Balasubramanyam Seshan

In what can be called a gem of a discovery, astronomers have found a rare planet made of diamonds, which would likely have oxygen apart from carbon. The carbon-based planet lies 4,000 light years away in the constellation of Serpens in our Milky Way galaxy.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Partner Communications, Micron Technology, Lululemon Athletica, Clearwire, Universal Display, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, OmniVision Technologies, and Aruba Networks. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: IncrediMail, and Logitech International.

While it is still early in the recovery process for Hurricane Irene, given weaker-than-expected wind speeds, particularly for the New York metro area landfall, FBR Capital Markets believes it is safe to say that loss expectations are lower than many investors thought last Thursday and Friday when forecasts shifted to show a more inland path for the storm.

Hurricane Irene's path over the weekend caused havoc by taking at least 21 lives across the United States. The hurricane has also forced Samsung to delay its Galaxy S2 smartphone, which was expected to come to the U.S. on Aug. 29.

Hurricane Irene caused havoc in the low-lying area of the Bahamas and continued its path of destruction toward the U.S. East Coast -- leading to a state of emergency in the six states along the coast.

Motorola Droid Bionic will hit the shelves of Verizon in early September, which will be a major blow for Samsung Galaxy S2 as Verizon won't offer the Samsung smartphone.

The main radioactive element released from the Fukushima nuclear disaster since March equals 168 Hiroshima World War Two bombs, a news report said Thursday.

In what can be called a gem of a discovery, astronomers at the University of Manchester found a rare planet made of diamonds, which orbits a pulsar about 4,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Serpens.

Steve Jobs' extraordinary 35-year career at Apple has spanned world transformations that he has had no small role in creating.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: TiVo, Clean Energy Fuels, F5 Networks, SodaStream International, and Prospect Capital. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Sigma Designs, Applied Materials, Infosys Technologies, Vodafone Group, Randgold Resources, and Apple.

While Apple Inc. is tight-lipped towards its iPhone 5 release date, the smartphone is expected to face a good deal of competition from Android devices, particularly from HTC that has planned to introduce its biggest smartphone known as HTC Holiday.

Hurricane Irene thrashed the Bahamas Wednesday, knocking down trees, tearing up roofs and posing the most severe threat to the smallest and least populated islands, and is now moving toward the North Carolina coast with sustained winds of 115 mph.

Apple Inc.'s next generation iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, is facing much competition from Android devices. It is being speculated that the iPhone 5 is scheduled to come out at the end of September or in October. The top iPhone 5 competitors are: Motorola Droid HD, Samsung Celox, HTC Holiday, Samsung GT-i9220, and Samsung GT-i9250.

Jefferies & Co. upgraded its rating on shares of Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) to hold from underperform and raised its price target to $25 from $22.

Google Inc.'s $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. will have positive impact on Apple Inc., Barclays Capital said in a note. But Jefferies believes Apple is likely to strike back in patent war.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast on Friday. This triggered a 50 cm (20 inch) tsunami warning for the coastal areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, which was lifted about 35 minutes later.

Google Inc.'s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings will have positive implications for Nokia Corp. and Apple Inc., but Research In Motion and HTC will have a neutral impact, Barclays Capital said in a note.

T-Mobile's 4G-enabled BlackBerry Bold 9900, which is powered by Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS 7, is set to hit shelves on Aug. 31 with pre-orders already started for business customers.

Google Inc.'s Android is dominating smartphone sales in Australia, overtaking Apple Inc.'s iOS for the first time, according to a new research.

Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings probably will not lead Microsoft to respond by buying Nokia, an industry analyst says.

Google Inc. has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5 billion or $40 a share in cash, valuing each essential patent at about $20 million, to defend its Android ecosystem. RBC Capital Markets said the deal value of $12.5 billion equates to 0.7 times trailing twelve months (TTM) of equity value-to-sales.

A mobile payment is "any payment" for goods and services that is initiated from a smartphone or similar device. Mobile payments can be broken down into two main types: remote payments or proximity payments.

Google Inc. has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. for $12.5 billion or $40 a share in cash to defend its Android ecosystem. Rising IP threats to Android from Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. were the primary driver of the acquisition, RBC Capital Markets said.

Exercising for 15 minutes a day not only enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness, but it can also extend lifespan by an average three years, Taiwan researchers say.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE:MMI) for $12.5 billion or $40 a share in cash, valuing each essential at about $20 million, to defend its Android ecosystem. The acquisition may also benefit Google TV, Jefferies said in a note.

T-Mobile USA will be launching two smartphones, Samsung Hercules and HTC Ruby on Oct. 26, according to a leaked document obtained by Tmo News.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) for $40 per share in cash or about $12.5 billion. Jefferies believes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is likely to strike back in patent war.

The hacker group Anonymous called for a protest against an earlier cellphone shutdown has succeed in temporarily closing down four San Francisco underground rail stations that was operated by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Swisher Hygiene, hiSoft Technology International, Exceed Company, Pharmaceutical Product Development, and Verisk Analytics. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: FormFactor, Fred's, Urban Outfitters, Avis Budget Group, and SodaStream International.