EBay will open a tool used by 700,000 of its merchants to external developers, the next step in an ongoing effort to promote the creation of applications for its online marketplace.

Former Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) chief executive Carly Fiorina says the changes she made at HP have yet to play out in the marketplace so it's too soon to assess her impact, or that of her successor, Mark Hurd, on the company.

The drive to replace DVD technology with newer discs boasting greater storage capacity has come down to two major competing formats, and the coming marketplace battle will be bad for companies and users, the head of a major U.S. technology products retailer said Friday.