NEW YORK (AP) - The flurry of initial public offerings this week is confirmation that this fall's rebound in the market wasn't a fluke and sets the stage for more companies to raise money through IPOs in 2010. But the response to two of the newly public companies shows that investors continue to be careful about wh...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A deal for Comcast Corp. to buy a controlling stake in NBC Universal and create one of the most powerful media companies in the world is taking longer than expected as the current owners tussle over price.

Comcast, the largest cable TV operator in the United States, wants NBC Universal largely for i...

NEW YORK (AP) - Consumers who haven't yet ordered Barnes & Noble's electronic book reader, the Nook, won't see one before Christmas.

The earliest that anyone who orders the $259 device on Friday _ or later _ will receive it is Jan. 4, 2010, the nation's largest bookseller said Friday.

"While we increased production...

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A lawsuit in Wisconsin is bringing a fresh challenge to the practice of paying for keywords on Google and other search engines to boost one company's link over a rival's.

The practice has occasionally prompted a rival to file legal challenges alleging trademark infringement. Now a Wisconsin law firm...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Microsoft Corp. is giving away nearly 24,000 vouchers to North Carolina residents who want to improve their computer skills so they can improve their lot in the work force.

Gov. Beverly Perdue and the software giant announced Thursday in Charlotte the state's portion of Microsoft's Elevate America p...

BRUSSELS (AP) - European Union regulators said Friday that they have extended until Jan. 27 a deadline to wrap up their antitrust review of Oracle Corp.'s planned $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc.

The European Commission said Oracle had asked for more time "in order to have the opportunity to further d...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Some of the computer industry's biggest players _ such as IBM Corp., Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. _ have wowed Wall Street this fall with stronger-than-expected profits.

Dell Inc. didn't join them Thursday.

The company reported a 54 percent drop in net income and a 15 percent decline in reven...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes.

Last year, the University of Michigan and 24 other research libraries launched the HathiTrust Digital Library. The consortium said Thursday it's offering full...

TOKYO (AP) - Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said the service, set for launch next year, highlights an advantage that Sony has over ...

HAVANA (AP) - President Barack Obama has answered questions submitted by a celebrated Cuban blogger, saying he isn't interested in "talking for the sake of talking" with Raul Castro and indicating he won't visit the island until the communist government changes its ways.

In an unusual written response to Yoani Sa...