Business - NewsFactor

There is something for everyone, according to Microsoft officials who are touting the company's new prices for all three models of its video game console, the Xbox 360.

Google Chrome may be the fastest browser around, but it may actually prove to be even more important to the enterprise for its ability to interact with service-oriented architectures (SOA).

Dell has taken the wraps off a new mini-notebook PC squarely aimed at U.S. consumers. Called the Inspiron Mini 9, the PC maker's first offering in the so-called netbook category sports an 8.9-inch LED screen with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels.

The beta version of Office Live Workspace has one million users just six months after launch, Microsoft announced Wednesday as it released some minor improvements to the service.

Sony has issued a recall for thousands of its VAIO laptop computers in the U.S. because of possible overheating or short-circuits.

Google Chrome. It's a browser that was admittedly still in the development oven when Google released it, so are Internet Explorer 8-killer comments premature? Some analysts think so.

Sony, Pioneer and other manufacturers are expected to announce new Blu-ray DVD players for the U.S. market over the next few weeks. Sony, announcing new players and recorders in Japan this week, is expected to make a $2,000 Blu-ray player available for the upcoming holiday season in the U.S. Pioneer is expected to ship a similar model as well -- but many believe the price tags will doom their sales.

The market for smartphones is heating up and forcing competitors to make smart choices. With lots of players, including Apple going global with its iPhone 3G and HTC's Google Android-based phone, companies like Nokia-owned Symbian are paying attention.

Oracle added to its lineup of service-oriented architectures (SOA) Tuesday with the purchase of ClearApp, which supplies management solutions for composite applications.

Without much in the way of fanfare, Intel added three new multi-core processors to its product price list over the Labor Day weekend. The chipmaker's stealth launch of the new low-cost chips followed price cuts at rival Advanced Micro Devices, which recently lowered the cost of selected Phenom X4, triple-core X3, and Athelon X2 processors.

Google Chrome didn't even make it through 24 hours of downloads before stirring controversy. The search giant's new Web browser is in the privacy spotlight thanks to terms of service that give it rights some may not want to grant.

The cofounder and chief technical officer of iRobot, the company that brought robotic vacuums to the homes of millions of consumers, is leaving to start another venture.

Microsoft hasn't publicly commented on Google's new Chrome browser, but Redmond's Internet Explorer 8 team may wind up echoing Mozilla's makers: We're not worried.

To counter recent blog reports predicting that its Xperia 1 smartphone would miss this year's holiday shopping season, Sony Ericsson told media outlets this week that its first-ever Windows Mobile device will be released in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Will Spore be the biggest thing to hit the gaming world since Doom? Electronic Arts dearly hopes so. The long-awaited game by Sims creator Will Wright has so much hype surrounding it that anything less than a home run will be a disappointment, say game-industry watchers.

Apple's iPhone has sold by the millions in many parts of the world, but China is perhaps the most notable exception. Now reports from China's government-controlled media indicate the popular mobile device could soon make its way to the Asian nation.

Sprint announced new Motorola Renegade v950 and i365 handsets Tuesday for its push-to-talk Nextel service network. The v950 meets military specifications for resistance to shock, dust and moisture, which should cover most industrial and agricultural work.

Google's new Chrome browser isn't the only spiffy technology to come out of Google this week. Google is also releasing a new version of its Picasa photo-sharing application, complete with digital facial recognition. But the new facial-recognition feature won't cause biometric data companies to lose any sleep.

Apple's iPhone 3Gs, widely available in Russia on the black market, will be offered legally by at least two phone companies.