Microsoft confirmed Thursday that it will extend the sales of Windows XP Home to OEMs beyond the current deadline of June 30, 2008, to accommodate a new class of ultra-low-cost PCs (ULCPCs) that are just beginning to pepper the market.

For all the fanfare surrounding the launch of Intel's Centrino Atom chip package at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, there was a notable shortage of new products based on the chips, apart from a few concept designs rolled out for the occasion.

Lenovo Group completed the sale of its handset unit to a group of investors on March 31, the company said Thursday, marking the official end of its foray into the mobile phone business.

The economic slowdown in the U.S. has led Gartner to revise its 2008 worldwide PC shipments forecast downward slightly but the analyst firm is still predicting a strong year, particularly in the mobility space.

Microsoft plans to extend the availability of Windows XP for low-cost laptops beyond June 30, with an announcement expected later this week, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Microsoft's slow march to service pack 3 for Windows XP continued Tuesday as the company released a refresh of its latest beta code.

Time Warner Cable and Comcast are negotiating a deal to invest in a new nationwide WiMAX company that would be jointly operated by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Motorola will split into two companies, one making mobile devices and the other making network infrastructure, the company announced Wednesday.

Samsung's Anycall Haptic looks like a thinner version of Apple's iPhone, but adds a new dimension to the touch interface.

Lenovo Group Chairman Yang Yuanqing wants to challenge perceptions of Chinese companies as mainly producers of cheap, low-end products.

Microsoft will release Windows XP Service Pack 3 during the second half of April, according to a report from a Web site that has correctly predicted recent Windows ship dates.

A technical committee in India has rejected Microsoft's Office Open XML file format as a standard.

Bain Capital Partners and China's Huawei Technologies have abandoned their bid to buy U.S. networking firm 3Com because of security concerns by the U.S. government, Bain said.

A 21-year-old could face up to 10 years in prison in the U.S. after pleading guilty to installing advertising software on PCs located around Europe without permission.

With less than two weeks to go before the start of the H-1B visa rush, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) released rules Wednesday to prevent applicants from trying to unfairly boost their odds in the expected visa lottery.

Science fiction writer, inventor, scuba diver, and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke died Tuesday at his home on the island nation of Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

Google plans to roll out enhancements to its online spreadsheet program, including the ability to display data in new ways using lightweight "gadgets" and to notify users via e-mail when data is changed.

IBM has opened a new data center in Dublin aimed at letting businesses use its computing power and applications for collaborative projects such as software and IT services development.

Microsoft will release Windows Vista Service Pack 1 on Tuesday to a wider audience, according to information posted on Amazon.com and reports from a Web site that correctly called SP1's ship date last month.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by Microsoft to halt an antitrust suit that Novell filed against the company for anticompetitive behavior it said harmed its WordPerfect and QuattroPro business in the 1990s.