(Subscription required) Retail sales an estimated 4.8% on Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, leaving merchants optimistic they can post holiday gains.

Advanced technology builds improved connectivity, trust, manageability and usability into notebooks and tablet PCs.

Arima has adopted Phoenix FirstWare Assistant in its notebooks and tablet PCs. FirstWare Assistant allows mobile devices to compete against PDAs with rapid-on access to Microsoft Outlook data, such as calendars, contacts and tasks.

More details and different angle to earlier AP story Acer targets top spot in European notebook market.

"Some customers have complained they can't understand Indian workers because of their accents and that tech support workers rely too heavily on scripted answers."

Adds ARS source and prediction that Wal-Mart will "enter the market with a sub-$800 model targeting value-conscious users."

1G/10G switch prices help L2-L3 ethernet switch sales +12% WLAN H/W +11% to $658m in 3Q03; WLAN switches to $169m by 2006