George A. Chidi Jr

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp.

Big banks have thrown Lucent Technologies Inc. a financial lifeline, extending US$6.5 billion in credit to the struggling networking company, but they expect a quick turnaround in return for the loan.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton will speak at Oracle Corp.'s application developers convention AppsWorld in New Orleans on Monday, fueling rumors that he may be asked to join Oracle's board of directors.

Motorola Inc. announced further job cuts Friday, eliminating up to 4,000 jobs from its semiconductor division this year out of its total 130,000 employees.

Compaq Computer Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. each announced improvements to their storage area network (SAN) offerings last month.

Telecommunications manufacturer Nortel Networks Corp. announced a definitive agreement on Tuesday to buy JDS Uniphase Corp.'s 980-nanometer pump-laser chip design (pictured left) and manufacturing subsidiary for up to US$3 billion in stock.

Dutch ERP (enterprise resource planning) software maker Baan Co. NV unveiled a suite of Internet-based management applications and services Monday, its first offering since British software maker Invensys PLC bought a controlling stake in the embattled company last year.

Motorola Inc. will outsource elements of its wireless products CRM (customer relationship management), including distribution, warehousing, inventory capability, call centres, and the like to Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS), EDS said in a statement Wednesday.