Apple and Eminem square off in court

Photo: Aftermath Records

[UPDATE: The trial has begun. See below.]

Barring a last-minute settlement, Apple will face Eminem's music publisher in a Detroit courtroom this morning.

At issue are royalties on 93 songs that Apple (AAPL) has been selling on its iTunes music store under an agreement with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, which controls the rapper's sound recordings.

Eight Mile Style LLC, Eminem's music publisher, claims copyright infringement and is seeking to recover MORE

Online video ads: The tipping point is near

Large advertisers are starting to shift their ad budgets to online video. Is the demise of broadcast television at hand?

By Jason Glickman, CEO, Tremor Media

Glickman: online video ads are on the verge of the big time. Photo: Tremor Media

At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards this week, television actors were full of quips about the demise of their medium: "Amy [Poehler] and I are honored to be presenting on the MORE

Apple's 2009 earnings up nearly 44% under new accounting rules - analyst

How much will Apple's (AAPL) reported earnings be affected by the new accounting rules approved Wednesday?

A lot, says Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster.

In a note to clients issued early Thursday, Munster offered his estimated earnings per share under the new and old rules for fiscal years 2009 (which ends in two days) and 2010:

2009 EPS: $8.21, up from $5.71  -- a 43.8% increase
2010 EPS: $8.90, up from $6.00  -- a 48% MORE

Getting girls to groove on science

Men still outnumber women in science and engineering fields. Would a science-loving "Hannah Montana" type change that?

Ride says girls' interest in science slides by middle school. Photo: Sally Ride Science

At Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit last week I facilitated a conversation called "Making Science Cool." Specifically, we gathered to talk about making science cool for girls and young women as they contemplate areas of study and potential careers.

The discussion MORE

Accounting board votes 5-0 for pro-Apple rule change

In the end, the vote was unanimous.

After months of lobbying by a stack of blue-chip high tech companies, the FASB -- the entity that sets accounting standards in the United States -- voted 5-0 Wednesday to approve an accounting change that could boost the reported earnings, and the stock price, of dozens of Silicon Valley firms.

The new rules are expected to be especially beneficial to Apple (AAPL). They would put MORE

Apple's tablet stoppeth one of five

Rendering: Piper Jaffray

Coleridge's Ancient Mariner had nothing on Apple's (AAPL) much-rumored tablet.

Without even a prototype -- like Microsoft's (MSFT) -- to look at, 21% of 3,100 respondents in a RBC Capital/ChangeWave survey said they'd be interested in buying an Apple tablet computer in the $500 to $700 price range. That's better than the 9% who said they would be interested in buying the original iPhone in an April 2007 MORE

Is Microsoft relevant?

Ellison asks if Microsoft matters. Photo: Oracle

Oracle's Ellison gives the tech world a topic. Discuss among yourselves.

Does Microsoft matter? That's the question the noted Microsoft (MSFT) hater and Oracle (ORCL) CEO Larry Ellison found himself answering at a Silicon Valley event Monday night. The short answer, as Jon Fortt reported here, was yes.

The longer version of his answer on the one hand shows Ellison as the old zen MORE

Windows 7 launch parties: Microsoft's lamest idea yet

Photo: Microsoft

Somebody at Microsoft (MSFT) must have taken to heart the zinger in the first Laptop Hunter ad: the PC shopper's fear that she might not be "cool enough to be a Mac person."

How else to explain the deliberate, extravagant uncoolness of the Windows 7 Launch Party campaign?

These house parties, in case you haven't yet received your invitation, are intimate gatherings of 9 guests and a host to be MORE

Intel chief is (relatively) bullish on PCs

Otellini predicts computer sales will be slightly up in '09 even as he promotes new chipset for portable devices that are not-so-PC-like.

Otellini predicts PC sales will be flat or up a bit. Photo: Intel

Intel (INTC) CEO Paul Otellini, with a more bullish call than many analysts, expects sales of PCs in 2009 to at least rival 2008. "My own bet is that we are likely to see unit (sales) MORE

Apple: Accounting rule vote today

[UPDATE: The FASB voted 5-0 Wednesday to approve the rule change. See here.]

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the organization empowered by the SEC to set accounting standards in the United States, is set to vote Wednesday, Sept. 23, on rule changes that could significantly affect Apple's (AAPL) reported earnings and stock price, according to a report to clients issued Tuesday by Morgan Stanley's Kathryn Huberty.

The new rules -- for MORE