Making Money: Patent Pending

Eolas Technologies patent claims interactive web is its brainchild

(NEWSER) - A case is being tried in Tyler, Texas, this week that could determine the future of the Internet. On one side: The world's top web companies, including Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Apple. On the other: A tiny company called Eolas Technologies that claims it patented the "interactive web." In its telling, a program by Chicago biologist Michael Doyle allowing doctors to view embryos, developed in 1993, was the first to allow users to interact with images in a browser, Wired explains. More»

(NEWSER) - A British math whiz plans to roll out a revolutionary search engine this year, but that doesn't mean Google is doomed, Saul Hansell writes in the New York Times. “Google is a company,” while the search engine "is a technology," Hansell writes, responding to a blog that trumpeted the innovation. The new engine would answer specific questions on the Web, rather than find sites that give answers. More»

Google remains below $300

(NEWSER) - Withering tech stocks tugged the broader market down today, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hewlett-Packard fell 4.6% while IBM closed down 2.9%, Cisco dropped 3.95% and Google 5.9%—after that stock closed below $300 on Friday for the first time since January. The Dow fell 79.89 to 6,547.05. The Nasdaq lost 25.21, closing at 1,268.64, while the S&P 500 shed 6.85 to settle at 676.53. More»

Despite layoffs, companies are better prepared

(NEWSER) - The tech industry is going through tough times, including widespread layoffs, but it's not going to be another dot-com bust, predicts the Economist, laying out the differences between 2001 and 2009. In 2000, technology companies grew nearly 16%, only to contract by 6% a year later. “The IT industry simply imploded,” says one vet. “It felt like the sector’s reason for being had disappeared.” But the industry is now global, and demand will continue to grow in the likes of China and India. More»

It claims the Wii uses stolen motion-sensing technology

(NEWSER) - A Maryland tech firm claims that Nintendo stole some of its technology for the popular Wii console, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hillcrest Laboratories filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, alleging that Nintendo infringed on patents for motion-sensing technology. It wants to ban Wii consoles from being imported to the US, and a lawsuit is pending. Nintendo had no comment on the complaint. More»