Colin C. Haley

New home buyers are used to their builders asking about siding, flooring and countertops, but DSL, wireless and satellite TV? In an effort to lock in residential customers early, regional carrier BellSouth today announced that it has signed a partnership with Pulte Homes . Pulte salespeople will be trained to explain BellSouth’s local, long-distance and […]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Corporate leaders who ignore what bloggers are saying about them and their businesses could have serious consequences. IBM today introduced new software that monitors and analyzes blogs, wikis , news feeds, consumer review sites, newsgroups and other community-generated content to keep tabs on their image. The Public Image Monitoring Solution is a […]

Infrastructure software maker Autonomy will pay $507 million in cash for enterprise search specialist Verity , the companies announced today. “The combination creates a compelling company with over 16,000 customers,” Verity CEO Anthony J. Bettencourt said in a conference call with reporters and financial analysts. The deal between Cambridge, England-based Autonomy and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Verity […]

The founder of online auction giant eBay and his wife have given a $100 million gift to Tufts University’s endowment fund. Pierre and Pam Omidyar’s contribution to their alma mater is the largest in the school’s history and will be used to invest in “international microfinance initiatives.” Microfinance loans are made to help the poor […]

Network equipment maker Ciena today named a COO and realigned its R&D operation to improve productivity and profits. Arthur Smith has been promoted from senior vice president of global operations to the newly created COO job. He has been with Ciena since 1997 and has helped reduce product and manufacturing costs. The 39-year-old will oversee […]

United Online , which offers low-cost Internet service under the NetZero and Juno brands, has launched a Voice over IP service that works over dial-up and broadband connections. “We believe consumers should not have to have broadband Internet access in order to enjoy the price savings and feature content of Internet phone calling,” Mark Goldston, […]

UPDATED: Microsoft has purchased privately held media-streams.com to add Voice over IP capabilities to Office applications and servers. It’s Microsoft’s second recent acquisition in the space and comes as a slew of Internet, communications and software industry players buy or build VoIP offerings. Zurich, Switzerland-based media-streams.com said its e-phone product turns e-mail into a phone […]

Deutsche Telekom’s T-Systems division announced today that it is expanding its Voice over IP network to attract new business customers. The Frankfurt am Main, Germany-based network service unit initially plans to expand the network throughout Asia, Europe and North America, with other regions to follow. T-Systems will buy Sonus Networks’ GSX4000 Open Services Switches, which […]

IBM said that it has bought iPhrase Systems to add self-service search and navigation technology to its enterprise software lineup. Veterans from MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science and business leaders from Bain & Company founded iPhrase, which is privately held and venture-backed. Its software is used by companies in a number of different sectors, including […]

UPDATED: The nation’s largest cable companies are forming a joint venture with Sprint Nextel to better compete against Baby Bells and satellite companies. The deal between Comcast , Time Warner Cable, Cox and Advance/Newhouse Communications and the wireless carrier speaks to the fierce competition in the communications industry. The companies will “develop converged next-generation products […]

NEWTON, Mass. — What do Google search, AOL IM and Apple iTunes have in common? For one, they are teenager technology touchstones, used millions of times each day to find information, chat with friends and buy music. Perhaps less obvious, they are examples of software-as-a-service. For today’s young adults, buying shrink-wrapped software to load on […]

The nation’s largest cable and broadband company is expanding its customer base by acquisition. Comcast today said it will buy 70 percent of Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Communications (SusCom) that it doesn’t already own for $540 million cash. The Philadelphia-based company plans to offer high-speed data, video-on-demand and Voice over IP to SusCom’s 225,000 basic cable subscribers […]