Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking at a conference in Abu Dhabi this week, confirmed that the Chrome OS operating system is on track for delivery in the second half of this year. While we already know that it’s headed for netbooks, there are new reasons to believe that its brightest future may be as an adjunct OS on netbooks and tablets. Google is taking several big gambles with its upcoming OS , not the least of which is that it will require... 

Since the start of March, some European versions of Microsoft Windows have been delivered with a so-called “browser ballot screen,” a screen designed to give users a choice of 12 web browsers instead of having Microsoft’s Internet Explorer forced on them. But while it’s already bringing new users to alternative browsers, criticisms of the screen are being leveled, too. The European Commission’s hope for the screen... 

For years, at various times, tech giants such as Microsoft , Google and Apple have all been referred to as “benign monopolies.” Companies tend to earn that moniker when they reach a certain level of dominance in global markets, and have command over widespread standards. But now, more than ever, it’s worth remembering that extreme market dominance introduces trends that are far from benign. As I look through many of today’s... 

After spending years in beta, Mozilla’s Weave synchronization tool is finally out in a new version 1.0. Installable as a free extension for Firefox, Weave synchronizes your bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history and open browser tabs–keeping all your personal data encrypted. I’ve been taking Weave for a spin, and have found it to be very intuitive. As is true of XMarks , …  Read More →

As we reported this morning, after a waiting period that drew strong criticism for its obstruction of the deal, the European Commission approved Oracle’s $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsoystems. It only took a few hours for an internal memo to go out from Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s CEO, announcing that he is resigning. Go Oracle! he told Sun employees. …  Read More →

Even as Mozilla rolls out Release Candidate 2 of its Firefox 3.6 browser update, and is only days away from the official release , some are convinced that the upstart open source browser is doomed . However, Mozilla’s Director of Firefox, Mike Beltzner, provides some good reasons why it isn’t. According to a post from InfoWorld , Google Chrome’s momentum and the “immovable object” of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer... 

The tech earnings season kicked off with a bang this afternoon, as Intel reported much higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profits of $2.3 billion vs. just $234 million for the comparable period the year before, and revenue of $10.6 billion, up 29 percent. ”Our ability to weather this business cycle demonstrates that microprocessors are indispensable in our modern world,” said President and CEO Paul Otellini. Still, for the decade... 

Citrix’s GoToMyPC, among the most widely used applications for controlling remote computers, has always had a glaring hole: an inability to connect to Mac systems from anywhere. That’s changed with version 7.0 , announced today. Users of the new version of GoToMyPC can connect from PCs to remote Mac systems, and vice-versa, as well as from Windows Mobile phones. Although according to researchers at IDC, Citrix remains the market... 

As we recently reported, oDesk, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based online staffing startup, has been pioneering new ways for tech workers distributed around the globe to find meaningful work. The company also collects a lot of data on the prevalent tech skill sets that workers have all over the world. Here’s a look. We asked the folks at oDesk for a map-based illustration of the top two tech skill sets found around various countries. The data... 

As we’ve noted before , Mozilla’s Raindrop messaging project holds a lot of promise. Like many early-stage, open-source Mozilla projects, the design of Raindrop isn’t being widely publicized, but there are now more interface clues as to why it could be important. The underlying design philosophy behind Raindrop is that email is broken . We are flooded with messages from social networking applications, our regular email inboxes,... 

Of all the connectivity technologies on the imminent horizon, USB 3.0 holds extraordinary promise. But although some devices based on it will debut at the upcoming CES show, we can’t herald the technology’s true arrival yet. When many of us think of USB technology, we think of it as the familiar connectivity solution for our laptops, cameras, digital music players, and more. Indeed when USB 2.0 arrived years ago, it made many tasks,... 

Even as Mozilla’s Firefox browser continues to strip market share from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, the company has been showing off user interface mockups of the next major release: Firefox 4. Now, with its new Firefox 4 Design Challenge, you’re invited to pitch in. True to its long-standing focus on openness, Mozilla has a long history of opening up Firefox development tasks to the public. With the Firefox 4 Design Challenge,... 

The first batch of 150 tickets for the third annual Crunchies awards ceremony — scheduled to be held on Jan. 8, 2010, at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco — go on sale today starting at noon PST . As we reported yesterday , you can also now vote for your favorite tech finalists. We will once again be co-hosting the Crunchies awards, which honor the best tech companies and entrepreneurs, with VentureBeat…  Read More →

In mid-January applicants that Pepsi deems to “make us think, inspire us and ignite participation” will vie for millions of dollars in prize money through the Pepsi Refresh Project . Here’s what kinds of ideas will have a chance at winning. According to an advisory that Pepsi sent us: “The action starts on Jan. 13, when applicants will have 10 days to submit their ideas via refresheverything.com. The concept is powerful:... 

It’s astonishing to consider how long it can take for technology that already exists, and isn’t all that expensive to execute, to come to market. Case in point are the following three existing technologies, which range from virtually guaranteed life-savers to huge conveniences — where are the VCs and the go-to-market moves? The Pocket Doctor. Great strides are being made when it comes to turning smartphones into devices that...