Stories related to: IBM

Hamstrung by poor battery life, and burdened with an overly weighty Vista operating system that makes starting up a drag, a pair of new subnotebook computers offer a glimpse of what could be—but isn’t quite, writes Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg. Lenovo’s IdeaPad—a junior ThinkPad—and the U2E, a quirky offering from Asus, are pricey to boot. More »

IBM raised its quarterly dividend for the thirteenth consecutive year today after posting strong Q1 earnings two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm expects to pay $2.5 billion to shareholders this year after raising its dividend 25%, from 40 to 50 cents. IBM also expects to pass along another $12 billion to investors through stock buybacks. More »

The Dow ticked up 1.22 points to close at 12,620.49 today, after a flood of mixed earning reports mostly kept stocks down during the session. One analyst was impressed the market didn’t dip, saying it “seems to be holding up relatively well, especially after yesterday’s rally.” The Nasdaq was off 8.28 points, closing at 2,341.83, and the S&P rose 0.85 to 1,365.56. More »

Bellwether IBM posted a 26% spike in profits for the first quarter, proving that some tech companies are escaping the fallout from the economic downturn. The gains include a 6% increase in American revenue to $9.9 billion and are attributed to corporate customers buying products and services designed to improve productivity or cut costs, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

IBM has found a way to squeeze five times the performance out of a supercomputer at just 40% of the power. The newest version of the Power 575 draws chilled water into the computer and runs it through copper plates above processors to cool them, before expelling the heated water, reports CNet. This method reduces the need for air conditioning. More »

The government Thursday lifted a week-old ban that prevented IBM from competing for new federal contracts. In exchange, IBM agreed to withdraw its protest of an $84 million contract with the EPA it lost last year, and to refund any attorney fees and costs the Government Accountability Office paid to fight it. IBM has placed five employees on administrative leave in the dust-up. More »

A US Attorney in Virginia has temporarily barred IBM from pursuing new government contracts while it investigates three 2006 IBM contracts with the EPA, MarketWatch reports. "The basic issue is whether certain information concerning a contract should have been provided to IBM employees by an EPA employee," said an IBM spokesman. More »

Oracle missed its third-quarter revenue projections yesterday and investor reaction was swift and dramatic: shares of the software maker dropped 8% in after-hours trading, reports the Wall Street Journal . This despite the fact that Oracle’s profits rose 30% to $1.34 billion, 26 cents per share, from $1.03 billion, 20 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 21% to $5.35 billion, short of analysts’ $5.42 billion expectations. More »

Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun researcher told the New York Times the chance of success is 50%. More »

Greener tech solutions are a focus of this year’s CeBIT technology trade fair, which opens tomorrow in Germany. Tech companies from around the world will showcase products like servers that use less electricity alongside their hot new gadgets, AP reports. The emphasis on green ideas sets the tone for the international industry, Microsoft Germany’s general manager says. More »

A $15 million buyback by IBM plus today's good retail news and higher commodity prices set off a third straight day of stock market gains. IBM sparked a tech rally, including big gains by Intel and Microsoft, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow gained 114.7 to close at 12,684.92, the Nasdaq 17.51 to 2,344.99, and the S&P 500 9.49 to 1,381.29. More »

IBM will repurchase $15 billion of its own stock, it revealed today, leading the IT company to raise its profit forecast for the year to beat Wall Street predictions. The Armonk, NY-based computing giant will spend $12 billion on the buyback this year, the AP reports. The company told the Street that would help elevate its projected earnings-per-share for the year by five cents over previous estimates. More »

IBM, already weathering the economic storm that’s bedeviled many other major US companies, said sales overseas, especially in Europe and developing nations, would help it overcome trying economic conditions at home in 2008, reports the Wall Street Journal. The computer services giant said it expects annual per share earnings between $8.20 and $8.30, more than analysts had projected. More »

Recent acquisitions by Sun Microsystems and Oracle could be the opening round of new Silicon Valley deal-making, the Wall Street Journal reports, as tech companies worried about a US economic slowdown seek to strengthen their positions. Smaller companies struggling to stay afloat are tempting targets; bigger fish also want to invest in building web-based software and services—a still-growing sector. More »

Stocks surged today, propelled by hopes for an interest rate cut and expectation-busting fourth-quarter results from IBM. "The Fed has a very hard job right now, but I think the market is saying it thinks they are up to the task," a trading exec told the Wall Street Journal. The Dow jumped 171.85 to 12,778.15, the Nasdaq 38.36 to 2,478.30, and the S&P 500 15.23 to 1,416.25. More »

IBM tops the list of companies donating patents to a group that aims to help businesses produce greener products by sharing eco-friendly technology. Big Blue has promised 27 patents to the Eco-patent Commons; Nokia, Sony and mail equipment maker Pitney-Bowes will also donate, reports PC World . Shared patents will be freely available to all companies. More »

IBM shares soared after the company released preliminary quarterly earnings today that beat Wall Street’s predictions by $1 billion, reports Bloomberg. Shares popped 8% in early trading after the company said “strong operational performance in Asia, Europe, and emerging countries” helped it to a 24% bump in earnings from continuing operations, to $2.80 per share. Analysts had predicted $2.60. More »

IBM has released a software tool named 'Atlas' that aims to track and analyze statistical relationships among individuals in a corporate setting, MIT Technology Review reports. Employees are given the opportunity to partake in business-adapted online practices—blogging, social grouping, bookmarking, organizing projects—and Atlas creates a "social graph" of the relationships formed among participants. More »

IBM scientists have reached a “significant milestone” in chip technology, using optical signals to speed up and shrink the largest multicore processors. The breakthrough controls light pulses with a device called a wave-guide, a wire-like structure on the chip that communicates among processors; hybrid electronic-optic chips could reduce refrigerator-sized supercomputers to the size of laptops within five years, the Journal reports. More »

Computer seller Dell, looking to regain momentum by responding to business customer demand to offer broader, simpler technology solutions, will install the Solaris operating systems on its servers, giving a boost to longtime rival Sun Microsystem’s efforts to grow its software business, reports the New York Times.   “This is world-changing,” said Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. “It positions both companies better.” More »