The former boss of Samsung Electronics, who was convicted of tax evasion and later given a presidential pardon, has returned to head the company. Analysts see Lee's return as good news for the electronics giant.

TerraPower and Toshiba are investigating technology for mini-reactors, which are more cost-efficient than conventional units. Bill Gates is the principal owner of TerraPower, which investigates ways to improve emission-free energy supplies using small nuclear reactors.

While Microsoft has shifted their focus to the consumer-centric Windows Phone 7, it looks like Windows Mobile 6.5 still has a future in business. Motorola has announced the MC75A, an enterprise digital assistant running on Windows Mobile 6.5.

Palm faces a fight for survival as intensifying competition and a series of management missteps have sent its market share and share price tumbling, leading some analysts to question the company's future.

HTC has announced the launch of its e-commerce site. Consumers can now browse and purchase from a range of HTC phones and accessories, as well as activate their new handset by selecting a rate plan from one of the four nationwide US operators.

IBM has launched a new predictive analytics software lab in Xi'an China. The lab will help IBM's clients see patterns in vast amounts of data and forecast trends before they occur for improved decision making and competitive advantage.

"Google has violated its written promise it made when entering the Chinese market by stopping filtering its searching service and blaming China in insinuation for alleged hacker attacks," said a government official.

China's Alibaba is in talks with one of its investors, Japan's Softbank, to form a tie-up to help merchants from their online marketplaces sell into each others' markets, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Intersil and Techwell have entered into a definitive agreement for Intersil to acquire Techwell through a cash tender offer at US$18.50 per share. "The addition of Techwell's mixed signal video products will help our customers build solutions that improve performance, reduce overall cost and shorten time-to-market," said Dave Bell, Intersil's president and CEO.

Samsung Electronics, Asia's biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, has said it aims to post higher operating profit this year than in 2009.

Its technology, called QuantumFilm, is four times more efficient at capturing light than traditional silicon-based image sensor chips, meaning the company's sensors will offer either higher sensitivity in low light or more megapixels in resolution.

SMIC, China's top contract chipmaker, is planning to raise up to US$500 million through a private equity placement or overseas convertible bond, two sources with knowledge of the issue told Reuters on Friday.

TriQuint Semiconductor, which provides chips for mobile gadgets such as Apple's iPhone, has hiked its profit forecast for the quarter, a sign that demand is improving.

"Asia is a very strategic region for Spansion in the fast growing embedded electronics markets," said John Kispert, president and CEO of Spansion. "With the addition of SL Chan, we have strengthened our team with a veteran sales and marketing executive who will be a key asset for the company's new business strategy..."

Renewable energy investment may rise by 23% this year as government stimulus funds mainly in the US and Europe are spent wind turbines and solar panels.