Business

Amidst all the worries over Black Friday security threats and the random phishing scheme, there's finally some good news for home and business software users. According to research firm Gartner, computer software should begin to decline ... significantly over the next decade. According to Gartner research vice president William Snyder, there are a number of reasons for the projected slip in costs. Collectively, they could drastically change the relationship between those producing the applications and those who need them. In the past, software buyers have had little say in the cost of the ... (view more)

Last Friday, the Mubadala Development Company announced that it was purchasing an 8% ownership of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices for $622 million. Mubdala is a corporation of the government of Abu Dhabi, and serves as a vehicle for the capital of ... the United Arab Emirates to invest directly in publicly traded companies. (Source: nytimes.com ) This is the second deal that Mubdala has brokered; it recently purchased 7.5% interest in the Carlyle Group. Both the Carlyle and AMD moves are part of Abu Dhabi's plan to diversify its oil revenue with technology investments. (Source: cnetnews.com ) ... (view more)

Since it came out last November, the Sony PlayStation 3 has struggled to regain reign over its gaming throne, established during the first and second ages of the PlayStation. Heck, right now I think Sony would be pleased just to stand next to that ... throne, swinging a big fan and supplying Nintendo or Microsoft with juicy, delicious grapes. So, yeah, Sony isn't number one. But, it's doing all it can to change that. In a recent move, the company has lowered the price of its software for developers intent on crafting games for the PlayStation 3. In the past, that's been a bit of a problem, both ... (view more)

Why is it that Windows Vista hasn't completely taken over the operating system (OS) market? Is it glitches? Security concerns? Too many Microsoft-haters? According to one survey, it seems no one has a problem with the Redmond-based company at all. ... In fact, it's the success of its last OS that is keeping Vista on store shelves. In a recent survey of some six hundred U.S. and European companies employing over a thousand people each, 84% of all PCs continue to run Windows XP, Microsoft's last great OS. That's actually an increase of 67% from the year before, despite the fact that Windows Vista ... (view more)

A question-and-answer period held during a recent Microsoft shareholders meeting resulted in executives being asked to address recent stock sales by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, board member Jon Shirley, and other executives following a sharp ... increase in the stock a few weeks ago. (Source: Seattle PI ) One shareholder, Peter Schroeder of Seattle, said the talk out of Wall Street is that this showed a certain lack of confidence in the future of where the company is going, also noting that the stock has been slipping in recent days. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer retorted that there' ... (view more)

A leaked list reveals some of the most commonly requested features for the successor to Windows Vista (code-named Windows 7). The 61 suggestions include some based on rival products, such as Session Restore from Mozilla's Firefox browser. After a ... crash, a Firefox user is able to go straight back to the page or pages that they were browsing at the time. Other users suggested a Firefox-style download manager to make it easier to keep track of multiple simultaneous downloads. Another common theme is improvements to visual displays of information, such as the Recycle Bin icon gradually 'filling ... (view more)

One year after the release to manufacturing, Windows Vista has increased Microsoft's bottom line and, according to Microsoft, shipped 88 million copies. Unfortunately, it isn't meeting larger expectations and reportedly hasn't made the kind of ... progress that was anticipated in the enterprise world. A survey on Windows Vista adoption taken last month by Gartner Inc. compared to the exact same survey taken in October 2006 concluded that enterprises are 9-12 months behind their original expectations. "The uptake is much lower than expected" said Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner Inc. ... (view more)

On behalf of all Florida residents, Frederick Black recently filed charges against media mogul Apple, Inc for monopolizing the digital video and music industry. The three formal counts charged against the organization include violation of Florida ... Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act, attempted monopolization in violation of the Florida Antitrust Act, and monopolization in violation of the Florida Antitrust Act. While the media has focused mainly on the company's recent release of the much lauded iPhone and unprecedented stock growth, this suit serves as a bitter reality check. Three hotels ... (view more)

A few weeks ago, Microsoft and Facebook announced their happy eloping, an arrangement that included an astounding $240 million wedding ring. Now, it's becoming clear just what that money will mean for Microsoft and perhaps more importantly the ... millions of Facebook fanatics. Since the purchase, Facebook and Microsoft have enjoyed a tumultuous honeymoon. In fact, some analysts argue that Microsoft paid too much for its share (1.6%) of the social networking site, leaving company executive Steve Ballmer to retort, "The valuation of Facebook is still to be determined. Certainly today, it's very, ... (view more)

Continuing its merry jaunt down the road towards global assimilation, on November 6, 2007 Microsoft officially launched its new Windows Live Suite . More of an extension than an upgrade, the new version of Live attempts to combine all of the ... current-generation networking tools into one. For example, it includes a Flickr-like image sharing system (Windows Live Photo Gallery) and a Myspace-like networking system (Windows Live Spaces). Additionally, the new Live has extended security options for parents, and deeper integration with Windows Vista and other Microsoft applications. This seems like ... (view more)