Technology Markets News

T-Mobile USA plans to have more than 20 markets lit with 3G coverage when it begins selling the first ever Google Android phone in October. But will it be enough to entice smartphone consumers to choose the HTC Dream over the iPhone 3G or even the BlackBerry Bold?

If you are long in individual stocks these days, you are likely part of a large and miserable fraternity.

SAN FRANCISCO - Three former board members of Mercury Interactive, a business software company acquired by Hewlett-Packard Co. for $4.9 billion in 2006, have each agreed to pay $100,000 fines in a settlement with federal regulators over stock options tampering.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's NEC Electronics Corp (6723.T) and Germany's Elmos Semiconductor AG said they would jointly develop semiconductor products to better compete in the automotive and industrial markets.

Time was when SanDisk, the world's biggest supplier of flash storage cards, was one of the hottest tech stocks this side of the Milky Way. Of course, those also were the days when companies like Lehman and Merrill Lynch were living large on Wall Street.

The financial services meltdown could subtract a lot of sales from tech companies, which get 18% of their total U.S. revenue from that sector.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is "very confident" it can hit its current quarter profit target, despite currency headwinds and ongoing weakness in its printer business, a top executive said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK - For the technology sector, it's a case of good news now and so-so news later.

DETROIT - On its 100th anniversary, General Motors workers cheered as the company revealed the electric-powered car intended to make GM a vehicle technology leader. But after all the hoopla surrounding the Chevrolet Volt, executives also say a government loan package and access to credit are important parts of GM's next century.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pared losses in early evening trading on Tuesday after CNBC television reported the Federal Reserve was negotiating roughly $85 billion in financing to keep American International Group from collapsing.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal judge in San Jose has given preliminary approval to a $14 million settlement of shareholder claims over backdating of stock options against current and former Apple Inc executives, court documents showed.

NEW YORK - Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs and several other senior executives and board members have agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed the company was damaged by their role in Apple's mishandling of stock option awards.

A Wall Street analyst cut Yahoo's 12-month price target to $24 a share on Wednesday, citing a worsening economic climate and storm clouds on the horizon for future earnings growth.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Yahoo Inc. has hired former Microsoft Corp. executive Joanne Bradford to help the Internet company try to accelerate its revenue growth after several years of disappointing results that have battered its stock.

It's been a busy week for Microsoft and I wanted to briefly note some other items that are making headlines elsewhere.

Shares in NTelos (NasdaqGS:NTLS - News), which is upgrading its wireless phone network to the latest 3G, or third-generation, technology, have jumped 62% since late February, despite falling 3.5% Tuesday in a terrible day for the stock market.

LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Google and Europe's biggest bank HSBC have thrown their weight behind a plan to provide cheap, high-speed Web access via satellite to millions in Africa and other emerging markets.

When Curis (NasdaqGM:CRIS - News) went public eight years ago, it symbolized the unbound optimism of biotechnology. Its stock rose fast, to 25, and it possessed promising technologies. Ever since, Curis has illustrated the risks of investing in biotech startups. There have been heartbreaking setbacks in clinical testing, failed partnerships with Wyeth and Procter & Gamble , and collaboration with Genentech that has seemingly dragged on forever. Curis's stock has crashed, rebounded, and crashed again, hitting just 91% in November.

DALLAS - Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc., bought about $100 million of the computer maker's stock last week, his second such buying spree in the past three months.

Google's share price took a beating Monday, pushing it down nearly 5.5 percent despite a sudden lift in the broader markets as the government stepped in to bail out mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

NEW YORK - Stocks rallied Monday as investors placed bets that a recovery in the financial and housing sectors is more likely to occur following the U.S. government's move to bail out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Dow Jones industrials gained nearly 300 points.

This post was updated at 1:12 p.m. PDT with the closing price of Yahoo's stock and other related information.

This post was updated at 3:50 p.m. PDT with comments from Michael Dell and analysts.

Update at 3:08 p.m. PDT, with Carl Icahn's appointment to the board and closing stock price.

Southern California Edison is leading the way as utilities become the solar industry's largest customers, according to a report Wednesday by the Solar Electric Power Association, whose members include solar tech companies and more than 300 utilities.

Yahoo's financial results came in lower than analyst expectations for revenue and net income, but the stock is trading higher after hours. Here are highlights from what Chief Executive Jerry Yang, President Sue Decker, and Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen have to say about the second quarter during the company's conference call.

Venture capital investors have high hopes for green-tech companies. Not only do they expect clean-tech firms to garner the most attention in the coming year, but they also see them reviving the anemic market for initial public offerings (IPOs).

I finally made it to the big time and got to fill in for the vacationing Dan Farber on the EIC Squared podcast. Check out my conversation with ZDNet Editor-in-Chief Larry Dignan as we riff on the circumstances surrounding Apple's legal tiff with Mac clone maker Psystar, as well as Intel's surprisingly strong quarterly earnings. Also, I recently got back from a visit to Israel's high-tech community. Take a listen.

The subprime mortage crisis is going from bad to worse. Oil is hovering near all-time highs. Global financial markets seem on the verge of melting down.