The European Commission said it no longer needed a full-time monitoring trustee to make sure Microsoft Corp. was obeying an EU order to share technical information with rivals that would help them make products compatible with Microsoft servers.

Google has added its voice to the case against Microsoft as the European Commission probes antitrust charges related to the software giant's Internet Explorer browser. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95% of the world's personal computers.

An estimated 2,000 people attended the job expo hosted by the Richmond Times-Dispatch at its Hanover County production plant. The event was held from 9am to 1pm. Many described a job market that is becoming more competitive as the economic recession continues.

European Union Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen sees no chance to save Germany's insolvent chip maker Qimonda with the tools available to the EU, he said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday. 'Nobody can save a company whose owner does not want to save it.'

European Union finance ministers warned that they are running out of room to spend money to boost their economies, as Germany predicted its economy would shrink at least 2% this year and Hungary's currency fell to a record low despite recent efforts to prop it up.

The plasma screen television is poised to become the next victim of the battle to curb energy use. Giant energy-guzzling flatscreens are expected to be banned under legislation due to be agreed by the EU this spring.

More than half a million Americans lost their jobs in December, making 2008 the worst year for US employment since World War Two, while Europe's woes mounted as output from its factories plunged.

STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies, NXP, and Renesas Technology each said they received surprise visits from investigators in late October. All of them were raided by European Commission investigators seeking information of collusion in the market for chips used in smart cards.

Chinese and European leaders plotted their next steps as investors looked to governments to lead major economies out of recession because central banks could start running out of room to cut interest rates further.

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation is planning to sell the devices via online store Amazon's European outlets from 17 November. When it goes on sale the XO laptop is expected to cost £268 (313 euros) and should be available in 27 EU nations as well as Switzerland, Russia and Turkey. The original idea for the OLPC was to create a small, powerful laptop for school children that would sell in the millions yet cost less than $100.

The United States, Japan and Taiwan say the EU, officially known at the WTO as the European Communities (EC), is violating a 1996 WTO deal to limit barriers on trade in high-tech goods such as satellite boxes, flat panel computer monitors and digital scanners and printers.

...the challenge involves three products introduced after 1996, namely cable boxes that can access the Internet, flat-panel computer monitors, and certain computer printers that can also scan, fax, and/or copy. In short, the EU is claiming that these products are not information technology products because of the advancements made to their original designs. The EU’s opinion is that flat-panel monitors that show videos are TVs, not PC components, and therefore should see 14% duties...

For the past 10 years, U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been filing complaints with regulators in the U.S., Europe, and Asia alleging that Intel engaged in anticompetitive practices that limit consumer choice. Every time, Intel has responded by painting the charges as nothing more than the gripes of a jealous foe.

Nokia agreed to buy Navteq, the largest maker of maps used in car-navigation equipment, in October to add maps to its phones and compete with TomTom and Garmin. The European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator in Brussels, said the Nokia purchase raised no competition concerns. The case is the second acquisition of a digital map company to receive EU clearance this year. The commission approved plans by TomTom, Europe's biggest maker of car-navigation devices, to buy Tele Atlas NV on May 14.