investments - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Microsoft throws away $315 million on failed Nook deal

  Microsoft took a big loss on its 2012 investment in Barnes & Noble, getting less than half of its original upfront $300 million back when the two firms parted ways today.

• Boston's Bolt launches hardware companies

  Watch the first episode in our new series Breakout Startups here.

• Intel plays defense against ARM with Cloudera stake

  Intel's US$740 million investment in software company Cloudera will help sell more x86 chips in Hadoop installations, but it could also be a defensive move to maintain its server lead from the emerging threat posed by 64-bit ARM servers.

• SAP lays out its strategy for growth, with HANA at the forefront

  SAP's strategy event for the investment community on Tuesday offered few major surprises to anyone who's been closely monitoring the software vendor lately, but did serve to cement the company's future direction for product development, growth and customer retention. Here's a look at some of the highlights of the event.

• Could Bitcoin's frothy venture funding dry up?

  Bitcoin: What is it, really? A digital currency? An investment? An Xbox game? For many people it's not clear, but that hasn't stopped venture capitalists from going gaga over it.

• SAP's Q2: The hot topics

  SAP is set to release its second-quarter results on Thursday, and as usual market watchers will be paying close attention given the vendor's bellwether status within the enterprise software market.

• Opinion: Dell has its work cut out for it

  Taking Dell private is a bold move, but won't ensure success. If you can't recognize opportunities and execute properly as a public company, buying yourself shelter from investors only takes you so far. The bigger challenge will be rejiggering the corporate culture and core processes to make more innovation possible.