Corporate and legal

Big Internet service providers don't seem to be interested in applying for federal stimulus funds, but smaller players like Leap Wireless are looking at the grant program as an opportunity to provide wireless service to underserved populations.

Prepaid wireless carrier Cricket Communications, which is owned by Leap Wireless, on Monday filed an application with the nonprofit organization One Economy for $8.6 million to help it expand a program called Project Change Access. This project, which launched last fall in Portland, Ore., has helped low income residents get online to improve their access to education, job training programs, health … Read more

In a poor economy, some budget PC brands are finding its customers happier than ever, according to this year's installment of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, an annual study completed by the University of Michigan each year.

In the 2009 rankings for PC makers, which are set to be released Tuesday, the brands whose rankings saw the most improvement were Compaq and Gateway. Compaq's score of 74 represented an increase of 5.7 percent, the largest gain among computer makers in the last year, and equaling the highest customer satisfaction ranking for the brand--owned by Hewlett-Packard--since 1996. The … Read more

A group of Facebook users filed a civil lawsuit Monday that alleges the social-networking site is violating California consumer privacy laws.

The lawsuit, which was filed in California's Orange County Superior Court on behalf of five users, seeks a jury trial, as well as damages and attorneys' fees. The five plaintiffs are described as two children younger than 13, a user of the original Facebook, a professional photographer, and an actress and model.

The 40-page complaint accuses the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company of violating California privacy and online privacy laws by disseminating private information to third parties for … Read more

News Corp.-owned MySpace is "close to acquiring" social music service iLike, according to TechCrunch.

The price tag is rumored to be in the neighborhood of $20 million. Representatives from iLike were not immediately available for comment.

The report comes within days of iLike launching a music download store--a development first reported by CNET News--with MP3s available from all four major record labels.

The deal, if confirmed as accurate, highlights the often complicated connections in digital media's elite ranks.

iLike, for example, rose to fame through its close ties to Facebook. The iLike application, since re-branded to simply Music, … Read more

Sony Ericsson's president, Hideki "Dick" Komiyama, is to retire at the end of the year, the company said Monday.

The new president for the loss-making handset maker will be Bert Nordberg, who will move over from Ericsson. Nordberg, who currently heads up Ericsson's networking research and development wing in Silicon Valley, will become co-president of Sony Ericsson at the start of September, to allow for a smooth transition.

"In the two years he has been at Sony Ericsson, Dick Komiyama has made some very important changes to their organization and laid the foundation for the … Read more

Smartphones may have started as productivity tools for top executives, but they're quickly finding their way into the hands and purses of "power moms," a.k.a. the CEO of the household.

As smartphones become easier to use and in many ways more useful, more women, including busy moms, are buying them to leverage all kinds of digital applications to stay organized and to connect with their families, friends, and social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter. They're also using these Internet-enabled devices to get things done like paying the bills, ordering groceries, downloading coupons, and … Read more

Lenovo on Friday said it will replace batteries on several of its ThinkPad laptops that show error messages.

Some users are reporting batteries are displaying error messages that read "Irreparable damage" or "Battery cannot be charged," and others are reporting their battery runs only for a very short time or experiences a sudden drop in its fuel gauge. It's known to occur on these ThinkPad models: T60, T61, R60, R61, X60, and X61.

Though it does not pose a safety risk, and it is not a product recall, Lenovo said, it will give those affected … Read more

Verizon Wireless announced Friday that it has completed initial testing of its 4G wireless service in Boston and Seattle.

Using a new technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE), Verizon was successfully able to complete data calls in Boston and Seattle, the first two cities where the company will deploy its service. Verizon is using the 700 MHz spectrum it bought an FCC auction to build the network. The company plans to start offering the service commercially in 2010, providing service for up to 100 million people in 30 markets. The company plans to have the entire nation covered with 4G … Read more

So much for the summer doldrums.

Apparently someone in Redmond forgot to send the memo to Microsoft employees about taking time off in August, as they typically do, following its quarterly earnings.

Instead, there's been a steady stream of Microsoft news headlining this week, including a deal with Nokia on mobile Office, the confirmation of Zune HD details, and the release of information on the upcoming Mac Office product.

As CNET News anticipated, Microsoft and Nokia--still significant rivals in the cell phone business--announced Wednesday that they are working together to bring mobile versions of the software maker's … Read more