Computer World News

Cisco Systems and Google will give digital-video-recorder pioneer TiVo lump-sum payments totaling US$490 million as part of a deal that will end the companies' litigation over patents for set-top technology.

Buffeted by concerns about the economy and IT spending, tech stocks have gone on a roller coaster ride lately, but on the whole they've managed to hang on to gains they made earlier in the quarter.

President Barack Obama today forcefully defended the government's data collection activities, calling them vital to protecting the nation against terrorist attacks.

Analyst concerns that Galaxy S4 smartphone sales are lagging sent Samsung's shares down 6% early Friday.

Apple will probably spill the timetable and pricing of the next version of OS X on Monday at WWDC.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is about to head out on a long, arduous trek and scientists expect their best scientific discoveries are to come -- if the rover can avoid getting stuck in sand.

Although the National Security Agency's secretly collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers may be nothing new, the current scope of the data collection is "breathtaking." Do you think the U.S. government should be allowed to collect phone records and mine Internet data on citizens?

The U.S. National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation have access to servers at Google, Facebook and other major Internet services, collecting audio, video, e-mail and other content for surveillance, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Businesses that receive a court order for data similar to the one reportedly handed to Verizon by an intelligence agency have no choice but to comply and to take comfort in their immunity from lawsuits, an expert says.

Facebook is gearing up for a new project to simplify its advertising platform, making it easier for marketers to decide how to place ads across the site.

Although U.S. government officials said the NSA's efforts to secretly collect phone records of millions of Verizon customers is nothing new, reports about its size confirmed long-standing fears among privacy and civil rights advocates.

President Obama wants the nation's students to have access to faster broadband in their schools and libraries.

SAP is at work on a new product called Sentinel that is supposed to be "nothing less than the Amazon for Stocks and the Facebook for Investors," according to a job posting associated with the project.

Microsoft today said it will ship just five security updates next week, the fewest in any month so far this year, to patch 23 vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Windows and Office.

Sprint and LG Electronics announced that the LG Optimus F3 smartphone will go on sale online starting June 14 for $29.99, after rebate, with a two-year agreement.

BlackBerry Messenger, a free messaging and social networking app for BlackBerry devices, will arrive at iOS and Android app stores at some point, but not on June 27 as tweeted by T-Mobile UK early Thursday.

With the new Remote Wipe feature, both business and individual users can remove all of their synced files from a PC or Mac in the event of a loss or theft.

The pending launch of Windows Server 2012 release 2 focuses on offering a number of advanced capabilities in storage and networking, which used to require the purchase of additional software, or even a full-fledged storage system.

The Digital Advertising Alliance, a coalition of online advertising networks and companies, will soon release guidelines for the use of targeted advertising on mobile devices, although it's been difficult to come up with standards in the diverse mobile marketplace, members of the DAA said.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is approaching its biggest turning point since landing on the Red Planet last August.