From the Lab

If you've been over at TechCrunch during the past couple of weeks, it probably hasn't escaped your attention that the online tech pub this week is hosting its TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, where a bunch of start-ups officially launch and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington plants himself permanently on stage in an effort to goad

Are they really tablets, or e-book readers on steroids? It all depends on how you look at it, but Sharp's announcement today that it will release a pair of e-book readers in December as part of a new e-bookstore service might have many consumers scratching their heads, though initially most of those heads will be in Japan.

Technology giants such as Google, Dell and Microsoft may be thrilled over the Federal Communications Commission's decision Thursday allowing wireless broadband to run on vacant TV channels, but consumers will have to be patient. tweetmeme_source = 'ITworld';

Signaling an intention to accelerate the growth of its fledgling networking business, computer maker Dell on Thursday announced it has hired a former Cisco Systems executive to lead the charge.