Oracle has won at least one legal battle this week. SAP is paying the hardware giant $306 million in damages resulting from a copyright infringement suit.

Unlike the fight against Google, it looks like victory over SAP really is a payday. SAP's bill to Oracle continues to get bigger as Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley said in a statement that SAP will have to pay "a minimum of $426 million, including attorneys’ fees."

Oracle originally filed the lawsuit in 2007 against SAP, arguing that SAP downloaded and copied intellectual property. The case didn't go to … Read more

Windows 8 may have arrived early, though not necessarily legally.

Sites that follow beta versions of Windows, such as winbeta.org, as well as more mainstream sites are claiming that the final version of Windows 8 Enterprise has already leaked onto file-sharing sites.

"It looks like our first leak has occurred, as Windows 8 Enterprise N has appeared on torrenting sites and has been confirmed by several that it's the real deal," said winbeta.org in a post earlier today.

That site is also quick to offer a disclaimer about whether the final versions are real or … Read more

With Windows 8 general availability less than three months away, the race is on for Microsoft to get more applications into its the Windows Store that is part of the new Windows 8 operating system.

I haven't seen an official tally from Microsoft, but Jose Fajarado, a Silverlight and XAML developer who blogs at http://advertboy.wordpress.com, said at latest count he believes there to be about 450 or so Metro-style apps in the Store. (Metro-style apps are those developed from scratch using Microsoft's WinRT programming interfaces. Nothing but Metro-style apps will work on ARM-based Windows RT … Read more

HelloFax CEO Jospeh Walla wants to kill printers and scanners -- doing away with them one digital signature at a time.

HelloFax is known for letting people send and receive faxes, request signatures, and fill out forms -- all without a physical document. From that service, the company is launching HelloSign, which lets people sign documents digitally.

Through HelloSign, Walla hopes to accomplish what many companies have tried and failed to do: create a paperless office. It was a dream born in the dot-com era but never realized, as workers still cling to physical paper despite the financial and environmental … Read more

Google's Chrome can now serve up Web pages that show off Apple's Retina display in all its glory.

Until now, Google's popular browser did not support the display on Apple's newest MacBook Pro. The Retina screen has a 2880x1800 pixel density (220 pixels per inch). It is the highest pixel density, by far, of any laptop in its class.

Back in June, Google said: "Apple recently announced a new laptop with a Retina high-resolution screen, and we're committed to polishing Chrome until it shines on that machine."

And that's exactly what Google did yesterday. … Read more

Windows 7 and Windows XP are virtually neck and neck in their contest to be the dominant OS, according to Web analytics firm Net Applications.

For the month of July, Windows 7 grabbed 42.21 percent of all network traffic recorded by Net Applications. Windows XP eked out a slightly higher share, capturing 42.86 percent. As Windows 7 has been catching up to its 11-year-old counterpart, it will certainly reach the top spot sometime this month.

The latest results show a huge difference over July 2011 when Windows 7 held just 29.6 percent of Net Applications' mobile traffic, … Read more

Box, a cloud-storage company focused on the business market, has raised $125 million in its latest round of funding, the company posted on its blog today, giving Box a valuation of $1.33 billion.

The round was led by General Atlantic, with participation from Social+Capital Partnership, according to PrivCo, a research firm that specializes in private companies' financial data.

PrivCo said its data indicates that this round doubles Box's valuation in the last 9 months. It was valued at $650 million in October 2011.

"Box's latest round demonstrates that rapidly growing companies with strong revenue models … Read more

Samsung has widened its lead over Apple in mobile phone shipments in the second quarter, said IDC.

The global mobile phone market grew only 1 percent year over year in the second quarter of 2012, IDC said Thursday. Samsung and Apple shipped almost half of the world's smartphones.

Samsung and Apple have more than doubled their combined market share over the past two years, IDC said.

"Samsung employs a 'shotgun' strategy wherein many models are created that cover a wide range of market segments. Apple, in contrast, offers a small number of high-profile models," said Kevin Restivo, … Read more

CareZone, a startup for organizing and sharing personal information, announced a promotion that grants free access to those with a family member with epilepsy.

Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz, who previously led Sun Microsystems, said a partnership with the Epilepsy Foundation will match what CareZone has done with groups dealing with autism and Parkinson's disease.

(For a look at the executive and his views on Oracle, Apple, Amazon, and Intel, check CNET's accompanying Q&A with Schwartz.)

Schwartz hopes CareZone will catch on as a way to let people privately share information such as instructions for babysitters, emergency … Read more