Articles by Rachelle Dragani

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued an open call to the robotics industry soliciting expert proposals to create more power-efficient robots. The agency aims to maximize robotic technology potential and improve the power efficiency of current robots by 2,000 percent. Robots are highly important tools in defense missions...

Google may have to buffer its patent portfolio or start paying licensing fees to Nokia now that the search engine giant is becoming a bigger player in the tablet market Google launched the Nexus 7, its first Nexus-branded tablet device, last week. The 7-inch slate will run the latest version of the company's Android operating system and will sell f...

An upgrade to the Pro edition of Microsoft's next operating system, Windows 8, will sell for US$40, a significantly lower price than what the company has charged for upgrade packages in the past The offer applies to purchases made through Windows.com for PCs running Windows XP or a later version. The price is a reduced promotional rate that will ru...

Apple has won a preliminary injunction against Samsung that bans U.S. sales of the latter's Galaxy Nexus smartphone The ruling came just days after the same court handed down a similar decision that banned U.S. sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1....

Research In Motion reported quarterly results that fell below investors' already meager expectations Thursday, adding that it plans thousands of further layoffs as well as another delay to the release of its BlackBerry 10 (BB10) platform RIM announced a US$518 million net loss on the quarter, or about 99 cents per share. Its revenue on the quarter ...

Researchers at Rice University have developed a paint that works as a battery, and it could change the way batteries are produced and reduce energy storage restrictions The paint-on battery is similar in material balance to traditional lithium-ion batteries. It has five layers -- a positive and a negative current collector, a cathode, an anode and...

Google's new Nexus 7 is the company's first attempt to push its line of Nexus Android devices into the tablet realm. However, instead of launching a head-on attack on tablets like the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Google has designed the new Nexus as a smaller slate measuring seven inches. That puts the Nexus in the same league as de...

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze is exploring a private takeover of the electronics retail chain, according to The Wall Street Journal Schulze is the largest company shareholder with about a 20 percent stake in Best Buy. He has reportedly conducted discussions with Wall Street banks to determine the best strategy for a buyout but has met resistance...

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested dozens of alleged cybercriminals in an international sting to crack down on Internet fraudsters The arrests were the result of a two-year global sting operation conducted by the FBI and designed to nab hackers in "carding" crimes, in which perpetrators steal credit card or other personal informa...

Facebook rolled out a new mobile social discovery tool recently, only to deactivate it hours later and pull it from its iOS and Android apps The service, which Facebook called "Find Friends Nearby," was designed to help Facebook users find other users who were in the same vicinity. Before the company disabled the app, users could visit a URL on the...

Facebook recently started running ads on Zynga's website, one of several moves the social network has made recently to expand its advertising reach Some Zynga users now see Facebook's Sponsored Stories ads, which display certain brands or businesses that those users' Facebook friends have "liked." Users log into Zynga with their Facebook accounts, ...

Facebook is shelling out US$10 million in a settlement that will allow it to keep its Sponsored Stories advertising program on the site but will saddle it with new restrictions The Sponsored Stories system on Facebook is meant to help ads get more exposure. When a user checks into a location or "likes" a brand on Facebook, the notification often ap...

Facebook shares are rallying after their post-IPO slump, climbing 22 percent over the past two weeks. Besides a slight downturn on Wednesday, the stock has slowly climbed closer to its initial value of US$38 on May 17. After its botched opening, the stock had fallen by as much as 32 percent to $25.52.

Research In Motion is issuing pink slips as part of a massive cost-cutting effort that could save the company US$1 billion in expenses. RIM is laying workers off in small batches, starting with the quality control, operations and parts departments, according to The Wall Street Journal....

Facebook has changed its payment system, doing away with its Credits program as well as allowing app developers to offer subscription billing. Facebook currently sells in-app purchases for Credits -- digital tokens that allowed users to buy virtual goods within games or apps. But the company found that Credits didn't catch on as a Facebook currenc...

Despite Android device makers' best efforts, Apple has ruled the tablet market for years with its iPad line. But one of the company's oldest rivals will soon come knocking, and this week it showed off just how it plans to enter the tablet scene Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system will be built with tablets in mind -- that much has been known for...

Microsoft recently announced a new line of tablets dubbed "Surface." However, instead of partnering with any of its traditional hardware friends, Microsoft is going it alone when it comes to Surface manufacturing -- Redmond will make the hardware on its own and load it with its Windows 8 operating system. ...

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission reportedly plans to reevaluate its current standards on cellphone radiation. The FCC's current guidelines set maximum levels; however, they were last updated in 1996. Considering the advancement and growth of cellphone technology over the last 16 years, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has reportedly circu...

Social media giants are teaming up with nonprofit website StopBadware to create the Ads Integrity Alliance, which will counter so-called bad ads and work to create trust within the online advertising industry. Facebook, Google, Twitter, AOL and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced Thursday that the partnership formed with StopBadware...

Skype has begun plastering display ads across its calling interface The Microsoft-owned VoIP service refers to them as "conversation ads." The ads, according to Sandhya Venkatachalam, Skype's general manager and VP of advertising and monetization, could spark additional topics of conversation and generate interactivity between families and circles ...