Corporate and legal

Lessons from Demo on surviving recession

PALM DESERT, Calif.--How does one measure the effects of economic meltdown?

At Demo 09 here, there are two ways, one that's obvious, yet hard to see, and another that is both obvious and visceral.

While Demo for years has featured about 65 to 70 companies, this time around there's just 39. Everybody knows that, but it's hard to actually see it. The main ballroom where Demo presentations are held is packed, with every seat at every table full. But that's an illusion: the wall at the back of the room has been pulled in dramatically … Read more

Dell shares dip, after peculiar 8.5 percent rise

Updated at 7:45 a.m. PST with new stock prices and information on Dell's two largest investors.

Dell's stock acted like a bit of a contrarian against the broader markets for a second day Wednesday, after a peculiar rise of 8.5 percent the previous day on no news.

Dell closed at $9.15 a share on Tuesday, up 72 cents from the previous day, while the broader markets posted losses. Dell's share performance was rather peculiar, given that the company had issued no significant financial news and that the rumor mill was relatively quiet.

Investors, … Read more

RIM records employee calls to protect IP

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion acknowledged Tuesday that it records all employee conversations in the interest of maintaining control over intellectual property.

RIM Chief Information Officer Robin Bienfait, during an interview with ZDNet.com.au in Sydney, said that all actions carried out on RIM's internal network were logged, which meant that people who wanted to carry out private conversations might want to bring in personal devices.

"Everything I have that's on RIM is recorded and retained as RIM. So if they want to have a chat with somebody and it's not a chat that's … Read more

Demo 09: Where start-ups show off

Editor's note: For CNET News' latest coverage of DemoFall 2009, please click here.

roundup The high-tech confab prides itself on putting cutting-edge companies in front of A-list venture capitalists and journalists. Here's this year's crop. (See live video feed at bottom of page.)

Featured stories Lessons from Demo on surviving recession The smaller size of Demo 09 doesn't mean the tech industry is going out of business. Rather, it suggests what companies need to do to get funding. (Posted in Digital Media by Daniel Terdiman) March 4, 2009 9 AM PST The best and worst of Demo 09 … Read more

Smartphone sales pick up steam in U.S.

Nearly a quarter of all handsets sold in the U.S. during the fourth quarter were smartphones, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm.

A new study released on Tuesday indicates that about 23 percent of all handset sales in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2008 were smartphones. This was up from 12 percent of all handset sales in the fourth quarter of 2007.

But as sales soared, prices for these advanced phones dropped. In fact, the average price of a smartphone during the quarter dropped by 23 percent from $216 in the fourth quarter … Read more

Carly Fiorina treated for breast cancer

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has been diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery Monday at Stanford Hospital, according to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle.

Fiorina, a Republican largely expected to run for a U.S. Senate seat for California, was diagnosed February 20, one day before addressing a state GOP convention in Sacramento, according to the report.

"She's doing great...she only just learned about this," the paper quoted Deborah Bowker, her chief of staff, as saying in an e-mail. She said Fiorina's prognosis for full recovering and that she is expected to … Read more

Psion says Intel 'unjustly enriched' by Netbook

Psion Teklogix has answered Intel's claims regarding the chipmaker's right to use the term "Netbook." The Canadian company claims that Intel is being "unjustly enriched" by unauthorized use of the trademark.

Last week, Intel filed for a declaratory judgment against Psion Teklogix, claiming that the the term "netbook" is a "widely used generic term that describes a class of affordable computing devices, much like the term 'notebook' or 'ultra-mobile PC,'" Intel said in a statement last week.

Not surprisingly, Psion had a firm response: "Intel has acted willfully and … Read more

AMD appoints new chairman, closes plant deal

Advanced Micro Devices has appointed a new chairman to replace former CEO and Chairman Hector Ruiz, as it closes the deal to spin off its manufacturing operations.

AMD on Monday announced that Bruce Claflin has been appointed chairman of its board of directors. Claflin replaces Ruiz, who retired from AMD's board. Ruiz is now chairman of the board of The Foundry Company--the chip manufacturing concern that was spun off officially on Monday.

Claflin--who has been a member of AMD's board of directors since August 2003--has held senior positions with IBM and Digital Equipment and most recently was CEO … Read more

Microsoft enthusiasts atwitter at MVP summit

As it has in years past, Microsoft is meeting this week with some of its hardcore enthusiasts--the Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) that serve in many ways as unpaid ambassadors for the company's products.

This year, though, the gathering with tech enthusiasts is completely closed to reporters and is also covered by nondisclosure agreements (NDA). However, that hasn't stopped the chatter, particularly because of the heavy use of Twitter to discuss the event. (For the latest discussion, simply click on this link.)

There are dozens of postings every few minutes, ranging from talk about meals and the weather to … Read more