January 26

1970
The IBM Data Processing Division (DPD) introduces the IBM 2721 portable audio terminal which allows users to interface with an IBM System/360 over a phone line.

1981
A day before the lawsuit brought by Greyhound against IBM alleging antitrust violations begins, the two companies announce a settlement. IBM agrees to pay Greyhound US$17.7 million with no admissions of guilt in exchange for Greyhound dropping their lawsuit. The settlement brings the long line of lawsuits against IBM, which began in 1972, to an end.

1983
Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program for IBM computers, is released by The Lotus Development Corporation, which was founded by Mitchell Kapor, a friend of the developers of VisiCalc, the first killer ap. Lotus will begin outselling the popular VisiCalc by the end of the year, and for several years, it will be the leading spreadsheet software for the DOS operating system. It’s popularity is a major factor in the success of the the IBM PC in business. Unlike Microsoft Multiplan, its design is extremely similar to VisiCalc. It is free of notable bugs, and its performance is extremely efficient because it is written entirely in assembly language, bypassing the slower DOS screen input/output functions in favor of writing directly to memory-mapped video display hardware.

1994
The first version of the Doom Editing Utility, a utility developed by Doom fans for creating new game levels, is released on the Internet.

1997
At the Macworld Conference & Expo, Steven Jobs announces Allegro, Mac OS 8, Rhapsody, and Sonata, as well as discussing NeXT and the general business outlook of Apple Computer. Jobs has officially returned to Apple as an advisor as part of a deal with Job’s company NeXT. Visit the official website of the Macworld Conference.

1998
Compaq Computer announces the acquistion of Digital Equipment Corporation for US$9.6 billion. It is the largest acquisition in the history of the computer industry.

Intel releases the 333MHz Pentium II processor, featuring MMX instructions, a 66MHz bus, and a 512KB Level-2 cache operating at 167MHz. It is the first Pentium II processor manufactured with Intel’s advanced 0.25 micron CMOS process. Code-name: Deschutes Price: US$722

1999
Sun CEO Scott McNealy made the comment You have zero privacy – Get over it. After being asked what he called a Dumb question about the Jini platform.

2000
The W3C releases Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML).

2003
The chess match between Garry Kasparov and Deep Junior 7 begins in New York with Kasparov winning the first game. Deep Junior will win the third game, and the other four games will end in draws, leaving the match a draw on February 7, 2003. This match is the first competition between a man and a machine sanctioned by FIDE (World Chess Federation). Deep Junior was programed over ten years by Amir Ban and Shay Bushinksy of Tel Aviv. It is capable of evaluating three million moves a second, fifteen moves deep.

2004
Mydoom, also known as Novarg, is first detected. It will rapidly become the fastest-spreading e-mail worm in history, shattering the record previously held by the Sobig worm.

Version 3.0.1 of the Fermi Linux LTS operating system, Feynman, is released. Visit the official Fermi Linux Website.

2005
Sun Microsystems releases 1,673 patents to open-source developers working on OpenSolaris, following the release of the source code to Solaris 10. It is the largest single release of patents into open source in history. Read more at the official Sun Microsystems website.

2006
The city of Los Angeles files a lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, accusing the company of failing to disclose the game’s sexual content, particularly the Hot Coffee minigame.

Jeffrey Brett Goodin, age 45, is arrested on federal charges alleging that he sent thousands of e-mails to America Online users that appeared to be from AOL’s Billing Department which prompted subscribers to send personal information and credit card numbers, which were later used by the defendant to make unauthorized purchases. Read more at the US Department of Justice’s website.

Sony announces that it will discontinue production of the AIBO (Artificial Intelligence roBOt) robotic pet dog.

Western Union discontinues its telegram service.

2009
Phillips cuts 6000 jobs

database information including passwords, e-mails, and phone numbers were illegally accessed from monster.com although the stolen information doesn’t include Social Security numbers, monster issues a statement to alert your banks.

Apple is awarded a patent for their multi-touch user interface on the iPhone.

In an effort to the camera phone the predator alert act, Congressman Pete King introduces a bill to the House of Representatives that would ban camera phones from having a silent mode when taking a picture.

2012
Google+ opens their social network to anyone 13 or older

2014
Google and Samsung announce a cross-licensing deal to cover most patents held by each company and any patent created in the next 10 years.