Anchorage Daily News

Flurry of IPOs signals IPO rebound to continue

The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about where they place their bets.

B&N Nook sells out, too late for holiday orders

Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.

Suit over search-engine keywords tries new angle

A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.

Habush Habush & Rottier

Cannon & Dunphy

Microsoft offers about 24K training vouchers in NC

Microsoft Corp. is giving away nearly 24,000 vouchers to North Carolina residents who want to improve their computer skills so they can improve their lot in the work force.

EU extends Oracle/Sun review deadline until Jan 27

European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.

GE, Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stretch on

A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.

Library group offers text search to 4.6M books

A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes.

Sony hopes online service will build brand loyalty

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

Obama answers questions from top Cuban blogger

President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.

EBay completes sale of Skype for $2 billion

EBay has completed its sale of Skype for about $2 billion to an investor group that included the founders of the Internet phone service.

On the Call: Dell's CEO Michael Dell

A key element of Dell Inc.'s turnaround strategy has been a vow not to cut prices as aggressively as rivals just to keep market share. The tactic has allowed competitors such as Acer Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. to steal business from Dell, and this fall Dell lost its ranking as the world's No. 2 PC maker.

Dell's profit, stock drop on weak quarterly report

Some of the computer industry's biggest players - such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. - have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

Google's Chrome OS to be ready for 2010 holidays

Consumers will have to wait until next year's holiday shopping season to find out if Google Inc.'s new operating system can deliver on its promise to make low-cost computers run faster.

Shareholders OK DirecTV spinoff but sale uncertain

Shareholders approved the formation of a new company out of DirecTV Group Inc. and some of Liberty Media Corp.'s entertainment businesses, as the chairman of both firms dampened speculation about a sale to a big phone company.

Google adding automatic captions to YouTube videos

Think of it as closed captioning for the new media world.

Yahoo jumps on Twitter bandwagon to improve search

Yahoo Inc. is jumping on the Twitter bandwagon in its latest attempt to get people to use its Internet search engine more frequently.

Gadgets: Digital photo gift ideas

Once again it's that shopping time of year and if digital photography is on your shopping list, here is a roundup of accessories to kick off the season.

Judge rejects AT&T's bid to pull Verizon ads

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by AT&T Inc. to force competitor Verizon Wireless to pull its "There's a Map for That" commercials.

Glitch snarls air traffic in latest woes for FAA

For the second time in a little more than a year, a glitch at one of the two centers that handle flight plans for the nation's air travel system set off delays and cancellations for passengers around the country.

John Malone: Comcast-NBC would have too much power

Media mogul John Malone said Thursday that Comcast Corp.'s plan to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal would give it too much market power and force competitors to consider similar acquisitions.

AOL offers buyouts to over a third of work force

The struggling Internet company AOL plans to shed up to 2,500 jobs - more than a third of its work force - as it prepares to separate from Time Warner and finally sever their ill-fated marriage.