TECHNOLOGY

Best Buy plans to boost its Web presence and open a greater number of small stores in the United States targeting mobile customers in an effort to win back market share from the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart.

AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA plan to file paperwork about their planned merger with the Federal Communications Commission next week.

AT&T and T-Mobile will have to prove to the Federal Communications Commission that their merger won't damage competition or stifle technological innovation.

Alcatel-Lucent may dispose of the part of the company that sells phones and telecom gear to corporate clients, three people familiar with the matter said, though it was not clear if Alcatel had mandated advisers.

Veteran money manager John Calamos, who heads funds managing assets of close to $38 billion, reckons technology stocks are a good bet for now as U.S. companies invest in innovation.

A group representing individual video game developers has accused Amazon.com Inc of setting pricing terms that could harm them in the long run and of trying to win a near monopoly selling games made on Android software.

Launching April 19, PlayBook is expected to stake its own ground in the Tablet market - after a modest start.

Spotify, the popular European online music service, has told record labels it will cut down the free music it allows users to access without a paid subscription, according to people familiar with the plan.

Hackers have gained access to the servers of blogging website WordPress.com, forcing site to issue a warning to users to change their passwords.

Management changes, spending plans and regulatory risks will be in the spotlight when Google Inc reports its first-quarter financial results after the market closes on Thursday.

Japan's Toshiba Corp said on Thursday it expects its operations to recover in the second half of this financial year after being hit by supply chain disruptions in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

California-based Ubermedia, which has made several apps for the Twitter platform, is said to be working on a competitor to the micro blogging website, which recently rejected two of its apps.

Wall Street stocks were set for a lower open on Thursday as worries about higher inflation and signs of job market weakness kept investors cautious.

Ubermedia, which has made several apps for Twitter, is said to be planning a competitor to the micro blogging website.

Software giant Microsoft said the non-commercial Kinect software development kit (SDK) for Windows would be available in spring 2011.

Suppliers to Apple Inc have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

The BlackBerry PlayBook is to hit stores by April 19. While the new gadget is smaller than most other tablets, especially the iPad 2, it might just remain a good attempt from RIM to get into the tablet war. But the question remains whether it will be a capable player in the market.

Apple could be planning to launch the white version of iPhone 4 to fill a gap in its product launch cycle and thereby mitigate customer fatigue over waiting for the new iPhone 5. The next generation iPhone would have made it to the stores in June this year; but the latest news is that Apple may not launch iPhone 5 until September this year, when the company starts its forthcoming financial year.

Suppliers to Apple Inc have begun production of white iPhones after a delay of almost 10 months, pointing to a launch date of within a month, two people familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

Amazon.com Inc is due to meet with music label executives on Thursday to hash out deals over the online retailer's controversial cloud-based media locker service that has sparked a music business uproar.

Computer sales slid lower in the first three months of this year for the first time since 2009 as shoppers suffered post-holiday shopping fatigue, Apple Inc's iPad continued to attract buyers and Japan focused on recovering from the earthquake and tsunami.

Much of the effort at equipping the next iteration of the iPad with WiFi syncing comes from Steve Jobs himself, who is pushing hard for the technology.

Dutch chip equipment maker ASML, a bellwether for the European tech sector, said some customers were holding back on confirming orders because the Japan quake had disrupted their supply chain.

The 3.2-inch, 3.2-megapixel camera-equipped smartphone is designed to take advantage of AT&T's prepaid plan.

Zoom Technologies Inc signed a licensing pact with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc, allowing the Chinese mobile phone maker to develop and sell 3G devices using Qualcomm's chip patents, sending its shares soaring as much as 64 percent.

Microsoft's Joe Belfiore talks about some of the problems the OS had with updates.

Revealed at this year's MIX conference, the announcements are mostly focused on how developers themselves will be able to take advantage of the operating system's new features.

It all starts with Walmart 101.Companies trying to sell goods to Wal-Mart Stores Inc often find it difficult to figure out the best ways to work with the world's largest retailer, as each buyer has his or her own style and there are vast amounts of sales data to decipher.

News of the Wii's price cut may be confirmation that Nintendo plans on announcing the console's successor soon.