COMPANIES

At a time when chances of a fall release for the next generation Apple iPhone look stronger than a summer launch as expected before, a report surfaced late Friday saying that the highly anticipated smartphone will feature in-cell touch panels produced by Sharp and Toshiba.

Twin brothers in the U.K. allegedly defrauded about 75,000 investors by telling them a stock-picking robot named "Marl" could identify penny stocks that would double in price while the brothers were simply listing stocks they were paid to promote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged on Friday.

Rich Ross, Disney's studio chairman, has resigned after the entertainment company took a huge hit with the movie John Carter.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB), which makes Scott brand tissues, reported on Friday an increase in revenue and profits in its first quarter as cost-cutting and a boost in overseas sales made up for slow growth in the domestic market.

Earnings season is in full swing, and about 80 percent of the companies that have already reported topped estimates. We ran a screen and produced a list of 50 key companies set to report their earnings between April 23 and 27.

TNK-BP, Russia's third largest oil producer, replied Friday to the government's announcement it would be sued for oil leaks that have polluted two Siberian river basins, saying most of the damage is a result of inherited environmental problems, accumulated since 1962. TNK-BP pointed to its ongoing $500-million cleanup fund as evidence it is committed to greening up some of Russia's oldest facilities

What a FAIL! Target committed a major Photoshop fail when it carelessly let slip a bad mistake in its ad. Here are photos of some of the worst Photoshopped errors and disasters in advertisements of all time.

Brazilian cities continue to require parking in new developments, to the chagrin of builders and environmentalists.

Unions representing more than 50,000 workers at bankrupt American Airlines said Friday they signed a conditional labor agreement with U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) and are supporting that carrier's bid to take over their ailing employer.

Shares of security software specialist Proofpoint (Nasdaq: PFPT) jumped as much as 31 percent in the first few minutes of trading after their initial public offering.

Six-year-old Etan Patz disappeared while walking to his New York City bus stop on May 25, 1979. In 2001 Etan was declared dead, and in 2010 his case was reopened. After 33 years, police may have found a new lead in the child's mysterious disappearance.

Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) Friday reported higher first-quarter earnings as strong sales to aerospace customers and increased revenue from petrochemical producers offset higher costs.

General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) reported first-quarter net income rose 3 percent as orders for its industrial products surged. Still, overall revenue dipped 8 percent.

Shares of flash-memory giant SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) fell more than 15 percent in early trading after the company reported first-quarter results far worse than expected.

In 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz went missing while walking to his New York City school bus stop. Only two blocks from his home, he was never seen again. Investigators are now working on some new leads.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said Thursday it will build a $760 million assembly plant in Hangzhou as part of a plan to double its production capacity in China by 2015 and catch up with global rivals.

Sales of the exising line of Apple iPhones including the latest 4S will decline in the next few months until the company unleashes its much-anticipated and exponentially hyped iPhone 5. The next gen iPhone is waiting for its June/October release. Will features like A6 processor, 3D Imaging Camera for iOS Devices, Retina Display and iOS 5 give iPhone 5 leverage over iPhone 4S?

Just a day after Korean publication ETNews reported that Apple's sixth generation iPhone could make its debut at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco in June, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has added yet another twist to the tale. He said that the new iPhone launch could be pushed back to the fall, and blamed a troubled parts manufacturer for the delay.

Haitong Securities Co. (SHA: 600837), China's second-largest brokerage by assets, raised HK$13 billion ($1.7 billion) in the largest public offering in the world so far this year, media reports said Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI), the world's No. 1 maker of car batteries, said Friday its fiscal second-quarter profit rose but excluding one-time benefits the company's profit fell 5 percent.

General Electric Co topped Wall Street's profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter, helped by strong demand for energy equipment and railroad locomotives.

According to a newest report by ACI Research, Analyst Edward Zabitsky has revealed in a research note that Samsung has sold more than 40 million phones this quarter, and has seized the crown of the global smartphone tycoon for the calendar Q1 2012.

Apple is planning to launch MacBook Pro 2012. The device can release in May or June with rumored features including Intel Intel Ivy Bridge processor, New Thunderbolt Connector, Retina Display, Full-surface Trackpad and Surround Sound System.

Since Apple introduced the first iPhone in June 2007, one question has dominated the conversation: When's the next one coming out? While Apple keeps its lips sealed until the official unveiling, there are plenty of reasons why consumers shouldn't expect a new iPhone to debut in two to three months. The iPhone 5 is coming, but it's coming in October. Here are five reasons why:

A customer's worst nightmare came true when a South Carolina McDonald's employee allegedly spit into cups of iced tea that were returned by the customers since they were not sweet enough. The sickening event took place when a mother and a daughter visited McDonald's on Main Street over the weekend and picked up two iced teas from the drive-through, according to Associated Press.

With Evernote reportedly raising funding a valuation of $1 billion, could it be the next mobile app success story?

The latest rumor to surface in the tech community is that the Palo Alto based company is soon to be coming out with an iPad Mini.

The new Mercedes Concept Style Coupe is certainly gorgeous based on the pictures released in advance of its debut at the Beijing Auto Show 2012, and it seems it will bring a distinctly scifi verve to the company's usually somewhat stodgy design sensibility.

Federal prosecutors in California are investigating a Goldman Sachs employee for insider trading, according to prosecutors and defense lawyers who attended a hearing in U.S. federal court in New York on Thursday.