COMPANIES

Just because Apple isn't officially attending CES 2012 doesn't mean its presence isn't felt. Rumors are heating up that Apple's next-gen iPad 3 is actually be at the event. That rumor isn't confirmed, but what IS confirmed is that about 250 Apple employees are secretly making their rounds at the event, quietly judging their competition.

The Rochester-based company's complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission argues that some of Apple's iPhones, iPads and iPods, along with some of HTC's smartphones and tablets infringe on Kodak patents involving technology for transmitting images.

MetLife Inc. has purchased EnV, a 249-unit luxury rental tower in Chicago, the insurance company announced on Wednesday.

The car group reports selling 8.16 million sales last year, more than Toyota. Car group sales in India more than doubled, but General Motors could outshine the German automaker.

Joran van der Sloot, 24, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the 2010 killing of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino, The Associated Press reported.

Khat is increasingly popular in Europe, with the Netherlands as a key transport hub.

European Union regulators have preliminarily rejected the proposed $17 billion tie-up of NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse (DBOEF), the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a senior European Union official.

The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, which was released for Verizon Wireless at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Monday, will be considered the overachiever of the Razr family in coming days, said Motorola.

Oppenheimer has reduced its profit estimates of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), saying the Thailand floods and macro headwinds are pressuring the PC market.

Judges in the Eyes on Design awards said the Ford Fusion, beating production vehicle finalists the the Cadillac ATS and new BMW 3-Series, looked like an effortless design and appeared more expensive than it really is. Ford gave the Fusion, already a top-seller, a major redesign in an effort to breakthrough stiff mid-size competition from perennial leaders the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Sony Ericsson is next in line to make a move towards Microsoft Windows Phone 7 operating systems.

Xbox 720 Arriving at E3 2012

European airlines group, Air France-KLM, announced, on Tuesday, a deal to purchase 25 wide-bodied Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

A Muslim cleric from Iran has claimed that the social networking site Facebook is un-Islamic and being a member of it is a sin, the ISNA news agency reported last week.

Barclays Capital reiterated its belief that China is a big growth opportunity for Apple Inc. and could be bigger than even the U.S., within a few years.

Here are a round-up of rumors regarding specifications for each of the two...

The best of Intel computing is coming to smartphones, Otellini told his CES keynote audience.Our efforts with Lenovo and Motorola Mobility will help to establish Intel processors in smartphones and provide a solid foundation from which to build in 2012 and into the future, added the CEO, as per the report.

If it were 1992, IBM might well have been one of the biggest exhibitors at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. There would have been a huge display of IBM PCs, software and printers, even though the printer unit had been sold the year before.

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a spectacular event, but two major failings take away from the magic of the annual convention.

It appears that Apple has not commented on these speculations as yet.

Intel, the No. 1 chip maker, will make a major push into the smartphone sector, even as it continues its headway in the laptop and tablet market with its second-generation Ultrabook chip, CEO Paul Otellini said.

United States offshore petroleum regulators ruled this week that a Spanish rig headed to Cuban waters meets international safety standards.

Eastman Kodak Co announced a new business structure on Tuesday that divides its film group into its two other business units as the once-iconic photography company tries to refocus as a digital company to help fend off financial difficulties.

MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest U.S. life insurer, said Tuesday that it's shutting down the business of originating residential mortgages, three months after the company said it would seek a buyer for the unit. Goldman Sachs upgraded MetLife to "buy" as the company scales back to meet targets for shareholder returns.

Michael Williams, CEO of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, is resigning, the company announced on Tuesday.

At CES 2012 in Las Vegas, French company Parrot debuted its AR Drone 2.0, which can fly up to 165 feet in the air and record HD videos. The drone is completely controlled with iOS and Android devices, which let you see what the drone sees.

Withings debuted the world's first Internet-connected baby and toddler scale at CES 2012 in Las Vegas. It records the weight and height of the child and wirelessly transmits the information to smartphones and computers to help parents keep track of their child's development.

Only 48 percent of consumers in a typical week watched broadcast or cable television, down from 71 percent in 2009, according to a survey released by consulting firm Accenture.

The parents of Florida A&M band member Richard Champion said they'll sue the company that owns the bus where he was hazed before he died.