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Flurry of IPOs signals IPO rebound to continue - 11/20/2009
The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about where they place their bets. This week

GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on - 11/20/2009
A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price. Comcast, the largest cable TV operator in the United States, wants NBC Universal largely for its lucrative cable channels, but it

B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders - 11/20/2009
Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas. The earliest that anyone who orders the $259 device on Friday _ or later _ will receive it is Jan. 4, 2010, the nation's largest bookseller said Friday. "While we increased production based on the hi

Suit over search-engine keywords tries new angle - 11/20/2009
A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's. The practice has occasionally prompted a rival to file legal challenges alleging trademark infringement. Now a Wisconsin law firm is trying a new angle _ accusing it

Microsoft offers about 24K training vouchers in NC - 11/20/2009
Microsoft Corp. is giving away nearly 24,000 vouchers to North Carolina residents who want to improve their computer skills so they can improve their lot in the work force. Gov. Beverly Perdue and the software giant announced Thursday in Charlotte the state's portion of Microsoft's Elevate America program. The company wants to offer t

EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27 - 11/20/2009
European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time "in order to have the opportunity to further develop its arguments in respons

Dell's profit, stock drop on weak quarterly report - 11/20/2009
Some of the computer industry's biggest players _ such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. _ have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits. Dell Inc. didn't join them Thursday. The company reported a 54 percent drop in net income and a 15 percent decline in revenue in its latest quarter,

Library group offers text search to 4.6M books - 11/20/2009
A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes. Last year, the University of Michigan and 24 other research libraries launched the HathiTrust Digital Library. The consortium said Thursday it's offering full-text search capability to all digit

Sony hopes online service will build brand loyalty - 11/20/2009
Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday. Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said the service, set for launch next year, highlights an advantage that Sony has over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co.

Obama answers questions from top Cuban blogger - 11/19/2009
President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways. In an unusual written response to Yoani Sanchez, who has gained inte

EBay completes sale of Skype for $2 billion - 11/19/2009
EBay has completed its sale of Skype for about $2 billion to an investor group that included the founders of the Internet phone service. Last week, the online auction site settled a legal skirmish with co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis which allowed the deal to move forward. The settlement gave Skype ownership of critical s

Glitch snarls air traffic in latest woes for FAA - 11/19/2009
For the second time in a little more than a year, a glitch at one of the two centers that handle flight plans for the nation's air travel system set off delays and cancellations for passengers around the country. The snarl Thursday _ traced to something as simple as a single circuit board _ prompted calls for more money and manpower a

On the Call: Dell's CEO Michael Dell - 11/19/2009
A key element of Dell Inc.'s turnaround strategy has been a vow not to cut prices as aggressively as rivals just to keep market share. The tactic has allowed competitors such as Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. to steal business from Dell, and this fall Dell lost its ranking as the world's No. 2 PC maker. Dell reported Thursday that

AOL offers buyouts to over a third of work force - 11/19/2009
The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs _ more than a third of its work force _ as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage. Major job cuts had been expected and seemed certain after Time Warner said last week that AOL would take $200 million in charges for severanc

Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays - 11/19/2009
Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster. Google set the late 2010 target date Thursday during its first preview of a much-anticipated operating system that eventually may mount a challenge to

Shareholders OK DirecTV spinoff but sale uncertain - 11/19/2009
Shareholders approved the formation of a new company out of DirecTV Group Inc. and some of Liberty Media Corp.'s entertainment businesses, as the chairman of both firms dampened speculation about a sale to a big phone company. Media mogul John Malone told The Associated Press that he could see the new DirecTV, the nation's largest sat

Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search - 11/19/2009
Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently. Beginning Thursday, Yahoo will mine the short messages posted on Twitter to find fresher information about hot topics. Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. had earlier announced plans to incorpora

Google adding automatic captions to YouTube videos - 11/19/2009
Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world. Google Inc. said Thursday it is introducing automatic, machine-generated captions for videos on its YouTube site. The new service, being launched this week, is intended to make online videos accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired. Hundreds of thousands of videos

Judge rejects AT&T's bid to pull Verizon ads - 11/19/2009
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by AT&T Inc. to force competitor Verizon Wireless to pull its "There's a Map for That" commercials. But the judge scheduled a Dec. 16 hearing to give the AT&T attorneys another chance to make their case. AT&T filed the lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta ea

John Malone: Comcast-NBC would have too much power - 11/19/2009
Media mogul John Malone said Thursday that Comcast Corp.'s plan to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal would give it too much market power and force competitors to consider similar acquisitions. Comcast Corp. _ the nation's largest cable TV provider _ is in talks to buy a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co