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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: tech industry

tech industry stories: 15 news summaries

Silicon Valley Unemployed
Turn From Tech 

With jobs in short supply, many shift to health care, energy

Jul 31, 09 8:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - After holding its own against the economic tide, the tech industry is hurting—and many jobless in Silicon Valley are heading to other sectors, the Wall Street Journal reports. One group that helps job-seekers grew to capacity this year, from 180 to 225 members, with 450 on the waiting list;... More »

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Silicon Valley • unemployment • tech industry • second career • jobless

(AP) - Microsoft Corp. said today its profit in the last quarter plunged 29% because of weak computer sales, ending a fiscal year in which the software maker's revenue fell for the first time since the company went public in 1986. The results reflect how Microsoft's fortunes are tied to the PC... More »

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Microsoft • corporate earnings • personal computers • tech industry • tech giants

(AP) - Microsoft Corp. said today its quarterly revenue fell from the previous year for the first time in its 23-year history as a public company, while its profit dived 32 percent. The shortfall illustrated the toll the recession has taken on the world's largest software maker, even though it remains one... More »

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Microsoft • software • corporate earnings • tech industry

(Newser) - Tech bloggers reading their tea leaves say e-book fans can expect the new version of the Kindle on Feb. 9. Though maker Amazon has made no announcement, the company has scheduled a major press conference that day with chief Jeff Bezos. And, notes Brad Stone of the New York Times,... More »

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reading • Jeff Bezos • Kindle • tech industry • Amazon.com

 Tech Sector Short-Circuits

Once-insulated Silicon Valley fails to outpace slowdown

Nov 15, 08 7:09 AM CST
(Newser) - A sudden slowdown has sent the tech industry into a slump so severe some are comparing it to the dot-com bust, the New York Times reports. The sector was confidently chugging along as recently as September but last month saw orders for both business and consumer tech rapidly plunge—"... More »

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technology • layoffs • Sun Microsystems • recession • tech industry • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

Wall Street's Woes Will
Breed Cheaper Gadgets

Luxury brands will drop prices; digital media apt to boom in downturn

Oct 7, 08 7:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Wall Street's current tremors will be felt in Silicon Valley for years, "worst case, the next decade," John Biggs writes in TechCrunch, and that could be good news for gadget freaks. Though pinched consumers probably won't "be able to stomach even mild extravagances," luxury brands—Apple... More »

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Wall Street • Silicon Valley • recession • tech industry • financial crisis

 Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump 

Growth slow, but still up; unemployment below average—no dot-com bust here

Jul 9, 08 7:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite malaise in most sectors of the economy, the technology industry is weathering the downturn well, USA Today reports. Sales are up only 3% this year over 2007—a mediocre result, considering the industry usually grows by more than 10%—but with tech unemployment at 3.9% compared to 5.... More »

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technology • growth • credit crisis • computer • sales slump • tech industry • downturn

Tech Giants Join Forces Against 'Patent Trolls'

Fear of lawsuits behind group effort to snap up intellectual property

Jun 30, 08 11:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Some of tech's biggest players are banding together to corner the market on patents key to their various businesses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies like Google and Verizon are afraid of being held hostage by small players with a claim on key bits of intellectual property, and wary of... More »

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Google • intellectual property • Verizon • patent trolls • Ericsson • patent • patent infringment • tech industry • Hewlett-Packard

India's IT Hub Challenging Politics as Usual

Community looks to election for solution to Bangalore's crumbling infrastructure 

May 20, 08 3:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - For years, Bangalore—India’s answer to Silicon Valley—has endured traffic jams, power blackouts and a chaotic airport that businesses blame on politicians who’ve ignored the city’s IT elites to court rural voters. Now, Reuters reports, an updated constituency map giving urban voters more clout has hope... More »

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India • outsourcing • voters • Bangalore • tech industry • election

ANALYSIS

 Tech Biz Workers Back Barack 

Young, liberal workers at Google and Yahoo like him

Apr 14, 08 5:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Google and Yahoo workers who have donated to presidential campaigns support Barack Obama, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, donating significantly more to him than any other candidate. Obama does well with the tech industry as a whole, though his edge is less pronounced at older companies like Microsoft and Apple. Obama... More »

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Yahoo • Google • Microsoft • Apple • Clinton 2008 • Obama 2008 • campaign fundraising • tech industry

Silicon Valley's Prodigal Son Comes Home

Frank Quattrone seeks to repair his rep with new investment bank

Mar 19, 08 9:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Silicon Valley prodigal son Frank Quattrone is staging a comeback, poised to debut his new tech-centered investment bank Qatalyst—after years recovering from federal obstruction-of-justice charges. But now that he's back, the question is whether the industry will welcome home an errant child with open arms. Probably, BusinessWeek writes—if... More »

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Silicon Valley • IPO • investment bankers • Internet startups • Netscape • tech sector • information technology • tech industry • investment banks

Silicon Valley Deletes Middle-Income Jobs

Jobs rise in region overall, partly due to international influx

Feb 19, 08 4:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Silicon Valley is bleeding middle-income jobs, the New York Times reports. Clerks, secretaries, service reps and others earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year fell from 52% to 46% of workers from 2002 to 2006, according to a new report. The trend threatens the region's upward-mobility track, one author... More »

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Silicon Valley • middle class • employment • US economy • tech industry • job

OPINION

Microsoft’s Yahoo Bid 'Ridiculous'

Investment manager dismisses deal, doubts Ballmer's acumen

Feb 18, 08 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Investment manager Joe Rosenberg takes a swipe at Microsoft's bid for Yahoo in this week's Barron's, disparaging both the deal and CEO Steve Ballmer's financial acumen, Reuters reports. "It's a bad reflection on Ballmer that he's willing to pay a ridiculous price for Yahoo,” says Rosenberg. “Microsoft... More »

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Yahoo • Microsoft • mergers and acquisitions • finance • shares • investment • Steve Ballmer • tech industry • Joe Rosenberg

You've Got No Mail: DC Techies Ponder Life After AOL

Relocation is struggling sector's latest setback

Feb 18, 08 10:12 AM CST
(Newser) - AOL is moving its HQ to New York, cutting nearly half of its 5,700 DC-area jobs, and leaving serious questions about the Washington, DC area’s tech industry in its wake. AOL’s declining fortunes have already hurt the sector, but local techies and VCs have fought back with... More »

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Google • AOL • New York City • Washington DC • Facebook • startup • Dulles • venture capitalists • tech sector • Revolution • tech industry

India Short On Skilled Workers

Despite the tech boom, a third of the country
is still illiterate

Apr 9, 07 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Why is India short on skilled labor when it's teeming with Ph.D.s? While the staggering growth of its tech industry seems to have put the country in the running for the world’s next superpower, James Surowiecki observes that the Bengal tiger could be made of paper. Thirty... More »

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education • India • globalization • labor • literacy • tech industry

15 Stories


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