Business Industry

It's been a tough couple of months for users of Yahoo Mail. Not long ago the Internet firm pushed out an overhauled user interface that alienated more users than it pleased . Now, many Yahoo Mail users can't even connect to their accounts and check ... their messages. Yahoo Mail has been suffering outages since early last week. When reports of the outage first emerged, Yahoo took to Twitter to acknowledge that it was experiencing technical difficulties, but promised the issues would be resolved quickly. Yahoo Mail Users Knocked Offline For Days "We know some of our users are unable to use Yahoo ... (view more)

Hewlett-Packard (HP) chief executive officer Meg Whitman says her firm isn't about to give up on 'traditional' computers, like desktops. In a recent interview, Whitman said she believes "desktops are not dead". Whitman made that comment in a CNBC ... interview published earlier this week. When asked whether her firm would focus more on mobile hardware, like tablet computers, Whitman had this to say: "In the commercial business, we've got a tremendously strong lineup, because we can go all the way from virtual desktop to workstations to desktops -- by the way, desktops are not dead -- to laptops ... (view more)

Microsoft's new 'Scroogled' merchandise appears to be selling remarkably well. New reports suggest a lot of the gear, which rips on Google's controversial Gmail privacy policy, has already sold out. Microsoft began its Scroogled campaign earlier ... this year. The focus of the offensive is Google's Gmail privacy policy, which allows the company to scan both sent and received emails in order to formulate more effective advertisements. Microsoft insists its email service, Outlook, doesn't do that to its customers. To highlight the difference, Microsoft recently began selling mugs, t-shirts, ... (view more)

Microsoft has launched a new set of merchandise carrying anti-Google slogans. It's just a publicity stunt, but the blistering nature of the attacks may land Microsoft in legal trouble. The merchandise is the latest step in Microsoft's "Don't get ... Scroogled" campaign. That term, a mix of "screwed" and "Google", is Microsoft's way of arguing that its rival has a much more aggressive approach to using customer data for its own means. The campaign has largely centered on the fact that Google scans messages sent through its Gmail service and then uses the content to produce relevant advertising. ... (view more)

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is in the news yet again. This time the 63-year-old tech icon is suggesting that, if he was in charge at Apple, he'd push for unprecedented cooperation between that firm and Google. Wozniak recently made headlines by ... proclaiming his disinterest in the new 'iPad Air,' the thinner, lighter version of Apple's popular tablet computer. The problem, according to 'Woz': with a maximum storage capacity of 128GB, the Air just can't hold enough data. Cooperation the Key to Better Hardware, Software Now, in an interview with the BBC, Wozniak says he'd like to see more ... (view more)

A UK retailer has installed advertising screens that can scan a customer's face. The screens, which will be installed by Tesco at its many gas stations, then shows an advertisement based on its reading of the person's age and gender. The move has ... prompted criticism from privacy advocates, while others question how accurate the system will be. The screens are the work of Amscreen, a company owned by British businessman Alan Sugar. Sugar made a name for himself with the Amstrad computer back in the 1980s. Now he's made a deal to supply screens to 450 Tesco gas stations across the United Kingdom ... (view more)

Times are tough over at Microsoft. At least, it seems that way given consumer reaction to Windows 8 and the firm's new Surface tablet . Now, the firm's chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer, has announced plans to leave the company. But one very ... prominent economist thinks the Redmond, Washington-based firm is still in better shape than one of its main rivals: Apple. Apple Losing its "Quality Edge" In a recent New York Times piece, internationally renowned economist Paul Krugman suggested that Apple might have a more troubled future than Microsoft. His reasoning: conservative IT ... (view more)

BlackBerry, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company formerly known as Research in Motion, is in big trouble. However, the firm's chief executive officer, Thorsten Heins -- who BlackBerry tapped to take over as CEO just last year -- is set to make more ... than $50 million in salary and incentives if he's forced out of the firm's top job. Heins had served in several executive positions prior to becoming BlackBerry chief executive officer in January 2012. He joined the firm as Senior Vice President of the BlackBerry Handheld Business Unit in 2007 after working for several hardware and software ... (view more)

Think the PC industry is due for a resurgence in the near future? Think again, says analyst firm IDC. In a new report, IDC researchers predict the PC market will see a staggering decline in sales over the remainder of 2013. IDC had originally ... predicted a modest 1.3 per cent decline in sales for 2013, followed by slight rebounds in the following years. But then we learned about first quarter sales. PC manufacturers shipped just 76.3 million units in the first months of 2013, down an astounding 13.9 per cent from the same period in 2012. Of the world's top five PC vendors, only Lenovo avoided a ... (view more)