Microsoft sees no need for a “new approach to China,” though rival Google has adopted one that has generated quite a response. In an interview with CNBC today, CEO Steve Ballmer said his company has no plans to cease operations in China or take a moral stand on the Chinese government’s attitude toward free speech. Read More »

As reports of the devastation and death toll in Haiti continue to rise, some tech companies are rolling out efforts to help. While the earthquake destroyed even the most basic infrastructure in some parts of the country, there are places where Internet is available–and, of course, it has also turned into a tool for raising money and awareness elsewhere around the world. Read More »

When it last reported earnings, Intel surpassed Wall Street’s expectations and issued a strong outlook for the rest of 2009. So investors had high hopes for its latest quarterly report. And Intel appears to have met them. Reporting fourth-quarter earnings after market close Thursday, the company blew the doors off consensus estimates that called for 30 cents a share in profit on revenue of $10.17 billion. Read More »

A ratcheting up in the Google-versus-China fight: The White House has officially endorsed the search giant’s position: “We support [Google's] action…in a decision to no longer censor searches that happen using the [Google] platform.” Read More »

We skim hundreds of press releases that include tie-ins to current events and pop culture, entries with headlines like “Aviation Expert Available To Discuss Flight 27 Fire” and “What Does Avatar Mean For Cloud Computing?” (These are fictional but plausible examples.) Yesterday’s effort from venture-backed job search and outplacement company RiseSmart Inc. is way better than most, partly because of its intelligent critique of “Up In The Air.” Read More »

BoomTown did an interview last night with outgoing RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser after the announcement yesterday of his departure from the company he founded and led for 16 years. That will be posted later today, but here is a profile I wrote about Glaser when I was covering the Internet for The Wall Street Journal. It’s from Feb. 12, 1998, and focuses on Glaser’s decidedly complicated relationship with his former employer, Microsoft. Read More »

Investors have met the decision of RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser to step down as CEO with a ringing endorsement. At $4.54, the company’s shares are trading over 17 percent higher on the news, which spiked the stock to a 52-week high of $4.59 Wednesday when it was announced. Read More »

Netflix shares are taking a hit today from negative comments by Lazard Capital analyst Barton Crockett, who lowered his rating on the stock to Sell from Hold, with a $41 price target. The stock closed yesterday at $53.96. Crockett writes that he sees “noise potential” in the company’s Q4 results, and says there are “reasons to question Netflix’s ability to meet expectations for continued torrid growth.” Read More »

Emboldened by the settlement it won from Samsung in a recent digital camera patent dispute, Kodak is seeking similar arrangements from Apple and Research in Motion. In a handful of lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, Kodak accuses both companies of illegally leveraging its digital-imaging patents in the iPhone and BlackBerry. Read More »

Skype has agreed to refund up to $4 to customers whose credit has expired. This comes after the Internet-calling service settled a class action lawsuit representing customers who had expired credit accounts. The plaintiffs accused Skype of improperly seizing money on their accounts after 180 days of inactivity. Read More »

QOTD

“People born in 90s: Today I stepped out of the Great Firewall and saw a foreign Web site named Google….It is all but a copy of Baidu.
Born in 00s: What do you mean by stepping out of Great Firewall?
Born in 10s: What do you mean by Web site?
Born in 20s: What is ‘foreign’?”

– Global Voices contributer Bob Chen describes what life in China might be like if Google were to withdraw from the country

Starting last summer, Google executives have consistently promised that YouTube was close to becoming profitable. When will that finally happen? This year, says analyst Douglas Anmuth, who thinks the video site will “start contributing positively” to Google’s earnings while generating $700 million in revenue. Read More »

Yesterday, BoomTown wished Carol Bartz a happy one-year anniversary as CEO of Yahoo. And today, it is time to shamelessly judge her tenure! First up: An evaluation of her decisive management style and tough-talking leadership. Read More »

Whether it’s an act of moral bravery or the first step in a commercial retreat it had been planning anyway, Google’s “new approach to China” isn’t going to fly with that country’s government. Beijing clearly has no intention of granting Google’s request to allow unfiltered Internet searches. Read More »

Blippy, a start-up that lets users broadcast their credit card transactions online, will open itself up to the public today and announce a slate of high-profile Silicon Valley investors. The size of the investment–$1.6 million–is actually not so large as the names on its funding roster. They include: Sequoia Capital, Charles River Ventures, well-known angel investor Ron Conway, Twitter CEO and co-founder Evan Williams, and a trio of splashy entrepreneurs: Jason Calacanis, James Hong and Ariel Poler. Read More »