Business - NewsFactor

If you're worried that your employees or children are disengaging from the world by using the Internet and cell phones, relax. A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that these technologies have not increased social isolation in the U.S. Full Story »

Having a device that enables users to take pictures, e-mail colleagues, browse the web, and send text messages is no longer a nice-to-have device but a need-to-have device. That mentality is creating a recession-proof smartphone market. Full Story »

On Friday, EMI won an injunction against BlueBeat.com, forcing the web site to stop selling Beatles songs without permission. The London-based record label alleged that the music site was breaching its copyrights. Full Story »

A new product that gives users a new level of insight into what the world's biggest search engine knows about them was launched Thursday. Google Dashboard lets users see reports on the data Google has collected on them. Full Story »

Motorola's Droid smartphones may have been dropping out of the sky like meteors in Verizon Wireless commercials, but they weren't selling with as much force on the first day of launch. Full Story »

With the launch of its new Droid smartphone at Verizon Wireless stores Friday, Motorola finally appears poised to recover from a three-year slide during which its mobile handset shipments fell from 22.5 percent to a 5.4 percent share of the global market, according to iSuppli. Verizon is looking for Droid to help overcome the advantages that AT&T has long enjoyed from its exclusive iPhone deal with Apple. Full Story »

Score one for Windows 7. The initial sales of the latest version of Microsoft's flagship operating system surpassed Vista's performance during its first few days on the U.S. market, according to the NPD Group. Full Story »

Laptop-toting road warriors who don't want to commit to a long-term mobile broadband data plan might be interested in a new offering from Verizon Wireless. On Thursday, the wireless carrier rolled out three new mobile data plans as part of the company's prepaid portfolio. Full Story »

Dell painted a picture in broad strokes Thursday of the company's forthcoming Adamo XPS laptop, which is slated to hit the market in time for the holidays. The new machine -- which is housed in a finely machined aluminum case and comes in the user's choice of pearl or onyx -- is even thinner than the inaugural Adamo laptop that Dell began shipping last March. Full Story »

As part of its quest to organize the world's information, Google is upping its commitment to organizing everything you can buy. On Thursday, the search giant announced Google Commerce Search, a new hosted enterprise search product that will help customers find products at online retail stores and e-commerce sites. Full Story »