Stories by John Blau

Microsoft, Siemens VDO team on car navigation, entertainment

Microsoft's in-car technology is getting a boost via a deal with a large supplier of automotive electronics. Germany's Siemens VDO Automotive has agreed to collaborate with it on a next-generation communication and entertainment system.

IFA - Acer, China Huala Group join Blu-ray Disc camp

Supporters of the Blu-ray Disc format came to Berlin armed with key announcements to underscore their commitment to the next-generation movie disc.

German semantic Web project seeks open-source experts

Theseus, the German government-funded program to develop new semantic Web technologies, will launch a competition in November to attract talented software programmers, including experts from the open-source community.

Universal to test sales of DRM-free music

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the latest major music label to offer music downloads without copy protection.

Vodafone wants say in both LTE and WiMax

Vodafone doesn't want to miss out on the next big wireless technology, no matter what it is.

Dell buys software license management company

Dell Inc. has agreed to acquire ASAP Software Inc. in a move to meet demand from large customers for tools and services that help manage their software assets.

Merger costs dog Alcatel-Lucent in Q2

Merger costs, flat sales and a strong Euro contributed to a second-quarter net loss at Alcatel-Lucent.

Accenture service assesses consumer Web site brands

A new Web site assessment service launched by Accenture could help businesses get more bang out of the bucks they invest in their consumer sites.

SAP, Siemens hope to benefit from German Web 3.0 project

German high-tech heavyweights SAP and Siemens are among the companies that hope to benefit from a government-funded program to develop new semantic Web technologies.

Greens don't accept Berlin 'nein' to open source

The Green Party is accusing the Berlin city government of lacking a coherent IT strategy and thus not being in a position to adequately judge the merits of open-source software.

Google threatens to drop Gmail in Germany

Google is unhappy with proposed German legislation to ban anonymous e-mail accounts and may consider dropping the German version of its Gmail service.

Nokia rolls phone groups into single division

Reorganization reflects the growing importance of Nokia's multimedia and Internet-enabled devices businesses.

iPhone users will need iTunes account, Apple says

Consumers planning to buy the iPhone when it goes on sale in the U.S. later this month will need to have an iTunes Store account before they can activate the device, according to information on Apple's Web site.

US soldiers face tough VOIP call

U.S. soldiers in South Korea face a tough call on using Internet telephony in the country.

Germany passes antihacking law

Hackers may want to avoid Germany, after the approval of a law that makes their activity a punishable crime.