Gadgets made by a host of big-name manufacturers, including Nokia and HTC, could be banned from import into the US, if a patent violation investigation being conducted the US International Trade Commission (ITC) rules in the claimant's favor.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said on Thursday it would pay US$400 million in royalties for patents held by wireless technology firm InterDigital.

Samsung Electronics on Friday streamlined its businesses into two major groups, joining its chip and LCD units and combining its telecom and media divisions.

The Palm Pre may be sold exclusively through Best Buy Mobile (in addition to at Sprint stores) for the first two months of its release.

ON Semiconductor has introduced the industry's first 4-amp supercapacitor LED flash driver for high-megapixel camera phones and standalone camera applications.

Motorola is cutting 4,000 more jobs as consumers stave off purchases amid the economic recession. Revenues in the fourth period fell to between US$7-7.2 billion. Sales of US$7 billion would represent a 27%drop from a year earlier.

Nortel Networks Corp, North America's biggest telephone equipment maker, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, hoping to save a once highflying business whose decade-long decline has accelerated with the global economic crisis.

Nearly 1,500 CEOs left their jobs last year, including 221 in the technology and telecommunications sector, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Last week's tech gadget extravaganza in Sin City drew an estimated 110,000 attendees, down 22% from last year's audited total. But according to the CEA, board members reported getting more business done this year than at any prior show, which may prompt organizers to take steps to limit future attendance in order to ensure the right people attend the event.

Two search requests on the internet website Google produce as much carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle, according to a Harvard University academic.

The Cambridge-based company was already eight years old when on Jan. 6 1999 EE Times reported ARM's own prediction that the company would have 70 percent of the market for processors in the mobile phone handset business. This was a statistic that came to define ARM's early success.

Shares in Palm surged over 36% on Friday after its new touch-screen phone and mobile operating system impressed analysts and short sellers rushed to cover their positions, giving investors hope it may win customers from rivals such as Apple.

Palm executives say the touch-screen device and the new operating system inside it, WebOS, break new ground in the fiercely competitive smartphone market. The phone's selling points include an emphasis on fast Web browsing and efficient multitasking.

"We have ramped down the N810 WiMax Edition tablet. It has reached the end of its lifecycle," said a Nokia spokesman. Nokia unveiled the model only nine months ago, while usually even the most trendy models have a shelf life of well over a year.

Nearly a dozen retailers, including Macy's and Target Corp, told investors that profits would take a further hit in the fourth quarter, which includes key holiday sales. The results confirmed that the U.S. recession, job losses and winter storms right before Christmas produced the most dismal holiday shopping season in nearly 40 years.

The IEEE P1901 Working Group has confirmed and approved the baseline for IEEE's standard related to broadband over power lines (BPL), IEEE Std 1901, "Draft Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications."

Taiwan's exports slumped by a record 41.9% in December on weaker demand from the US and China for laptops, mobile phones and computer chips.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's top contract chip maker, is discussing the possibility of selling a strategic stake in itself to Intel, sources familiar with the talks said on Tuesday. The possible alliance could help Intel expand its business in China, which it has described as its fastest-growing major market.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, will get underway on Wednesday in Las Vegas. And while conference organizers are still expecting a strong turnout, evidence abounds that many companies will be dialing back on their participation at what is normally a high-profile, and high-dollar, event.

A propagation and optimization solution provider wireless industry announced that it has acquired Wi-Sys Communications, an Ottawa, Canada based company that specializes in GPS antenna and receiver technology.