Technology News

IBM has created a free semantic e-mail search engine aimed at users of the company's Lotus Notes software and Microsoft Outlook.

PITTSBURGH - Jennifer Gooch's mission was to create a simple Web site where people could go to find their lost gloves. Even if no happy reunions ever took place, she was just content to spread a little goodwill.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Smashing Pumpkins will release a four-song acoustic EP, "American Gothic," on January 2 exclusively via iTunes in the United States.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tough-guy actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris sued publisher Penguin on Friday over a book he claims unfairly exploits his famous name, based on a satirical Internet list of "mythical facts" about him.

Google deal prompts Federal Trade Commission to recently propose a set of privacy principles for online behavioral advertising.

WHAT IS HAPPENING: Cell-phone carriers including AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Alltel will be turning off their analog networks starting Feb. 19, 2008.

HELSINKI/LONDON (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and wireless technology firm InterDigital each declared victory in a court decision on Friday over patents related to the UMTS third-generation (3G) mobile phone standard.

Carriers will start shutting down the country's oldest cellular network, for analog devices, in February. How to know if you will be affected:

Palm is getting squeezed by RIM's BlackBerry device for business users and by Apple's iPhone for consumers, one analyst says.

NXP says GloNav's technology will let it offer a broader connectivity suite to the mobile phone market.

Whatever other accolades the Nintendo Wii might receive, it has already grabbed the title of this season's Scarcest Electronic Gift. Retailers and desperate parents alike tell similar tales of Wiis being sold so quickly that sightings of new shipments are big news.

The Remote Gambling Association charges that the United States goes after European online gambling companies while ignoring U.S. online gaming operators.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - After being released from his Sony Music deal earlier this year, rapper DMX has signed a deal with the music division of Canadian online gaming company Bodog Entertainment.

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Glance at a recent computer game sales chart and you'll see that nestled between the typical combat and science fiction titles lies something a little different.

The two firms had an agreement a year ago, but the deal fell apart when problems surfaced with ECHO's service to online gamers.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - After being released from his Sony Music deal earlier this year, rapper DMX has signed a deal with the music division of Canadian online gaming company Bodog Entertainment.

BEIJING - An industry group says it has won a new round in a court battle with Yahoo Inc.'s China arm, which is accused of helping online music pirates.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Beijing court has upheld a ruling that Yahoo China violates Chinese law by facilitating mass copyright infringement through music downloads, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said.

The mobile version of the video game lets cell phone users jam to music, much like they do on the console game.

LOS ANGELES - A number of video sites now offer higher-resolution video sharing with slightly longer load times. The difference, while not striking, is certainly better and worth checking out. How do they stack up?

Trend Micro has convinced the trade commission to look into whether competitors are infringing on its patents.

San Francisco - The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate claims by Trend Micro of competitors' patent infringement involving antivirus products.

Analysis of the Pushdo Trojan provides a glimpse of the tracking and hiding techniques used by online criminals.

People who author malware are part of a thriving underground economy that's expected to grow in 2008, according to computer security researchers.

Grisoft seeks info on companies that promoted counterfeit AVG antivirus products through sponsored text ads.

Palm is getting squeezed by RIM's BlackBerry device for business users and by Apple's iPhone for consumers, one analyst says.

Mozilla rolled out its second beta release of Firefox 3 in less than a month with the goal of receiving feedback from developers on the browser's core functionality. The Beta 2 release now available for download features builds for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux in over 25 different languages.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc and a popular Web site that published company secrets about the maker of the Mac computer, the iPhone and the iPod have reached a settlement that calls for the site to shut down.

Mac users are also much more likely to listen to music files on their computers, according to a report from the NPD Group.

Also showing declines are plasma TVs and point-and-shoot digital cameras, said a market research firm.

As part of a European antitrust settlement, Microsoft will supply Windows protocol documentation to developers of the open-source software.

Microsoft has entered into a licensing agreement with the nonprofit Protocol Freedom Information Foundation (PFIF) under which the software giant will be providing developers working on the Samba file and printing system with the information they need to ensure interoperability between their open-source software and Windows.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Shares of Red Hat Inc. jumped 10 percent Friday, one day after the open source software distributor announced a rise in third-quarter earnings and the appointment of a new chief executive.

Jim Whitehurst, former chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines, has been named by the board to replace Matthew Szulik as president and CEO.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Red Hat Inc. tapped former Delta Air Lines Inc. executive James Whitehurst to lead the company into a new phase of growth, as the open source provider said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose 12 percent.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Tired of phony online friends? Make enemies instead. Riding on the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, new Web sites are poking fun at online friendships that connect you to the people you like, by turning attention to the ones you don't.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion project to build the world's largest computer database of biometrics to give the government more ways to identify people at home and abroad, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tough-guy actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris sued publisher Penguin on Friday over a book he claims unfairly exploits his famous name, based on a satirical Internet list of "mythical facts" about him.

Carriers will start shutting down the country's oldest cellular network, for analog devices, in February. How to know if you will be affected:

NEW YORK - When Adele Rothman bought her 16-year-old son a car in 2003, she made sure to pick one that had OnStar, the onboard communications and safety system.