Cynthia Harvey

A new report from market research firm IDC indicates that worldwide sales of smart connected devices–a category that includes PCs, smartphones and tablets–is on the rise. Vendors shipped 267.3 million of these devices in the second quarter, a 27.4 percent year-over-year increase. The Economic Times observed, “On a revenue basis, the total was $131.5 billion […]

Based on comments EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia made to reporters, it looks likely that Microsoft could soon face action from the European regulatory body. The EU had been investigating Microsoft’s failure to offer a browser choice screen in Windows 7 service pack 1. Reuters reported that Almunia said, “The next step is to open […]

IT workers seeking employment might want to consider positions in the healthcare industry. A new survey from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) found that healthcare CIOs are having difficulty hiring enough qualified workers. “Officials say the survey highlights the urgent need for IT professionals in the industry, as more than two-thirds (67 […]

Google has released a new open source browser benchmark called RoboHornet that attempts to test browser performance with “real world” Web apps. Although Microsoft’s Internet Explorer performed very well on the test, Microsoft criticized the benchmark and then launched a competing version of its own. According to the RoboHornet page on GitHub, “The goal of […]

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and Samsung mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun plan to meet Thursday in Seoul, presumably to discuss strategy related to the ongoing patent battles with Apple. In August, Apple won a major verdict against Samsung, and it has recently asked the U.S. court to increase the damage award. Samsung’s popular Galaxy line […]

On Tuesday, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer held a company-wide employee meeting where she explained her vision for the firm in broad strokes. Although Yahoo hasn’t released details of the meeting to the press, insiders have leaked some information. All Things D’s Kara Swisher reported that Mayer’s objective is “To grow users and usage, as well […]

Wednesday at its BlackBerry Jam conference in California, RIM showed off its upcoming operating system, BlackBerry 10. While many industry watchers had written off the struggling smartphone maker, the event gave many BlackBerry fans reason for optimism. “RIM CEO Thorsten Heins took to the stage at the firm’s Jam Americas event in San Jose California […]

Facebook users in France and elsewhere are complaining that private messages have been publicly posted to their timelines. However, Facebook says the rumors are false. The story first appeared in French newspapers, including Metro. French Facebook users claimed that private messages dating back to 2007, 2008 and 2009 suddenly appeared on their timelines. Facebook quickly […]

Following riots which shut down production for a day, Foxconn’s factory in Taiyuan, China, is back online. Previously, Foxconn said that the riots began with a fight between two workers, but new reports suggest that an altercation between a harsh security guard and a line worker ignited the violence. According to Computerworld, “company workers interviewed […]

For the first time in ten years, Microsoft is holding a dedicated conference for its Exchange software this week in Orlando, Florida. The purpose of the event is to highlight new changes in Exchange 2013 (the server-based version) and Exchange in Office 365 for Enterprises (the cloud computing version). According to eWeek, “The 2012 MEC […]