TECHNOLOGY

The world's top cell phone maker Nokia will drastically cut back on the number of different smartphone models it rolls out next year as the Finnish firm tries to shrug off new rivals Apple Inc and RIM.

U.S. retailers from Macy's to Costco posted much weaker-than-expected sales for November as shoppers focused only on big bargains at the start of the key holiday selling season.

The British university caught in the center of what climate skeptics are calling ClimateGate, said on Thursday it's called an outside reviewer to lead the investigation. Ex-civil servant Sir Muir Russell will head the probe into the hacked e-mails and documents from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in the UK last month.

Nokia aims to tackle increasing competition in the smartphone market by halving its portfolio next year, its smartphone unit executives said.

Google Inc is not to blame for the news industry's problems but is committed to playing a role in helping struggling publishers survive the transition to the online age, CEO Eric Schmidt said.

U.S. retailers from Macy's to Costco posted much weaker-than-expected sales for November as shoppers focused only on big bargains at the start of the key holiday selling season.

Several U.S. retailers posted weaker-than-expected sales for November, getting the key holiday season off to a sluggish start as consumers worried about the economy and double-digit unemployment.

Japan's Sony Corp said it is enjoying robust demand for its PlayStation 3 game console and other electronic products so far in this holiday shopping season in the key U.S. market.

Yahoo announced Wednesday a partnership with Facebook that will enable the two sites to share certain parts of their streams. Yahoo email account users will be able to check Facebook status from their inboxes. The service will also be available across other Yahoo properties, including News, Answers, and Sports, thanks to Facebook Connect.

Google is attempting to improve relations with media giants with its First Click Free policy that allows publishers to build pay walls around their online content. The search giant will also allow publishers to decide whether they want their sites to show up in Google News, Google Web search, both, or neither.

Google is attempting to improve relations with media giants with its First Click Free policy that allows publishers to build pay walls around their online content. The search giant will also allow publishers to decide whether they want their sites to show up in Google News, Google Web search, both, or neither.

It's a story fraught with accusations of broken promises, backroom deals and deception, leaving an established Internet giant fighting to preserve its valuable stake in a well-loved classified advertising website.

Electronic Arts Inc sees a future where its online and mobile games are as critical as Madden NFL and other console games as the company focuses on building core franchises and winnows its number of titles, said Chief Executive John Riccitiello.

A British association which provides legal advice and support to doctors said physicians should not respond to amorous advances from patients on social networking sites like Facebook.

A former Amazon.com Inc worker has sued the online retailer, saying it shorts as many as 21,000 warehouse workers nationwide on overtime pay.

Nokia, the world's biggest mobile handset maker, expects the cell phone market to recover faster next year than analysts are forecasting, but falling handset prices would cap profitability growth.

Nokia, the world's biggest mobile handset maker, expects the cellphone market to recover faster next year than analysts are forecasting, but falling handset prices would cap profitability growth.

Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg sent an open letter to the sites 350 million users about the modifications that have been made to the privacy policies of the world's most popular social networking website.

Yahoo Inc will let users of its email, photo-sharing and other online products link their content and activities directly into Facebook, the world's No. 1 Internet social network.

A British Climate Scientist, one of the central figures in the climategate controversy over emails and other sensitive data published by hackers, has announced that he will step down as Director of the Climate Research Unit. The university said in a statement that Phil Jones would relinquish his position as director of Climatic Research Unit (CRU) until the completion of an independent review.

Google is offering news publishers a way to attract paying subscribers without having to remove their content from Google News search results, after some media companies accused it of profiting from their online news.

French media group Vivendi will not receive any cash upfront from a $5.8 billion sale of its stake in broadcast group NBC Universal to majority owner General Electric, the Financial Times reported.

A research director, one of the central figures in the controversy over hacked e-mails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit announced Tuesday that he is stepping down while the university investigates the incident.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it could find no evidence that recent security updates were causing problems with its new Windows 7 operating system, which some have dubbed the black screen of death.

Hackers are spreading a vicious computer virus through spam email messages that urge recipients to visit a bogus website offering vaccinations to protect them against another virus -- the one that causes swine flu.

CVS Caremark Corp has found a way to stop the Energizer bunny. It will discontinue sales of the company's alkaline batteries early next year.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it had found no evidence that its recent security updates were causing problems with its new Windows 7 operating system, which some users said left them with a black screen of death. See full story.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it had found no evidence that its recent security updates were causing problems with its new Windows 7 operating system, which some users said left them with a black screen of death.

Michael Jackson's surprising death made him the most searched term online in 2009. Michael Jackson is the only search term to appear on all three (Google, Bing and Yahoo) search engine's top 10 lists, and at the top of the three lists. On Yahoo, it ended singer Britney Spears' four-year reign as the most searched term.