Virtualization is one of the hot topics in enterprise computing these days, but the technology is not spreading as fast as many would have hoped, as key questions remain unanswered. Microsoft is trying to eliminate one of these concerns with a new licensing policy that enables customers to move applications within a server farm as often as necessary without paying additional licensing fees.

GraphOn, a software company that offers remote application access software, said it has filed a patent infringement suit against Google. If GraphOn is right, the Google’s Google Base, AdWords, Blogger, Sites and YouTube services could be colliding with four patents, forcing the search giant to pay GraphOn damages as well as license fees for past and future usage. 

Remember AMD’s promise to return to profitability in the third quarter of this year? You may be wondering how this will be possible considering the fact that the company has lost money over the past seven quarters, including $269 million in Q2 2008, and no big bucks advances against Intel are in sight. But we are certain that AMD in fact will report a huge profit for the third quarter that may not originate from hugely increased product sales, but will create the foundation for the much anticipated announcement of AMD’s “Asset Smart”.

Escalating music royalties could put Internet darling, Pandora, out of business.  In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Tim Westergren, the founder of the online radio station, says royalties could approach 70% of revenues and that the company is approaching its “last stand”.  Last year, the Copyright Royalty Board ruled that song royalties would increase from 8/100 of a cent per song per listener to 19/100 of a cent per song per listener in 2010.

A new service offered by Google enables publishers to inject contextual text or image ads into individual feeds distributed by FeedBurner, the world's largest RSS distribution service that was acquired by Google more than two years ago. Content creators will certainly welcome this new revenue source, but RSS subscribers have to realize that the era of ad-free feeds is coming to an end.

Market research firm NPD today released its July game console shipment estimates, which shed some light on how well each manufacturer travelled through the month with typically weak sales. All three manufacturers saw their unit numbers decline, with the Xbox 360 remaining the weakest of the three major consoles on the market today. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has settled options backdating charges against Nancy R. Heinen, the former General Counsel of Apple. Besides being forced to pay $2.2 million in disgorgement, interest and penalties, Heinen will also be barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company for five years and will be “suspended from appearing or practicing as an attorney before the Commission for three years.”

If you are tired of walking into AT&T stores and tired of being explained the advantages of “direct fulfillment” iPhone 3Gs, you will soon be able to purchase Apple’s smartphone in your neighborhood Best Buy. The retail chain today confirmed that it has cut a deal with Apple to offer the gadget next to already available Macs and iPods. 

U.S. broadband speeds are the focus of a recently conducted study by Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and the results are not especially flattering for broadband service providers on these shores. The U.S. comes in 15th on a worldwide scale, far behind the leaders Japan, South Korea and Finland.

The replacement of faulty graphics chips as well as a much stronger than expected AMD/ATI pushed Nvidia deep into the red during the second quarter. The company reported a revenue decline of 23% sequentially and a triple-digit loss.