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IBM Corp is expected to report solid fourth quarter results on January 19 under new chief executive Virginia Rometty as investors look for news about the potential impact of the Eurozone crisis and currency headwinds in 2012.

A survey by IBM, the No. 2 global computer services company, found consumers use technology for purchases, particularly social networks.

It seems like the education world is getting more contentious each day.

A handful of technology leaders – IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Google and Apple – are all scheduled to report quarterly earnings over the next week. Here are five things to watch when the numbers come out because they may indicate prospects for 2012.

More than a dozen of the biggest technology companies including IBM, Cisco Systems and SAP formally announced a new standards-setting committee for the emerging sector of cloud computing.

Email is one of the Catch-22's of an Internet-connected age: communication becomes easy enough to fill an inbox with hundreds of time-consuming messages that beg responses.

Microsoft's Xbox 720 and Sony's PlayStation 4 are the two gaming consoles that have been heavily discussed on the Internet over the last few months.

Former Apple CEO John Sculley called for “disruptive technologies” to determine how to marry healthcare with emerging computer and telecommunications technologies.

Hampton Adams has been one of CES' most loyal devotees for 15 years. But unlike a good chunk of the 140,000-plus who descend on the world's largest technology showcase every January, the portfolio manager is less keen on fiddling with cutting-edge technology than picking winners.

Infosys Ltd cut its full-year revenue outlook because of the debt crisis in Europe, sending down the shares of the No.2 Indian software services exporter by as much as 7.7 percent to their lowest in more than a month.

Hampton Adams has been one of CES' most loyal devotees for 15 years. But unlike a good chunk of the 140,000-plus who descend on the world's largest technology showcase every January, the portfolio manager is less keen on fiddling with cutting-edge technology than picking winners.

If it were 1992, IBM might well have been one of the biggest exhibitors at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There would have been a huge display of IBM PCs, software and printers, even though the printer unit had been sold the year before.

A city official said the Economic Development Corporation remained hopeful about creating another tech partnership. If the new plans go through, the EDC could be making an announcement in the coming weeks.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) may report lower backlogs for its fourth quarter, hurt by challenging business conditions at its software and systems units.

The $190 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry is about to begin its annual winter extravaganza in Las Vegas, where the latest toys, gadgets, smartphones, video games, TVs, cameras, tablets and laptops will be unveiled - some not to be available until late in 2012.

The $190 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry is about to began its annual winter extravaganza in Las Vegas where the latest toys, gadgets, smartphones, video games, TVs, cameras and laptops will be unveiled – some not to be available until late in 2012.The real story may be in improving people's lives.

Has the U.S. stock market's gyrations left you feeling a little perplexed? Then consider the stocks of large-capitalization companies with demonstrated business models. And here are five.

IBM said it was honored by the European Commission for 27 data centers that reduce energy consumption “in a cost-effective manner” without lowering mission-critical capabilities

A new decline in the value of the Euro could hit major U.S. technology exporters which dodged the bullet in the fourth quarter. Companies included HP, IBM, Oracl;e and Cisco Systems.

Major U.S. technology companies, which derive the majority of their revenue from abroad, with between 25 percent and 33 percent overall from Europe, have warned about potential fallout from the Eurozone crisis since last July.

Google's patent portfolio just got stronger. The software corporation managed to acquire over 200 patents from IBM Corp.

Shares of troubled BlackBerry developer Research in Motion leaped as much as 9.3 percent Tuesday on reports the company would elect an outside director as chairman.

For the 20th consecutive year, Intel was the world’s biggest chipmaker, with a commanding lead over No. 2 rival, Samsung Electronics, market research firm Gartner estimated.

With the proliferation of cheap and fast video streaming, passionate fans, and eager corporate sponsors, electronic sports may be poised to become a standard ingredient in the global entertainment mix -- although the budding industry still faces a few challenges.

Technology companies appear likely to resume battle in 2012 on three major fronts of the patent wars: smartphone designs, operating systems and semiconductor chip sets. Despite passage of copyright reform under the America Invents Act in September, technology lawsuits persist and experienced lawyers worry that little will change.

Steve Jobs famously left Apple for nearly a decade in the 90s, but when he returned, he not only helped revive the company he founded, he also donated a trove of Apple documents and photos to Stanford University's Silicon Valley Archives. In 1997, Stanford took charge of what was to become an Apple museum, and turned two truckloads of books, software, videotapes and more into Stanford's Apple Collection.

As 2011’s mediocre stock market returns become final, what should technology investors seek for U.S. initial public offerings of technology companies for 2012?

IBM, the No. 2 U.S. computer services provider, inked a 10-year services contract with Spain’s biggest savings bank, La Caixa, valued at 2 billion Euros (US $2.6 billion).

Investors didn’t get rich owning generalized technology stocks but they fared well with some of the traditional winners with good management and proven technology.