It’s been called the “rapture of the nerds,” but such derision didn’t stop an estimated 500 enthusiasts from showing up to the Singularity Institute’s conference in San Jose, Calif., last weekend to discuss the possibility of artificial intelligence overtaking that of humans.

The results are in, and NASA’s latest fly-by of Mercury is shedding new light on the solar system’s smallest planet. The Messenger space probe zipped around Mercury early in October, examining parts of the planet never before explored. The latest mission is the second of three passes Messenger will take around the planet.

All together now: The Beatles are getting their own video game. If you’re of a certain age, than the idea of playing a “Rock Band”-esque game featuring the Fab Four’s music will almost certainly make you twist and shout. The big question is this: will younger gamers raised on Metallica and Pearl Jam want to [...]

Netflix subscribers who also happen to own an Xbox 360 — and have an Xbox Live membership — learned last summer they’d be able to access streaming video via the gaming console, but what they didn’t know until recently is that some of those titles will be available in high definition. Users of the Microsoft’s [...]

Pity the Patent and Trademark Office examining attorney who gave Dell the green light propelling its trademark application for the term “cloud computing” toward the home stretch this summer. That particular individual was obviously unaware that the phrase had become, over the course of a year, one of the hottest buzzwords in the tech industry.

Paul Martino, CEO of Aggregate Knowledge, describes three categories for online advertising: Rich media, video and traditional display. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Aggregate Knowledge provides technology for online advertising and search. In an ECT News Network exclusive interview, Martino discusses the present and future of the online advertising market.

Several high-profile technology companies, human rights organizations, academics and investors have joined forces to launch the Global Network Initiative. Announced Tuesday, the GNI intends to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy throughout the information and communication technology industry.

The money trail of big tech pay-offs began with voice, then moved to text and now is headed squarely to image data. No longer are businesses or individuals satisfied with words on a page peppered with flat and lifeless 2-D images. Today’s big data boost is far more colorful and dynamic than that.

Just a few more days. Yes, the U.S. presidential election is a mere week away, but there’s another countdown going on. Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition, the Intrepid Ibex release, is set to go live on Thursday. The beta has excited both users and potential users of the popular distro because of its rich mobility functionality, [...]

University of Delaware’s Dr. Ian Appelbaum is looking to “spin” his research on the magnetic properties of electrons to get more electronic enhancements from semiconductors. Appelbaum’s research is now funded in part with a nearly half-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.