Intel has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fulcrum Microsystems Inc., a privately held fabless semiconductor company that designs Ethernet switch silicon for data center network providers. “Intel is transforming from a leading server technology company to a comprehensive data center provider that offers computing, storage and networking building blocks,” said Kirk Skaugen, Intel vice president ...

Microsoft Research announced the availability of a free technology preview of Project Daytona MapReduce Runtime for Windows Azure. Using a set of tools for working with big data based on Google’s MapReduce paper, it provides an alternative to Apache Hadoop. Project Daytona is designed to support a wide class of data analytics and machine-learning algorithms. ...

Dell, the computer hardware manufacturer and distributor, could soon use Google’s new group video chat platform Google+ Hangouts as an alternative to traditional customer service, according to the company’s chairman and CEO, Michael Dell. Hangouts currently require you to download the same plugin that also powers video chat within Google Talk. However, Google is working on ...

MoboTap, the mobile technology developer behind the Dolphin Browser, has secured $10 million in Series A funding, led by Sequoia Capital, with Matrix Partners also joining the power team.  MoboTap’s Dolphin browser was launched on the Android platform in March 2010, and is Sequoia Capital’s first mobile browser investment.  MoboTap will use the new funds ...

Netflix, the online and mail DVD delivery service, plans to expand to 43 countries in Latin America later this year, and is looking to Europe as well.  The company will launch its streaming service in Spain and the U.K. as early as the first quarter 2012, according to reports. Netflix, which launched its first international ...

Microsoft has added a feature to its Hotmail email accounts, now called Windows Live Hotmail,  where users can report that a friend’s account has been hacked.  It’s a security measure that comes at a time when data breaches and personal information are certainly threatened, with various companies and services making changes to reassure consumers.  This particular ...

ClickFox, a pioneer of customer experience analytics (CEA) solutions, conducted a survey to assess the potential cost savings from addressing customer service issues via social media, the impact of word of mouth influence in the social sphere, and the degree to which customers understand the tools currently available to them. They found that 40.2% of ...

Zinio, the digital newsstand boasting thousands of titles,  is now available on all current Android devices.   This is a follow up of the announcement made a month back, when Zinio launched its first Android app for 3.0 Honeycomb tablet devices.  Now Android 2.2 Froyo and 2.3 Gingerbread tablet and smartphone users can also download Zinio ...

IZEA Holdings, Inc., a world leader in social media sponsorships, announced today the completion of a merger transaction and the commencement of electronic stock trading under the symbol “IZEA” on the OTC Bulletin Board. In connection with the merger, the company raised $3,300,000 through the sale of common stock and warrants, completed May 12, 2011. ...

Hewlett-Packard and Dell not surprisingly led worldwide PC shipments during the second quarter of 2011 according to preliminary research from Framingham-Mass.-based IDC. The IDC report noted that HP saw good growth in key emerging markets and EMEA, but also had a slight drop in volume compared to the previous quarter.   Dell, on the other hand, managed to ...