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IBM announced on Wednesday it will invest $3 billion over the next five years in chip research and development in hopes of finding a game-changing breakthrough that can help revive its slumping hardware unit. IBM announced the plan a week before its widely anticipated second quarter earnings. Last quarter, sales in its hardware sector plunged 23 percent from a year earlier and the company posted its lowest quarterly revenue in five years. IBM hopes to find ways to scale and shrink silicon chips to make them more efficient, and research new materials to use in making chips, such as carbon nanotubes, which are more stable than silicon and are also heat resistant and can provide faster connections. "The message to our investors is that we are committed to this space, we believe there is great innovation possible that will be necessary in world of big data analytics, said Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president of IBM's Systems and Technology Group. "These are essential i

Mexican telecoms company America Movil plans to divest assets as quickly as possible to escape tougher regulation, and it hopes to sell to a single buyer, spokesman Arturo Elias said on Wednesday. _0"> The company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim announced on Tuesday that it was ready to sell assets to cut its market share in Mexican telecoms below 50 percent and avoid regulations that apply only to dominant players. Those new rules are part of a telecommunications sector overhaul approved by Congress in an attempt to curb the power of America Movil and broadcaster Televisa. Shares of America Movil were up 8.69 percent at 14.6 pesos. The company has a market value of well over $70 billion. It has some 70 percent of the mobile market and is the dominant force in fixed line and Internet. America Movil will have to sell 15 percent to 17 percent of its share in telephony to weigh in below the 50 percent threshold and still have margin to grow, and aimed to do so as quick

Aereo, the video streaming service which sought to provide an alternative to traditional television broadcasters, said it believes it can still operate despite a crippling U.S. Supreme Court ruling that caused the company to suspend service, according to a court filing on Wednesday. _0"> The Supreme Court last month said Aereo violated copyright law by using tiny antennas to broadcast TV content online to paying subscribers. The decision was a victory for traditional broadcasters, such as CBS Corp, Comcast Corp's NBC, Walt Disney Co's ABC, and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's Fox. After the ruling, Aereo announced that it was suspending service, and litigation in a related case involving the company resumed in a Manhattan federal court. CBS argued in a joint filing on Wednesday that the case should be dismissed in light of the Supreme Court ruling, but Aereo disagreed. "Although Aereo has temporarily suspended operations, Aereo believes that it can still o

Apple Inc acknowledged on Wednesday it needs to address manufacturing partners' carbon emissions and its own rising water consumption, though the iPhone maker said it had cut back sharply on greenhouse gas output. _0"> Apple last year hired former Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to push cleaner initiatives, amid past criticism over its emissions and use of toxic materials. Observers say it has improved its practices and earned better scores from groups such as Greenpeace. On Wednesday, Apple released its 2014 environmental responsibility report, saying investments in renewable energy helped slash its carbon footprint from energy use by 31 percent from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013. That's despite power consumption soaring 44 percent over the same period. ( here ) But the company, which is building its future main campus not far from its current base in Silicon Valley, said water usage had spiked as a result of general construction and expansion. It

Chinese hackers broke into the computer networks of the U.S. government agency that keeps the personal information of all federal employees in March, the New York Times reported, citing senior U.S. officials. _0"> The hackers appeared to be targeting files on tens of thousands of employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances, the newspaper said. ( nyti.ms/1mL8sRb ) Asked about the report during annual high-level talks between the U.S. and China on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the "alleged incident" did not appear to have impacted sensitive information. "What we have heard is that it relates to an attempted intrusion. It is still being investigated by U.S. authorities," he said. "At this point in time it does not appear to have compromised any sensitive material." The hackers gained access to some of the databases of the Office of Personnel Management before federal authorities detected the threat and bl

Silent Circle, a company known for mobile apps designed to thwart government surveillance, is introducing a fixed price, secrecy-cloaking service on Thursday that lets customers make and receive private phone calls. The secure voice-and-data calling plan works on Apple iOS and Android smartphones and, eventually, on Windows Mobile systems, the company said. Callers can reach 79 countries, including China, Russia, most of Europe and the Americas. Large parts of the Middle East and Africa are not covered. The service aims to challenge not just traditional phone carriers - who still by and large charge steep roaming fees to international travelers - but also to newer, voice-over-Internet services that have sprung up over the past decade. For while Silent Circle undercuts major competitors' roaming costs in many countries, the service's basic attraction lies in its security features. "What Silent Circle is offering is an augmented level of security beyond what normal pho

Silent Circle, a company known for mobile apps designed to thwart government surveillance, is introducing a fixed price, secrecy-cloaking service on Thursday that lets customers make and receive private phone calls. The secure voice-and-data calling plan works on Apple iOS and Android smartphones and, eventually, on Windows Mobile systems, the company said. Callers can reach 79 countries, including China, Russia, most of Europe and the Americas. Large parts of the Middle East and Africa are not covered. The service aims to challenge not just traditional phone carriers - who still by and large charge steep roaming fees to international travelers - but also to newer, voice-over-Internet services that have sprung up over the past decade. For while Silent Circle undercuts major competitors' roaming costs in many countries, the service's basic attraction lies in its security features. "What Silent Circle is offering is an augmented level of security beyond what normal pho