From PC World: If you can't beat them, buy them: Salesforce.com is snapping up SteelBrick, a startup that builds quoting and billing functions for SMEs on the Salesforce cloud platform.

Apps built natively on the platform allow Salesforce.com customers to add functionality to their CRM systems with...

From InfoWorld: Dissatisfied with the quality of Web apps compared to their native cousins, Google is pursuing its Progressive Web Apps concept, which looks to combine the best of the Web and the best of apps. Intended for any form factor, Progressive apps load quickly even on questionable network...

From CRN: Oracle has inked an agreement to acquire StackEngine, a tiny Austin, Texas-based startup that develops management and automation tools for Docker containers.

Oracle disclosed the acquisition Friday in a bulletin on its website and said all StackEngine employees will be moving over to work...

From ComputerWorld: Google is working on a new messaging app that will employ artificial intelligence to bring some of the company's data smarts to a chat bot service in the software, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The new chat service would allow users to talk with friends or...

From PC World: Some payment terminals can be hijacked to commit mass fraud against customers and merchants, researchers have found.

The terminals, used predominantly in Germany but also elsewhere in Europe, were designed without following best security principles, leaving them vulnerable to a...

From CNET: Hulu's January looks very good. For spy fans, check out "Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007" and "Mission: Impossible" starring Tom Cruise. Both arrive on January 1. Some fun movies like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "Scrooged" hit Hulu on that same day.

On the TV...

From PC World: NetApp is acquiring startup SolidFire for US$870 million cash for a foothold in the fast-growing market for scale-out flash storage.

SolidFire's all-flash systems will let enterprises take advantage of the scale and cost advantages enjoyed by Web-scale companies with distributed data...

From ComputerWorld: Cortana for Android users are expressing their frustration after Microsoft turned off the app's "Hey Cortana" voice activation feature on Sunday.

While reviewers are frustrated that they can't activate Microsoft's virtual assistant using just their voice, it seems that the...

From InfoWorld: Security issues have long bedeviled users of Oracle's Java SE, and on Monday the FTC's efforts to address the problem finally came to fruition.

Oracle has agreed to settle charges that it deceived consumers about the security provided by updates to its Java Standard Edition software...

From CNET: Apple has trimmed the prices of its newest iPhones in a country where their cost is beyond the reach of most consumers, according to a news report.

The company has lowered prices on its iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus by up to 16 percent in India as demand for the devices fell following...