Ed Sutherland

AT&T has announced it will begin evaluating a trio of options to bring broadband to rural customers. The plan makes broadband and video “accessible to many customers who have had limited access to broadband … until now,” according to CEO Edward Whitacre. AT&T later this month will roll out satellite as a broadband option, Whitacre […]

Microsoft released three patches — two deemed critical — covering vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange, Flash and Windows. Topping the list of security bulletins released as part of the software giant’s monthly “patch Tuesday” was a vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange Server. The MS06-019 patch focuses on what Amol Sarwate, vulnerability manager for managed security firm Qualys, […]

First came free e-mail addresses, and then came free IM accounts. Later this month, Dulles, Va.-based AOL plans to offer free phone numbers through its instant messenger (AIM). AIM Phoneline brings Internet phone calling to the more than 40 million AOL instant messenger users. Slated to begin May 16 in 50 U.S. markets, the service […]

If you’re looking for a new Lexus or soft-drink, don’t turn on the TV. Go gaming. Ads delivered by Microsoft’s newest acquisition, Massive Inc., will soon start appearing within games played with Xbox LiveR, MSN Games and other Microsoft online services. Integrating two areas receiving greater attention from the software giant, Microsoft’s purchase of New […]

Microsoft plans next week to release three patches aimed at three software vulnerabilities in Windows and the software giant’s Exchange e-mail server. The announcement comes as Microsoft tries to rebound from April’s patch release, where three out of five security bulletins created further user problems. Although Thursday’s advance notification was short on details, the Exchange […]

Are iPods soon to be history? Cell phones boasting hard drives may muscle-out standalone MP3 players, according to a new study. Ten years ago, few would have envisioned cell phones with hard disk storage. Now, as wireless handsets take on music, video and more, phones are appearing with hard drives boasting up to 8GB capacity. […]

UPDATED: Research in Motion won’t be taking its latest legal troubles sitting down. Responding to a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Visto this week, RIM is asking a Dallas, Texas, court to rule the claim invalid. The BlackBerry maker filed a May 1 counter-suit declaring three Visto patents “are not infringed by RIM and are invalid,” […]

With a nod to the popularity of podcasts and social-networking, VoIP darling Skype today unveiled Skypecasts, a service allowing up to 100 users to hold real-time moderated calls on topics. Skypecasts expand on its existing un-moderated conference calling feature limited to 10 participants. The new service introduces a group moderator able to control the flow […]

UPDATED: Research In Motion (RIM), which escaped the threat of a shutdown in March, is in the legal cross-hairs again. This time, competitor Visto is asking a U.S. District Court to shut down stateside sales of the company’s BlackBerry. In a lawsuit filed in the Marshall Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern […]

Level 3 Communications’ buying spree of local fiber networks continues with a few twists. The company paid $1.2 billion in cash and stock for TelCove, marking the communication wholesaler’s entry into the profitable enterprise market. The Colorado-based Level 3 also announced a new business unit to manage the four local companies purchased over the past […]

You win some, you lose some. Finnish cell phone giant Nokia agreed to pay U.S.-based InterDigital Commmunications $253 million to quash a long-running patent dispute over 2G handsets. In exchange for Nokia’s payment and agreement to end appeals before U.S. and UK courts of a 2005 ruling, InterDigital will grant Nokia a paid-up license for […]

The European Commission antitrust ruling against Microsoft was “the largest encroachment of intellectual property in European” competition history. So said the software giant midway through its attempt to annul it. After spending the first two days testifying about bundling, attention turned today to how well Microsoft abided by another EC mandate: providing companies technical information […]