COMPANIES

Apple, the most valuable technology company, reported its most profitable-ever first quarter Tuesday. Buoyed by the new iPhone 4S, consumers rushed to the company’s 361 stores, as well as wireless carriers for the new phones.

Samsung won the latest round of its legal battles with Apple Tuesday when a Dutch judge ruled its appeal insufficient to block Samsung tablets for stealing Apple designs. It's a double victory for Samsung because the Netherlands is an important distribution center for the rest of Europe.

Yahoo, now under new management, reported mediocre fourth-quarter results Tuesday, with flat earnings of $24 cents a share, with about a 13 percent revenue dip to $1.32 billion.

Virgin America, the only Silicon Valley-based airliner owned by billionaire Richard Branson, has named its newest jet after a famous quote from Apple's iconic founder, Steve Jobs. The plane, Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish, represents Apple's vision and Branson's admiration for Jobs.

At the 2012 DLD Conference in Munich, Germany, one of the founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, spoke in detail about Twitter's primary capabilities as well as some of their goals for the year. Dorsey also spoke briefly about his newest venture, Square, which allows merchants to accept credit cards on their mobile phones.

Verizon Communications may miss analyst expectations for 2012 earnings after posting disappointing fourth quarter results as it was hurt by hefty subsidies for the Apple Inc iPhone.

While shares of Apple, the most valuable technology company, fell about 1 percent to $422.37 Tuesday ahead of its first-quarter earnings announcement, TechnoBuffalo editor Jon Rettinger warned the company is swimming in uncharted waters.

Insider Thorsten Heins, the new chief executive at BlackBerry maker RIM, is a surprise choice for those looking for a transformational leader from outside to turn around the Canadian group's fortunes.

The company struggles to make a profit from subscribers moving online for content, and is still recovering from its ill-fated plan to split its online streaming and DVD-by-mail service.

If approved Sativex, an oral spray marketed to treat cancer pain, would be the first prescription drug derived from raw cannabis.

DuPont's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street expectations as its customers bought fewer solar-panel materials and digital television parts due to the weak economy, offsetting higher prices across the company.

Last Wednesday, McDonald's created a set of Twitter hash tags, #McDStories and #MeetTheFarmers, for the Twitterverse to share their testimony and stories about the brand. However the promotional campaign became an epic fail when countless tweets rolled in depicting horror stories ranging from finding a burger containing a finger nail to vomiting on site. Here are some of the best (and worst) tweets from the McDonald's #McDStories blunder.

Verizon Communications profit missed Wall Street expectations by a penny as its wireless business was hit by the high costs of sales of advanced phones such as the Apple Inc iPhone.

For small business startups, knowing how loans work and getting them are absolutely crucial.

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) reported quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates as sales, which were already outpacing competitors, picked up strength in December.

ConocoPhillips, the third largest energy company in the U.S., is expected to post higher fourth-quarter earnings as soaring crude oil prices offset big losses anticipated in the company's refining operations.

Cloud computing, a way to store information and access software programs from far-away data farms is transforming computers from a product-based to a service-based industry.

After Megaupload's entire service was shut down and its founders arrested, a new report has emerged, which details a new Megaupload venture called Megabox that would've given music artists more money than and leverage against the Recording Industry Association of America.

Shares of wireless developer InterDigital plunged more than 20 percent Tuesday after the company announced an end to a six-month auction. Has the gold rush in IP ended?

Verizon Communications posted a quarterly loss due to a non-cash pension charge and high costs from strong sales of the Apple Inc iPhone.

Brigantine Advisors has raised its first-quarter profit estimate for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) on strong iPhone shipments.

After conducting an in-depth study, Research In Motion Ltd.'s (NASDAQ: RIMM) new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thorsten Heins will conclude that a significant restructuring is necessary, as the company cannot otherwise compete with Apple Inc. and Google Inc.'s Android operating system, said brokerage firm Jefferies.

Facebook, Twitter and MySpace developers, in partnership with several unnamed social networks, have released a software called Don't Be Evil, meant to integrate their networks into Search Plus Your World - a new feature by Google.

Redsn0w 0.9.10b3 fixes issues with MobileSubstrate-based apps.

A YouTube video allegedly posted by Anonymous to announce that its next big target would be Facebook and that the social networking site would be brought down on January 28 is a hoax, the hacktivist group has said.

Apple is also facing lawsuits of its own. HTC has filed 2 lawsuits against the company both of which are awaiting decisions in March and April 2013. Apple had lost a major lawsuit in 2011 to Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia over patent infringement of Nokia technologies.

Jailbreak for Linux has also been released.

In the wake of the shutdown of file sharing Web site Megaupload and the arrest of its founder Kim Dotcom, a second site offering a similar service - FileSonic - appears to have been somewhat unnerved and cut down on the circulation of pirated Hollywood content.

Payment processor Euronet Worldwide Inc said a small portion of its European business was the target of a criminal security breach late last year, sending its shares down as much 6 percent.