Technology, Electronics | featured news

For two years, Apple has told the world that phones running on Google Android operating system are iPhone rip-offs. Now Apple is about to learn whether a U.S. trade agency thinks its claims have merit.

Apple's voice recognition app operates in the Internet cloud. Commands are processed on a Web server and software developers can monitor Siri's responses, tweaking the program to improve it.

A U.S. judge rejected Apple's request to ban U.S. sales of some Galaxy smartphones and tablets made by Samsung.

Investors purchased roughly 850 calls at the Dec. 11 $19 strike for an average premium of $0.53 each, and snapped up nearly 700 of the Dec. '11 $20 strike calls at an average premium of $0.39 apiece. Call buyers at these strikes may profit at expiration next week in the event that shares in Research in Motion surge 6.7% and 11.4% over the current price of $18.30 to surpass the average breakeven prices of $19.53 and $20.39, respectively.

Japanese fan site Macotakara reports Sony and Hitachi are making four-inch screens for the new phone - and have already shipped early prototypes to Apple's Cupertino HQ - hinting at a release as early as March.

The discovery has added to rumours that the iPad 3 will launch in March and feature a fractionally thicker design and a significantly higher resolution display.

After more than a year of missteps by Apple's tablet rivals, at least one viable competitor, Amazon's Kindle Fire, appears to have surfaced for the popular iPad. Amazon.com Inc. on Monday trumpeted the success of its recently launched Kindle Fire tablet, part of a family of Kindle products that include low-priced e-readers. The company said it sold more than four times as many Kindle products on Black Friday last week as the same shopping day in 2010.

Last week we showed you how a developer had hacked Siri to operate his internet-connected thermostat. But that's not cool. Starting your car using Siri, now that's cool. Actually, that's a bit unfair.

Some 84 percent of iPhone users said they would pick iPhone also when they replace their cellphone, while 60 percent of those using Android smartphones said they would stick with phones using the same software, says a research firm.

If you’re like most Americans, your holiday shopping bonanza officially starts Friday, Nov. 25. Or as it’s more commonly known: Black Friday. The precursor to the gift-giving season that is this hallowed Friday seems to be now inexorably tied to the industry I cover: consumer technology and gadgets. Perhaps 30 years ago, the shopping masses were more concerned with gifts of ties, mixers and Mattel toys — but now they seem to only have eyes for the battery-powered, pluggable and 3G-connected.