Hewlett-Packard's Mark Hurd may be remounting his company's services charge, according to The Wall Street Journal, which says he is close to signing a deal to acquire Electronic Data Systems for $12bn to $13bn.

Microsoft is appealing a record European Commission fine for not complying with a milestone European Commission anti-trust ruling.

Oracle is Friday expected to start laying off at least 500 staff, eliminating duplication across product engineering and management, following its $8.5bn acquisition of BEA Systems.

Police and trading standards officers in Yorkshire have seized counterfeit goods and equipment at a Bradford computer fair. The full retail value of the goods would have been £1m, they said.

As Intel and AMD near the end of the discovery process in their US antitrust battle, the two companies have begun fighting over whose testimony will make it to the big dance. In a legal filing, AMD has pointed to the employees at some of the technology world's biggest names - HP, Dell, IBM and others - who it thinks will help make its case. Intel has responded in kind, and it's now up to a judge to decide on the strength of the vendors' arguments.

IBM is reshuffling its senior management team, following the retirement of two company warhorses.

The United States Trade Representative has slammed China and Russia as the world's worst offenders for stealing US intellectual property - again.

Xbox fans helped propelled Microsoft's business during its latest quarter as the repercussions of last year's Windows Vista launch continued to be felt.

Announcing its second quarter financial results today, Apple confirmed the obvious by saying a "significant" number of iPhones are being purchased from its outlets with the express intention of unlocking them. That trend, coupled with higher-than-expected demand, has resulted in inventory shortages, the company claimed.

Dell is shutting down a call centre in Ottawa, with the loss of 1,100 jobs. The company told CBC news today that it has already issued 500 lay-off notices, and the rest of the jobs are to go in June. It is keeping on 100 sales support employees at the Ottawa site.

Two leading proponents of electronic health records have urged regulators and governments to wake up to Microsoft and Google's growing interest in storing medical information.

Motorola is sprucing up its neglected devices division to make it more attractive to investors.

Irish reseller Horizon Technology has agreed a recommended cash offer from IT distie Avnet, valuing the firm at €101.3m.

The proposed merger follows months of buy-out speculation. In March, Horizon admitted it was in talks with a possible buyer.

The chairman of Samsung will be prosecuted for allegedly hiding billions of dollars to avoid paying taxes, South Korean authorities have announced.

Chipmaker AMD posted its sixth consecutive loss yesterday, for the first quarter of 2008. The firm brought in revenues of $1.51bn, but made a net loss of $358m and an operating loss of $264m.

France Telecom (Orange) has confirmed it's looking at linking up with Scandinavian operator TeliaSonera, after rumours of a possible merger surfaced in the Le Figaro newspaper yesterday.

The New York legislature has approved an ingenious new law that would force Amazon and other big-name online retailers to collect sales tax on all goods shipped to the Empire State.

Struggling retail chain Blockbuster has offered more than $1bn for struggling retail chain Circuit City. The video rental outfit made the bid public today in an attempt to hurry a deal along.

AMD Chief Technology Officer Phil Hester has resigned. And he will not be replaced.

Site news Vulture Central is today delighted to announce the birth of the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing Reg Research Library - your one-stop shop for "technology decision makers seeking product information, independent research, case studies and white papers", as the Strategy Boutique blurb accompanying the launch puts it.