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Tech Today gathers all the biggest technology news of the morning’s Wall Street Journal into one place for your reading pleasure. Sony Gadgets Take Aim at Apple: Threatened by Apple’s growing stable of portable devices, Sony is developing a new lineup of hand-held products, including a smart phone capable of downloading and playing videogames. U.S. to Clear Voting-Machine Deal: The Justice Department is poised to allow the merger of the U.S.’s two largest makers of voting machines, but the combined company will be required to divest a key electronic voting system. Rambus Gets Mixed Patent Ruling: The U.S. Patent Office issued a mixed ruling in Rambus’s patent-infringement case against Nvidia, sending shares of the memory chip designer higher. TiVo Shares Surge on Court Ruling:  A federal appeals court sided with TiVo in a long-running dispute with Dish Network and EchoStar, sparking a rally in shares of the DVR pioneer.

Microsoft last week used a court order in an attempt to block a network of computers controlled by hackers, a move whose effectiveness was questioned by some security experts. Security professionals said Tuesday that they worked together with law enforcement to shut down another such network and that there is no chance that this one will come back. The researchers, speaking to reporters at the RSA conference in San Francisco in advance of a formal announcement, said they noticed last May a string of computers that seemed to be controlled by a single group—a “botnet” in cyber-security parlance. The perpetrators managed to slip malicious computer code onto about 13 million computers and stole information like Web site logins, banking credentials, and credit-card data. Working with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Spain, researchers traced the botnet to more than 60 Web addresses that the criminals used to control the computer network. In December they shut off these sites, which in essence cut off the network’s head.

As Sprint Nextel Corp. feels the heat to break even, it’s putting CEO Dan Hesse back on TV for an extra push. Bloomberg News Dan Hesse, chief executive officer of Sprint Nextel The struggling telecom’s most public face, Mr. Hesse, returns to a Sprint television ad for the first time since last September, when the company launched its “Any Mobile, Anytime” offer. The competition has become a lot tougher in the meantime. AT&T and Verizon Wireless now offer unlimited voice and text plans for $70. Mr.

As the battle of band licensing fees rages over music in video games (the two most outspoken mouthpieces on the issue are, of course, Viacom Chief Philippe Dauman and Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr.), there is a new topic of disagreement. Can “Rock Band” or “Guitar Hero” be patented? Read the rest of this story

UPDATE, 6 p.m. ET: Article updated to reflect judge’s decision. DirecTV lost a bid Tuesday to block a disputed television commercial from Dish Network, a sign of the blowback from growing aggression by TV, phone and other companies scrambling to land a shrinking pool of potential customers. Dish Network DirecTV sued Dish Network over its TV advertising, which it says is misleading. DirecTV, which has more than 18 million subscribers, sued the rival satellite provider last week over TV commercials that DirecTV says are unfair and misleading. A judge Tuesday denied DirecTV’s request for a temporary restraining order to block the Dish ad . DirecTV said it was pleased it can go forward with a full hearing over the commercial, which DirecTV said unfairly compares the prices of Dish TV service with a DirecTV package of more channels. Dish had said its ad doesn’t make the claims DirecTV says it makes