Christopher Saunders

IBM has found a major new licensee for its 45-nanometer chipmaking technology — Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., the largest chip foundry in China. The deal will see Shanghai-based SMIC licensing IBM’s 45nm bulk metal–oxide–semiconductor technology. The two companies said likely products manufactured using the technology include 3G-compatible mobile devices, multimedia and graphics chips and PC […]

NBC Universal (NBCU) is adding more juice to its online video distribution strategy following its messy breakup with Apple’s iTunes. The latest deal: TV shows through storage player SanDisk’s Fanfare service. The deal marks the latest chapter in NBC’s efforts to cement a digital distribution strategy. Earlier this year, the media giant parted ways acrimoniously […]

JetBlue Airways next week plans to begin testing free wireless Internet access, e-mail and instant messaging for its transcontinental passengers, thanks to a partnership with Yahoo and Research in Motion, maker of the popular Blackberry device. The discount-fare air carrier’s service will first debut Dec. 11, with a morning flight from New York to San […]

While Dell may have reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales, things may not be so rosy for the PC giant, which lost further ground to rival HP in global PC shipments, according to an industry researcher. A study from iSuppli found that HP extended its lead over Dell in PC shipments during the quarter, moving 13.1 million […]

Verizon Wireless plans to open up its wireless network to outside devices, software and services, continuing a change of heart for the mobile carrier in advance of the upcoming 700MHz wireless spectrum auction next month. The company, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone, on Tuesday said it expects to begin allowing third-party devices […]

Embattled Internet infrastructure and security giant VeriSign will undertake a massive divestiture of most of its existing businesses to better concentrate on its “core” domain name and authentication areas. Speaking today at the company’s annual analyst meeting in New York, VeriSign executives said the company would rid itself of a long list of units, including […]

IBM’s bid to rival Microsoft with its own free productivity suite continues gaining traction, with Lotus Symphony today receiving the first of several planned updates — though the product remains far from mounting a real challenge to the market’s leader. The update to Symphony arrives just two months after its launch, although the product remains […]

It came down to the wire, but President Bush signed into law a temporary ban on Internet taxes that had been set to expire today. The law, “Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007,” will add seven years to the life of the moratorium, which prohibits state and local government from taxing Internet access […]

BEA Systems this morning fired back at would-be buyer Oracle, continuing the two companies’ war of words as the clock ticks down on the database giant’s acquisition offer. In the latest exchange, BEA reiterated its stance that Oracle’s $17 per-share offer is too low. “As we have stated repeatedly, your $17 per share proposal is […]

Verizon Wireless is throwing in the towel on legal challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s “open access” push in the upcoming wireless spectrum auction in January. The company had sought to overturn FCC rules that would require winners in the auction for one highly coveted portion of the 700MHz spectrum to offer open access to […]

California’s closely watched data-protection bill has hit a bump on its road to becoming state law, following Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto on Saturday. The bill, officially titled Assembly Bill 779, had previously passed both houses of the California Legislature by wide margins. But AB 779 had been sharply criticized by a number of Internet, telecom […]

LAS VEGAS — Seamless, omnipresent and interconnected. That’s how Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, speaking today here at the 2007 International CES trade show, sees the future of consumer electronics. And not surprisingly, he sees Microsoft and Windows Vista being at the heart of it all. In what might be his final keynote at CES (considering […]