News For Friday Jul 25, 2008 News For Friday Jul 25, 2008

Science & Technology Science & Technology

China says has more people surfing the Web than US - Added 3 hours ago

China's booming Internet population has surpassed the United States to become the world's biggest, with 253 million people online despite government controls on Web use, according to government data reported Friday. ...

Scientists expose mystery behind northern lights - Added 4 hours ago

Scientists have exposed some of the mystery behind the northern lights. On Thursday, NASA released findings that indicate magnetic explosions about one-third of the way to the moon cause the northern lights, or aurora...

Creators of Scrabble knockoff on Facebook sued - Added 6 hours ago

T-R-O-U-B-L-E could loom for a Scrabble knockoff that has become one of the most popular activities on Facebook. Hasbro Inc., the company that owns the word game's North American rights, sued the creators of the...

Microsoft defends search investments to analysts - Added 9 hours ago

Microsoft's CEO defended the software maker's decision to invest heavily in its unprofitable online business, but shed minimal light Thursday on specific steps it will take to challenge Google in the wake of the failed...

Major shareholder advisory firm backs Yahoo board - Added 13 hours ago

An influential shareholder advisory firm endorsed the re-election of Yahoo Inc.'s entire board Thursday, reducing the chances that the Internet company's directors will be ousted for spurning Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5...

Embarq provides more details on Web tracking test - Added 17 hours ago

Embarq Corp. has revealed more details about its exploration of a program that tracked Internet subscribers' Web-surfing habits for advertising purposes, telling Congress that it performed the test on 26,000 customers...

McClatchy 2Q profit drops on lower ad revenue - Added 18 hours ago

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co.'s second-quarter earnings tumbled 44 percent as ad revenue continued to shrink in its key markets. McClatchy, whose papers include the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee, said Thursday...

Amazon shares leap on strong quarterly report - Added 19 hours ago

Amazon.com Inc. shares leaped 13 percent Thursday after the Internet retailer showed that it doesn't seem to be bothered by the sputtering U.S. economy. On Wednesday, Amazon reported second-quarter earnings that more...

N.M. cavers chart unique `snowy' river of crystals - Added 22 hours ago

Hundreds of feet beneath Earth's surface, a few seasoned cave explorers venture where no human has set foot. Their headlamps illuminate mud-covered walls, gypsum crystals and mineral deposits. The real attraction,...

South Korea's Hynix to close US chip plant - Added 1 day ago

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, said Thursday it will close its only U.S. factory amid changes in production standards and steep price declines buffeting the industry. ...

Amazon shrugs off high gas prices, weak economy - Added 1 day ago

Amazon.com Inc. doesn't seem to be bothered by high gas prices or the sputtering U.S. economy. On Wednesday, the Internet retailer reported second-quarter earnings that more than doubled and easily topped analysts'...

Facebook to help some programmers, punish others - Added 1 day ago

Facebook Inc. is introducing more tools to help the software applications fueling the online hangout's popularity and is promising to intensify its efforts to weed out programs that violate its rules for protecting...

Nokia, Qualcomm settle long-running dispute - Added 1 day ago

The legal salvos between Nokia Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. stopped months ago, part of what officials at the wireless industry heavyweights described as a truce in a long-running battle that spanned three continents. Peace...

Sony opens up e-book Reader to other booksellers - Added 1 day ago

With the market for electronic books still relatively sleepy, Sony Corp. is trying a new tack: untethering the latest model of its e-book reading device from its own online bookstore. On Thursday, Sony will provide a...

Microsoft exec who led Yahoo buyout team to leave - Added 1 day ago

Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday said Kevin Johnson, the executive in charge of its Windows and Web operations and an instrumental player in the company's failed $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc., is leaving the company. ...

AT&T 2Q profit up 30 pct, matching Street's view - Added 1 day ago

AT&T Inc.'s second-quarter financial results Wednesday indicated that the weak economy is catching up to the nation's largest telecommunications company, but investors were largely satisfied with what they saw. ...

