Associated Press

TOKYO—Japans Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. struck a deal to jointly make displays for flat-screen televisions, starting as early as July 2006, the companies said Tuesday. The companies plan to spend a total 110 billion yen ($1 billion) on a new plant for large liquid-crystal displays in eastern Chiba on the […]

BOISE, Idaho (AP)—Micron Technology Chairman Steve Appleton was injured Thursday evening when his stunt plane crashed in the desert east of Boise, Ada County authorities said. Appleton was flying with Micron employee Michael Duffy about 6:15 p.m. when the plane crashed south of the state prison complex. Company officials said Duffy was photographing Appleton for […]

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP)—The judge presiding over Microsoft Corp.s appeal of the European Unions antitrust decision has scheduled a first meeting for July 27, the court announced Tuesday. Bo Vesterdorf, presiding judge at the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, called the “informal” meeting “to sort out practicalities,” such as setting the hearing schedule, a court […]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—Microsoft Corp. will pay up to $241.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by Minnesota computer users who claimed the software company overcharged them. The settlement outlined in court for the first time on Thursday includes $174.5 million in computer equipment vouchers for consumers and caps attorneys fees at $59.4 million. It also […]

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—3Com Corp. Wednesday said its loss more than doubled in its latest quarter, as sales declined and it took charges for layoffs and investments. The maker of computer networking gear reported a loss of $138.9 million, or 37 cents a share for its fiscal second quarter, ended Nov. 28. In the same period […]

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP)—Motorola Inc. has selected former Sun Microsystems Inc. executive Edward J. Zander as its new chairman and chief executive, succeeding Christopher B. Galvin, who is retiring after frequent clashes with the companys board. The Motorola board announced Tuesday that Zander, 56, was elected unanimously. Zander assumes the new positions on Jan. 5, 2004. […]

CERRITOS, Calif. (AP)—Browsing the Web from this Southern California city may soon become an outdoor sport. The first phase of a project to establish citywide wireless Internet access is slated to begin next month. Ultimately, anyone with a laptop or wireless device will be able to surf the Web from virtually anywhere in the citys […]

LOS ANGELES (AP)—A county official has asked computer and video equipment vendors to consider eliminating the terms “master” and “slave” from equipment because they may be considered offensive. “Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label,” according to an e-mail sent to vendors on Nov. […]

REDMOND, Wash. (AP)—Microsoft Corp. is doubling its annual dividend to 16 cents a share. The fiscal 2004 dividend—only the companys second ever—is payable Nov. 7 to shareholders of record at the close of business Oct. 17. A company news release described the payment as Microsofts “second annual dividend,” apparently because it is being paid in […]

WASHINGTON (AP)—Phone service in areas of the Eastern U.S. affected by the blackout was disrupted, but there is no word of major outages. Ed Thomas, chief engineer at the Federal Communications Commission, said the agency has so far received no reports of significant troubles, for both landline phones and wireless. Under agency rules, the carriers […]