It’s no secret the video game industry is having a rough 2009 here in the United States — but that's not the only place it's struggling.

Computer giant Apple Inc will open its first French store beneath the Louvre museum on Saturday just two weeks after Microsoft opened a theme cafe to promote its Windows 7 software.

While there are now over 100,000 apps in the Apple App store, the vast majority of them were created on a shoestring budget. With customers flocking toward lower-priced program, it just doesn’t make business sense to spend big development dollars—especially on games, the App store’s most crowded category.

Activision Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick said a change in the video game maker's release schedule caused the company to forecast a weaker than expected fourth quarter, but he spoke confidently about the upcoming release of games such as DJ Hero and Band Hero.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, has for years used large rebates and co-marketing arrangements to talk Dell and other manufacturers into sticking with its products rather than increasing their business with A.M.D., according to a lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general's office. The New York Times reports.

Productivity surged in the third quarter at the fastest pace in six years while labor costs continued to drop sharply.

The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits falls to the lowest level in 10 months, evidence that job cuts are easing as the economy slowly heals.

Economists expect productivity posted another sizzling advance in the July-September period while labor pressures plunged, a combination that will bolster companies' profits but continue to squeeze workers whose incomes stagnated during the recession.

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday the company's search engine partnership with Yahoo would not be limited to the U.S. but would be introduced around the world, once it gets regulatory approval.

Microsoft says it is cutting 800 more jobs. That's in addition to the 5,000 layoffs it announced in January.

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it is cutting a further 800 jobs across its operations, on top of 5,000 jobs already eliminated under a plan to reduce costs that was announced in January.

The most sweeping plan yet from anti-tax activist Tim Eyman was soundly rejected Tuesday as Washington state voters appeared unwilling to put government on a forced diet of limited revenue.

As more nervousness creeps into the US stock market, investors are sharpening their look at overseas opportunities where growth is outpacing the US recovery.

The video games sector has yet to gain from a downturn where consumers stay home to play, but social games creator Playfish says the industry is just beginning a new growth spurt.

Microsoft Corp. and Taiwan's economics ministry said they plan to set up a research center on the island by next year, in the software company's first Asian foray into the budding cloud computing industry.