In a desperate bid for survival, long-time office software maker Corel has agreed to a takeover by its majority investor, Vector Capital, a move that could help keep classic software packages such as WordPerfect and CorelDraw around as Microsoft Office alternatives, at least for a while.

Founded in 1985 with CorelDraw as its linchpin, Corel has struggled to compete with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office after acquiring the WordPerfect software title from Novell back in 1996. Corel has also produced literally dozens of other software titles over the years, often after acquiring them from other software vendors.

Google and TiVo are teaming up for a new deal that'll put your clicking habits into the hands of advertisers. Before you grab the nearest "privacy violation" placard, though, check out the specifics of this arrangement -- it's probably far less invasive than what you're expecting.

Google and TiVo's Ad Data Deal

Black Friday is only days away, and while early sales have been heating up this year, the day after Thanksgiving will still be a day for big bargains. If you haven't already, you should get warmed up for the big shopping day by checking out PC World's 10 Fascinating Facts (they're really tips) for Black Friday 2009, 8 tech tools to keep you on top of this year's deals, and some online shopping pointers from Black Friday pros.

The only thing left to do is keep an eye on the hottest destinations on the Web touting Black Friday deals. Here's a list of Web sites you'll want to keep an eye on, so sync them across your computers with Chrome bookmarks, save them to delicious or just store them in your favorite browser. Whatever you do, don't miss out on these sites to help you find great bargains.

Amazon has boosted the battery life of its Kindle e-reader and added native support for PDF documents, and you don't even have to buy new hardware to get the benefits.

The retailer says it made the battery improvements through a firmware upgrade that took six months to develop. As a result, Amazon claims that Kindles will get an 85 percent boost in battery life, lasting seven days with wireless turned on compared to four days previously. With wireless turned off, the Kindle will last up to two weeks on a charge, same as before.

Apple's jumping into the battle that sees Verizon Wireless and AT&T flaming each other in advertisements, but unlike AT&T's recent effort to defend itself, Apple's new pair of iPhone ads are actually good.

To recap, Verizon fired the first volley with ads that dissed AT&T's lack of 3G coverage. AT&T sued Verizon, claiming that the maps mislead viewers because areas with slower coverage appeared in white, giving the impression that those areas had no coverage at all. A judge ruled in Verizon's favor, allowing the company's ads to keep rolling. So AT&T retaliated with a lame and even childish ad that featured actor Luke Wilson checking off four bullet points in the carrier's favor.

Navigating your way out of town for Thanksgiving got easier for more Android users, thanks to Google. In a blog post , Google announced that Google Maps Navigation Beta (of course) is now available for free for mobile devices running Android version 1.6 and higher.

That means that users of phones such as T-Mobile's G1 and the myTouch 3G will have access to the app's excellent navigation features. Google Maps Navigation enhances turn-by-turn navigation by merging GPS functionality with features you're already used to on Google Maps such as street view , satellite view , and searching for a specific business by name.

Facebook has reportedly blocked an exploit propagating on the social networking site, which spreads when users click to see a revealing photo of a woman.

In a battle between AT&T and Verizon Wireless that never seems to end, AT&T's partner Apple now appears to be getting into the mix with two retaliatory iPhone TV ad that air Monday night. The ads comes hot on the heels of AT&T's TV ad campaign that aimed to "set the record straight" around Verizon's "there's a map for that" campaign.

The two Apple ads (see below) show the iPhone's ability to browse the Web and manage phone calls simultaneously, a feat that's possible over AT&T's UMTS/GSM wireless network but not over Verizon's CDMA network, according to an account in Apple Insider.

Google's gobbling up another advertising company, the search giant has announced. Google will acquire Teracent, a Silicon Valley startup specializing in "intelligent display advertising." Yep -- that means more online ads customized specifically for your visit.

Teracent, of course, is far from Google's first foray into the online advertising world; as most people who use the Web can't help but know, Google-served ads are practically everywhere these days. Here's an overall look at Google's ad-related acquisitions and how they play into your online life.

A report from AdMob has people claiming there is now proof that iPhone users now account for more than half of mobile data traffic. For months now many have suspected the iPhone -- with its data-hungry applications -- is a network bandwidth hog. But a closer look at the AdMob report reveals iPhone users probably aren't as hoggish as some in the blogosphere are claiming.

It's not totally fair to extrapolate AdMob's results, as AppleInsider does (and as we have), to all smartphone data traffic, because that's not what the report measures. AdMob serves advertisements for mobile Web sites, but its in-app ads only appear on the iPhone and Android phones. AdMob spokeswoman Nicole Leverich said that roughly a third of the company's network consists of iPhone and Android applications.

It's official: AOL is now Aol. As the fading Internet giant nears its 20th anniversary, the newly independent media company is prepping for another revamp. The latest step is a new logo, as seen below. The corporate name is now spelled with an upper case "A," a lower case "o" and "l," and a period:

Microsoft Windows 8 may be coming as early as 2012, based on a recent rash of comments and hints dropped by Microsoft personnel in official capacity and informal context.