News For Wednesday Jul 23, 2008 News For Wednesday Jul 23, 2008

Science & Technology Science & Technology

Nokia, Qualcomm settle long-running dispute - Added 24 minutes ago

Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. said Wednesday they agreed to settle a high-stakes licensing dispute and end a bitter legal battle that has lasted nearly three years and spanned three continents. The wireless industry...

SKorea's Hynix to close US chip plant - Added 32 minutes ago

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, said Thursday it will close its only U.S. factory amid changes in production standards and steep price declines buffeting the industry. ...

Microsoft exec who led Yahoo buyout team to leave - Added 2 hours ago

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said Kevin Johnson, the executive in charge of its Windows and Web operations and an instrumental player in the company's failed $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., is leaving the company. ...

Amazon profit doubles, beats estimates - Added 3 hours ago

Amazon.com Inc. showed Wednesday that it wasn't being hurt by economic weakness and high fuel prices, reporting second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and surpassed analysts' expectations. The Internet retailer...

AT&T 2Q profit up 30 pct, matching Street's view - Added 4 hours ago

AT&T Inc.'s second-quarter financial results Wednesday indicated that the weak economy is catching up to the nation's largest telecommunications company, but investors were largely satisfied with what they saw. ...

EMC 2Q profit jumps 13 pct, tops Wall Street views - Added 4 hours ago

EMC Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit climbed 13 percent, topping Wall Street's forecasts, as the data storage specialist rang up record sales despite fears that economic uncertainty is tamping down...

Tech awards go to plane de-icing goo, headlights - Added 5 hours ago

Camera flashcubes of the 1960s, high-definition TVs and the Nicoderm quit-smoking patch have at least one thing in common: Each found a place over the years on R&D Magazine's annual list of the 100 most...

Summary Box: Study sees online banking flaws - Added 6 hours ago

INCREASING RISKS: A new study finds that online banking customers are more vulnerable to fraud when their banks' Web sites have design flaws that teach bad surfing habits. WIDESPREAD DANGERS: University of Michigan...

Netflix shuts movie financing arm to focus on core - Added 6 hours ago

The movie-rental service Netflix Inc. is closing a small unit that finances independent movies, partly to avoid competing with Hollywood studios with which it partners for DVD and Internet distribution. The financial...

Yahoo CEO remains upbeat despite lackluster 2Q - Added 6 hours ago

With Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover bid off the table and his company's stock price down 20 percent during his 13-month reign as Yahoo's CEO, Jerry Yang has a message for his exasperated shareholders: Things aren't...

Yahoo share gain short-lived after earnings - Added 7 hours ago

Yahoo Inc. shares moved higher Wednesday but ultimately lost ground, a day after the company reported a drop in earnings and missed Wall Street's forecasts. Yahoo shares fell $1.01, 4.7 percent, to close at $20.39....

UN agency pushes global ID for emergency contacts - Added 7 hours ago

In the English-speaking world, many cell phone users leave emergency contact information in the devices' address books under an entry labeled "ICE" _ for "in case of emergency." Now, the U.N. International...

AOL integrates widget tech to boost social-net ads - Added 7 hours ago

Install a little photo program to show off pictures of your dog on Facebook, and you might find you're really spreading an ad. Time Warner Inc.'s AOL said Wednesday it was integrating technology from its newly acquired...

Amazon 2Q profit doubles, beats estimates - Added 7 hours ago

Amazon.com Inc. says its second-quarter profit more than doubled and surpassed Wall Street's expectations. Sales were strong in several sections of Amazon's massive marketplace. The Seattle-based Web retailer earned...

Review: TextBuyIt fun, easy to use, but limited - Added 7 hours ago

TextBuyIt, a recently launched shop-by-cell phone service from Amazon.com Inc., seemed like the ultimate comparison shopping tool _ perfect for an unabashed bargain hunter like myself. As it turns out, TextBuyIt is fun...

