TMCnet News
AP Technology NewsBrief at 8:07 a.m. EST(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sprint Nextel slows subscriber loss in 4th quarterNEW YORK (AP) _ Sprint Nextel Corp.'s subscriber losses slowed in the fourth quarter, an encouraging sign for a wireless carrier that has lost millions of customers over the past few years. Sprint lost a net 148,000 subscribers in the last three months of 2009, far fewer than the 545,000 who fled in the third quarter, the carrier said Wednesday. Google's e-mail gets social in Facebook face-offSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Google Inc. opened a new social hub in its e-mail service on Tuesday, leaving little doubt that the Internet search leader is girding for a face-off with Facebook. The new Gmail channel, called Google Buzz, includes many of the features that have turned Facebook into the Web's top spot for fraternizing with friends and family. RealNetworks, MTV to spin off RhapsodyNEW YORK (AP) _ RealNetworks Inc. and MTV Networks said Tuesday that they plan to spin off Rhapsody America LLC, their digital music service joint venture, into an independent company. RealNetworks currently holds a 51 percent stake in Rhapsody, with MTV parent Viacom International Inc. holding the rest. After the spinoff, neither will have operating control over the venture, and both will own an equal minority stake in Rhapsody. AOL integrates Facebook chat with AIMSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ As part of an ongoing effort to improve its user experience, Internet company AOL Inc. is letting users of its AIM instant-messaging service chat with friends on Facebook. AOL said Wednesday that a new version of AIM connects with the instant-messaging function on Facebook's Web site, letting AIM users communicate with friends who are logged on to the social network and available to chat. PayPal's India transaction block could last monthsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Online payments service PayPal says its suspension of certain transactions in India could last months. In a post on PayPal's blog Tuesday, spokesman Anuj Nayar wrote that the company will keep blocking personal payments to and from India as it works out questions that Indian regulators have posed. The payments were initially suspended Jan. 28, after regulators questioned whether PayPal payments should be regulated like wire transfers of cash. Micron to buy Numonyx in $1.3 billion stock dealBOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Micron Technology says it plans to buy fellow memory chip maker Numonyx in an all-stock transaction the companies value at $1.27 billion. Micron plans to issue 140 million shares to Numonyx shareholders, Francisco Partners and chip makers Intel Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV. Numonyx was created by the three companies in 2008. Warner CEO sees e-book `fracas' as helping musicLOS ANGELES (AP) _ The head of Warner Music Group expressed hope on Tuesday that the recent "fracas" over the price of e-books would help give content creators such as his company more pricing power over device makers. CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. made the comments as the No. 3 recording company reported a net loss for its fiscal first quarter, as a slight uptick in digital revenue failed to make up for falling CD sales. Online ad improvement seen in IAC's 4Q lossSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Internet company IAC/InterActiveCorp lost $1 billion in the fourth quarter because it wrote down the value of its search business, but the results beat expectations and offered the latest indication that the online advertising market is improving. IAC shares rose 2 percent in afternoon trading. Electronic Arts shares dive on weak outlookNEW YORK (AP) _ A disappointing outlook from Electronic Arts Inc. sent shares of the video game publisher sharply lower Monday, a sign that significant cost-cuts and layoffs have not ended the company's slump. The company, whose games include the popular "Madden" series and "Mass Effect 2," said Monday it narrowed its net loss in the last quarter even as game sales declined. It blamed the revenue falloff on having fewer titles than it did in the 2008 holiday period. EA also cited weak sales in Europe, which accounts for about a third of its revenue. Security chip that does encryption in PCs hackedSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Deep inside millions of computers is a digital Fort Knox, a special chip with the locks to highly guarded secrets, including classified government reports and confidential business plans. Now a former U.S. Army computer-security specialist has devised a way to break those locks. The attack can force heavily secured computers to spill documents that likely were presumed to be safe. This discovery shows one way that spies and other richly financed attackers can acquire military and trade secrets, and comes as worries about state-sponsored computer espionage intensify, underscored by recent hacking attacks on Google Inc. (c) 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |