Channel Insider Staff

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) began selling digital books on Monday, intensifying the search engine’s competition with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and marking a significant push by the company to expand into the e-commerce business. The new online bookstore, dubbed Google eBooks, features 3 million titles, from newly […]

After federal regulators proposed a "Do Not Track" mechanism to give control over what consumer data companies can collect and share, a lot of confusion remains about what the proposal really means. In a 122-page preliminary report issued Dec. 1, the Federal Trade Commission suggested that users need a way to universally opt-out of having […]

Resource-and-cash-strapped small businesses struggling to cut costs in a slow economy are leaving simple cost-savings options on the table and putting data at risk, according to a recent survey from Lenovo. The Lenovo-AMD Small Business Tech Survey, which sought to identify common issues and trends in technology use by small businesses, also uncovered several peculiar […]

IBM has tapped its Rational tools division to deliver new software that advances security analysis. Slated for announcement on Dec. 3, IBM’s new software and analysis capabilities provide a more efficient and accurate way to help organizations design, build and manage secure applications, the company said. The new offering is based on software IBM got […]

German business software maker SAP is open to intensifying its existing cooperation with Hewlett-Packard Co, its co-CEO told a German paper, but dismissed talk HP may be interested in the company. "This is pure speculation," Jim Hagemann Snabe, who jointly leads SAP with Bill McDermott, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview published in Friday, when […]

Owners of small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) across the country are feeling optimistic, citing increased hiring and profit growth among key 2011 business predictions, according to the first semi-annual survey of business owners conducted nationally in November 2010 by Prepaid Expense Card Solutions, Inc., provider of The Pex Visa Prepaid Card for Business, issued by […]

BARCELONA, Spain — As part of its new Application Lifecycle Management (ALM solution, HP has introduced its new TruClient technology, which reduces application test cycles by simplifying various time-consuming tasks, while the new Sprinter technology "automates" manual testing. Introduced as part of HP’s new ALM 11 solution, the company’s new TruClient software automates one of […]

Apple’s iPhone and smartphones based on RIM’s BlackBerry operating system are tied with 27 percent of U.S. smartphone market share, according to October data from the Nielsen Company. Google’s Android operating system commands 22.7 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, Nielsen reported from a survey of 4,900 users. However, mobile-phone users who are upgrading to […]

As point of sale (POS) systems move farther into the mainstream consumer shopping ecosystem, Apple blog 9 to 5 Mac reported Gap-owned apparel store Old Navy is testing out the devices. The report was confirmed by a Gap, Inc. spokeswoman, who told the blog the company was indeed piloting the iPhone-based POS system at a […]

Research In Motion is seeking to shut down Kik Interactive, a software startup founded by a former employee whose cross-platform instant messaging service rivals RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger. Kik Messenger, much like RIM’s Messenger, allows smartphone users to see when a message has been sent, delivered, read and when it is being replied to in real-time. […]

A surge in demand for the latest smartphones has taken the industry by surprise and left it facing a shortage in the key end-of-year holiday sales season, a chief of Acer’s cellphone unit said. "The industry as a whole is struggling with supply. It is a bit of a scramble," Aymar de Lencquesaing told Reuters […]

(Reuters) – Borrowing by small businesses jumped in October, data released by PayNet Inc on Wednesday showed, evidence the recovery was gaining momentum even before the Federal Reserve’s latest round of monetary stimulus. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index, which measures the overall volume of financing to small businesses, rose 19 percent in October […]