IBT Staff Reporter

Computer makers Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) are likely to benefit as Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) rolls out its next-generation Windows operating system, one research firm says.

The Metropolitan Opera launched ticket sales this week for a new series of live high-definition (HD) broadcasts into movie theatres.

Design and art software firm Adobe Systems made a pre-release version of its popular photo-editing software available for download this week, giving graphic artists and investors alike, a taste of its next-generation software.

Online visits to the Holiday eShopping Index grew 20 percent year-over-year last week, with eBay, Amazon and Wal-Mart leading other online shopping destinations new analysis shows.

Podcasts are gaining in popularity, one research firm finds, with more Internet users downloading podcasts as the number of podcast creators grows.

As holiday shopping winds down, new research shows Toy shoppers are migrating more to Target stores than the main competition which includes Toys R Us and Wal-Mart.

Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) on Friday announced the promotion of Larry D. Stone to be the next president and chief operating officer of the firm, effective immediately.

Black & Decker Co. (NYSE: BDK) on Friday announced that it had reduced its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter for fiscal 2006, attributing the change to weaker demand by key retailers.

Skype, the Internet communications division of Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), announced two key personnel changes Friday.

Microsoft Game Studios and Epic Games, Inc., said on Friday that the Xbox 360-exclusive title, Gears of War, has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide since its release six weeks ago.

CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) on Friday said it is reintroducing CBS Records in an attempt to give its television producers lower production costs and to gain a share of the growing digital music market.

Google is offering a way to extend its calendar, e-mail, and instant messenger services to customers currently without a registered domain name.

Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKC) on Friday announced that it had signed an exclusive agreement with Burger King Japan Co. Ltd paving the way for the first store to be open in the first half of 2007.

Sales of digital music have grown dramatically in 2006, according to a new study, with sales of digital music downloads growing nearly 70 percent for the year.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. announced it will make an investment in the parent company of game publisher Eidos Interactive on Friday, expanding its reach beyond television and movies, and into home gaming.

The semiconductor market will reach $400 billion in 2011 and will see double-digit average increases of 10.1 percent over the next 5 years, according to new research.

The Mexican Tourism Board is in the midst of its ‘beaches on wheels' campaign in an effort to lure Canadians and Americans away from the cold to the tropical resorts awaiting them in Mexico.

Nintendo's Wii controller was the most popular video game accessory for the month of November based on sales. It outsold the next hottest accessory by over 20,000 units.

Google announced a new search feature on Thursday, allowing internet users to search through millions of U.S patents issued over the past 200 years.

Cisco Systems announced that it has made an investment of US$50 million in China Communications Services Corporation Limited (CCS), on Thursday, making the firm the largest foreign investor in the Chinese telecom company.

Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) pushed its lead even further in the global Hard Disk Drive (HDD) market, while getting a head start in next-generation recording technology, new research finds.

Following a free calling promotion in the US and Canada earlier this year, Internet communications firm Skype will now offer customers a year-long unlimited calls plan at a flat rate.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced that its new search ad platform, is now available to advertisers.

Microsoft is giving aspiring independent software developers the tools to build and distribute their own games or applications for the Xbox 360 game console.

Researchers from IBM, Macronix and Qimonda announced joint research results to a new kind computer memory technology on Monday, with the potential to be the successor to flash memory chips.

Google Inc. announced late last week that it has begun testing its new radio advertising service, a move that represents the company's most elaborate attempt to expand its operations beyond the Internet.

Mace Security International Inc. (Nasdaq: MACE) on Friday sold its Arizona Car Wash Region to an undisclosed buyer for $19.25 million in cash.

Video game sales for November rose 12 percent in November, led by strong Xbox 360 game sales and a slight increase for Playstation 2 titles, according to a new report.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) released its next generation Windows Vista operating system to corporate customers this month, priced at nearly $200 for an upgrade. New research suggests that in addition to software costs, some consumers may see hardware costs soar by 20 percent in order to support the new platform.