Spotlight Features

Somewhere in the middle of the laptop/netbook/smartphone explosion, IT lost control. The days of IT issuing the same mobile device to all employees are all but gone. These days, different types of workers need different kinds of devices. Sometimes employees bring their personal devices into the work...

Zappos, online shoe emporium extraordinaire, has been expanding its line of merchandise in recent years -- offering clothes, watches and other jewelry, and even housewares. For the consumer, the shift has appeared effortless -- just more categories to explore on the Web site. Behind the scenes, thou...

Google's right to use the word "Android" for its mobile phone operating system is being challenged by Erich Specht, who acquired a trademark for the name "Android Data" in 2002. Google attempted to gain the right to use "Android" for its OS last year, as it happens, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark...

Can the privatized and anonymized be monetized? When it comes to the mega-million-name member lists of social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, Big Business really wants to know. As consumer databases go, the Facebook and MySpace lists have an appealing advantage over databases derived from ...

A long time ago -- meaning, of course, three or four years in Internet time -- wikis came to represent the best of the true democratic, user-generated nature of the Web. The collaborative writing/editing of a wiki meant that all voices could be heard, but majority rule would prevail. This segment's ...

Google and Yahoo used to compete mightily in the site search category, but now the two have turned their focus toward search advertising, which makes them more money. Dozens of smaller players have emerged to fill the void -- and to make money. Other site search solutions may have looked like diminu...

With an attractive force akin to the massive black hole at the center of the galaxy, online social networks have pulled into their orbits scores of new startups searching for profits. The target: eyeballs. Last January, Facebook totaled 68 million unique visitors and 1.1 billion page views, and MySp...

IT developers are moving toward higher-level languages that make their work simpler in order to keep up with business needs. That simplicity is found in lingos such as Java, C Sharp, Visual Basic and .Net. However, even those languages are sometimes not simple enough for the Web 2.0 world, spurring ...

The concept of five nines availability has its roots in server deployment. That standard demands that the IT department or the service provider hired by an enterprise deliver access to applications and data 99.999 percent of the time. Even with today's migration to cloud storage and SaaS product del...

Crowdsourcing may be killing a lot of jobs. True, it's still a nascent business strategy that works well only in certain scenarios, and it can't be lumped in with outsourcing as the cause of mass layoffs. As is the case with outsourcing, though, it can be particularly difficult to quantify crowdsour...