CALIFORNIA

Rising gasoline prices will not threaten soaring new car sales that have the auto industry on pace for an even more impressive recovery year than originally expected, analysts say.

When a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan last year, it caused a massive tsunami killing nearly 16,000 people. The tsunami that dragged personal items from Japanese citizens, including televisions, dressers, refrigerators, out to sea, could wind up on the shores of Hawaii this year.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), the world’s biggest e-retailer, said the number of titles for its Kindle owners lending library tablet family now exceeds 100,000, compared with only 5,000 last November.

China's engagement in resolving the euro zone debt crisis has been a topic of contention. High-profile Chinese leaders, such as Vice Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping, have reassured the European countries that China would invest in alleviating the debt. However, a financial plan has yet to be communicated.

Lawyers for Apple Inc. argued for its right to use the iPad trademark in China on Wednesday, as a higher court began a crucial hearing that could result in sales of the wildly popular tablet computer being halted throughout the Chinese mainland.

Microsoft will soon be launching the Consumer Preview (beta) of Windows 8 in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012. has unveiled its latest version Windows 8 at California which consists of various upgraded features. The software giant will be gung-ho about proving to users that Windows 8 is really good not only on traditional laptops and desktops but also on touch-centric tablets and PCs. But before it does that, here's a quick look at what we know so far about the new OS.

There are tens of thousands of iPad apps in the Apple App Store, ranging from those that are free to those that cost a whopping $999! We all love free apps but what about the expensive apps? Check out the top most expensive iPad apps below. And decide for yourself whether they are worth their price.

The top after-market NASDAQ losers Tuesday were: TeleTech Holdings, Dreamworks Animation SKG, First Solar, Universal Display Corp, Pacific Sunwear of California, Infosys Ltd, Scientific Games Corp, pSivida Corp, Exterran Partners and Novellus Systems.

After Matt Spaccarell's victory in small claims court, AT&T customers who ended up with less than they paid for may be joining forces.

Shares of Apple (NYSE: AAPL) briefly rose Tuesday to push the company’s market capitalization to a record $501 billion. Later, the shares closed at a record $536.41.

Joe Ayoob, former quarterback from University of California and ex-Arena Football player, put down the pigskin and instead, picked up a piece of paper, breaking the Guinness World Record for longest paper airplane toss.

Researchers at IBM (NYSE: IBM), the No. 2 computer services company, have passed “thresholds” since Jan. 2 whose promise could yield quantum computers “within our lifetime,” IBM’s Manager of Physics of information said.

Apple has its feet firmly on the ground though Proview is trying to drag the tech giant into the quicksand with the iPad trademark dispute which is brewing in China, and now in the U.S. The Cupertino-based company announced Tuesday that it will hold a special event on March 7 at Yerba Buena Center for the Art in San Francisco. The media invite for the event, which will kick off at 1pm ET, read, “We have something you really have to see. And touch.” The invite shows the bottom of a device, which...

James Spader who plays the hilarious Robert California on NBC's The Office is leaving after one season. Spader had stepped into the series eighth season after Steve Carrell's departure. How will The Office and its creators bid adieu to Robert California? While no word on how he will depart has been released, we can only guess what kooky way he will leave the show.

Apple will reportedly unveil its next-generation iPad -- presumably called iPad 3 -- next week in New York City. The lastest report comes from CNBC's Jon Fortt, who said on Tuesday that Apple will release a new iPad with a quad-core processor and 4G LTE capabilities.

An international legal panel based in the Netherlands has decided that it has jurisdiction over a pollution case in Ecuador brought by aboriginals against California-based Chevron. The panel could void damages awarded in the case.

Evan Doherty, a 9-year-old skateboarder, succeeded where some veterans of the sport have failed or won't even dare to try because of fear of injuries: He conquered the MegaRamp over the weekend and is the youngest to do so to date.

Proview Technology has filed a lawsuit against Apple, saying that the California company has committed fraud and unfair competition. The China-based technology company accused Apple of misrepresenting itself when securing the iPad trademark, according to The Washington Post.

Meryl Streep donated $10,000 to Best Actress Oscar runner-up Viola Davis' favorite charter school on the day after Streep beat her out in the 84th-annual Academy Awards.

Micron (Nasdaq: MU), the sole U.S. maker of memory chips, and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), the No. I chipmaker, upgraded their six-year-old partnership for advanced products.

Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, expects to test fly its first spacecraft beyond the Earth's atmosphere this year, with commercial suborbital passenger service to follow in 2013 or 2014, company officials said on Monday.