Tim Gray

Apple plans to make the next versions of its iTunes and iPod software support and organize podcasts. The updated versions will allow users of Apple’s music management program and integrated online music store to locate and download podcasts, which are MP3 files that are posted on weblogs to be downloaded and played on mobile hardware […]

Stock analysts were sharpening their pencils this week after word came that Time Warner would consider spinning-off America Online in the future to help finance new acquisitions. The media conglomerate’s CEO Richard Parsons told investors Friday at its annual shareholders’ meeting in New York City that the company had discussed options of setting an initial […]

The European Union has given Microsoft until the end of the month to deliver satisfactory proposals to settle its case or else face hefty sanctions. The European Union Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes informed Microsoft that her office expects Redmond to confirm arrangements for its full compliance with remedies imposed by the European Commission no […]

Sybase today announced the general availability of the Risk Analytics Platform, a management solution designed to support trading applications in capital markets. A provider of enterprise infrastructure and mobile software, the Dublin Calif.-based company expects the platform to compete head-to-head with bigger players like Oracle and IBM . Its implementation allows customers to harness real-time […]

Netscape was forced to publish a security update for its Netscape 8 browser only hours after its official launch. The latest version, which boasts being more secure than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with the functionality of Mozilla’s Firefox, was shipped with serious security bugs, the company admitted Friday. Officials blamed the snafu on a security vendor […]

Search engine Ask Jeeves announced Friday it has purchased Excite Italia, the operator of Excite Europe, from Tiscali. The company, which agreed to be acquired by Barry Dillers’s IAC/InterActivCorp back in March for 2006 $1.85 billion in stock, says the acquisition of Excite Europe will extend Ask Jeeves’ ownership of the Excite brand beyond the […]

Plunking down a bid on your favorite tchotchke is about to get a whole lot easier, or at least more comfortable, as Time Warner Cable moves the bidding from the PC to the TV. Time Warner Cable struck a deal with BIAP, a privately owned company based in Plano, Texas, to let customers make Internet […]

Retail giant Wal-Mart is calling it a wrap on its online DVD rental business, opting instead to concentrate on DVD sales while attempting to move existing customers to new partner Netflix . The onetime online movie rental rivals have come to terms on a deal in which Wal-Mart will drop its rental business in exchange […]

The integration of instant messaging services with just about everything on the Internet continued today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. America Online announced it will sync its AIM client interface with a popular gaming format from sister company Turner Broadcasting. The three year deal, which will add the AOL instant messaging and […]

Internet portal Yahoo says it will scrap the walkie-talkie style technology used on its PC-to-PC voice communications in favor of a new beta version that boasts a steady connection. The service, available on Yahoo Messenger, offers improved PC-to-PC voice connections, interactive photo sharing, and improved integration with other Yahoo properties, as well as several more […]

The New York Times Co. said it will start charging for some of its online content beginning in September, moving away from the free service model that has been almost universal in the newspaper trade. The media company says it will offer a package of online content known as TimesSelect for $49.95 a year. It […]

A wave of far-right German, political-party propaganda choked millions of e-mail inboxes around the world over the weekend, delivering racist messages along with a dirty payload. The Sober.q virus was first spotted Sunday as it quickly crossed the globe, blasting e-mail addresses found on infected PCs. Most of the political rhetoric contained links to news […]