EMC 2Q profit jumps 13 pct, tops Wall Street views - Added 1 day ago

EMC Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit climbed 13 percent, topping Wall Street's forecasts, as the data storage specialist rang up record sales despite fears that economic uncertainty is tamping down...

Tech awards go to plane de-icing goo, headlights - Added 1 day ago

Camera flashcubes of the 1960s, high-definition TVs and the Nicoderm quit-smoking patch have at least one thing in common: Each found a place over the years on R&D Magazine's annual list of the 100 most...

Summary Box: Study sees online banking flaws - Added 1 day ago

INCREASING RISKS: A new study finds that online banking customers are more vulnerable to fraud when their banks' Web sites have design flaws that teach bad surfing habits. WIDESPREAD DANGERS: University of Michigan...

Netflix shuts movie financing arm to focus on core - Added 1 day ago

The movie-rental service Netflix Inc. is closing a small unit that finances independent movies, partly to avoid competing with Hollywood studios with which it partners for DVD and Internet distribution. The financial...

Yahoo CEO remains upbeat despite lackluster 2Q - Added 1 day ago

With Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover bid off the table and his company's stock price down 20 percent during his 13-month reign as Yahoo's CEO, Jerry Yang has a message for his exasperated shareholders: Things aren't...

Yahoo share gain short-lived after earnings - Added 1 day ago

Yahoo Inc. shares moved higher Wednesday but ultimately lost ground, a day after the company reported a drop in earnings and missed Wall Street's forecasts. Yahoo shares fell $1.01, 4.7 percent, to close at $20.39....

UN agency pushes global ID for emergency contacts - Added 1 day ago

In the English-speaking world, many cell phone users leave emergency contact information in the devices' address books under an entry labeled "ICE" _ for "in case of emergency." Now, the U.N. International...

AOL integrates widget tech to boost social-net ads - Added 1 day ago

Install a little photo program to show off pictures of your dog on Facebook, and you might find you're really spreading an ad. Time Warner Inc.'s AOL said Wednesday it was integrating technology from its newly acquired...

Amazon 2Q profit doubles, beats estimates - Added 1 day ago

Amazon.com Inc. says its second-quarter profit more than doubled and surpassed Wall Street's expectations. Sales were strong in several sections of Amazon's massive marketplace. The Seattle-based Web retailer earned...

Review: TextBuyIt fun, easy to use, but limited - Added 1 day ago

TextBuyIt, a recently launched shop-by-cell phone service from Amazon.com Inc., seemed like the ultimate comparison shopping tool _ perfect for an unabashed bargain hunter like myself. As it turns out, TextBuyIt is fun...

Google unveils reference tool after 7-month test - Added 1 day ago

Google Inc. is taking the wraps off an Internet encyclopedia designed to give people a chance to show off _ and profit from _ their expertise on any topic. The service, dubbed "knol" in reference to a unit of...

AT&T introduces global GPS service for phones - Added 1 day ago

Is it a long, long way to Tipperary? Don't know if you're on the path to Bath? AT&T Inc. aims to help, with a new phone service that truly puts the "global" in the Global Positioning System, or GPS. On Tuesday, it...

Tech awards go to plane de-icing goo, headlights - Added 1 day ago

Camera flashcubes of the 1960s, high-definition TVs and the Nicoderm quit-smoking patch have at least one thing in common: Each found a place over the years on R&D Magazine's annual list of the 100 most...

Study: Online banking possibly dicier than assumed - Added 1 day ago

Many banks are unwittingly training their online customers to take risks with their passwords and other sensitive account information, leaving them more vulnerable to fraud, new research shows. The result is that even...

Summary Box: AT&T profit up 30 pct - Added 1 day ago

KEY RESULTS: Investors expected the weak economy to finally catch up to AT&T, and it did, but not as badly as many feared. Profit was up 30 percent, even though more customers disconnected their landlines. ANALYST...

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard - Added 1 day ago

Sony, Samsung and other consumer-electronics heavyweights are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home. The...

