Business

North Carolina officials are willing to offer Google up to $4.7 million in grant money if the company builds a new operation in Caldwell County, an economically struggling area of North Carolina. Google is looking for a new place to put a server ... farm, which is a massive collection of computers used to run Google's services and support the company's expedient growth. Lenoir, North Carolina is on Google's list of sites that it is considering for the future development. If Google decides to land in Lenoir, the region, knocked out by job and industry loss, could see $600 million in new investment ... (view more)

Federal investigators are reviewing Apple stock option documents that may have been falsified by company officials. Reports state that the investigation puts Apple at risk for possible criminal prosecution. (Source: cnn.com ) The allegedly falsified ... documents were uncovered during an earlier investigation on Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Although Jobs was cleared of any wrong-doing over stock options, the investigation uncovered additional problems. Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver ... (view more)

Blogs are all the rage nowadays. And, it was no surprise to discover that very fact when Google purchased Blogger.com way back in 2003. After all, what pie *hasn't* Google taken a slice of yet? Now, after three years, Google has finally given its ... blogging property a major facelift. (Source: yahoo.com ) Here are the new features Google has added to blogger.com (quoted directly from the website): Customize your template 1. Create the blog you've always wanted with new page elements and font and color options. 2. Drag and drop page elements to customize your blog's design in a snap Create a ... (view more)

It wasn't so long ago that we reported on a Vista crack , which gave hackers access to the new operating system (OS) without ever paying a dime. Now, it appears that crack has been improved, and it means more headaches for Microsoft as the home ... release of Vista nears in only a month's time. The original crack surrounded setting up a Key Management Server, and then exposing a weakness in Microsoft supported Voice Activation 2.0. By doing this, hackers could gain free access to Vista for 180 days before the activation ran out. That's six months, and although not an eternity, it's certainly ... (view more)

Between Google's acquisitions and new program launches, the company has still managed to find time to create a partnership with space conglomerate NASA. Google and NASA have come together to sign the Space Act Agreement. The agreement will enable ... the two companies to collaboratively develop a system which will make it easy for people to find weather forecasting data, view high-resolution 3D maps of the moon and Mars, and track the International Space Station in real time. (Source: pcworld.com ) Although the partnership may not seem to be the most natural fit at first, it actually makes ... (view more)

Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced last Wednesday that the two companies will be joining in a $300 million, three year partnership. The aim of the "People-Ready Business" duo is to attract more large business customers. (Source: ... reuters.com ) With HP making the most personal computers and Microsoft holding the title of the world's largest software maker, the partnership offers mutual potential to each party. In a statement released last Wednesday, Microsoft called HP "the most comprehensive partner we have," a great accomplishment since the software giant has over 640,000 partners ... (view more)

That's gotta hurt! As if being portrayed as a rigid dork in Mac commercials isn't enough, Microsoft took another blow when an email sent in January 2004 was made public at an antitrust trial. The email, which was sent from Windows Development Chief ... James Allchin to CEO Steve Ballmer and co-founder Bill Gates, said "I would buy a Mac if I didn't work for Microsoft." Ouch! (Source: macnn.com ) Allchin published an entry on a Microsoft blog on Monday which stated that he only said he wanted a Mac "for effect." His intention was to convey the severity of Microsoft's problems and push for change. ... (view more)

Windows Vista certainly isn't cheap. By most accounts, those users who already own Windows XP will have to pay at least $200 to upgrade their systems to the new OS. That's one less big gift under the tree this Christmas, and reason enough to grumble ... as you approach the cashier with Vista in your hands. Sadly enough, that might not be your only expense. Now it appears as though Microsoft's new operating system will require a substantially powerful graphics card, which might mean yet another necessary update for users interested in the software. If you want to run Windows Vista at its peak ... (view more)

With the world going digital, new online products and services are constantly being introduced. Earlier this month, Microsoft expanded their online offerings by launching a beta version of "Live Search Books." With the consortium of blogs and ... message boards on the Internet, sometimes legitimate information is not so easy to find online. A Microsoft spokesperson said that Live Search Books is helping users sort through information by making trusted sources -- that is, published books -- available online: "Live Search Books is advancing the way people search online by digitizing and indexing ... (view more)

"i" has been an important letter for Apple. The company literally resurrected itself when it introduced the iPod and iTunes to the world, and the quickly became the leader in digital music and digital music players. Yet, one half of the "i" team ... does not seem to be pulling its weight. A new study by Forrester Group revealed that iTunes sales have fallen by 65 percent this year. (Source: theinquirer.net ) The three month study said that 58% of the decrease was due to a fall in the number of transactions, while the remaining 17% was attributed to average size per purchase. (Source: reuters.com ... (view more)