AP Technology NewsBrief at 8:50 p.m. EST

(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Report: FCC Chair Genachowski to step downWASHINGTON (AP) _ Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski (jen-uh-KOW'-skee) is reportedly set to announce Friday that he will step down. That's according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited an unnamed FCC official and an industry representative on Thursday.

Dell buyout intrigue heightens as deadline loomsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Michael Dell is about to find out if other bidders think his company is worth more than he does. The answer could come Friday, which marks the end of a 45-day period that Dell Inc.'s board of directors settled on to allow for offers that might top a Feb. 5 agreement to sell the personal computer maker to CEO Michael Dell and a group of investors for $24.4 billion.

What makes SKorea cyberattacks so hard to trace NEW YORK (AP) _ The attacks that knocked South Korean banks offline this week appear to be the latest examples of international "cyberwar." But among the many ways that digital warfare differs from conventional combat: there's often no good way of knowing who's behind an attack. South Korean authorities said Thursday that the attack, which shut down scores of cash machines and hampered business, had been traced to an "Internet Protocol" address in China. But that doesn't mean the attack was launched from there. The general assumption in South Korea is that the attack originated in North Korea.

BlackBerry CEO says iPhone is outdatedTORONTO (AP) _ Apple's iPhone is outdated, according to the chief executive of BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion Ltd. Thorsten Heins made the comment Thursday on the eve of the much-delayed launch of the new touchscreen BlackBerry in the United States. AT&T begins selling the Z10 touchscreen BlackBerry on Friday, more than six weeks after RIM launched the devices elsewhere.

HP develops glasses-free 3-D for mobile devicesLOS ANGELES (AP) _ Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have developed a way to put glasses-free 3-D video on mobile devices with a viewing angle so wide that viewers can see an object more fully just by tilting the screen. Glasses-free 3-D is not unique. Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s 3DS handheld allows video game play in 3-D without glasses, but it requires players to look straight into the screen with their noses centered.

Oracle shares fall on weak 3rd-quarter reportNEW YORK (AP) _ Oracle Corp. on Wednesday reported flat earnings for its fiscal third quarter, hurt by a continued drop in sales of hardware systems and a surprise decline in sales of new software _ which the company attributed to a lackluster performance by its expanding sales force rather than lack of demand. "While our overall business remains healthy and we saw excellent pipeline growth we're not pleased with our revenue growth this quarter," said Safra A. Catz, president and chief financial officer, in a conference call with analysts.

HP rebuffs attempt to oust 2 directors from boardMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) _ Hewlett-Packard Co. on Wednesday barely rebuffed a shareholder rebellion aimed at ousting the two longest-serving directors from personal computer maker's board. Shareholders had sought the board members' ouster as punishment for a series of botched acquisition and other pratfalls that have decimated HP's stock price.

Vatican's communications site runs Batman storyVATICAN CITY (AP) _ One of the Vatican's main Twitter accounts and the website of its communications office were running stories about Batman on Thursday with the headline "Holy Switcheroo!" _ raising concerns they might have been hacked. But two Vatican officials said the site hadn't been hacked, and that the reason for the unusual posting was an "internal system failure" due to a non-native English speaker posting the story on the website.

YouTube now serving videos to 1 billion peopleLOS ANGELES (AP) _ YouTube says more than 1 billion people are now visiting its online video site each month to watch everything from zany clips of cute kittens to sobering scenes of social unrest around the world. The milestone was announced Wednesday at a splashy event in Santa Monica that was aimed at advertisers and featured performances from some of the website's biggest stars, such as the bands CDZA and Monsters Calling Home. It marks another step in YouTube's evolution from a quirky startup launched in 2005 to one of the most influential forces in today's media landscape.

NKorea suspected in cyberattack despite China linkSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Investigators have traced a coordinated cyberattack that paralyzed tens of thousands of computers at six South Korean banks and media companies to a Chinese Internet Protocol address, but it was still unclear who orchestrated the attack, authorities in Seoul said Thursday. The discovery did not erase suspicions that North Korea was to blame. An IP address can provide an important clue as to the location of an Internet-connected computer but can easily be manipulated by hackers operating anywhere in the world. The investigation into Wednesday's attack could take weeks.

(c) 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ Back To Technology News's Homepage ]