Google unveils reference tool after 7-month test - Added 8 hours ago

Google Inc. is taking the wraps off an Internet encyclopedia designed to give people a chance to show off _ and profit from _ their expertise on any topic. The service, dubbed "knol" in reference to a unit of...

AT&T introduces global GPS service for phones - Added 8 hours ago

Is it a long, long way to Tipperary? Don't know if you're on the path to Bath? AT&T Inc. aims to help, with a new phone service that truly puts the "global" in the Global Positioning System, or GPS. On Tuesday, it...

Tech awards go to plane de-icing goo, headlights - Added 8 hours ago

Camera flashcubes of the 1960s, high-definition TVs and the Nicoderm quit-smoking patch have at least one thing in common: Each found a place over the years on R&D Magazine's annual list of the 100 most...

Study: Online banking possibly dicier than assumed - Added 8 hours ago

Many banks are unwittingly training their online customers to take risks with their passwords and other sensitive account information, leaving them more vulnerable to fraud, new research shows. The result is that even...

Summary Box: AT&T profit up 30 pct - Added 9 hours ago

KEY RESULTS: Investors expected the weak economy to finally catch up to AT&T, and it did, but not as badly as many feared. Profit was up 30 percent, even though more customers disconnected their landlines. ANALYST...

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard - Added 13 hours ago

Sony, Samsung and other consumer-electronics heavyweights are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home. The...

ADC Telecom cuts full-year outlook on lower demand - Added 14 hours ago

Communications equipment maker ADC Telecommunications Inc. has lowered earnings and sales expectations for the current fiscal year, citing lower demand. ADC now expects earnings of 18 cents to 26 cents per share for...

Researcher says Gulf dead zone bigger than ever - Added 18 hours ago

A "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned. "It's...

Gupta removed as InfoGROUP chairman - Added 22 hours ago

Database provider InfoGROUP Inc. said Tuesday it has removed founder Vin Gupta as chairman, citing excessive corporate expenditures and expense reimbursements. The changes are the result of an internal investigation,...

IAC to take $170M in charges for spinoffs - Added 1 day ago

Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp, preparing to spin off four of its operating units, said late Tuesday it plans to take about $170 million in charges because the housing crisis has diminished the value of its...

Broadcom 2nd-quarter profit nearly quadruples - Added 1 day ago

Broadcom Corp., which designs chips for networking equipment and cell phones, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, beating Wall Street's expectations. But fears that the company's profit margins...

STMicro narrows 2Q loss - Added 1 day ago

STMicroelectronics NV narrowed its losses in the second quarter as the chip maker recorded lower charges related to the spinoff of its flash memory division and other restructuring efforts. The Geneva-based company's...

"Spam king" walks away from prison - Added 1 day ago

An inmate known as the "spam king" for sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails has walked away from a federal prison camp in Colorado. U.S. Marshals, the FBI and IRS are looking for 35-year-old Edward...

Court affirms online content law unconstitutional - Added 1 day ago

A federal appeals court Tuesday agreed with a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet. The...

Apple stock drops despite jump in Q3 profit - Added 1 day ago

Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period. Investors...

Summary box: Slydial helps avoid awkward exchanges - Added 1 day ago

CONVERSATION AVOIDANCE: Slydial is a free service offering a reprieve from awkward or hectic moments by letting people leave messages for other people without actually talking to them. MESSAGES ONLY: Slydial connects...

Breaking up not so hard to do with Slydial - Added 1 day ago

The old song had it right: Breaking up is hard to do. But a free new phone service called Slydial might make it easier to get through that and other awkward moments _ without actually having to talk to anyone. Slydial...

HP-EDS deal price at issue in court hearing - Added 1 day ago

A shareholder group is trying to pressure Electronic Data Systems Corp. into demanding more than the $13.2 billion that Hewlett-Packard Co. has offered for the technology services company. The group said Monday it...

