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AP Technology NewsBrief at 6:26 p.m. EST(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Smart phone rivalry plays out in patent suitsSEATTLE (AP) _ Competition among smart phone makers is heating up at retail, in advertising and, increasingly, in the courtroom as handset and software makers wield patent lawsuits to protect their turf and slow down their rivals. Just a few years ago, smart phones were mainly for office workers who needed to check e-mail after hours. For most people, the Web browsers and other programs were too much trouble, and the data connections too slow. Cheeky tweeters use EU outreach experiment to mockBRUSSELS (AP) _ It was meant to be an effort to plug Twitter users into the conversation at the summit of European power. Instead it ended in very public embarrassment. European Union officials fell into a trap after scrolling tweets from the social networking site on big screens at a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels this week. Survey: Parents start to see TV, Internet the sameNEW YORK (AP) _ No TV for a week, the time-honored punishment for misbehaving children, has been enhanced. Now, parents are also withholding Internet access to punish their kids, further sign that the Web has become as important to families as television. As the two mediums converge, parents are quickly coming to see TV and the Internet in similar ways and are seeking to limit their kids' access to both, according to a report out this week from researchers at the University of Southern California. Yahoo to close more services after 600 layoffsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ The content-sharing site Delicious may not be on Yahoo Inc.'s shrinking menu of online services much longer. Although a final decision evidently hasn't been made, Delicious is on a list of services that Yahoo is planning to close after shedding 600 employees, or about 4 percent of its work force, earlier this week. Senate panel looks into phone bill mystery feesWASHINGTON (AP) _ The Senate Commerce Committee is investigating several little-known companies for charging consumers mystery fees through their phone bills in a practice known as cramming. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W. Va., sent letters to three companies Friday asking them to explain unauthorized charges that they or affiliates have placed on landline phone bills. Those charges, Rockefeller said, were often for services that are available for free online, such as e-mail, or are already bundled with regular phone service, such as voice mail. Taiwan approves $3B display panel project in ChinaTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) _ Taiwanese authorities approved AU Optronics Corp.'s $3 billion project to make television and computer display panels in China, in a bid to maintain the island's technology edge amid increasing competition from South Korea. AU Optronics will make the generation 7.5 panels _ one generation behind the technology currently employed in Taiwan _ in the Kunshan industrial park in eastern China to take advantage of the mainland's lower wages and production costs, the Investment Commission said. Oracle reports profit jump, bucking industry fearsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Oracle Corp.'s net income jumped 28 percent in the latest quarter, its biggest increase in more than two years and another sign that companies are spending more liberally on technology. The company also forecast net income and revenue in the current quarter above analysts' expectations, and its shares rose 4 percent in extended trading. Typewriter fans descending on Philly for 'Type-In'PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ In an age of multitasking tech gadgets whose march toward obsolescence begins the minute they roll off the assembly line, a group is celebrating a mechanical one-trick pony built to last for decades: the manual typewriter. A local business owner and enthusiast of everything analog has put out a call for typewriter enthusiasts to bring their working Underwoods and Olivettis to a city pub Saturday for what has been dubbed "Type-In: A Pleasant Afternoon of Manual Typewriting." Research in Motion profit jumps 45 percentTORONTO (AP) _ Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of the BlackBerry, on Thursday said its third-quarter earnings jumped 45 percent as sales keep surging overseas despite tough competition in the smart-phone market. The results beat analyst expectations, and the company provided a forecast for the current quarter that also exceeded Wall Street expectations. Its shares rose in extended trading. Review: Gingerbread makes Nexus S a smart cookieSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ For some people, the holidays go hand in hand with gingerbread, in the form of houses or cookie-cutter men. This year, you can add smart phones _ specifically, the Nexus S, the first device running the freshest version of Google's Android operating software, Gingerbread. Developed by Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., the phone has a cool curved glass screen, back- and front-facing cameras and the ability to read special tags on such things as stickers embedded with Near Field Communication chips. (c) 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |