Business

Next to Apple, Creative is one of the most recognizable names in the Mp3 player industry. As a result of a patent dispute between Apple and Creative over a music player interface, the two companies have settled with a number of conditions. Today, ... thanks to their competitor, Creative is $100 million richer. During August of 2005, Creative was awarded a patent for a unique digital music setup. According to a press release at the time, Creative described the patent as a tool that "enables selection of at least one track in a portable media player as a user sequentially navigates through a ... (view more)

Despite their competition with one another in the world of web browsers, Microsoft has reportedly invited the folks from Mozilla to its headquarters in Redmond, Washington for an information session designed to make Firefox (and other software ... products) more compatible with Vista. Like any operating system (OS), Vista will be successful or unsuccessful depending on the software it can run problem-free. Although Mozilla and Microsoft provide a fierce rivalry for one another with Firefox and Internet Explorer, respectively, the Redmond-based company clearly realizes that more people will ... (view more)

It's getting to be an expensive day for Apple. Hours after the announcement of its $100 million settlement with digital music competitor Creative, the Cupertino, California company has also made public that it will be recalling 1.8 million batteries ... once installed in its laptop line. The recall is on the same Sony batteries found in the 4.1 million Dell systems cited as faulty by that company earlier this month. For those consumers who own a Macintosh iBook G4 or Powerbook G4, the recall affects those models sold between October 2003 and August 2006, a time window larger than that outlined by ... (view more)

Yesterday we reported on America Online's recent termination of three employees, including its Chief Technology Officer, for leaked customer web-search information. Today, the trend appears to be continuing, with a group of Apple employees being ... fired over their illegal downloading of the company's unreleased Macintosh operating system (OS) "Leopord" -- the upgrade to the curren version, "Tiger" (10.4.x). Although certainly not as popularly anticipated as Microsoft's Vista, Apple's Leopard OS uses true 64-bit technology, while still maintaining 32-bit compatibility. One of Leopard's most ... (view more)

Is Google losing its cool? The company once considered to be the "it" IT organization -- complete with customizable employee cubicles -- is now acting like your mother. Despite its attempts to reach into pretty much every avenue an Internet-based ... company can, Google is surprising some followers by demanding that the public stop using its name in off-hand casual conversation. For example: Let's say you went to a baseball game. A batter recently called up from the minors steps to the plate, takes a good look at a high-outside pitch before pounding the ball into the opposite bleachers. "Wow," ... (view more)

It's been some time since yours truly or anyone at Infopackets reported on Microsoft security. After a typhoon of activity earlier this summer with the release of OneCare Live and then the controversial Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), the ... Redmond-based company has remained relatively hush on its plans for protecting itself and its paying customers. However, Microsoft again enters the spotlight with a recent announcement regarding former McAfee veteran, Vincent Gullotto. (Source: hackinthebox.org ) Once dubbed by CNET News to be the industry's "Virus Hunter", Gullotto has in recent years been ... (view more)

Google has introduced a new program for Google Talk users that tracks their music listening habits and posts the results online for others to view. Activating Google Music Trends To activate Google Music Trends, users must have a gmail account and ... Google Talk, the search giant's one-year-old instant messaging program. The option for Google to track your music likes is voluntary, and to participate you must check the Google Music Trends option in the Google Talk settings menu. How does it work? Google Music Trends tracks your music preferences by registering each song you listen to via Google ... (view more)

It looks like Nike isn't the only major American corporation facing charges of sweatshop labor. Apple, creator of the massively popular iPod, recently responded to allegations that many of its workers are slaving through excessive hours for just ... dollars a week. The accusations have led to Apple's own investigation into the reportedly affected factories. Most of Apple's iPods are made in China -- perhaps the world's new hot spot for cheap tech manufacturing. The country of some 1.3 billion people is also the major supplier of wares for department store giant Wal-Mart, and is steadily growing ... (view more)

Not so long ago, Infopackets reported on Dell's surprising announcement to step away from its long-time allegiance to Intel microprocessors by incorporating a line of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) chips. The move was largely regarded as a desperate ... kind of diversification, as both Dell and AMD sought to use each other after pitiful second quarter results. Today, Infopackets has learned that Dell has made its latest announcement on the AMD deal by reportedly ordering 2 million AMD PCs for its fall lineup. (Source: news.com ) According to a Bank of America financial analyst, Dell has requested ... (view more)

For those that have had to reinstall Windows XP or have purchased a new computer with it pre-installed, getting a good selection of software to start with is sometimes a time daunting task. Google has done something about it, however. The Google ... Staff Engineers went through dozens of software packages and built a collection of software tools, utilities, and toys that are automatically updated for you -- and it's called Google Pack. Google states that the versions on some software may lag behind a version on some software packages, but that is only because the engineering staff check out each ... (view more)