Photronics CEO Luttati resigns - Added 1 day ago

Amid deep financial troubles, Photronics Inc. said CEO Michael Luttati has resigned as the company tries to reduce expenses and return to profitability. The company makes so-called photomasks that semiconductor...

Brocade deals for Foundry Networks in Cisco salvo - Added 1 day ago

Brocade Communications Systems Inc., dominant in an obscure corner of the data storage market, wants a piece of a bigger pie: Cisco Systems Inc.'s cash cow business of networking equipment that shuttles Internet...

Apple stock drops despite jump in Q3 profit - Added 1 day ago

Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period. "The...

Texas Instruments hit by weak 2Q wireless sales - Added 1 day ago

Shares of Texas Instruments Inc. took a beating after its second-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates. Weak sales of cell phone chips and a June slowdown in orders from distributors accounted for a 4 percent...

Conference panelists see car battery breakthrough - Added 2 days ago

The lithium-ion battery, already a fixture in personal electronic devices, soon will become the answer to high oil prices and environmental concerns as it bulks up to power rechargeable electric vehicles, government,...

American Airlines and Google settle lawsuit - Added 2 days ago

American Airlines has dropped its lawsuit against Google Inc. over its search engine directing some users to advertisements for the airline's competitors. American sued the search giant last year seeking unspecified...

SAP shuts down support arm sued by Oracle - Added 2 days ago

German software maker SAP AG said Monday it will shut down TomorrowNow, a subsidiary that provided support for Oracle Corp. software and was accused of stealing information from Oracle. Bryan, Texas-based TomorrowNow...

Electronic Arts extends deadline to buy Take-Two - Added 2 days ago

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. has again extended the deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. The offer now is scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. EDT on...

Summary box: Yahoo's truce with Icahn - Added 2 days ago

PEACE PLAN: After two months of sniping at each other, Yahoo Inc.'s leadership and activist investor Carl Icahn negotiated a cease-fire that will give Icahn three seats on Yahoo's board, which will expand to 11...

Analysis finds TV buyers steered to costlier LCDs - Added 2 days ago

LCD or plasma? If you've been shopping for a flat-panel TV, that's the big question. According to a mystery-shopper survey, electronics salespeople don't know much about the differences, but still have a ready answer:...

Ousted AOL chief Miller could guide Yahoo strategy - Added 2 days ago

Given that he was ousted from the top job at a struggling AOL, Jonathan F. Miller might not seem a natural candidate to advise its Internet rival Yahoo Inc. But Miller was instrumental in transforming AOL into an...

SAP shuts down support arm sued by Oracle - Added 2 days ago

German software maker SAP AG said Monday it will shut down TomorrowNow, a subsidiary that provided support for Oracle Corp. software and was accused of stealing information from Oracle. Bryan, Texas-based TomorrowNow...

Electronic Arts extends deadline to buy Take-Two - Added 2 days ago

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. has again extended the deadline for its $2 billion tender offer to buy smaller rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. The offer now is scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. EDT on...

Facebook gets a facelift to help users share - Added 2 days ago

The popular online hangout Facebook is sporting a new look to reflect changes in how its members communicate with each other and how they share photos and updates about their lives. Central to the redesign, to be...

WHO says Asia should act against tuberculosis - Added 2 days ago

The World Health Organization urged Asian countries on Monday to take action against the growing threat of drug-resistant tuberculosis, warning that even more virulent forms of the disease could spread if they fail to...

Facebook gets a facelift to help users share - Added 2 days ago

The popular online hangout Facebook is sporting a new look to reflect changes in how its members communicate with each other and how they share photos and updates about their lives. Central to the redesign, to be...

Hundreds of baby penguins found dead in Brazil - Added 3 days ago

Hundreds of baby penguins swept from the icy shores of Antarctica and Patagonia are washing up dead on Rio de Janeiro's tropical beaches, rescuers and penguin experts said Friday. More than 400 penguins, most of them...