COMPANIES

China Telecom, the smallest of the country's three carriers, said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with Apple Inc to sell iPhones in China, the world's largest mobile phone market.

A top executive of Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp has been found dead in a park outside New Delhi, an apparent suicide, The Times of India said Tuesday, quoting police.

Western investors in Japan's disgraced Olympus have accused its banks of trying to take control of the boardroom by stealth, amid media reports that the firm's major creditors are set to install their own appointees in the top jobs.

Along Washington, D.C.'s National Mall, an array of neoclassical monuments give tribute to the country's leaders. But a new arrival breaks the mold and has caused recent controversy.

Apple may release its next-generation iPhone -- presumably called the iPhone 5 -- in September or October 2012. Citing an Asian reliable source, Macotakara believes Apple is moving away from mid-year launches and leaning towards a 12-month iPhone upgrade cycle starting in the fall.

Carlsberg (CARLB) announced on Monday it will assume full control of Baltika Brewery (PKBA), spending $1.5 billion to buy the Russian brewer outright, after losing market share in the nation last year and anticipating a flat European market in 2012.

Swedish filesharing website The Pirate Bay may soon be blocked in the UK after a London judge ruled that the site breaches copyright laws on a large scale, and that both the platform and its users illegally share copyrighted material, such as movies and music.

Satellite firm Inmarsat said LightSquared, a venture struggling to build a U.S. mobile broadband service with Inmarsat's spectrum, failed to pay a $56.25 million installment to the British company.

In an attempt to catch up to the No. 2 tablet manufacturer, Amazon, Barnes & Noble will soon launch a cheaper 8GB model of the Nook Tablet. The new device was first reported on by tech blog The Verge, which noted the Nook Tablet currently costs $50 more than the Amazon Kindle Fire. The tech blog said the device appears to be the same as a previous model, but with less onboard storage.

Samsung Electronics will spin off its liquid crystal display division, dumping an unprofitable segment as the company shifts its focus towards thinner displays.

For those purchasing a new car and looking to save on gasoline prices, here is a list of the top 15 fuel efficient cars out on the market, according to ConsumerReports.org.

TransUnion Corp., the third largest provider of credit information to banks and consumers, said Advent International Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s private equity arm agreed to buy the company from Chicago's billionaire Pritzker family and local private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC for over $3 billion.

The Reston, Va.-based closely held company failed to pay London-based telecommunications firm Inmarsat $56.3 million under a spectrum-cooperation accord, Bloomberg reported Monday. Inmarsat was providing wireless spectrum for the wireless network LightSquared wants to build out in the U.S.

Samsung Electronics announced Monday that it will spin off its LCD business division to launch a new entity provisionally called Samsung Display Co., set to go live on April 1, 2012. The move awaits shareholder approval, but the new business will reportedly launch with about $668 million in paid-in capital to start working with.

Media conglomerate Vivendi, the Paris-based parent of Universal Music Group, officially sought approval from the European Union to purchase London-based EMI Group's recorded-music business, the European Commission announced Monday on its website.

Transocean crews over the weekend began drilling a relief well off the coast of Nigeria to allow for the proper abandonment of a Chevron Corp. natural gas well that exploded, killed two contractors, sank, and has remained on fire for more than one month.

Presidents Day may technically be a federal holiday to celebrate the first president, George Washington, but it may leave its mark in history as a great day to snag sales on the third Monday in February. Grab your wallets and eco-friendly shopping bags! Here are the best places, online and in store, to snag a sale on Presidents Day 2012.

Even before Google's Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has managed to live up to all of its hype, rumor mills have already begun announcing the launch of Android 5.0, nicknamed Jelly Bean, sometime in June 2012. According to a Digi Times report, Jelly Bean will target tablet/notebooks and is supposed to have a dual booting system. It is also expected that the new version will bring in some updated features for mobile platforms as well.

Low-priced, tiny and reasonably reliable Tata Nano cars made by Tata Motors are set to roam the streets of Bangladesh from early next month, the local distributor said on Monday.

Kingfisher Airlines, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, cancelled more flights on Monday and the government said it will not bail out the ailing carrier, local media reported.

Samsung Galaxy Note or the Phablet was launched only a few days back and has happily surprised smartphone lovers with its winning combination of size (of a tablet) and great features (of a smartphone).

Rumors about the release date of Apple iPd 3 are flying fast and furious. So is speculation about the features and specifications of the highly anticipated device. The hottest in the pack of iPad 3 rumors is a news tidbit released by a Chinese Web site about iPad 3's camera features.

British bank Lloyds is to strip five current and former senior bankers of more than 1 million pounds in bonuses over their role in the mis-selling of payment protection insurance , the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

Wynn Resorts Ltd said it had discovered that board member Kazuo Okada made improper payments to foreign gaming regulators and the company forcibly bought back the Japanese gaming mogul's 20 percent stake in Wynn.

Wynn Resorts Ltd upped the ante in the fight between its billionaire founder Steve Wynn and his former business partner Kazuo Okada, accusing the Japanese gaming mogul of improper payments and forcibly buying back his 20 percent stake in Wynn's casino company at a discount.

The revelations this week that Google, Twitter, and other popular Internet companies have been taking liberties with customer data have prompted criticism by privacy advocates and lawmakers, along with apologies by the companies.

According to a report by Forbes, the now-public 191-page FBI file on Steve Jobs, Apple's co founder, will be available as a $12.95 paperback. However, if it's the soft copy you're looking for, you're in luck - a PDF version of the file can be downloaded for free.

Japanese prosecutors are considering indicting the Olympus Corp. as a company for falsifying its financial reports to conceal huge investment losses in a $1.7 billion scandal, the Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, quoting investigative sources.

Apple has asked EU anti-trust regulators to step in and settle a technology patent dispute between the company and Motorola Mobility, according to Motorola Mobility.