Microsoft holds on to fighting fund

Microsoft told shareholders at its AGM this week that it would not be paying them any dividend from its $40.5 billion cash holdings. The money will be kept back at least until all the outstanding legal challenges the the company faces have been resolved. ...more

Yahoo not good enough for Wall Street

Having reported earnings slightly above what was expected on Tuesday, Yahoo stock was promptly dumped by Wall Street after temporarily basking in the glory. It seems the results were not enough to reassure concerns about the overall health of online advertising. "Yahoo's numbers were very good, very solid," said Andrea Rice, an industry analyst with Deutsche Ban Alex Brown. ...more

Comdex Fall is cancelled

Comdex Las Vegas 2004 has been postponed, with the organisers resting the show in order to reshape the event for a future relaunch. The event had been scheduled to take place in November 2004, but now an advisory group has been set up to consider how best to meet industry demand. This will contain representatives of the 'IT industry's foremost companies' according to MediaLive International, which took over the brand one year ago. ...more

Trend Micro ousts McAfee from Hotmail message scanning

Trend Micro has ousted McAfee from its seat scanning Hotmail messages for viruses. Exactly what motivated the change remains unclear. Trend Micro's president of European Operations Raimun Genes told us: 'We were contacted by MSN Hotmail, but we never questioned why. ...more

CES: HP's digital living room doesn't have a PC

HP is looking to turn itself into a giant in the consumer electronics field. Already a firm with a finger in pretty much every pie in the IT world, HP started its assault on the US living room last year with the launch of its first TVs. During her keynote at CES, chief executive Carly Fiorina extended the company's commitment to the living room with, among other things, an entertainment centre designed to appeal to people that don't want a PC to control their life. ...more