relationship between Facebook and Zynga got even more complicated this week as the pair agreed to new partnership terms that free both from constraints under the prior deal. Zynga's stock took a hit because the new deal allows Facebook to develop its own games. The success of each company has long been tied to the other, especially for Zynga, ...

Google acquired retail coupon company Incentive Targeting, giving it a way to target consumers with deals based on their preferences and broaden its e-commerce presence Incentive Targeting works with manufacturers of grocery and consumer products to design personalized, timely coupons and special offers. Its technology allows retailers and manufact...

Google is integrating its Google Drive cloud storage service with Gmail, letting users send files 400 times larger than previously allowed Gmail now will send links to files up to 10 GB stored on Google Drive from inside the Gmail interface....

Google is stepping up its game in the battle for cloud supremacy by slashing prices and beefing up the services it offers with Compute Engine The Infrastructure as a Service product was first announced at Google's I/O show in June and is currently available in a preview version. Google hasn't set an official launch date, but it announced updates Mo...