Business

Facebook has officially announced its initial public stock offering will go on sale at a price between $28 and $35 a share. At the high end of that range, the company would claim a market capitalization of $95 billion. Facebook is only selling a ... portion of its shares. That means the most it could receive in this initial public offering (IPO) would be $13.58 billion, which would make this the ninth-most lucrative stock issue in world history, behind major firms like General Motors and Visa. (Source: ft.com ) Facebook IPO To Claim Internet Record The $13.58 billion figure would destroy all ... (view more)

For the last four months, Yahoo chief executive officer (CEO) Scott Thompson has been trying desperately to get his failing company back on track. Now he faces the same task with his own career. Thompson is facing embarrassment, and even the ... possibility of having to resign his lofty position as it appears he may have padded his resume. According to reports, Thompson may have considerably exaggerated his education at Stonehill College, a small Catholic institution not far from Boston. Computer Science Degree Not Earned It now appears that Thompson, who legitimately received a bachelor of ... (view more)

There was a time when Microsoft's Bing search engine, launched in mid-2009, was one of the hottest pages on the world wide web. But Bing's popularity has cooled since the days of its high-profile release. Today, Microsoft is 'searching' for ways to ... draw web users away from Google search and toward Bing. As part of this effort, Microsoft has introduced a major overhaul of the ways Bing displays its search results on its main page. The new strategy aims to "de-clutter" Bing's search results by getting rid of what the Redmond-based firm characterized as 'unnecessary distractions.' (Source: cnet. ... (view more)

Motorola has won a court ruling that bans the distribution of most major Microsoft products in Germany. However, it's not yet clear if the landmark ban will actually be enforced. A German court granted Motorola an injunction covering distribution of ... Windows 7, Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, and the Xbox 360 video game console in that country. If the ban is ever enforced, it would prevent those software and hardware products from being sold in Germany -- presumably until the patent dispute between Microsoft and Motorola is finally settled. However, a U.S. court has issued a ruling ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has hired a high-profile lawyer to work on its antitrust investigation into Google's search activity. The hiring may signal FTC expectations the probe will result in a major court case. The FTC has its own in-house ... legal team, and rarely hires an outside lawyer for such work. It has reportedly happened just twice in the past decade. Ironically, one of the more memorable times the FTC hired outside legal help was in the late 1990s, when the agency took legal action against Microsoft over claims it exploited its dominance of the PC market. The new hire this ... (view more)

A recent report concerning Google's unauthorized collection of data from wireless networks has raised new questions about the company's behavior. Curiously, though, Google itself has released the report. Google had been accused of foul play after ... inadvertently collecting personal data from people's home WiFi networks. The problem stems from the company's vehicles which, busy taking photographs for its Street View maps system, also scanned for local networks. The networks were to be part of a database intended to aid Google's navigational offerings to consumers. A year-long investigation by ... (view more)

Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an Xbox-branded, cross-platform music streaming service along with its new Windows 8 operating system. Current expectations point to an unveiling of the new service at this year's E3 (Electronic ... Entertainment Expo) convention set for June, in Los Angeles. Microsoft is calling its new service 'Woodstock' and promises to offer its customers many more features than the music service's predecessor, Zune Music Pass. Rival Device Compatibility While 'Woodstock' will have an Xbox branding, it will not be limited to the video game console. Rather, the music ... (view more)

It's hard to imagine any tech company that has been more successful in the last decade than Apple Inc. With its iPhone, iPad, and iPod dominating three major markets, the sky seems to be the limit for the Cupertino, California-based giant. But some ... people "think different." According to one prominent analyst, Apple profits will soon plateau and begin a slow but steady decline. Absence of "Magical" Leader Steve Jobs Will Hurt Apple The report comes from Forrester Research chief executive officer (CEO) George Colony. In a recent blog post, he wrote that the loss of Steve ... (view more)

In a recent blog post, Google gives interested users a glimpse into some of the tools it uses to make sure ads for bogus products and services don't show up on its sites. The company is also trying to direct more attention toward genuine advertisers ... who have proven to be trustworthy and reliable. These revelations came after a company blog post was written by David Baker, who is in charge of the engineering side of Google's advertising business. Google: Three-Pronged Approach Highly Effective Baker's post explained that Google looks for signs of bad advertisements on three levels. (Source: ... (view more)

Microsoft is rumored to be working on a web version of Skype that users could access directly through their browsers without needing to download and install software. According to Liveside.net, a number of new Microsoft job postings have popped up ... in recent weeks asking for job applications from developers with experience building HTML5-based apps for a project called "Skype for Browsers". (Source: webmonkey.com ) Because of its affiliation with Facebook, Skype (which was acquired by Microsoft last year) is already accessible through a browser, technically speaking. The Facebook version of ... (view more)