Oracle and Autonomy escalated their war of words on Thursday, sparring publicly over whether the British software firm had ever been shopped to the U.S. technology giant.

Autonomy, which Hewlett-Packard this year agreed to buy for $12 billion, is at the center of a debate on Wall Street over the tenure of fired HP CEO Leo Apotheker and the future direction of the company he once ran. The spat comes at an inopportune time for HP, fighting to salvage its reputation with investors.

Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and HP board member, Marc Andreessen, referred to Oracle as an “oldline” software company and took a jab at outspoken CEO Larry Ellison: “Larry is one of my idols,” Andreessen said. “I wouldn’t quite say my role model.”

Despite losing two more senior executives, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion brushed off suggestions on Thursday that it would discontinue production of its PlayBook computer tablet as “pure fiction.”

Fortune’s annual ranking of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” was released on Thursday and former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was a noticeable omission. HP’s new CEO Meg Whitmen made the list at No. 9 and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg came in at No. 12. Google was well-represented with two women: Susan Wojcicki (No. 28) and Marissa Mayer (No. 38).

Travel search provider Kayak is the latest Web company to delay its IPO plans, reports AllThingsD’s Tricia Duryee.

Amazon.com Inc introduced its eagerly awaited tablet computer on Wednesday with a price tag that could make it the first strong competitor in a tablet market that has been dominated by Apple Inc’s iPad. The new device, priced at $199, may have the biggest impact on other makers of tablets and e-readers, such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Barnes & Noble Inc, maker of the Nook.

“It’s a Nook killer,” said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more on websites including Amazon.com. “And it’s a very compelling offering if you’re not in the Apple ecosystem already.”

See how Amazon’s Fire stacks up to Apple’s iPad 2. Also a cool graphic breaking down the top 4 tablets.

Amazon’s debut of the Fire came on the same day that reports escalated that Apple will unveil a new iPhone next week. The new iPhone would be the first major product launch under Tim Cook, who took over full-time as chief executive after co-founder Steve Jobs resigned last month.

And just as Amazon was taking aim at Apple, Groupon launched its online retail arm Groupon Goods for its American subscribers, moving beyond daily group discounts to compete with leaders like Amazon.

Is Meg Whitman the right person to lead Hewlett Packard? Entrepreneur, author and former venture capitalist Peter Sims doesn’t think so. He writes about Whitman: “Those who have worked closely with her have a lot of respect for her intelligence, yet the picture that consistently emerges is that she is most interested in power, rather than purposeful leadership.”