SMARTPHONE

California-based start up Lookout Mobile Security, a provider of smartphone protection software, said it raised a further $19.5 million in funding led by Index Ventures.

Sony Corp plans to buy back a Nagasaki semiconductor plant from Toshiba Corp for about 50 billion yen ($597.2 million) to double output capacity for image sensors used in smartphones and other devices, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Internet connectivity in Pakistan is as low as 10 percent but opportunities for growth are evident, a team of Google and YouTube officials who visited the country early this month said in a blog post.

Synology America Corp. has released its new Network Attached Storage (NAS) server -- DS1511+, a successor to their popular DS1010+ server model.

Microsoft Corp is working on a version of its core Windows operating system for devices such as tablets, according to media reports on Tuesday, and the company said its Windows Phone 7 software is making headway in the booming smartphone market.

Microsoft says that in six weeks on the market 1.5 million phones carrying the Windows Phone 7 operating system were sold.

With dwindling market share for Symbian and growing smartphone competition may force Nokia to adopt either Google's Android Operating System or Windows Phone 7 in a bid to regain its lost marketshare in the smartphone space.

Japan's Sharp Corp. plans to expand its smartphone LCD panel production capacity spurred by Apple's plan to buy a major chunk of the LCD screens for its iPhone.

It seems there is little Research In Motion can do these days to impress analysts convinced that Apple and Google will eventually dominate the booming smartphone and tablet markets.

Smartphones such as Google Inc's Android-based devices and Apple Inc's iPhone are poised to become popular business tools, said an executive at the world's biggest technology distributor.

Dell Computer has run into some hiccups delivering its VenuePro Smartphone, but is offering anyone who ordered one before Dec. 14 a free set of headphones.

Sony has announced that it is bringing its PlayStation platform experience on iPhone and Android via apps.

The three companies are starting a joint venture, Isis, in order to build a national commerce network that will utilize mobile phones to make point-of-sale purchases.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: YRC Worldwide, Take-Two Interactive Software, Oracle, Iconix Brand Group, Rightnow Technologies, Dress Barn, Activision Blizzard, Research In Motion, China MediaExpress Holdings, and OmniVision Technologies.

Research In Motion's Torch, a touchscreen challenger to Apple's iPhone, lifted the BlackBerry maker's quarterly profit above analyst expectations on Thursday and the company forecast strong results from the current holiday season quarter.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion's net profit jumped 45 percent in its fiscal third quarter, boosted by strong sales of its flagship Torch smartphone.

Nokia has filed fresh patent infringement claims against Apple in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, alleging that Apple infringed its patents in many of its products sold in these countries, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

LG Electronics has released its LG Optimus 2X, the world's first smartphone with a dual-core processor.

Toshiba Corp may turn its first annual profit on liquid crystal display panels in four years as sales of smartphones and tablet computers boom, the company's CEO said in an interview on Thursday.

Amid a report Microsoft will introduce a slew of tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show, analysts say the company could be in trouble if it doesn't get its mobile act together.

The company says it looks to best provide the 'possible user experience' on the E7.