Matthew Hicks

America Online has opened a larger public beta of an AOL-branded Web browser that is based on Microsofts Internet Explorer. The AOL Browser beta, which started in October with a select group of AOL subscribers, is now open to AOL members as well as to the 36 million active users of AOL Instant Messenger, an […]

Microsofts MSN division has restored access to MSN Messenger after a large portion of its users faced problems accessing the instant-messaging service over the past 24 hours. The outage, which began Monday evening and affected a “significant” number of MSN Messenger users, was fixed by about 5 p.m. PST on Tuesday, an MSN spokeswoman confirmed. […]

In another expansion of its online services, Google Inc. Tuesday launched a mapping feature that combines local search results with maps and driving directions. The Mountain View, Calif., company introduced Google Maps as an experimental service through its Google Labs site. While the service provides traditional mapping features such as the ability to zoom in […]

Socialtext Inc. is building deeper ties between wikis and the enterprise in the latest release of its Internet content publishing service. Socialtext Workspace 1.5, which was launched Monday, integrates the wiki service with enterprise directories based on LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) and Microsoft Active Directory. Socialtext Workspace is generally sold as a hosted service, […]

A collaboration tool launched on Monday is designed to ease the distribution of large files for enterprises. Ignite Technologies Inc. of Dallas introduced its Ignite Communicator service, which aims to deliver any type of digital content such as video, graphical presentations and software to users regardless of their networking or computer capacity. Ignite Communicator, for […]

As Google and Yahoo dive into indexing television programs and video, a San Francisco-based startup company is taking a different approach to searching for multimedia content as it prepares to expand. GoFish Technologies Inc. has created an index of 14 million downloadable digital media files that range from audio and video to games and mobile […]

The FBI has shut down an e-mail system it uses to communicate with the public as it investigates a potential security breach, according to multiple media reports Friday. Citing FBI officials, The Associated Press reported that the e-mail system is run by a private company and is used for sharing non-sensitive information with the public. […]

A week after entering the remote-access market, WebEx Communications has sued one of its top competitors for allegedly cyber-squatting. WebEx Communications Inc. announced Thursday that it has filed a federal lawsuit against Citrix Systems Inc., accusing the competitor of intentionally registering a series of Internet domain names that contain the name of WebExs new service. […]

In its latest move to expand the reach of its search results, Yahoo Inc. released a service late Wednesday that provides related search results within the context of a Web page. Yahoo launched a beta test of the service called Y!Q in an attempt to automatically provide users with relevant search results without requiring them […]

BURLINGAME, Calif.—Utility computing holds promise because of its basis in lower-cost hardware and software, but enterprises require better ways to manage and provision their computing resources before they can fully take advantage of the model, said panelists at a Linux conference here on Wednesday. To a large extent, enterprises have moved into utility computing by […]

Microsoft has reached its first major milestone in Web search with the release of its algorithmic search engine, which will compete against Google and Yahoo. The company on Tuesday completed its transition away from Yahoos search results with the introduction of its own search technology on the MSN Search site, MSN executives said. The entry […]

Profits and revenues continued to soar for Google as it posted its second quarterly earnings report since becoming a public company. The search company reported Tuesday that its revenue doubled both for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 and for the 2004 calendar year. Revenue reached $1.03 billion in the fourth quarter and $3.19 billion […]