David Needle

The millions of users of Yahoo Mail’s “Classic” edition will get some of the features that made it into the Web portal’s more advanced free e-mail service more than a year ago. This week, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced it has begun rolling out integrated instant messaging (IM) and SMS text messaging features to Mail Classic […]

After only eight days at the helm of Yahoo, new CEO Carol Bartz showed her no-nonsense style by addressing two controversial issues right away in a conference call with analysts: “Did I come to Yahoo to sell it? No. I see a tremendous collection of assets that I see will help make us stronger,” she […]

Google has just announced it’s making an offline version of its Gmail e-mail service available today. The new feature will be initially available to users of its Googles Apps online suite of productivity applications, which includes Gmail. Over the next few weeks, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) said it will make the feature available to consumers and […]

In a down economy, netbook vendors have something to cheer. Sales are ramping up for these lightweight portable computers. Today market analysis firm ABI Research issued a report forecasting that worldwide shipments of netbooks will reach nearly 35 million this year. And this is no one hit wonder in ABI’s view. The company projects netbook […]

Hospitals in Texas that used computers to keep track of patient records and manage care had lower rates of deaths, complications and costs, U.S. researchers said this week, offering a strong argument for hospitals to go “paperless.” They said patients treated in hospitals that ranked highest in use of health information technology to manage patient […]

Companies looking to establish a social networking presence might want to start small by launching a Facebook page, a Wiki or a few executive blogs. Bigger firms with enough resources, might even set up a committee to research and deploy something on a grander scale such as a full-fledged company-branded social network using tools available […]

That oldest of questions — “Anything good on TV?” — may soon get a new answer: Music. A new generation of Internet-connected TV sets are emerging as potentially useful tools for the recording industry in its ongoing quest to extend the reach of digital music into living rooms. Judging from the buzz that connected TVs […]

It’s not Burning Tires 3D, Crazy Tanks or any of the other silliness that makes the iPhone fun to use. Its may not even have the immediate practicality of say, Soonr, which automatically backs up your Mac or PC files to the cloud for easy access from your iPhone. But somewhere, someday, Tony Bove thinks […]

A U.S. senator has asked Microsoft about its plans to slash up to 5,000 jobs, urging the world’s biggest software company to preserve the jobs of Americans ahead of foreigners working on visas. “I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its layoff […]

Before 1984 the only time I enjoyed seeing a hammer thrown was by The Mighty Thor in Marvel comics. But early that year I had a new love, the sexy, heroine in [Apple’s ‘1984’ commercial ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8)for its brand spanking new Macintosh. The commercial’s only paid national broadcast of note was January 22 during the Superbowl, […]

A weak forecast from online auctioneer eBay could spell trouble for retail rival Amazon.com when it reports earnings next week, even though analysts still peg Amazon as the holiday season’s big winner. EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) gave a first-quarter earnings forecast on Wednesday that fell far short of Wall Street expectations, raising concerns that the recession […]

IBM has unveiled a consulting tool that allows companies to reduce both costs and carbon dioxide emissions in their supply chains. The offering — which IBM (NYSE: IBM) calls the Supply Chain Network Optimization Workbench, or SNOW — comes as companies are under pressure to both slash expenses amid a slumping global economy and reduce […]