ADC Telecom cuts full-year outlook on lower demand - Added 1 day ago

Communications equipment maker ADC Telecommunications Inc. has lowered earnings and sales expectations for the current fiscal year, citing lower demand. ADC now expects earnings of 18 cents to 26 cents per share for...

Researcher says Gulf dead zone bigger than ever - Added 2 days ago

A "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas-Louisiana coast this year is likely to be the biggest ever and last longer than ever before, with marine life affected for hundreds of miles, a scientist warned. "It's...

Gupta removed as InfoGROUP chairman - Added 2 days ago

Database provider InfoGROUP Inc. said Tuesday it has removed founder Vin Gupta as chairman, citing excessive corporate expenditures and expense reimbursements. The changes are the result of an internal investigation,...

IAC to take $170M in charges for spinoffs - Added 2 days ago

Internet conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp, preparing to spin off four of its operating units, said late Tuesday it plans to take about $170 million in charges because the housing crisis has diminished the value of its...

Broadcom 2nd-quarter profit nearly quadruples - Added 2 days ago

Broadcom Corp., which designs chips for networking equipment and cell phones, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit nearly quadrupled, beating Wall Street's expectations. But fears that the company's profit margins...

STMicro narrows 2Q loss - Added 2 days ago

STMicroelectronics NV narrowed its losses in the second quarter as the chip maker recorded lower charges related to the spinoff of its flash memory division and other restructuring efforts. The Geneva-based company's...

"Spam king" walks away from prison - Added 2 days ago

An inmate known as the "spam king" for sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails has walked away from a federal prison camp in Colorado. U.S. Marshals, the FBI and IRS are looking for 35-year-old Edward...

Court affirms online content law unconstitutional - Added 2 days ago

A federal appeals court Tuesday agreed with a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet. The...

Apple stock drops despite jump in Q3 profit - Added 2 days ago

Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period. Investors...

Summary box: Slydial helps avoid awkward exchanges - Added 2 days ago

CONVERSATION AVOIDANCE: Slydial is a free service offering a reprieve from awkward or hectic moments by letting people leave messages for other people without actually talking to them. MESSAGES ONLY: Slydial connects...

Breaking up not so hard to do with Slydial - Added 2 days ago

The old song had it right: Breaking up is hard to do. But a free new phone service called Slydial might make it easier to get through that and other awkward moments _ without actually having to talk to anyone. Slydial...

HP-EDS deal price at issue in court hearing - Added 2 days ago

A shareholder group is trying to pressure Electronic Data Systems Corp. into demanding more than the $13.2 billion that Hewlett-Packard Co. has offered for the technology services company. The group said Monday it...

Photronics CEO Luttati resigns - Added 2 days ago

Amid deep financial troubles, Photronics Inc. said CEO Michael Luttati has resigned as the company tries to reduce expenses and return to profitability. The company makes so-called photomasks that semiconductor...

Brocade deals for Foundry Networks in Cisco salvo - Added 3 days ago

Brocade Communications Systems Inc., dominant in an obscure corner of the data storage market, wants a piece of a bigger pie: Cisco Systems Inc.'s cash cow business of networking equipment that shuttles Internet...

Apple stock drops despite jump in Q3 profit - Added 3 days ago

Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period. "The...

Texas Instruments hit by weak 2Q wireless sales - Added 3 days ago

Shares of Texas Instruments Inc. took a beating after its second-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates. Weak sales of cell phone chips and a June slowdown in orders from distributors accounted for a 4 percent...

Conference panelists see car battery breakthrough - Added 3 days ago

The lithium-ion battery, already a fixture in personal electronic devices, soon will become the answer to high oil prices and environmental concerns as it bulks up to power rechargeable electric vehicles, government,...

American Airlines and Google settle lawsuit - Added 3 days ago

American Airlines has dropped its lawsuit against Google Inc. over its search engine directing some users to advertisements for the airline's competitors. American sued the search giant last year seeking unspecified...