China may pose hurdle to Microsoft's bid for Yahoo
A coming anti-monopoly law could put China into the ring with the European Union and the United States and pose an unexpected hurdle for any Microsoft-Yahoo deal.

Newspapers in Slovakia protest media legislation
The six main Slovak dailies left their front pages empty Thursday except for a list of "seven sins" in the legislation.

Comcast agrees with BitTorrent to modify disputed network practices
The U.S. cable operator said it would change the way it managed its network and cooperate with critics who said it had interfered with Internet file-sharing services like BitTorrent.

Origami p***s may blaze path for new spacecraft
Japanese scientists and origami masters hope to launch a paper airp*** from space and learn from its trip back to Earth.

Spy drones in demand by U.S. police departments, but approval pending
The Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge flying drones to beef up their fight against crime.

A green parade on Madison Avenue
Environmental themes are enjoying a boom and are changing how marketers and agencies talk to consumers.

Slump even affects Google
Google saw slower growth in the number of clicks on its text advertisements in the first two months of the year, according to a research firm, adding to concern that a sputtering economy is hurting its sales.

YouTube tells makers and marketers when and where videos are being watched
YouTube Insight provides a detailed view of a video's popularity, both over time and geographically, broken down by U.S. state or country by country.

Motorola to split into 2 companies
The company has been losing market share to rivals and come under pressure from the activist investor Carl Icahn.
- Activist investor sues Motorola

Oracle's profit rises, but shares fall
The business software company reported a 30 percent rise in quarterly profit, but a lower-than-expected increase in new software licenses caused shares to fall in after-hours trading.

Airborne cellphone use is closer on U.K.- registered p***s
Air passengers could soon be able to use their cellphones to make calls and send text messages, Ofcom said Wednesday.

Pssst - Want an unlocked phone?
Wireless carriers often offer customers cheap or free phones in exchange for multi-year contracts, but then the phones are technologically "locked" - the subscriber cannot cancel the contract and sign up for service with another company.

Laptop batteries in short supply, Dell says
Dell, the world's second-largest maker of personal computers after Hewlett-Packard, said it was working with suppliers in an effort to limit price increases.

Comcast, Time Warner Cable seen in talks to finance a U.S. WiMax broadband network
Comcast and Time Warner Cable are discussing a plan to finance a new wireless Internet venture that would be run by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A Facebook for the Little League set
WePlay.com, expected to start in April, will cater to a vast audience: youth athletes, parents and coaches.

Training meets philanthropy at IBM
Projects hatched by IBM's corporate citizenship group and being coordinated through nonprofit organizations, have all the trappings of corporate philanthropy. But that is not why they were created, or how they are being used.

Can a minivan find room to roll on Oscars' red carpet?
Integrating a brand or product into the plots of movies, TV shows and video games is intended to thwart the increasing ability of consumers to ignore advertising.

Syria tightens controls on Internet users
The Syrian government is tightening its citizens' use of the Internet - jailing writers and bloggers and blocking sites deemed harmful to state security.

Yahoo joins Google's open-source alliance
The alliance will try to make it easier for programmers to write software for social networks.
- Yahoo and MySpace join with Google

Taiwan PC maker says battery shortage may stall shipments
Asustek Computer, the No.2 PC maker in Taiwan, said Tuesday that a global shortage of batteries for computers could affect up to 40 percent of its second-quarter shipments.

Altimo of Russia steps up campaign against Telenor of Norway
Altimo said its subsidiary had filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Telenor for delaying Vimpelcom's entry to the Ukrainian market.

Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing rise on talks of sale
Negotiations to sell a significant stake to an undisclosed strategic investor are at an advanced stage, the chip maker said.

Justice dept. approves XM merger with Sirius
The Justice Department said the buyout of XM Satellite Radio by Sirius would not hurt competition or consumers.
- U.S. Justice Department approves Sirius's purchase of XM Satellite Radio

Social Web sites struggle to find the path to profit
The sites and companies that make applications for them push to harvest more personal information posted online, then sell it to advertisers. But the search for the best way to do so is still on.

Facebook closes security hole on photos
Strangers could briefly look at personal pictures before Facebook tightened security.

STMicroelectronics introduces flu detection laboratory on a chip
The top European semiconductor maker, STMicroelectronics, presented a portable chip Monday to detect influenza viruses, including bird flu, in humans.

With TV strike over, U.S. networks accentuate the positive
Advertising based on the long-awaited return of scripted programs to television omits any mention of the three-month writers' strike.

Icahn steps up pressure on Motorola
Carl Icahn, who is engaged in a proxy battle with Motorola, is suing the company to force it to hand over documents related to its money-losing mobile devices business.

Wall Street Journal's Marketplace getting a makeover
The Wall Street Journal's transition to more breaking news and shorter articles will include reshaping the paper's second section.

British media apologize to parents of missing McCann girl
Newspapers admitted Wednesday that much coverage of the case of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday during a family vacation in Portugal last May, was completely wrong, including accusations that her parents had killed her.