Stories related to: IBM

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 »

IBM will buy Cognos for $5 billion, the latest in a rash of “business intelligence” software acquisitions. The move could help IBM keep up with SAP AG and Oracle, each of which recently teamed with similar companies, the AP reports. The purchase price is a 9% premium over Cognos’ Friday close; both companies’ stocks rose on the news. More »

IBM has developed an eco-friendly way of recycling silicon for eco-friendly solar panels. Semiconductor chipmakers often sell used silicon too thin for computing to solar panel manufacturers. Until now, they’ve used abrasive chemicals or a spray of glass beads to erase circuits from the chips. IBM plans to share the technique with other chipmakers, but hasn’t announced specifics. More »

Big Blue is seeing green in a recent patent filing. IBM, which holds more patents than any company in the world and reaps more than $1 billion in royalties annually, says it wants to make it easier for small companies to license its ideas on a “floating privilege basis.” So it's seeking a patent on a method of granting access to patent portfolios, reports the AP. More »

IBM is set to begin work on a computer capable of a quadrillion calculations per second, more power than a mile-high tower of laptops. McClatchy Newspapers reports the system will use 884,736 processors—six times the current best—to analyze problems on a dizzying scale. “We're on a path to a time when computers will be smarter than people,” one executive said. More »

IBM is issuing a new challenge to the supremacy of Microsoft's Office software, releasing a suite of free programs, called Symphony, that can perform many of the functions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Microsoft just released Office 7.0, and one analyst speculates many users will switch to Symphony rather than spend the money to upgrade, the Wall Street Journal reports More »

After 18 years of number-crunching, a checkers-playing computer program has conquered the game. Checkers is the most complicated game computers have mastered, Scientific American reports, beating Connect Four by a factor of a million. "I was a bit obsessed," says the lead researcher. "My wife would say more than a bit obsessed." More »