oracle

Even after a round of acquisitions in 2010, some big tech companies are still rolling in cash -- and 2011 looks like another promising year for tech mergers. Here's columnist Peter Cohan's list of top tech acquisition targets for 2011.

Software company SAP must pay rival Oracle interest on a $1.3 billion copyright infringement verdict, a federal district judge has ruled.

Oracle, one of the world's biggest software companies, on Thursday posted fiscal second-quarter earnings that grew 28% year over year. It's the latest sign that companies are spending more on technology.

As it looks for ways to grow, Salesforce.com is targeting another big market: databases. Its new offering, Database.com, looks to be a direct threat to Oracle. Maybe its time for Oracle to finally get serious about cloud computing.

Hewlett-Packard'sfiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 5.2% as the world's biggest computer maker saw increased demand for high-margin products such as servers and networking and storage equipment that offset lackluster consumer demand for PCs.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison testified that rival SAP owes his company $4 billion for stealing intellectual property. SAP has admitted that its now-defunct subsidiary, TomorrowNow, stole customer-support documents from Oracle -- but contends that it only owes about $40 million.

Before taking over the top spot at Hewlett-Packard, Leo Apotheker was CEO of SAP, the German business-software maker now on trial over corporate espionage allegations from Oracle. But HP says Apotheker won't testify at the trial.

German software company SAP has agreed to pay its larger competitor, Oracle, $120 million to partially settle allegations of intellectual-property theft. But it's only the first part of the settlement; you can expect more to come.

Oracle further satisfied its voracious appetite for acquisitions Tuesday, announcing plans to snap up e-commerce software maker Art Technology Group in a $1 billion deal.

Jury selection for a major copyright case involving Oracle and its smaller competitor SAP started in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, marking the beginning of a trial between the two software rivals that's been more than two years in the making