Michael Hickins

LAS VEGAS-Some of the largest companies in the world are betting that consumers will want to check their bank balances and even make payments using their mobile handsets. Wireless technology vendor Qualcomm announced a partnership with Citi allowing customers of the financial services firm to check their account balances, credit limits on their cards and […]

LAS VEGAS-Microsoft is introducing new features to its mobile operating system and mobile management tools to keep up with burgeoning demand for mobile devices and applications in the workplace. Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, said Microsoft intends to build on its “leadership position” in business mobile applications and address the needs […]

LAS VEGAS-Ray Ozzie’s keynote at the Microsoft MIX 2008 developer conference here should be noted for what he showed developers, not for what he promised. Ozzie uttered a lot of the usual bromides about Microsoft’s (and arguably not his) vision of software plus service: from the announced public beta of Office Live Workspace, an online […]

Salesforce.com Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff sat down for a conversation with eWeek editors just after he introduced the company’s new Force.com platform-as-a-service, or PAAS, offering at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The company widely seen as the standard-bearer for the SAAS (software as a service) movement has continually evolved, to use a word […]

Google issued a statement Feb. 3 criticizing Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, which the software vendor made public Feb 1. In a statement, Google’s senior vice president of development and chief legal officer, David Drummond, said that “Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo raises troubling questions.” Drummond also suggested that Microsoft would attempt to dominate the market […]

The acquisition of Yahoo would present Microsoft with several obvious advantages. Steve Ballmer, CEO at Microsoft, said during a presentation to media and analysts that the proposed merger will offer “scale economies” and “operational efficiencies.” Those are usually euphemisms for layoffs. But not necessarily in this case. Microsoft is also hoping to get a bigger […]